Signos numéricos y registros de cuenta en la escritura jeroglífica náhuatl

Revista Espanola de Antropologia Americana. 2019. Vol. 49. P. 301–328.

Davletshin A., Lacadena García-Gallo A.

The present paper examines the Nahuatl system of numerical notation and its numerals, from
a grammatological perspective, as an integral part of the Nahuatl logosyllabic writing system. Reading
values for the numerals are identified and their corresponding transliteration rules are proposed. The
number of ways Nahuatl people used to write numbers is striking: three different systems for numerals
from 1 to 19, two signs for 20, three forms to represent quantities above 20, three principles to register
accounts, etc. This paper shows that Nahuatl numerical signs function as logographs in some contexts
and as notational signs in others.

Keywords: accounts, Nahuatl hieroglyphic writing, numerical signs, numerical notation, classificatory numerals