972 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 40 



their common origin. All that can be done is to indicate some of the 

 main lines of dialectic differentiation. 



It is not known how many dialects there are. In Greenland at least 

 five may be distinguished, three of which (those of Upernavik, Disco 

 bay, and Ammassalik) have been closely examined by me.^ In this 

 sketch I shall describe the dialect of the largest two fiords of West 

 Greenland, — that of Disco bay (69^-70° N. lat.) and of the neighboring 

 Oommannaq fiord (70^-71° N.). Of course this does not imply that 

 that dialect is more typical than any of the others. 



Notwithstanding the fact that the dialects of western Alaska differ 

 essentially from the Eskimo dialect which is spoken at the mouth of 

 the Mackenzie river, yet these dialects have certain peculiarities in 

 common which show that genetically they belong together. We may 

 speak of a western Eskimo group of dialects, comprising the many 

 different dialects of Kadiak island, Bristol bay, the mouth of the 

 Yukon river, Norton sound and Kotzebue sound. Point Barrow, and 

 the mouth of the Mackenzie river, as opposed to the eastern Eskimo 

 group of dialects; namely, those of Labrador, Baffin land, and Green- 

 land. Within the eastern Eskimo branch I have presumed a closer 

 relationship to exist between the dialects of Labrador and Central or 

 South Greenland (from about 63-^ to 66° N. lat. on the western coast) 

 than between those of the other parts of the group.- The latter com- 

 prises the four northernmost dialects, which are now widespread, but 

 which perhaps less than a thousand years ago were still a unit, — the 

 dialects of Baffin land, Smith sound, Upernavik, and Ammassalik 

 (East Greenland). It is probable that these Eskimo reached the shores 

 of Davis strait at a later period than the Labrador and South Green- 

 land Eskimo. Finally, I shall only touch on the group of dialects 

 that are spoken on the western shores of Hudson bay, Southampton 

 island, Melville and Boothia peninsulas, and in part of Baffin land, — 

 properly the central dialects. It remains undecided as yet with which 

 group these dialects must be classed. 



It is fitting to add here that I feel indebted to Professor Franz Boas 

 for his kind and valuable assistance in the revision and finishing of this 

 grammar. 



iThe Danish Commission for the Direction of Geological and Geographical Explorations in Green- 

 land arranged for two investigations of the Eskimo language in Greenland,— first, in 1900-01, in West 

 Greenland (see Meddelelser om Oronland, XXXI, Copenhagen, 1904), and again, in 1905-06, in East 

 Greenland. 



2Thalbitzer I, 237, 260, 262-265. 



§1 



