3.4 Affix rules for normalization. Affix rules treat context within the word — character sequences that are a part of the cleaned-up name piece. This phase of processing produces the so-called normal form. All the similar codes base their form on this one. Affix rules have the same form as the other phonetic, dialect, and compressed rules of the Phondex system. One important exception is that they allow for classification of the name piece. The system applies affix rules to the tokens in the output of the parser to yield a base form, usually without prefixes like ap- or Mc-, or suffixes like -dtr or -son. When the parser detects a patronymic, the base form is accordingly classified as masculine given name. The analyst may also assign the affix to its own or another group. Detecting the -in suffix on German surnames, the rule may classify the base form as the generic form of the surname. The form of the affix rule is otherwise identical to the phondex rule discussed below.