Online Encyclopedia Search Tool

Your Online Encyclopedia

 

Online Encylopedia and Dictionary Research Site

Online Encyclopedia Free Search Online Encyclopedia Search    Online Encyclopedia Browse    welcome to our free dictionary for your research of every kind

Online Encyclopedia



Algonquian

(Redirected from Algonquin language)

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

Algonquian names for animals

"(Yematasi Odawa trade language)"


External links



Last updated: 10-24-2004 05:10:45