The SNEA languages were all mutually intelligible to some extent, existing in a dialect chain or linkage, with the boundaries between quite distinct dialects blurred by a series of transitional varieties. All the SNEA languages, including Massachusett, can be differentiated from other Eastern branch languages by several shared innovations including the merger of PEA *"hr" and *"hx" into *"hš", palatization of PEA *"k" to SNEA *"ty" where it occurs after PEA *"ē" and some instances of PA *"i", palatization of PEA *"sk" in similar environments to *"hč" and word-final PEA *"r" merging into *"š".