SCIENCE 



NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 6, 1891. 



THE STUDY OF INDIAN LANGUAGES. 



As tbe number of those interested in the study of Indian 

 languages increases, the need of a complete classiflcaiion of 

 Indian languages and dialects becomes more and more ap- 

 parent. The investigations necessary to such a classitication 

 were begun many years ago by the Bureau of Ethnology, 

 and from time to time field investigations have been con- 

 ducted with especial reference to it SutBcient progress has 

 been made to permit the publication of a classification of all 

 Indian languages in the territory north of Mexico, together 

 with a map displaying the area occupied by the several 

 families. 



The classification is primarily based upon an examination . 

 of the linguistic material relating to the subject. Mr. James 

 C. Pilling has been engaged in the preparation of the bibli- 

 ography of this literature, and several volumes of the 

 bibliography have already been published. The literature 

 itself is classified by him as far as possible in compliance 

 with this scheme. Secondarily the classification is based on a 

 large body of linguistic material now in the archives of the 

 bureau, which also received notice in Mr. Filling's ''Bibli- 

 ography." 



Mr. H. W. Henshaw is engaged on the tribal synonymy, 

 and a large volume on this subject is approaching comple- 

 tion. The tribal synonymy is also based upon this classi- 

 fication. The classifi-cation itself is the work of the Director 

 of the bureau. 



It will of course be understood that such a classification 

 must be purely tentative, and that it will require modifi- 

 cation as new material is acquired by students, and as 

 present views in regard to the relationship of existing 

 families may be changed by further study. All the material 

 relating to tlie classification will appear in the seventh 

 annual report of the bureau, now in the hands of the printer. 



The subject is deemed of sufficient interest and importance 

 to warrant the present publication of the principles upon 

 which the classification has been based, and of the rules 

 which have guided in the selection of family names, to- 

 gether with a list of the families. 



The languages spoken by the pre-Columbian tribes of 

 North America were many and diverse. Into the regions 

 occupied by these tribes, travellers, traders, and missionaries 

 have penetrated in advance of civilization, and civilization 

 itself has marched across the continent at a rapid rate. 

 Under these conditions, the languages of the various tribes 

 have received much study. Many extensive works have 

 been published, embracing grammars and dictionaries ; but 

 a far greater number of minor vocabularies have been col- 

 lected, and very many have been published. In addition to 

 these, the Bible, in whole or in part, and various religious 

 books and school-books, have been translated into Indiain 

 tongues, to be used for purposes of instruction, and news- 

 papers have been published in the Indian languages. Alto- 

 gether the literature in these languages, together with the 

 literature relating to it, is of vast extent. While the 



materials seem thus to be abundant, the student of Indian 

 languages finds the subject to be one of great magnitude, 

 difficullies arising from tbe following conditions: — 



1. A great number of linguistic stocks or families is dis- 

 covered 



2. The boundaries between the different .stocks of lan- 

 guages are not immediately apparent, from the fact that 

 many tribes of diverse stocks have had more or less associ- 

 ation, and to some extent linguistic materials have been 

 borrowed, and thus have passed out of the exclusive posses- 

 sion of cognate peoples. 



3. Where many peoples, each few in number, are thrown 

 together, an intertribal language is c'eveloped. To a large 

 extent this is gesture speech; but to a limited extent useful 

 and important words are adopted by various tribes, and out 

 of this material an intertribal "jargon" is established. 

 Travellers and all others, who do not thoroughly study a 

 language, are far more likely to acquire this jargon speech 

 than the real speech of the people ; and the tendency to 

 base relationship upon such jargons has led to confusion. 



4. This tendency to the establishment of an intertribal 

 jargon 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 t'ade, 

 were established, and the new associations of tribe with tribe 

 and of the Indians with Europeans led very often to the de- 

 velopment 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, to- 

 gether with the imperfect material and the complicating con- 

 ditions that have arisen by the spread of civilization over 

 the country, combine to make the problem one not readily 

 resolved. 



In view of the amount of material on hand, the compara- 

 tive 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 fi.eld; second, the attempt has more 

 frequently been made to establish an ethnic classification 

 than a linguistic classification, and linguistic characteristics 

 have been confused with biotic peculiarities, arts, habits, 

 customs, and other human activities, so that often radical 

 differences of language have been ignored, and slight differ- 

 ences have been held to be of primary value. 



The attempts at a classification of these languages and 

 also at a classification of races have led to the development 

 of a complex, mixed, and inconsistent synonymy, which 

 must first be unravelled and a selection of standard names 

 made therefrom, according 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 rules 

 that have here been adopted, together with brief reasons for 



