THE WESTERN DENES. 



113 



Before proceeding further, would it be presumptuous on my part to 

 suggest as a partial corollary of the foregoing the following classifica- 

 tion of all the Dene or T^ne^ tribes based on pei-sonal observation and 

 the knowledge of two of their dialects, and, in so far as the Eastern 

 tribes are concerned, on the works of Rev. E. Petitot, a learned ethno- 

 grapher and philologist, who has passed twenty (1862-1882) years of 

 assiduous study among them 1 



CLASSIFICATION OF THE DEXE TRIBES. 



'CE in these and other Dene words corresponds to the French e of je, me, te, etc. U has the 

 sound of the ItaHan u (oo). 



The words within parentheses are the i-espective expressions used 

 by the different tribes to say " Men," and thereby designate them- 

 selves when not referring to the couutiy they inhabit. The remark- 

 itble homophouy of these terms (which is easily explained by the 

 fact that they are root words) is, however, somewliat misleading, 

 inasmuch as it conveys an idea of philological similarity which is far 

 from existing between the various dialects. Theii- lexical difier- 



iD and t are interconvertible. 



8 



