Algonquian languages

The Algonquian languages ​​are a language family native to North America of the indigenous American languages ​​. Maybe Algonquian is to summarize second -degree relatives with the individual languages ​​spoken in Northern California Wiyot and Yurok to Algisch same linguistic family.

Together with the Athabaskan, Iroquois, Uto-Aztecan, Muskogee, Sioux and Caddo languages ​​were the Algonquian languages ​​one of the most widespread language families of North America, from the Atlantic coast in the east to the Plains in the west, from the sub-Arctic in the north to North Carolina in the south.

The diversification of individual languages ​​is quite substantial, mutual intelligibility is likely to be present only in a few cases such as Ojibwa and Potawatomi.

However, at issue is the subgrouping of the Algonquian. Only a peripheral position of the Blackfoot seems clear though its peculiarities may also be only tart caused by intensive contact effects ( Bakker ). Areas groups as a hypothetical Plains Algonquian are not durable, and even a previously accepted Eastern Algonquian unit was provided by Paul Proulx questioned because their validity depends on contestable assumptions about relative chronology.

The language code according to ISO 639-2 is alg, alq according to ISO 639-3.

• 7.1 Science and Education Pages
• 7.2 Linguistic pages

Phonology

The Algonquian languages ​​are characterized by relatively low inventories of phonemes, on the other hand, however, by a complex morphophonology from.

Morphology and grammar

All Algonquian languages ​​are agglutinative as highly polysynthetic languages ​​, sometimes even strongly inflected, with formally distinctive position classes ( Initiate, medial, final ). Complex statements are possible with a single verb form. Serve this purpose suffixes, prefixes and infixes, but also nouns and adverbial elements ( " Präverben " ) are incorporated into the deformation. For transitive verbs are conjugated not only with respect to the subject but also the object. There is according to a hierarchy of subject and object to each other a "direct" and "inverse flexion " ( " directionality "). Objects can be expressed by the applicative verb. Verbs are divided into four classes: animat - intransitive (AI), inanimat - intransitive (II ), animat - transitive (AT) and inanimat - transitive (IT).

Nouns are divided in the genus or the nominal class after animate ( animatum ) and inanimate ( Inanimatum ). The assignment of individual nouns to a genus is not always available in all Algonquian languages ​​the same, but people, animals, trees and spirits are usually animated, objects, but also small, however, plants inanimate. Nouns and generally the third person also be labeled according to the relevance to the topic ( Obviation ) as well as the presence or absence ( Lost, deceased ) in the sentence. There are three grammatical persons with a distinction of inclusive and exclusive we, and two numbers (singular and plural). The corresponding adjectives attributive elements ( " Pränomina " ) are the nouns prefixed. The word order is usually subject-verb - object or subject-object - verb, but the meaning of the statement is determined by the synthetic structure of the language.

An impression of the structure of the Algonquian languages ​​gives the example text " Two women who went fishing " in the article to the Ojibwe language.

Word equations

List of Algonquian languages

• Arapaho group Arapaho
• Atsina ( Gros Ventre )
• Besawunena
• Haʔanahawunena
• Nawathinehena

• Siksika A
• Siksika B
• Kainaa - Piikáni A
• Kainaa - Piikáni B
• Kainaa - Piikáni C

• Fox
• Sauk
• Kickapoo

• Dialects east of Hudson Bay (East Cree, Montagnais Innu =, Naskapi )
• Dialects west of Hudson Bay ( Moose Cree, Swampy Cree, Woodlands Cree, Atikamekw, Plains Cree, Michif, the Métis is a mixed language of Plains Cree and French)

• Eastern Abenaki (also Penobscot Abenaki )
• Western Abenaki
• Delawarisch ( Lenape, Lunaapeew ) Munsee - language (Delaware, Lunaapeew )
• Unami language (Delaware, Lënape )
• Delaware Pidgin (also: Delaware Jargon, †)

About a possible affiliation of the extinct Beothuk in Newfoundland can only be speculated due to poor data situation.