220 GRAMMAi; OF THE KLAINIATH LANOUAGB. 



s and sh clusters : liiiiii;islilL;i, I;iikaslitk;i, ga-islitiii'ila, slitchia%i;{a, shtchi- 



,slitcbak'I%a, wliiiu'shii;{a, sliushpAslika, tgasliii'shgisli. 

 li clusters : sha'hin6ka, hlalila, tsu'liltsu'liH. 

 n clusters: shutankt,i>i, iiu'dsliantko, nd'hultxaga, ntt^ntiag, ndshfndslialo, 



m clusters: slummpsdla, wauda, liut;inis;fa, udumtclina, Amtcliiksh. 

 1 clusters: s^ulpka, tni(^lhak, t;ils;^a, yashaltko. ndult.;^aj,ra, lkap])a, Ishikl^a, 

 Itchania'shka. 

 'I'he inspection of this list, wJiich is by no means exhaustive, shows 

 the great adaptability of sounds in this language, and the limit foi- the 

 clustering of consonants is a very wide one. Some of the terms arc; real 

 "jawbreakers", but none of the group is unpronounceable for us, for they 

 are all subordinated to one vowel or diphthong and are not discordant among 

 themselves, so as to offend our ear. Some sounds appear more apt to 

 begin clusters as initials, while others prefer to stmid second or third in 

 order The language shuns initial clusters of more than two consonants, 

 three being a rarity ; but it favors their clustering after the vowel to any 

 pronounceable extent. 



FUREIGN TERMS AND THEIR PRONUNCTATIOK 



The pronunciation of words by the natives, from the investigator's 

 own tongue, or from other foreign languages, gives a valuable clue to the 

 physiology of their sounds. j\Iany Klamath Lake and Modoc individuals 

 converse with tolei-able fluency in English, and a difference may be per- 

 ceived between the English pronunciation of the pure-blood and that of 

 the mixed-blood Indians. 



The Maklaks learned a few French and English terms through the 

 Chinook Jargon, a medley speech from the Northwest, in which these 

 Indians are far better versed than in English They obtained the know- 

 ledge of this jargon from the Indian population on the Lower Columbia 

 :ind Wilhimet Rivers and on the Pacific coast, where it had been in vogue 

 for the last hundred years. According to G. Gibbs, who wrote a mono- 

 graph of it*, two-fifths of its vocabulary was taken by the Indians from 



* G. Gililis ; a Dictionary <>f the Chinook .laiyou, or Trade I.an•;lla(;(^ of Oii-f;oii. New York, 1863. 



