Alonso de Molina

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Alonso de Molina (1513 or 1514 – 1579) was a Franciscan priest and grammarian, who wrote and published a well-known dictionary of the Nahuatl language.

He was born in Spain but arrived in Mexico while still a child and he became fluent in Nahuatl while playing with Aztec children. Molina arrived in Mexico immediately following Cortes' invasion. As a young man he entered the Franciscan order and became ordained as a priest. He taught at the Colegio de Santa Cruz in Tlatelolco along with Bernardino de Sahagún and Andrés de Olmos. Besides his priestly duties, Molina devoted himself to the study, understanding and writing of Nahuatl. He composed and preached many sermons in the Nahuatl tongue.

Molina's Vocabulary in Castilian and Mexican language which he composed between 1555 and 1571 was the first dictionary printed in the New World, and, together with Olmos’ work, was the first published systematic approach to an indigenous language. It is still considered an indispensible tool for students of the Classical Nahuatl language.

[edit] Works

• A Nahuatl catechism, now lost (1547)
• Aqui comienca un vocabulario en la lengua castellana y mexicana (1555)
• Confessionario breve, en lengua mexicana (1563/64?)
• Confessionario mayor, en lengua mexicana y castellana (1565)
• Arte de la lengua mexicana y castellana (1571)
• Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana (1571)