LITERATURE RELATING TO THE CLa.s.sIFICATION

OF INDIAN LANGUAGES.

While the literature relating to the languages of North America is very extensive, that which relates to their cla.s.sification is much less extensive. For the benefit of future students in this line it is thought best to present a concise account of such literature, or at least so much as has been consulted in the preparation of this paper.

1836. Gallatin (Albert).

A synopsis of the Indian tribes within the United States east of the Rocky Mountains, and in the British and Russian possessions in North America. In Transactions and Collections of the American Antiquarian Society (Archologia Americana) Cambridge, 1836, vol. 2.

The larger part of the volume consists of Gallatins paper. A short chapter is devoted to general observations, including certain historical data, and the remainder to the discussion of linguistic material and the affinities of the various tribes mentioned. Vocabularies of many of the families are appended. Twenty-eight linguistic divisions are recognized in the general table of the tribes. Some of these divisions are purely geographic, such as the tribes of Salmon River, Queen Charlottes Island, etc. Vocabularies from these localities were at hand, but of their linguistic relations the author was not sufficiently a.s.sured. Most of the linguistic families recognized by Gallatin were defined with much precision. Not all of his conclusions are to be accepted in the presence of the data now at hand, but usually they were sound, as is attested by the fact that they have const.i.tuted the basis for much cla.s.sificatory work since his time.

The primary, or at least the ostensible, purpose of the colored map which accompanies Gallatins paper was, as indicated by its t.i.tle, to show the distribution of the tribes, and accordingly their names appear upon it, and not the names of the linguistic families. Nevertheless, it is practically a map of the linguistic families as determined by the author, and it is believed to be the first attempted for the area represented. Only eleven of the twenty-eight families named in this table appear, and these represent the families with which he was best acquainted. As was to be expected from the early period at which the map was constructed, much of the western part of the United States was left uncolored. Altogether the map ill.u.s.trates well the state of knowledge of the time.

1840. Bancroft (George).

History of the colonization of the United States, Boston. 1840, vol. 3.

In Chapter XXII of this volume the author gives a brief synopsis of the Indian tribes east of the Mississippi, under a linguistic cla.s.sification, and adds a brief account of the character and methods of Indian languages. A linguistic map of the region is incorporated, which in general corresponds with the one published by Gallatin in 1836. A notable addition to the Gallatin map is the inclusion of the Uchees in their proper locality. Though considered a distinct family by Gallatin, this tribe does not appear upon his map. Moreover, the Choctaws and Muskogees, which appear as separate families upon Gallatins map (though believed by that author to belong to the same family), are united upon Bancrofts map under the term Mobilian.

The linguistic families treated of are, I. Algonquin, II. Sioux or Dahcota, III. Huron-Iroquois, IV. Catawba, V. Cherokee, VI. Uchee, VII.

Natchez, VIII. Mobilian.

1841. Scouler (John).

Observations of the indigenous tribes of the northwest coast of America. In Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London.

London, 1841, vol. 11.

The chapter cited is short, but long enough to enable the author to construct a very curious cla.s.sification of the tribes of which he treats. In his account Scouler is guided chiefly, to use his own words, by considerations founded on their physical character, manners and customs, and on the affinities of their languages. As the linguistic considerations are mentioned last, so they appear to be the least weighty of his considerations.

Scoulers definition of a family is very broad indeed, and in his Northern Family, which is a branch of his Insular Group, he includes such distinct linguistic stocks as all the Indian tribes in the Russian territory, the Queen Charlotte Islanders, Koloshes, Ugalentzes, Atnas, Kolchans, Kenes, Tun Ghaase, Haidahs, and Chimmesyans. His Nootka-Columbian family is scarcely less incongruous, and it is evident that the cla.s.sification indicated is only to a comparatively slight extent linguistic.

1846. Hale (Horatio).

United States exploring expedition, during the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, under the command of Charles Wilkes, U.S. Navy, vol. 6, ethnography and philology. Philadelphia, 1846.

In addition to a large amount of ethnographic data derived from the Polynesian Islands, Micronesian Islands, Australia, etc., more than one-half of this important volume is devoted to philology, a large share relating to the tribes of northwestern America.

