Algonquian languages

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Algonquian
Algonkian
Geographic
distribution: North America
Linguistic classification:
Algic
Algonquian
Proto-language: Proto-Algonquian
Subdivisions:
Plains Algonquian
Central Algonquian
Eastern Algonquian
ISO 639-2 / 5: alg
Glottolog:
algo1256[1]
{{{mapalt}}}
Pre-contact distribution of Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages (/lkwin/ or /lkin/;[2] also Algonkian) are a subfamily o
erican languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language fami
ly. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthogr
aphically similar Algonquin dialect of the indigenous Ojibwe language (Chippewa)
, which is a senior member of the Algonquian language family. The term "Algonqui
n" has been suggested to derive from the Maliseet word elakmkwik (pronounced [lomowik]
), "they are our relatives/allies".[3][4] A number of Algonquian languages, like
many of the Iroquoian languages of the hereditary enemies of the Algonquian peo
ples, have already become extinct.[citation needed]
Speakers of Algonquian languages stretch from the east coast of North America to
the Rocky Mountains. The proto-language from which all of the languages of the
family descend, Proto-Algonquian, was spoken around 2,500 to 3,000 years ago.[5]
There is no scholarly consensus as to the territory where this language was spo
ken.
Contents [hide]
1 Family division
1.1 Subgroups
2 Grammatical features
3 Vocabulary
4 See also
5 References
6 Bibliography
7 External links
Family division[edit]
Main articles: Plains Algonquian languages, Central Algonquian languages and Eas
tern Algonquian languages
This subfamily of around 30 languages is divided into three groups according to
geography: Plains, Central, and Eastern Algonquian. Only Eastern Algonquian cons
titutes a true genetic subgroup.[6]
The languages are listed below, following the classifications of Goddard (1996)
and Mithun (1999). Extinct languages are marked with , and endangered languages a
re noted as such. For dialects and subdialects, consult the separate main articl
es for each of the three divisions.
Plains
1. Blackfoot
Arapahoan (including Nawathinehena (), and Besawunena ())
2. Arapaho proper
3. Gros Ventre ()

4. Cheyenne (ahyena)
Central
5. CreeMontagnaisNaskapi
6. Menominee (severely endangered)
OjibwePotawatomi
7. Ojibwe (Oipwe)
8. Potawatomi (nearly extinct)
9. SaukFoxKickapoo (severely endangered)
10. Shawnee (awanoki) (severely endangered)
11. MiamiIllinois ()
Eastern
12. Mi'kmaq
Abenaki
13. Western Abenaki (nearly extinct)
14. Eastern Abenaki ()
15. MalecitePassamaquoddy
16. Massachusett
17. Narragansett ()
18. MoheganPequttog ()
19. Quiripi-Naugatuck-Unquachog ()
20. Mahican ()
Delawarean
21. Munsee (nearly extinct)
22. Unami ()
23. NanticokePiscataway ()
24. Carolina Algonquian ()
25. Powhatan ()
26. Etchemin () (uncertain - See Eastern Algonquian languages)
27. Loup A () (probably Nipmuck (), uncertain - See Eastern Algonquian languages)
28. Loup B () (uncertain - See Eastern Algonquian languages)
29. Shinnecock () (uncertain)
Subgroups[edit]
Eastern Algonquian is a true genetic subgrouping. The Plains Algonquian and the
Central Algonquian groups are not genetic groupings but rather areal groupings.
However, these areal groups often do share linguistic features, but the sharing
is attributed to language contact.[7] Paul Proulx has argued that this tradition
al view is incorrect,[8][page needed] and that Central Algonquian (in which he i
ncludes the Plains Algonquian languages) is a genetic subgroup, with Eastern Alg
onquian consisting of several different subgroups. However, this classification
scheme has failed to gain acceptance from other specialists in the Algonquian la
nguages.[9]
Instead, the commonly accepted subgrouping scheme is that proposed by Ives Godda
rd (1994). The essence of this proposal is that Proto-Algonquian originated with
people to the west, perhaps in the Plateau region of Idaho and Oregon or the Ro
cky Mountain-Great Plains boundary of Montana, and then moved east, dropping off
subgroups as people migrated. By this scenario, Blackfoot was the first languag
e to branch off, which coincides well with its being the most divergent language
of Algonquian. In west-to-east order, the subsequent branchings were:
Arapaho-Gros Ventre, Cree-Montagnais, Menominee, and Cheyenne;
then the core Great Lakes languages: (OjibwePotawatomi, Shawnee, SaukFoxKickapoo, a
nd MiamiIllinois); and
finally, Proto-Eastern Algonquian.
This historical reconstruction accords best with the observed levels of divergen
ce within the family, whereby the most divergent languages are found furthest we
st (since they constitute the earliest branchings during eastern migration), and
the shallowest subgroupings are found furthest to the east (Eastern Algonquian,
and arguably Core Central). Goddard also points out that there is clear evidenc
e for pre-historical contact between Eastern Algonquian and Cree-Montagnais, as

