82 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 40 



history of American languages, and the study of dialects has not 

 advanced far enough to permit us to draw far-reaching inferences 

 in regard to this subject. It is therefore impossible, in the few cases 

 here mentioned, to state whether the occurrence and non-occurrence 

 of these categories are due to a loss of old forms in the one dialect or 

 to a later differentiation in the other. 



Although, therefore, an analytical grammar can not lay any claim 

 to present a history of the development of grammatical categories, it 

 is valuable as a presentation of the present state of grammatical de- 

 velopment in each linguistic group. The results of our investigation 

 must be supplemented at a later time by a thorough analysis and com- 

 parison of all the dialects of each linguistic stock. 



Owing to the fundamental differences between different linguistic 

 families, it has seemed advisable to develop the terminology of each 

 independently of the others, and to seek for uniformity only in cases 

 where it can be obtained without artificially stretching the definition 

 of terms. It is planned to give a comparative discussion of the 

 languages at the close of these volumes, when reference can be made 

 to the published sketches. 



So far as our present knowledge goes, the following linguistic fami- 

 lies may be distinguished in North America north of Mexico: 



1. Eskimo (arctic coast). 



2. Athapascan (northwestern interior, Oregon, California, 



Southwest). 



3. Tlingit (coast of southern Alaska). 



4. Haida (Queen Charlotte islands, British Columbia). 



5. Salishan (southern British Columbia and northern Wash- 



ington) . 



6. Chemakum (west coast of Washington). 



7. Wakashan (Vancouver island). 



8. Algonquian (region sovith of Hudson Bay and eastern Wood- 



lands). 



9. Beotlmk (Newfoundland). 



10. Tsimshian (northern coast of British Columbia). 



11. Siouan (northern plains west of Mississippi and North Car- 



olina) . 



12. Iroquoian (lower Great Lakes and North Carolina). 



13. Caddoan (southern part of plains west of Mississippi). 



14. Muskhogean (southeastern United States). 



15. Kiowa (middle Western plains). 



16. Shoshonean (western plateaus of United States). 



