Prosodic features have frequently been related to the syllable, or viewed as phonemes extractable from a continuum of speech. In contrast, the Mezquital Otomi phonological word is the domain in which interacting systems of stress and tone operate. The structure of the word nucleus (simple or complex) determines the rules by which basic tone sequences are modified. A balance of the following components (in ranked order) is crucial to word structure: stress, tone, length, nasalization, glottalization, and syllable release (controlled or ballistic). A separate but interlocking system, that of the function of the phonological phrase in intonation contours, is also discussed.