﻿8 
  INDIAN 
  LINGUISTIC 
  FAMILIES. 
  

  

  (•1) 
  This 
  tendency 
  to 
  the 
  establishment 
  of 
  intertribal 
  jargons 
  

   was 
  greatly 
  accelerated 
  on 
  the 
  advent 
  of 
  the 
  white 
  man, 
  for 
  thereby 
  

   many 
  tribes 
  were 
  pushed 
  from 
  their 
  ancestral 
  homes 
  and 
  tribes 
  were 
  

   mixed 
  with 
  tribes. 
  As 
  a 
  result, 
  new 
  relations 
  and 
  new 
  industries, 
  

   especially 
  of 
  trade, 
  were 
  established, 
  and 
  the 
  new 
  associations 
  of 
  

   tribe 
  with 
  tribe 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  Indians 
  with 
  Europeans 
  led 
  very 
  often 
  

   to 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  quite 
  elaborate 
  jargon 
  languages. 
  All 
  of 
  

   these 
  have 
  a 
  tendency 
  to 
  complicate 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  tongues 
  

   by 
  comparative 
  methods. 
  

  

  The 
  difficulties 
  inherent 
  in 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  languages, 
  together 
  with 
  

   the 
  imperfect 
  material 
  and 
  the 
  complicating 
  conditions 
  that 
  have 
  

   arisen 
  by 
  the 
  spread 
  of 
  civilization 
  over 
  the 
  country, 
  combine 
  to 
  

   make 
  the 
  problem 
  one 
  not 
  readily 
  solved. 
  

  

  In 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  amount 
  of 
  material 
  on 
  hand, 
  the 
  comparative 
  study 
  

   of 
  the 
  languages 
  of 
  North 
  America 
  has 
  been 
  strangely 
  neglected, 
  

   though 
  perhaps 
  this 
  is 
  explained 
  by 
  reason 
  of 
  the 
  difficulties 
  which 
  

   have 
  been 
  pointed 
  out. 
  And 
  the 
  attempts 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  made 
  to 
  

   classify 
  them 
  has 
  given 
  rise 
  to 
  much 
  confusion, 
  for 
  the 
  following 
  

   reasons 
  : 
  First, 
  later 
  authors 
  have 
  not 
  properly 
  recognized 
  the 
  work 
  

   of 
  earlier 
  laborers 
  in 
  the 
  field. 
  Second, 
  the 
  attempt 
  has 
  more 
  fre- 
  

   quently 
  been 
  made 
  to 
  establish 
  an 
  ethnic 
  classification 
  than 
  a 
  lin- 
  

   guistic 
  classification, 
  and 
  linguistic 
  characteristics 
  have 
  been 
  con- 
  

   fused 
  withbiotic 
  peculiarities, 
  arts, 
  habits, 
  customs, 
  and 
  other 
  human 
  

   activities, 
  so 
  that 
  radical 
  differences 
  of 
  language 
  have 
  often 
  been 
  

   ignored 
  and 
  slight 
  differences 
  have 
  been 
  held 
  to 
  be 
  of 
  primary 
  value. 
  

  

  The 
  attempts 
  at 
  a 
  classification 
  of 
  these 
  languages 
  and 
  a 
  corre- 
  

   sponding 
  classification 
  of 
  races 
  have 
  led 
  to 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  a 
  

   complex, 
  mixed, 
  and 
  inconsistent 
  synonymy, 
  which 
  must 
  first 
  be 
  

   unraveled 
  and 
  a 
  selection 
  of 
  standard 
  names 
  made 
  therefrom 
  ac- 
  

   cording 
  to 
  fixed 
  principles. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  manifest 
  that 
  until 
  proper 
  rules 
  are 
  recognized 
  by 
  scholars 
  

   the 
  establishment 
  of 
  a 
  determinate 
  nomenclature 
  is 
  impossible. 
  It 
  

   will 
  therefore 
  be 
  well 
  to 
  set 
  forth 
  the 
  rides 
  that 
  have 
  here 
  been 
  

   adopted, 
  together 
  with 
  brief 
  reasons 
  for 
  the 
  same, 
  with 
  the 
  hope 
  

   that 
  they 
  will 
  commend 
  themselves 
  to 
  the 
  judgment 
  of 
  other 
  per- 
  

   sons 
  engaged 
  in 
  researches 
  relating 
  to 
  the 
  languages 
  of 
  North 
  

   America. 
  

  

  xV 
  fixed 
  nomenclature 
  in 
  biology 
  has 
  been 
  found 
  not 
  only 
  to 
  be 
  

   advantageous, 
  but 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  prerequisite 
  to 
  progress 
  in 
  research, 
  as 
  the 
  

   vast 
  multiplicity 
  of 
  facts, 
  still 
  ever 
  accumulating, 
  would 
  otherwise 
  

   overwhelm 
  the 
  scholar. 
  In 
  philological 
  classification 
  fixity 
  of 
  

   nomenclature 
  is 
  of 
  corresponding 
  importance; 
  and 
  while 
  the 
  anal- 
  

   ogies 
  between 
  linguistic 
  and 
  biotic 
  classification 
  are 
  quite 
  limited, 
  

   many 
  of 
  the 
  principles 
  of 
  nomenclature 
  which 
  biologists 
  have 
  

   adopted 
  having 
  no 
  application 
  in 
  philology, 
  still 
  in 
  some 
  important 
  

   particulars 
  the 
  requirements 
  of 
  all 
  scientific 
  classifications 
  are 
  alike, 
  

  

  