Nahuatl sounds


 * * The glottal phoneme (called the "saltillo") only occurs after vowels. In many modern dialects it is realized as an [h], but in others, as in Classical Nahuatl, it is a glottal stop.

Most Nahuatl dialects have stress on the penultimate syllable of a word. In Mexicanero Nahuat from Durango, many unstressed syllables have disappeared from words, and the placement of syllable stress has become phonemic in this dialect.

In many Nahuatl dialects vowel length contrast is vague, and in others it has become lost entirely. The dialect of Tetelcingo (nhg) developed the vowel length into a difference in quality: long /iː eː aː oː/ to tense /i ʲe ɔ u/ and short /i e a o/ to lax /ɪ e a o/.