Online Encyclopedia
Algonquian
The Algonquian languages are a subfamily of Native American languages that includes most of the languages in the Algic or Yematasi language family (others are Wiyot and Yurok of northwestern California). Stretching from the east coast of North America all the way to California, the "Algonquian" language family includes Arapaho , Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Cree, Fox , Illinois , Lenni Lenape , Maliseet , Massachusett, Menominee, Mi'kmaq, Mohican , Munsee , Nanticoke , Narraganset , Ojibwe, Passamaquoddy , Potawatomi , Powhatan , Shawnee , Sauk and others.
The "Algonquian" language family is renowned for its complex morphology and sophisticated verb system. Statements that take many words to say in English can be expressed with a single "word". Ex: (Menominee) enae:ni:hae:w "He is heard by higher powers" or (Plains Cree ) k-a:sta:hikoyahk "it frightens us." Languages in this family typically mark at least two distinct third persons, so that speakers can keep track of central characters in narrative. These languages have been famously studied in the structuralist tradition by Leonard Bloomfield and Edward Sapir among others. Many of these languages are extremely endangered today, while others have died completely.
Because "Algonquian" languages were some of the first that Europeans came in contact with in North America, the language family has given many words to English. Many eastern U.S. states have names of "Algonquian" origin (Massachusetts, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin), as do many cities: Milwaukee, Chicago, et al. The capital of Canada is named after an Algonquian trade group--the Odawa.
English words of Algonquian origin
- chicago (chee-kaw-goh) skunk cabbage
- pecan ("paykan" - "nut" via "Odawan" Trade Jargon)
- pone (as in corn-pone) from Powhatan appoans "bread"
- raccoon (arahhkun) scratches with its hands
- skunk (shekãkwa) spray of smelly water
- squash (vegetable) (askootaskwash) fruit of health/life
- succotash (msikwatash) food mixed together
- tamarack, a species of larch and its wood
- tomahawk (tomah'hauk) sharp biting stick
- wampum (wapapyaki) trade good
Algonquian names for animals
"(Yematasi Odawa trade language)"
- Adik - Caribou/Reindeer
- Adjidamo - Squirrel
- Amikwa - Beaver
- Arahkun - Raccoon
- Cangweci - Mink
- Cigosi - Weasel
- Mahigan - Wolf
- Mahto - Brown Bear, Grizzly, or Kodiak
- Makwa - Bear
- Moz - Moose
- Nigig - Otter
- Pijiw - Lynx
- Winack - Marmot
- Wuchak - Groundhog
- Wawackeci - Deer
- Wadjack - Muskrat
- Wabicese - Marten
- Wapiti - Elk