570 Mr. Pickering on Rasles’ Dictionary of 
It will be immediately perceived, that in conformity with the general character 
of the North American languages, some of our Jabials are wanting in this alpha- 
bet. The letters f and v do not occur; which is also the case in the kindred 
dialects of the Delaware family. The liquid 7 is also wanting, 7 being used 
instead of it; which is just the reverse of some other dialects of the Delaware. 
This interchange of 7 and r is a leading dialectical distinction among many of 
these languages. The remaining letters of our alphabet, c, g, x, and y, were prob- 
ably omitted intentionally ; their places being supplied by s, k, ks, and @. 
The powers of the common Roman letters in this alphabet are, as above ob- 
served, the same with those in the French language. - In regard to the others the 
following particulars are to be noticed. 
The Greek 6 and y are doubtless to be sounded as in the Greek language. In 
some instances the y is substituted for kh; as, for example, under the word 
Baxance, the Indian word was first written tebaibékhigan (with kh), but this 
was afterwards erased with.a pen, and tebanbé“vigan, with both the aspirate and 
the y, substituted for kh. 
The letter ii, with a diwresis, is employed to express the usual simple sound of n, 
in those cases where, if not thus distinguished, it would have the nasal sound of 
the French language, as in an, en, &c. The double letters ss are also employed 
. . r 
for the same purpose; as, in the word pinss, under EPINGLE. 
The Greek character s, as above observed, is called by Rasles a guttural; but 
by this term he only means, that the lips are not used in uttering it; in other words, 
he calls it guttural merely in contradistinction to /abial, and not to denote that 
strong, rough sound which in popular language is called guttural and is found in 
the Spanish and Oriental languages. On comparing those words in which it oc- 
curs, with the corresponding ones of the kindred dialects, the Massachusetts and 
the Delaware, there can be no doubt that it represents the same elementary sound 
which, in the Massachusetts dialect, Eliot denoted by OO and W, and in the 
Delaware, Mr. Heckewelder denoted by W,; and of which, he observes, that 
“‘ before a vowel it sounds the same as in English; before a consonant it repre- 
sents a whistled sound of which I cannot well give you au idea on paper.” * The 
aspirate (“) was probably used as in Greek. ‘The circumflexed dipthongs @ and 
i seem to be used as the French ai and oui. In one instance I have observed it 
to be used for the e in messe, which is written in Abnaki, md@iss. I observe an 
* Correspondence between Mr. Heckewelder and Mr. Du Ponceau, in the Transact. Histor. 
and Lit. Committee, &c. p. 397. 
