describe each Classical Nahuatl noun as a specific verb meaning "to be X." Example: ti + amolnamacac 'soap seller', becomes tamolnamacac, meaning 'you are a soap seller' (See verb inflection below). The noun is inflected for two basic contrasting categories: possessedness: non-possessed contrasts with possessed number: singular contrasts with plural Nouns belong to one of two classes: animates or inanimates. Originally the grammatical distinction between these were that inanimate nouns had no plural forms, but in most modern dialects both animate and inanimate nouns are pluralizable. Nominal morphology is mostly suffixing. Some irregular formations exist. Possessedness Non-possessed nouns take a suffix called the absolutive. This suffix takes the form -tl after vowels (ā-tl, "water") and -tli after consonants, which assimilates with a final /l/ on the root (tōch-tli, "rabbit", but cal-li, "house"). Some nouns are irregular and, for the absolutive suffix, instead take -in (mich-in, fish). In most derived forms, any of these suffixes would drop: tōch-cal-li, "rabbit-hole", mich-matla-tl, "fishing net". Possessed nouns do not take the absolutive suffix (see Noun inflection below), but do receive a prefix to denote the possessor. Number The absolutive singular suffix has three basic forms: -tl/tli, -lin/-in, and some irregular nouns with no suffix. The absolutive plural suffix has three basic forms: -tin, -meh, or just a final glottal stop -h. Some plurals are formed also with reduplication of the noun's first or second syllable, with the reduplicated vowel long. The possessive singular suffix has two basic forms: -uh (on stems ending in a vowel) or -Ø (on stems ending in a consonant). The possessive plural suffix has the form -huān. Only animate nouns can take a plural form. These include most animate living beings, but also words like tepētl ("mountain"), citlālin ("star") and some other phenomena. The plural is not totally stable and in many cases several different forms are attested. Noun inflection Possessor prefixes If a given prefix ends with a vowel (apart from 3rd person singular), that vowel may be elided depending on the following sound. The vowel will only be elided if the word's stem begins with a "stronger" vowel. Generally, the hierarchy of vowels, from strongest to weakest, is a/e, o, i. Example: to + amolli, becomes tamol, meaning 'our soap' Some other categories can be inflected on the noun such as: Honorific formed with the suffix -tzin. Inalienable possession The suffix -yo — the same suffix as the