The Central Algonquian languages are commonly grouped together as a subgroup of the larger
Algonquian family, itself a member of the
Algic family. Though the grouping is often encountered in the literature, it is an areal grouping, not a genetic grouping. In other words, the languages are grouped together because they were spoken near one another, not because they are more closely related to one another than to other Algonquian languages. Within the Algonquian family, only
Eastern Algonquian
The Eastern Algonquian languages constitute a subgroup of the Algonquian languages. Prior to European contact, Eastern Algonquian consisted of at least 17 languages, whose speakers collectively occupied the Atlantic coast of North America and adj ...
is a valid genealogical group.
Within the Central Algonquian grouping,
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...
and Chippewa, otherwise known as
Ojibwe
The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...
, are closely related and are generally grouped together as an Ojibwa-Potawatomi sub-branch. "Eastern Great Lakes" was first proposed by Richard Rhodes in 1988, and first discussed by
Ives Goddard
Robert Hale Ives Goddard III (born 1941) is a linguist and a curator emeritus in the Department of Anthropology of the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution. He is widely considered the leading expert on the Algonqui ...
as "Core Central" in 1994. In Goddard's assessment, he divides the "Core Central" into the Ojibwa-Potawatomi and Miami–Illinois group, and the Sauk-Fox-Kickapoo and Shawnee group; the hypothesis for the subgroup was based on lexical and phonological innovations. David J. Costa in his 2003 book ''The Miami-Illinois Language'' agrees with Rhodes and Goddard that Central Algonquian has a specific language sub-branch that he refers to as "Eastern Great Lakes" but in his assessment Costa also states "...there seems to be no evidence that Miami-Illinois is closer to Ojibwe-Potawatomi than it is to Sauk-Fox-Kickapoo."
Family division
The languages are listed below along with dialects and subdialects. This classification follows Goddard (1996) and Mithun (1999).
* Central Algonquian
**
Cree–Montagnais (also known as Kirištino˙ or Cree–Montagnais–Naskapi)
*** Cree
****
Plains Cree
****
Woods Cree
**** Western
Swampy Cree
The Swampy Cree people, also known by their Exonym and endonym, autonyms ''Néhinaw'', ''Maskiki Wi Iniwak'', ''Mushkekowuk,'' ''Maškékowak, Maskegon'' or ''Maskekon'' (and therefore also ''Muskegon'' and ''Muskegoes'') or by exonyms includin ...
**** Eastern Swampy Cree and
Moose Cree
****
Atikamekw
The Atikamekw are an Indigenous people in Canada. Their historic territory, ('Our Land'), is in the upper Saint-Maurice River valley of Quebec (about north of Montreal). One of the main communities is Manawan, about northeast of Montreal. ...
''(also known as Attikamek, Attikamekw, Atikamek or Tête de Boule)''
*** Montagnais–Naskapi
****
East Cree
East Cree, also known as James Bay (Eastern) Cree, and East Main Cree, is a group of Cree dialects spoken in Quebec, Canada on the east coast of lower Hudson Bay and James Bay, and inland southeastward from James Bay. Cree is one of the most s ...
''(also known as James Bay Cree or Eastern Cree)''
***** Northern East Cree
***** Southern East Cree
****
Naskapi
The Naskapi (Nascapi, Naskapee, Nascapee) are an Indigenous people of the Subarctic native to the historical region St'aschinuw (ᒋᑦ ᐊᔅᒋᓄᐤ, meaning 'our Clusivity, nclusiveland'), which was located in present day northern Qu ...
****
Montagnais ''(also known as Innu-aimun or Innu)''
**
Menominee
The Menominee ( ; meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recognized tribe of Na ...
(also known as Menomini)
** ? Eastern Great Lakes (also known as Core Central)
*** Ojibwe–Potawatomi (also known as Ojibwe–Potawatomi–Ottawa, ''Anishinaabemowin'', or the Anishinaabe language)
****
Ojibwe
The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...
(also known as Ojibwa, Ojibway, Ojibwe–Ottawa, ''Ojibwemowin'' or the Anishinaabe language)
***** Northern
******
Algonquin
******
Oji-Cree
The Anisininew or Oji-Cree are a First Nation in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, residing in a band extending from the Missinaibi River region in Northeastern Ontario at the east to Lake Winnipeg at the west.
The Oji-Cree pe ...
''(also known as Severn Ojibwe, Anishininiimowin or the Anishinini language)''
***** Southern
******
Saulteaux
The Saulteaux (pronounced , or in imitation of the French pronunciation , also written Salteaux, Saulteau and Ojibwa ethnonyms, other variants), otherwise known as the Plains Ojibwe, are a First Nations in Canada, First Nations band governm ...
''(also known as Nakawēmowin, Plains Ojibwe or Western Ojibwe)''
******
Eastern Ojibwe ''(also known as Mississauga Ojibwa or Jibwemwin)''
******
Southwestern Ojibwe ''(also known as Chippewa, Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Ojibwemowin or Ojibway)''
******
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
''(also known as Odawa or Daawaamwin)''
******
Northern Ojibwe ''(also known as Northwestern Ojibwe)''
******
Nipissing Algonquin ''(also known simply as Algonquin)''
****
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...
***
Fox
Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush").
Twelve species ...
(also known as Fox-Sauk-Kickapoo or Mesquakie-Sauk-Kickapoo)
**** Fox ''(also known as
Meskwaki
The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, th ...
, Mesquakie, or Meshkwahkihaki)''
****
Sauk ''(also known as Sac or Thakiwaki)''
****
Kickapoo
****
Mascouten
The Mascouten (also ''Mascoutin'', ''Mathkoutench'', ''Muscoden,'' or ''Musketoon'') were a tribe of Algonquian-speaking Native Americans located in the Midwest. They are believed to have dwelt on both sides of the Mississippi River, adjacent to ...
(unattested)
***
Shawnee
The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language.
Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...
***
Miami–Illinois
**** Miami
**** Illinois
****
Peoria
****
Wea
The Wea were a Miami–Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as being either closely related to the Miami tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami.
Today, the descendants of th ...
See also
*
Proto-Algonquian language
Proto-Algonquian (commonly abbreviated PA) is the proto-language from which the various Algonquian languages are descended. It is generally estimated to have been spoken around 2,500 to 3,000 years ago, but there is less agreement on where it was ...
*
Algonquian peoples
The Algonquians are one of the most populous and widespread North American indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous American groups, consisting of the peoples who speak Algonquian languages. They historically were prominent along the East ...
References
External links
Algonquian Family
Bibliography
* Campbell, Lyle (1997). ''American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America''. New York: Oxford University Press. .
* Goddard, Ives (1994). "The West-to-East Cline in Algonquian Dialectology." In William Cowan, ed., ''Papers of the 25th Algonquian Conference'' 187-211. Ottawa: Carleton University.
*———— (1996). "Introduction". In Ives Goddard, ed., "Languages". Vol. 17 of William Sturtevant, ed., ''The Handbook of North American Indians''. Washington, D.C.: The Smithsonian Institution.
* Mithun, Marianne (1999). ''The languages of Native North America''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (hbk); .
{{Algonquian languages
Algic languages
First Nations languages in Canada
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...