Algic languages

The Algic (also Algonquian-Wiyot-Yurok or Algonquian-Ritwan) languages are an indigenous language family of North America. They are all thought to descend from Proto-Algic, a second-order proto language reconstructed using Proto-Algonquian and the attested languages Wiyot and Yurok.

Pre-contact distribution of Algic languages (in red). Note distribution in northwestern California.

Most Algic languages are part of the Algonquian subfamily, which are spoken from the Rocky Mountains to New England. The other Algic languages are the Yurok and Wiyot languages of northwestern California. The original Algic homeland is thought to have been located in the Pacific Northwest, along the shores of the Columbia River.

Family division

Algic consists of 30 languages.

I. Wiyot: 1. Wiyot (also known as Wishosk) (†)

II. Yurok: 2. Yurok (also known as Weitspekan)

III. Algonquian languages (also known as Algonkian): 3. Arapaho (also known as Arapaho-Atsina): 4. Blackfoot (also known as Blackfeet): 5. Cheyenne: 6. Cree (also known as Cree-Montagnais or Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi): 7. Fox (also known as Fox-Sauk-Kickapoo or Mesquakie-Sauk-Kickapoo): 8. Menominee (also known as Menomimi): 9. Miami-Illinois (also known as Peoria) (†): 10. Ojibwa (also known as Ojibway, Ojibwe, Chippeway, Ojibwa-Potawatomi, or Ojibwa-Potawatomi-Ottawa): 11. Potawatomi (also known as Ojibwa-Potawatomi): 12. Shawnee: A. Eastern Algonquian:: 13. Eastern Abenaki (also known as Abenaki or Abenaki-Penobscot):: 14. Etchemin (†):: 15. "Loup A" (also known as Nipmuck ?) (†):: 16. "Loup B" (†):: 17. Mahican (also known as Mohican) (†):: 18. Maliseet (also known as Maliseet-Passamquoddy or Malecite-Passamquoddy):: 19. Massachusett (also known as Natick) (†):: 20. Micmac (also known as Mi'kmaq, Mi'kmag, or Mi'kmaw):: 21. Mohegan-Pequot (†):: 22. Munsee (also known as Delaware):: 23. Nanticoke (also known as Nanticoke-Convoy) (†):: 24. Narragansett (†):: 25. Pamlico (also known as Carolina Algonquian, Pamtico, or Pampticough) (†):: 26. Powhatan (also known as Virginia Algonquian) (†):: 27. Quiripi-Naugatuck-Unquachog (also known as Connecticut-Naugatuck-Unquachog) (†):: 28. Shinnecock (†):: 29. Unami (also known as Delaware or Lenape)(†):: 30. Western Abenaki (also known as Abnaki, St. Francis, Abenaki, or Abenaki-Penobscot)

Wiyot, Miami, Illinois, Etchemin, Loup A, Loup B, Mahican, Massachusett, Mohegan, Pequot, Nanticoke, Narragansett, Pamlico, Powhatan, Quiripi, Naugatuck, Unami, Unquachog, and Shinnecock are now extinct. The last known Wiyot speaker died in 1962. All other languages are endangered. Yurok is thought to have ten or fewer speakers.

The two Algic languages of California, Wiyot and Yurok, have sometimes been combined into a subgroup called Ritwan (leading to a two-branch genetic tree of Ritwan and Algonquian). This grouping has been disfavored by many specialists.

However, Howard Berman (1982) has suggested that Wiyot and Yurok in fact share sound changes not shared by the rest of Algic, which would indicate that Wiyot and Yurok do indeed form a genetic 'Ritwan' group. There is not yet scholarly consensus on this question among specialists in the Algic languages.

Within the Algonquian subfamily there is a smaller genetic grouping of the Eastern Algonquian languages. The other (non-Eastern) Algonquian languages have sometimes been categorized into two smaller subgroups: Central Algonquian and Plains Algonquian. However, these two subgroups are not based on genetic relationship but are rather areal subgroups. (See Algonquian.)

Bibilography

* Berman, Howard. (1982). Two Phonological Innovations in Ritwan. IJAL 48: 412-20.
* Campbell, Lyle. (1997). American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509427-1.
* Goddard, Ives (Ed.). (1996). Languages. Handbook of North American Indians (W. C. Sturtevant, General Ed.) (Vol. 17). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-1604-8774-9.
* Mithun, Marianne. (1999). The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7 (hbk); ISBN 0-521-29875-X.
* Sturtevant, William C. (Ed.). (1978-present). Handbook of North American Indians (Vol. 1-20). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. (Vols. 1-3, 16, 18-20 not yet published).