78 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 40 



instance, the Iroquois, which possesses not a single true labial conso- 

 nant; or the Haida, in which the labials are confined to a few 

 sounds, which are rather rare. 



The vocalic systems of the northern languages seem peculiarly 

 uncertain. The cases are very numerous in which obscure vowels 

 occur, which are evidently related to fuller vowels, but whose affilia- 

 tions often can not be determined. It would seem that in the south- 

 ern languages these weak vowels are not so prominent. We also find 

 very frequently a lack of clear distinction between o and u on the 

 one hand, and e and % on the other. Although the variability of 

 vowels in some of the languages seems beyond doubt, there are others 

 in which the vocalic system is very definite and in which distinctions 

 are expressed, not only by the timbre of the vowel, but also by its 

 rising or falling tone. Among these may be mentioned the Pawnee 

 and the Takelma. The Pawnee seems to have at least two tones, a 

 sinking tone and a rising tone, while in Takelma there seem to be 

 three tones. Nasalized vowels are very common in some languages, 

 and entirely absent in others. This nasalization occurs both with 

 open lips and with closed lips. An example of the latter is the Iro- 

 quois u'^. 



It is not possible to give any general characterization of American 

 languages with regard to the grouping of sounds. While in some 

 languages consonantic clusters of incredible complexity are formed, 

 others avoid such clusters altogether. There is, however, a habit of 

 pronunciation which deserves attention, and which is found very 

 widely distributed. This is the slurring of the ends of words, which 

 is sometimes so pronounced, that, in an attempt to write the words, 

 the terminations, grammatical or other, may become entirely inaudi- 

 ble. The simplest form in which this tendency expresses itself is in 

 the suppression of terminal consonants, which are only articulated, 

 but not pronounced. In the Nass river dialect of the Tsimshian, for 

 instance, the terminal n of the word gan tree is indicated by the 

 position of the tongue, but is entirely inaudible, unless the word is 

 followed by other words belonging to the same sentence. In that 

 language the same is true of the sounds I and m. Vowels are 

 suppressed in a similar manner by being only indicated by the posi- 

 tion of the mouth, without being articulated. This happens fre- 

 quently to the u following a Ic, or with an i in the same position. 