well as between Cheyenne and Arapaho-Gros Ventre. There has long been especially
extensive back-and-forth influence between Cree and Ojibwe.[10]
It has been suggested that the 'Eastern Great Lakes' languageswhat Goddard has ca
lled 'Core Central', e.g., OjibwePotawatomi, Shawnee, SaukFoxKickapoo, and Miami-Il
linois (but not CreeMontagnais or Menominee), may also constitute their own genet
ic grouping within Algonquian. They share certain intriguing lexical and phonolo
gical innovations. But, this theory has not yet been fully fleshed out and is st
ill considered conjectural.
Algonquian is sometimes said to have included the extinct Beothuk language of Ne
wfoundland, whose speakers were both in geographic proximity to Algonquian speak
ers and who share DNA in common with the Algonquian-speaking Mi'kmaq.[11][12] Li
nguistic evidence is scarce and poorly recorded however, and it is unlikely that
reliable evidence of a connection can be found.[13]
Grammatical features[edit]
The Algonquian language family is known for its complex polysynthetic morphology
and sophisticated verb system.[14] Statements that take many words to say in En
glish can be expressed with a single word. Ex: (Menominee) paehtwwesew "He is heard
by higher powers" (paeht- 'hear', -w- 'spirit', -wese- passivizer, -w third-person
subject) or (Plains Cree) ksthikoyahk "it frightens us". These languages have bee
n extensively studied by Leonard Bloomfield, Ives Goddard, and others.
Algonquian nouns have an animate/inanimate contrast: some nouns are classed as a
nimate, while all other nouns are inanimate.[14] There is ongoing debate over wh
ether there is a semantic significance to the categorization of nouns as animate
or inanimate, with scholars arguing for it as either a clearly semantic issue,
or a purely syntactic issue, along with a variety of arguments in between. More
structurally inclined linguistic scholars have argued that since there is no con
sistent semantic system for determining the animacy of a noun, that it must be a
purely linguistic characterization. Anthropological linguists have conversely a
rgued the strong connection between animacy and items viewed as having spiritual
importance.
Another important distinction involves the contrast between nouns marked as prox
imate and those marked as obviative. Proximate nouns are those deemed most centr
al or important to the discourse, while obviative nouns are those less important
to the discourse.[15]
There are personal pronouns which distinguish three persons, two numbers (singul
ar and plural), inclusive and exclusive first person plural, and proximate and o
bviative third persons. Verbs are divided into four classes: transitive verbs wi
th an animate object (abbreviated "TA"), transitive verbs with an inanimate obje
ct ("TI"), intransitive verbs with an animate subject ("AI"), and intransitive v
erbs with an inanimate subject ("II").[15]
Vocabulary[edit]
See the lists of words in the Algonquian languages and the list of words of Algo
nquian origin at Wiktionary, the free dictionary and Wikipedia's sibling project
.
Loan words
Main article: List of English words of Algonquian origin
Because Algonquian languages were some of the first which Europeans came into co
ntact in North America, the language family has given many words to English. Man
y eastern and midwestern U.S. states have names of Algonquian origin (Massachuse
tts, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, etc.), as do many cities: Milwa
ukee, Chicago, et al. Ottawa, the capital of Canada, is named after an Algonquia
n nation, the Odawa people.

