is it zin or tzin??

[David L. Frye]

> it would be interesting to see if the Tlaxcalteca honorific methodology
> of speaking to their elders has been transmitted to the modern Mexican
> Spanish spoken in the area.

I have often thought that the ubiquitous use of "-ito" in Mexican Spanish
might be related to Nahuatl "-tzin" -- especially in cases where the
diminutive is rarely heard elsewhere in the Spanish-speaking world, such
as "nuestros difuntitos" or "mis muertitos" to refer to one's family dead.
Any thoughts?