A key aspect of academic phonetics is transcription. Transcription involves writing speech in a special alphabet called the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) that permits writing the sounds of speech with great precision. The modern IPA is the result of historical development, and it incorporates a number of principles that contribute to ease of use: based on the latin (roman) alphabet; extending letters by modification of latin letters; use of other known letters; use of diacritics (accents); and others. Transcription may lean toward being broad or phonological, ortoward being narrow or strictly phonetic. The IPA makes typographic distinctions that we do not make in nonphonetic writing. Glyphs are specific letter shapes, and the IPA may distinguish glyphs that are not distinguished in ordinary writing.

This essay centers on the dynamic and inherently complex interplay among pre-Hispanic and European languages and writing (in the broadest sense) in New Spain. It addresses the populations, spaces (geographic and institutional), and formats in which theories, policies, and practices of language use and inscription shifted through three centuries of colonial rule. Emphasis is placed on the strategic choices of indigenous subjects, primarily Nahuas, in their sonic and visual communication practices. It pays attention to the violent processes that went hand in hand with the imposition and acquisition of European communicative practices and tools. Through the analysis of a wide variety of textual genres produced by indigenous peoples and Spaniards, some of the questions treated in this essay are: how did the use of Nahuatl, Spanish, or Latin convey prestige, authenticity, and legitimacy in some circumstances, and in others not? In what ways did the Roman alphabet become a powerful tool wielded by native peoples? Why were indigenous painted amoxtli recreated by memory, then glossed with Spanish text, decades and even one hundred years after the zealous priests burned the originals?