280 CLASSIFICATION OF ALGONQUIAN TRIBES [ETH. ANN. 28 
related to each other and both to the Eastern Algonquian languages 
(see the discussion of Sauk, Fox, etc., p. 258), agreement on the part 
of Delaware with any of these would imply a certain amount of agree- 
ment with the others, and as Fox has some decided points of contact 
with Cree, a similar state of affairs exists as to the latter language. 
However, these generalities do not answer specific questions. Though 
it is hazardous, as noted above, to give an opinion on-the subject, the 
writer ventures to beheve that Delaware as Zeisberger has presented 
it is not a single dialect but a composite. The facts of the case prob- 
ably will be best satisfied by assuming one dialect the closest relation- 
ship of which was with Shawnee, but which shared with Fox (the pho- 
netic representative of) -pena (Shawnee -pe), and another the closest 
relationship of which is with Cree-Montagnais, both of which assumed 
dialects had points of contact with Ojibwa and Natick. In the opinion 
of the writer there is not sufficient evidence at present to warrant the 
belief that another dialect had especially close relations with Eastern 
Algonquian, though it is possible there was a dialect that shared a 
few forms with Eastern Algonquian that were not shared by the 
other Delaware dialects. But all these theories must remain con- 
jectures more or less plausible till all the Delaware dialects shall have 
been entirely restudied with the aid of living informants. 
EASTERN SUBTYPE 
The existing dialects composing this group are Micmac, Malecite, 
Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, and Abnaki. As mentioned above, 
these are all characterized by peculiar consonantic clusters and by 
certain grammatic terminations. However, as compared with Black- 
foot, Cheyenne, or Arapaho they belong in the Central group, for 
there are numerous patent correspondents to the latter in vocabu- 
laries and in the discussion of Sauk, Fox, etc., it has been shown how 
intimately they are related to Fox and Shawnee in the verbal termi- 
nations. The correspondence in vocabulary with the Central type 
is far more general than has been supposed. The peculiar termi- 
nations are not very startling*and show no more specialization than 
those of other Algonquian languages of the Central subtype. The 
peculiar terminations of the Micmac verb are due to the fact that the 
supposed indicatives are really correspondents to the Fox conjunctive. 
So in its last analysis the consonantal clusters are the distinguishing 
feature of the group. Below is a list of consonantic clusters in 
each of the following: Micmac (from one of the writer’s longer texts), 
Malecite (from one of Mr. Mechling’s longer texts), Passamaquoddy 
(from one of Doctor Gatschet’s texts, of moderate length), and 
Penobscot (from Prof. J. Dyneley Prince’s glossary in his article on 
Penobscot in Amer. Anthr., N.8., X11, No. 2, 183-208, 1910): 
