investigation of one[A] of the most learned and profound of these
individuals, may be summed up in the three following propositions:

1. "That the American languages in general, are rich in words and in
grammatical forms, and that in their complicated construction, the
greatest order, method and regularity prevail.

2. "That these complicated forms, which I call _poly synthetic,_ appear
to exist in all those languages, from Greenland to Cape Horn.

3. "That these forms appear to differ essentially from those of the
ancient and modern languages of the old hemisphere."

[Footnote A: Mr. Duponceau.]

In a late learned dissertation[A] on this subject, it is stated that in
nearly the whole territory contained in the United States, and in
British and Russian America, there are only eight great families, each
speaking a distinct language, subdivided in many instances, into a
number of dialects belonging to the same stock. These are the Eskimaux,
the Athapascas (or Cheppeyans,) the Black Feet, the Sioux, the
Algonkin-Lenape, the Iroquois, the Cherokee, and the Mobilian or
Chahta-Muskhog. The Shawanoes belong to the Algonkin-Lenape family, and
speak a dialect of that language. It bears a strong affinity to the
Mohican and the Chippeway, but more especially the Kickapoo. Valuable
vocabularies of the Shawanoe language have been given by Johnston and
by Gallatin in their contributions to the American Antiquarian Society,
which may be consulted by those disposed to prosecute the study of this
subject.