Classical Nahuatl

Vowels

1. ↑^1.01.11.21.3Long vowels were rarely marked in historical manuscripts. Vowel length is indicated with amacron in modern standardized spelling, as long vowels and short vowels are not allophones of each other, and therefore differentiated.
2. ↑^2.02.1Both /o/ and /oː/ were sometimes represented byu in manuscripts (e.g.teutl forteōtl, etc.).

Consonants

1. ^Writtencu in all positions orcuhpostvocalically in manuscripts (e.g.tecutli ortecuhtli fortēuctli). Inversion touc after vowels is conventional in modern spelling. Thequ in manuscript spellings such asquauhtli (cuāuhtli in modern spelling) also corresponds to this sound.
2. ↑^2.02.1/l/ and/lː/ are found only found in the syllableonset.
3. ↑^3.03.13.2Sometimes transcribed/ll/,/ss/ and/ʃʃ/, with one consonant belonging to the first syllable's coda and the other to the next syllable's onset. However, these encounters are more accurately represented by/lː/,/sː/ and/ʃː/, as the encounter between two akinsibilants orapproximants in Classical Nahuatl leads to a lengthened consonantal sound rather than a pair of identical sounds.
4. ^[ɬ] is an allophone of/l/ at the end of the syllablecoda.
5. ↑^5.05.1In manuscripts, acedilla was often used to represent the sound/s/, especially beforea ando (e.g.maçatl formazātl,çolin forzōlin, etc.).
6. ↑^6.06.16.2May also be written with a tie bar, thus:/t͡ɬ/,/t͡s/,/t͡ʃ/.
7. ^Often represented by a singleu orv in manuscripts (e.g.naualli fornāhualli, ormacevalli formācēhualli). Writtenhu prevocallicaly anduh postvocallically in modern spelling.
8. ^Glottal stops were very rarely indicated in manuscripts. In modern spelling a postvocalich represents a glottal stop.

Other symbols

1. ^Primary stress in Classical Nahuatl almost always falls on thepenult. The only exceptions arevocative forms, which always stress the final syllable (when male speakers use the vocative they add the suffix-é to the absolutive ending, replacing the finali if present, while female speakers simply stress the last syllable).
2. ^The stressed syllable also receives a raisedpitch accent, which can be shown in IPA as an acute accent (´) on the vowel of the stressed syllable.

See also