The territory of the Washo was situated both in cAlifornia and Nevada in the vicinity of Lake Tahoe and the lower Carson valley, east of the Sierra Nevada. The neighbors of the Washo on the west were the Maidu and the Miwok, on all othe sides were Shoshoneans. The Washo language was definitely established as a distinct family by Powell on the basis of lexical content. The Washo are the only Indians in Nevada that do not form part of the great Uto-Aztekan family.

For this reason the first question of interest in regard to their language from a comparative point of view, is whether in its morphological characteristics it resembles more nearly the neighboring widley spread Shoshonean dialects with which it is chiefly in territorial contact, or the many distinct smaller families constituting a morphological group in northern and southern Central California.This question can be better discussed after a consideration of the information secured upon the language, and the answer will therefore be found in the conclusion of this study (from the introduction).

(Re-edition; originally published 1907 in Berkeley; written in English)