416 WESTERN LANGUAGES CLASSIFIED. 



linguistic families: Zufii, Kera, and Rio Grande. The Rio Grande Pueblo 

 languages cover an area somewhat larger than that of the Quires or Kera 

 Pueblos, and offer many characteristic peculiarities not found to occur else- 

 where. A leaning towards the Numa dialects is perceptible in many- 

 instances, though more in the lexicon than in the grammatic elements. 



The most remarkable characteristics of these dialects, which have 

 prompted me to separate them from all surrounding ones, and to unite them 

 into one linguistic family, are as follows : 



1. They agree most generally in their radicals in the following impor- 

 tant terms: head (pe), hair, face and eye (telle), bone (ko, go, also occurring 

 in forehead, arm), tooth, beard, neck (kauva, of Numa origin), hand, finger 

 and nails (ma), chest (po, pi), foot and toes (en, uri). The majority of the 

 dialects also agree in the terms for man, woman, sun, water (pa, of Numa 

 origin), fire, wind, knife, hatchet. 



2. All show a tendency towards monosyllabism ; this tendency is even 

 perceptible in the Taos dialect. 



3. The numerals from one to ten agree generally, but one, two, three, 

 and four more than the other numerals. Jemez shows the most discrepancy. 



4. In corresponding words of the different dialects the consonants, 

 especially the mutes, undergo a sort of mutual alternation, or "sound- 

 shunting " process. 



5. Na is demonstrative pronoun, personal and possessive pronoun of 

 first person, and, when connected with nouns, the definite article. In Taos 

 -na seems to be a postpositive definite article. 



6. Final -i is found in most adjectives designating colors. 



7. Some dialects use a strongly emphasized final syllable, -da! , -oda', 

 in nouns designating relationship, animals, and phenomena of nature. It is 

 found suffixed to such terms, as suggest the idea of locomotion or change. 



8. Syllables and words usually end in vowels. 



Oscar Loew subdivides the stock into four groups of subdialects, to 

 which I have added Piro as the fifth. 



I. Tano, comprising Sandia above Albuquerque, Isleta below Albu- 

 querque, and Isleta in Texas, near El Paso. 



II. Taos, comprising Picuri and Taos; in Indian, Takhe. Investi- 

 gated by Dr. H. C. Yarrow. 



