Plural Nouns

boy

niño

boys

niños

Tzotzil, Nahuatl, and Huichol add different endings to make nouns plural.

TZOTZIL

NAHUATL

HUICHOL

SINGULAR

kali

huye

PLURAL

naetik

kalimes

huyete

house, houses

road, roads

Other languages of Mexico add prefixes to the beginning of a noun to make it plural. Isthmus Zapotec adds ka- to make some nouns plural.

ZAPOTEC

SINGULAR

ñee

diaga

PLURAL

kañee

kadiaga

foot, feet

ear, ears

Some Sierra Nahuatl nouns end with -t when singular and end with -meh when plural.

NAHUATL:

SINGULAR

piotet

masat

PLURAL

piotemeh

masameh

egg, eggs

deer, deer

Some Amuzgo nouns begin with c- when singular and with l- when plural.

AMUZGO:

SINGULAR

cio

cui

PLURAL

lio

lui

bottle, bottles

turtle, turtles

In Northern Tepehuan, some plural nouns repeat the first part of a singular noun.

TEPEHUAN

SINGULAR

tova

mara

aduñi

PLURAL

totova

mamara

aaduñi

turkey, turkeys

son, sons

friend, friends

Some Chontal of Oaxaca nouns add l (a voiceless l) in the middle to make them plural.

CHONTAL:

SINGULAR

cece

llalillpu

lipo

PLURAL

celce

llalilpu

lilpo

squirrel, squirrels

small gourd jar(s)

opossum, opossums

In many of the Otomanguean languages of Mexico, a noun does not indicate whether it is singular or plural. A number must be added if it is important to make this distinction.

MIXTEC:

CHATINO:

CHINANTEC:

hàkú

ndla

hniú¹²

corral, corrals

peach, peaches

house, houses

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