What language did the ancient Aztecs speak?

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Aztec manuscript illustration showing figures in elaborate costumes dancing in a circle, with two larger deities, Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl, at the center, from Codex Borbonicus. — Aztec Aztec round dance for Quetzalcóatl and Xolotl (a dog-headed god who is Quetzalcóatl's companion), detail from a facsimile Codex Borbonicus (folio 26), c. 1520; original in the Chamber of Deputies, Paris, France.

The ancient Aztecs spoke Nahuatl, an Indigenous American language belonging to the Uto-Aztecan family. At the time of Spanish colonization, Nahuatl was spoken by the majority of inhabitants in central Mexico, including the Aztecs, and it became the lingua franca of a vast region.123

Nahuatl was the language of both the Aztec and Toltec civilizations. A significant body of Aztec literature from the 16th century survives, recorded using a Spanish-based orthography introduced by priests. Classical Nahuatl is known for its distinctive tl sound and the use of a glottal stop.123