The vocabularies collected by Hale, and the conclusions derived by him from study of them, added much to the previous knowledge of the languages of these tribes. His conclusions and cla.s.sification were in the main accepted by Gallatin in his linguistic writings of 1848.

1846. Latham (Robert Gordon).

Miscellaneous contributions to the ethnography of North America. In Proceedings of the Philological Society of London. London, 1816, vol. 2.

In this article, which was read before the Philological Society, January 24, 1845, a large number of North American languages are examined and their affinities discussed in support of the two following postulates made at the beginning of the paper: First, No American language has an isolated position when compared with the other tongues en ma.s.se rather than with the language of any particular cla.s.s; second, The affinities between the language of the New World, as determined by their _vocabularies_, is not less real than that inferred from the a.n.a.logies of their _grammatical structure_. The authors conclusions are that both statements are substantiated by the evidence presented. The paper contains no new family names.

1847. Prichard (James Cowles).

Researches into the physical history of mankind (third edition), vol.

5, containing researches into the history of the Oceanic and of the American nations. London, 1847.

It was the purpose of this author, as avowed by himself, to determine whether the races of men are the cooffspring of a single stock or have descended respectively from several original families. Like other authors on this subject, his theory of what should const.i.tute a race was not clearly defined. The scope of the inquiry required the consideration of a great number of subjects and led to the acc.u.mulation of a vast body of facts. In volume 5 the author treats of the American Indians, and in connection with the different tribes has something to say of their languages. No attempt at an original cla.s.sification is made, and in the main the author follows Gallatins cla.s.sification and adopts his conclusions.

1848. Gallatin (Albert).

Hales Indians of Northwest America, and vocabularies of North America, with an introduction. In Transactions of the American Ethnological Society, New York, 1848, vol. 2.

The introduction consists of a number of chapters, as follows: First, Geographical notices and Indian means of subsistence; second, Ancient semi-civilization of New Mexico, Rio Gila and its vicinity; third, Philology; fourth, Addenda and miscellaneous. In these are brought together much valuable information, and many important deductions are made which ill.u.s.trate Mr. Gallatins great ac.u.men. The cla.s.sification given is an amplification of that adopted in 1836, and contains changes and additions. The latter mainly result from a consideration of the material supplied by Mr. Hale, or are simply taken from his work.

The groups additional to those contained in the Archologia Americana are:

1. Arrapahoes.

2. Jakon.

3. Kalapuya.

4. Kitunaha.

5. Lutuami.

6. Palainih.

7. Sahaptin.

8. Selish (Tsihaili-Selish).

9. Saste.

10. Waiilatpu.

1848, Latham (Robert Gordon).

On the languages of the Oregon Territory. In Journal of the Ethnological Society of London, Edinburgh, 1848, vol. 1.

This paper was read before the Ethnological Society on the 11th of December. The languages noticed are those that lie between Russian America and New California, of which the author aims to give an exhaustive list. He discusses the value of the groups to which these languages have been a.s.signed, viz, Athabascan and Nootka-Columbian, and finds that they have been given too high value, and that they are only equivalent to the primary subdivisions of _stocks_, like the Gothic, Celtic, and Cla.s.sical, rather than to the stocks themselves. He further finds that the Athabascan, the Kolooch, the Nootka-Columbian, and the Cadiak groups are subordinate members of one large and important cla.s.s--the Eskimo.

No new linguistic groups are presented.

1848. Latham (Robert Gordon).

On the ethnography of Russian America. In Journal of the Ethnological Society of London, Edinburgh, 1848, vol. 1.

This essay was read before the Ethnological Society February 19, 1845.

Brief notices are given of the more important tribes, and the languages are cla.s.sed in two groups, the Eskimaux and the Kolooch. Each of these groups is found to have affinities--

(1) With the Athabascan tongues, and perhaps equal affinities.

(2) Each has affinities with the Oregon languages, and each perhaps equally.

(3) Each has definite affinities with the languages of New California, and each perhaps equal ones.

(4) Each has miscellaneous affinities with all the other tongues of North and South America.

1848. Berghaus (Heinrich).

Physikalischer Atlas oder Sammlung von Karten, auf denen die hauptschlichsten erscheinungen der anorganischen und organischen Natur nach ihrer geographischen Verbreitung und Vertheilung bildlich dargestellt sind. Zweiter Band, Gotha, 1848.