Central Algonquian languages

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Central Algonquian
Geographic
distribution:		 North America
Genetic
classification:		 Algic
 Algonquian
  Central Algonquian
Subdivisions:


The Central Algonquian languages are commonly grouped together as a subgroup of the larger Algonquian family, itself a member of the Algic family. Though this grouping is often encountered in the literature, it is an areal grouping rather than a genetic one. In other words, the languages are grouped together because they were spoken near each other, not because they are any closer related to one another than to any other Algonquian language. Within the Algonquian family, only Eastern Algonquian constitutes a separate genetic subgroup.

Within the Central Algonquian grouping, the only languages known to be more closely related to each other than to any other Algonquian languages are Potawatomi and Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe), which are generally grouped together in an Ojibwe-Potawatomi subbranch. However, there is some evidence for a larger subbranch within Central Algonquian, called "Eastern Great Lakes" by some[1] and "Core Central" by Goddard (1994), consisting of Ojibwe-Potawatomi, Miami-Illinois, Fox-Sauk-Kickapoo, and Shawnee, and excluding Cree-Montagnais and Menominee. This grouping has been suggested on the basis of certain lexical and phonological innovations, though this theory has not yet been fully fleshed out and is still considered conjectural.

Contents

[edit] Family division

The languages are listed below along with dialects and subdialects. This classification follows Goddard (1996) and Mithun (1999).

1. Cree-Montagnais

i. Cree
ii. Montagnais-Naskapi

2. Menominee (also known as Menomini)
I. Eastern Great Lakes (also known as Core Central)

a. Ojibwe-Potawatomi (also known as Ojibwe-Potawatomi-Ottawa, Anishinaabemowin, or the Anishinaabe language)
3. Anishinaabemowin (also known as Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Ojibway, or the Anishinaabe language)
i. Northern
ii. Southern
4. Potawatomi
5. Fox (also known as Fox-Sauk-Kickapoo or Mesquakie-Sauk-Kickapoo)
  • Fox (also known as Meskwaki, Mesquakie, or Meshkwahkihaki)
  • Sauk (also known as Sac and Fox)
  • Kickapoo
  • Mascouten (unattested)
6. Shawnee
7. Miami-Illinois

[edit] References

  1. ^ e.g. Costa, David J. (2003). The Miami-Illinois Language. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, pg. 1

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Bibliography

  • Campbell, Lyle (1997). American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509427-1.
  • 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.
  • Grimes, Barbara F. (Ed.) (2000). Ethnologue: Languages of the world, (14th ed.). Dallas, TX: SIL International. ISBN 1-55671-106-9. Online edition: http://www.ethnologue.com/, accessed on Mar. 3, 2005.
  • Mithun, Marianne (1999). The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7 (hbk); ISBN 0-521-29875-X.

[edit] Links

Languages