и 



uncertainty on the basis of tliese scattered , unmethodically 

 reproduced specimens of the language. 



Nevertheless the explorers of the inhabited regions in the 

 north deserve our gratitude for having taken down specimens 

 of the native language in the parts which they visited, for many 

 of these specimens are really of great interest for the compa- 

 rison of the dialects. We must only remember, when we want 

 to use them for this purpose that many accidental influences 

 may have been brought to bear on the forms in which the 

 words have been communicated to us. In most cases it is 

 almost a matter of chance for the explorer's untrained ear if 

 he takes note of the phonetical diflerences between the dialects. 

 Now he takes doAvn the language from the mouth of the native, 

 now from the mouth of the interpreter. The dialectal charac- 

 teristics are especially apt to be effaced through the intervention 

 of interpreters, who as a rule report what tJiey hear of the 

 strange dialect with the accent peculiar to their own idiom. 

 Everything in the strange dialect is thus leveled down to the 

 known dialect. 



Therefore if we take the trouble to study the traveler's 

 specimens of the language which he has heard, we must always 

 take into account not only his nationality, but also his own 

 and his interpreters' inaccuracies, misunderstandings and in- 

 consistencies. If he was previously acquainted with any of the 

 known dialects from books, for instance South Greenlandic, 

 the new dialect which he hears will undoubtedly be colored 

 for him by the dialect which he knew before, and he will 

 of course use the orthography of the dialect he knows for 

 reproducing the new one. It will be most convenient for iiim 

 to overlook the small differences of dialect. 



lUit even if he should wish to note down these differences 

 as the missionary does, yet it is not everyone that simply be- 

 cause he wants to will be able to practise that fine art of 



