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at the bottom was the slaves then the peasents then the commoners then the government officials then the ruler and his family

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the aztecs were invaded by the spanish and the spanish took over the aztecs kingdom

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A slave could have possessions and even own other slaves. Slaves could buy their liberty, and slaves could be set free if they were able to show they had been mistreated or if they had children with or were married to their masters.
Typically, upon the death of the master, slaves who had performed outstanding services were freed i think the aztecs were even nicer to their slaves than the americans in the 1800's

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The Aztec alphabet, in the sense of each symbol representing only a sound, was an introduction by the Spanish. Classical Nahuatl is the name of the language that was spoken by the people of the Aztec empire. The original Aztec language was not really written in an alphabet but a series of glyphs, as we will see in a moment. Nahuatl is also known as Nahua, Nahuat, and Nahual.

Read more about the Aztec language here!

The new Aztec alphabet

The Spanish introduced an Aztec alphabet based on Latin, basically the Roman alphabet many western languages use today. Since then, there's been a great deal of debate over how many Nahuatl words should be spelled and written. Still, the language is still alive in many parts of Mexico. It's estimated that there are over 1.5 million Nahuatl speakers in Mexico today! There are regional dialects, so there are many different ways to say simple words. As the renewed Nahuatl is being taught, a new way of writing it is coming into use, in an attempt to unite the various dialects with a common writing system.

The Aztec alphabet has 4 basic vowels: i, e, a, o
Consonants are usually written include: p, t, l, r, n, k, m, ch, x, c, s, z, ç, cu (qu), y, hu, p (these vary)

Confused? Read more about the Nahuatl or Aztec alphabet here, or the Various versions of the language. That way you can narrow down the alphabet based on a certain type of Nahuatl.

The Aztec alphabet as it was

The Aztec alphabet before the Spanish was not actually an alphabet but a series of pictures. How were these used? There were actually three different ways...

1. Pictograms
This means basically that the symbol meant exactly what it looked like. For example, this picture of a snake would simply mean "snake". Simple, yes. But to have a meaningful language hundreds and thousands of pictures would be needed (and there were a lot!).

2. Ideograms
These would represent the idea behind the symbol. So maybe a snake would represent a ruler (such as Itzcoatl - Obsidian Snake), or maybe footprints would represent a trip or the passage of time in a certain direction.

3. Phonogram
A phonogram is the closest we get to an Aztec alphabet. In this case, the picture actually represents a sound. Sometimes we do this just for fun in English - for example, you could use the picture of a bee to represent the word "be" (as in "to be"). If you say the word the picture represents, and put it together with others, you can get words and sentences totally unrelated to the objects the pictures look like.

In addition to the importance of the picture itself, colours were also important. When symbols looked very similar, they could easily be told apart by their colours. Of course, with modern technology and the availability of colour in computer screens and TV sets, colour is becoming more important in all languages around the world. Even on this page colour is used to split up various parts of the text to make it easier to read.

When telling a story, there wouldn't usually be a long line of glyphs, but rather a page with a few, positioned in such a way as to tell a story. It was kind of like looking at a scene in a story, a photograph of one moment. The glyphs would be used to remind you of various aspects of the story, and you would have to fill in the blanks.

Here's an example. Below is the symbol for "flint". If it just means flint, that's an pictogram. But it was also a calendar symbol, representing a specific day. Next is a combined symbol, tree and teeth. It means, literally, place with lots of avacados. The teeth are read as tlan, and ahuacatl is the avacado tree. The glyph actually means Ahuacatlan, a place name.

Flint

Teeth

Tree

Ahuacatlan

Numbers

The Aztecs counted by 20s (as we usually count by 10s). They would use dots, as you can see on the Aztec calendar. Sometimes fingers would be used as well. 20 was a flag, then 20x20 (20 flags=400) was a feather or fir tree. 20x20x20 (20 trees=8000) was a bag or pouch (containing 8000 cocoa beans, commonly used for currency). Then, to show multiples of something, a line would be drawn to connect the numbers to the object. For example, below you can see a snake with 4 flags. 4x20=80, so the picture represents 80 snakes.

For more...

For more, read Aztec Books, Documents, and Writing, and this excellent article on the Aztec alphabet and glyphs.

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The Aztec alphabet was actually a series of glyphs, though the language was later written in alphabetic form. The glyphs themselves had more than one meaning...

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the aztecs did not have any schools they just got tought what to do by their parents

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their has been languages similar to the aztecs main lnguage for 1400 years in  central mexico

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the aztecs were almost always at war and that helped them get riches that they stole if any citie refused to be aztec they would go to war the aztecs tried to wound or capture there enimies rather than kill them

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the economy of Tenochtitlan depended on high levels of economic support from surrounding areas the azecs would use clubs swords and spears in battle

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Welcome to the Aztec Civilization Website

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In the beginning, the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan could support itself.

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spoke nahuati in the aztec religeon they would take enemy prisoners and make human sacrafices the religion concisted of 5 main gods they are Huitzilopochtli, Tlaloc,    Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca, Chicomecoatl

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Aztec History

Dig into the mysteries of Aztec history right here! What was ancient Aztec art and culture like? What about the Aztec religion? And the legendary Aztec sacrifices?

The Aztec Empire was peopled by a group that was once nomadic, the Mexicas. Their chroniclers told them that after their long journey from Aztlán, they found themselves to be outcasts, until they found the sign sent to them by their god Huitzilopochtli, and began to build their city. And so the Mexica peoples continued, and the Aztec Empire began.

The city of Tenochitlan was soon to become one of the largest cities in the world. The power of the Mexica peoples became more consolidated, and they began to form alliances. Their military power grew as well, and they began to conquer peoples in the surrounding areas.

At the height of its power, the Aztec Empire was organized and strong, but ruled with fear. In 1519, a clash of cultures was to take place, unlike anything before it. Although there was much tragedy in both the Spanish and Aztec empires before this, the meeting of the two civilizations was disastrous. In a few short years, the culture and structure of one of histories greatest empires would have virtually vanished.

Did you know...

It was against the law to be drunk in public in the Aztec empire, unless you were over 70 years old!

Each Aztec home had a steam bath!

It is said that the major Aztec weapon could chop off the head of a horse with one blow!

Read on for much more ancient Aztec history!

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Dig into the mysteries of Aztec history right here! What was ancient Aztec art and culture like? What about the Aztec religion? And the legendary Aztec sacrifices? The Aztec Empire was peopled by a group that was once nomadic, the Mexicas.

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Buildings in this time were made up of mosly what the people had in their surrowndings (mud with leaves in it and some times wood)

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the aztecs originated on an island in mexico then moved into central mexico