For a more detailed treatment of geographical names in three Algonquian language

s see the external link to the book by Trumbull.
See also[edit]
The word woman in the different Algonquian languages
Algic languages (from Proto-Algic)
Algonquian Bible
Algonquian peoples
Algonquin language - a similarly-named language which is a member of the Algonqu
ian language family
Central Algonquian languages
Eastern Algonquian languages
Plains Algonquian languages
Indigenous languages of the Americas
Leonard Bloomfield
Ives Goddard
H.C. Wolfart
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarstrm, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Ma
rtin, eds. (2013). "Algonquian". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Ev
olutionary Anthropology.
Jump up ^ "Algonquian". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
Jump up ^ Campbell 1997, p. 401, notes 133, 136.
Jump up ^ Bright 2004, p. 32.
Jump up ^ Goddard 1978, p. 587.
Jump up ^ Mithun 1999, pp. 328, 333-335.
Jump up ^ Goddard 1994, p. 187.
Jump up ^ Proulx 2003.
Jump up ^ Goddard 1994, p. 199.
Jump up ^ Goddard 1994.
Jump up ^ Goddard 1979, pp. 106-7.
Jump up ^ Kuch et al. 2007.
Jump up ^ Mithun 1999, p. 368.
^ Jump up to: a b Pentland & 2006 163.
^ Jump up to: a b Pentland 2006, p. 164.
Bibliography[edit]
Bloomfield, Leonard (1946). "Algonquian". Linguistic Structures of Native Americ
a, ed. Harry Hoijer. Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology: 6. New York.
Bright, William (2004). Native American Place Names of the United States. Norman
: University of Oklahoma Press.
Cappel, Constance, (2006), Odawa Language and Legends: Andrew J. Blackbird and R
aymond Kiogima, Bloomington, IN: Xlibris.
Campbell, Lyle (1997). American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of
Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509427-1.
Goddard, Ives (1978). "Central Algonquian Languages". In Trigger, Bruce G., ed.
Northeast. Vol. 15 of Handbook of North American Indians, ed. William C. Sturtev
ant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. pp. 583587. ISBN 978-0-16-0045752.
(1979a). "Comparative Algonquian". In Lyle Campbell & Marianne Mithun, eds., The La
nguages of Native North America: Historical and Comparative Assessment, pp. 70132
. Austin: University of Texas Press.
(1994). "The West-to-East Cline in Algonquian Dialectology." In William Cowan, ed.,
Papers of the 25th Algonquian Conference, pp. 187211. Ottawa: Carleton Universit
y.
(1996). "Introduction". In Ives Goddard, ed., "Languages". Vol. 17 of William Sturt
evant, ed., The Handbook of North American Indians. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonia
n Institution.
Kuch, Melanie (2007). "A preliminary analysis of the DNA and diet of the extinct

Beothuk: A systematic approach to ancient human DNA" (PDF). American Journal of

Physical Anthropology 132: 594604. doi:10.1002/ajpa.20536.
Mithun, Marianne (1999). The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambr
idge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7 (hbk); ISBN 0-521-29875-X.
Moondancer and Strong Woman (2007). A Cultural History of the Native Peoples of
Southern New England: Voices from Past and Present. Boulder, Colorado: Bauu Pres
s. ISBN 0-9721349-3-X.
"Uncertain/Extinct Algonquian Languages".
O'Brien, Frank Waabu (2010). "Understanding Indian Place Names in Southern New E
ngland". Boulder, Colorado: Bauu Press. ISBN 978-0-9820467-6-0.
Pentland, David H. (2006). "Algonquian and Ritwan Languages", in Keith Brown, ed
., Encyclopedia of Languages and Linguistics (2nd ed.), pp. 1616. Amsterdam: Else
vier.
Proulx, Paul (2003). "The Evidence on Algonquian Genetic Grouping: A Matter of R
elative Chronology", Anthropological Linguistics 45:201-25.
External links[edit]
Algonquian language family on Native-languages.org
Comparative Algonquian Swadesh vocabulary lists (from Wiktionary's Swadesh-list
appendix)
Composition of Geographical Names from the Algonkin Languages, by J. Hammond Tru
mbull at Project Gutenberg
Algonquian Linguistic Atlas
[hide] v t e
Algonquian languages
Plains Algonquian
Arapahoan Arapaho proper Besawunena Gros Ventre Nawathinehena Blackfoot Cheyenne
Central Algonquian
CreeMontagnaisNaskapi Menominee MiamiIllinois Ojibwe Potawatomi SaukFoxKickapoo Shawn
ee
Eastern Algonquian
Abenakian languages
Abenaki MalecitePassamaquoddy
Southern New England
Loup Massachusett MoheganPequttog Narragansett Quiripi-Naugatuck-Unquachog
Delawaran languages
Delaware Mahican Munsee Unami
Other East Algonquian
Carolina Algonquian Etchemin Mi'kmaq NanticokePiscataway Powhatan
Italics indicate extinct languages
Authority control
GND: 4196233-3 NDL: 00576534
Categories: Algonquian languagesPolysynthetic languagesIndigenous languages of t
he North American SubarcticIndigenous languages of the North American PlainsIndi
genous languages of the North American eastern woodlandsIndigenous languages of
the North American SoutheastLanguages of the United StatesFirst Nations language
s in CanadaGreat Lakes tribal cultureAlgonquian peoples
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