ALGONQUIAN LINGUISTIC GROUPS 
The Algonquian tribes linguistically fall into four major divisions, 
namely: Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Eastern-Central. Each 
division is discussed in the following pages under the appropriate 
head. 
BiackFrooT (SIKsIKA) 
This division includes the Piegan, Bloods, and Blackfeet proper. 
According to Wissler,! the linguistic differences among the tribes 
are mainly in the choice of words and idioms. The same authority 
states that the Northern Blackfeet seem to differ more from the 
Piegan than the latter do from the Bloods. The present writer can 
describe only the language of the Piegan of Montana from personal 
observation. It is characterized by an abundance of harsh conso- 
nantic clusters and long consonants. The latter occur usually 
between vowels but may occur in clusters. The first of the following 
tables shows all the clusters ? of two consonants found in one of the 
writer’s longer texts; the second, all the clusters of three consonants 
in the same text: 
oe Second member of cluster 
Tnitial 
conso- | ——_—— — 
a | 4 k t Pp 8 ts tc 
k ks 
t tte 
m ms 
$8 sk st sts sic 
ts tsk tsp tss 
t qk zt rp zs ttc 
1q xt rp re 
Social Life of the Blackfoot Indians, p. 8, New York, 1911. 
2In this and similar tables some combinations are given which are not clusters in the strictest sense of 
the word, but they are introduced here for convenience and on account of their importance. 
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