Algic languages

Algic
Algonquian–Ritwan Algonquian–Wiyot–Yurok
Geographic distribution	northern North America
Linguistic classification	One of the world's primary language families
Proto-language	Proto-Algic
Subdivisions	Wiyot † Yurok Algonquian
Language codes
ISO 639-5	aql
–
Glottolog	algi1248
Pre-contact distribution of Algic languages
Notes	† - extinct language

The Algic languages (also Algonquian–Wiyot–Yurok or Algonquian–Ritwan) are an indigenous language family of North America. Most Algic languages belong to the Algonquian subfamily, dispersed over a broad area from the Rocky Mountains to Atlantic Canada. The other Algic languages are the Yurok and Wiyot of northwestern California, which, despite their geographic proximity, are not closely related. All these languages descend from Proto-Algic, a second-order proto-language estimated to have been spoken about 7,000 years ago and reconstructed using the reconstructed Proto-Algonquian language and the Wiyot and Yurok languages.

Text in Cree. Cree is the most widely spoken Algic language.

History

The term Algic was first coined by Henry Schoolcraft in his Algic Researches, published in 1839. Schoolcraft defined the term as "derived from the words Allegheny and Atlantic, in reference to the indigenous people anciently located in this geographical area." Schoolcraft's terminology was not retained. The peoples he called "Algic" were later included among the speakers of Algonquian languages. This language group is also referred to as "Algonquian-Ritwan" and "Wiyot-Yurok-Algonquian."

When Edward Sapir proposed that the well-established Algonquian family was genetically related to the Wiyot and Yurok languages of northern California, he applied the term Algic to this larger family. The Algic urheimat is thought to have been located in the Northwestern United States somewhere between the suspected homeland of the Algonquian branch (to the west of Lake Superior according to Ives Goddard) and the earliest known location of the Wiyot and Yurok (along the middle Columbia River according to Whistler).

Classification of Algic

The genetic relation of Wiyot and Yurok to Algonquian was first proposed by Edward Sapir (1913, 1915, 1923), and argued against by Algonquianist Truman Michelson (1914, 1914, 1935). According to Lyle Campbell (1997), the relationship "has subsequently been demonstrated to the satisfaction of all." This controversy in the early classification of North American languages was called the "Ritwan controversy" because Wiyot and Yurok were assigned to a genetic grouping called "Ritwan." Most specialists now reject the validity of the Ritwan genetic node. Berman (1982) suggested that Wiyot and Yurok share sound changes not shared by the rest of Algic (which would be explainable by either areal diffusion or genetic relatedness); Proulx (2004) argued against Berman's conclusion of common sound changes.

More recently, Sergei Nikolaev has argued in two papers for a systematic relationship between the Nivkh language of Sakhalin and the Amur river basin and the Algic languages, and a secondary relationship between these two together and the Wakashan languages.

Proto-language

Main article: Proto-Algic language

Family tree of the Algic languages.

See also

• Algonquian–Wakashan languages

Bibliography

Journals and books

• Berman, Howard (1982). "Two Phonological Innovations in Ritwan". International Journal of American Linguistics. 48 (4): 412–420. doi:10.1086/465750. ISSN 0020-7071. S2CID 144518292.
• Campbell, Lyle (September 21, 2000) [1997]. American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-509427-5.
• Goddard, Ives (1994). Cowan, William (ed.). "The West-to-East cline in Algonquian dialectology". Actes du Vingt-cinquième Congrès des Algonquinistes. 25. hdl:10088/21761. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
• Goddard, Ives (1996). "Languages". In Sturtevant, W. C. (ed.). Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 17. Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 978-0-16-048774-3.
• Haas, Mary R. (1958). "Algonkian-Ritwan: The End of a Controversy". International Journal of American Linguistics. 24 (3): 159–173. doi:10.1086/464453. ISSN 0020-7071. S2CID 143214234.
• Haas, Mary R. (1966). "Wiyot-Yurok-Algonkian and Problems of Comparative Algonkian". International Journal of American Linguistics. 32 (2): 101–107. doi:10.1086/464889. ISSN 0020-7071. S2CID 144355911.
• Michelson, Truman (1914). "Two Alleged Algonquian Languages of California". American Anthropologist. 16 (2): 361–367. doi:10.1525/aa.1914.16.2.02a00150. ISSN 0002-7294.
• Michelson, Truman. 1915. Rejoinder. American Anthropologist, n.s. 17:194–198.
• Michelson, Truman (1935). "Phonetic Shifts in Algonquian Languages". International Journal of American Linguistics. 8 (3/4): 131–171. doi:10.1086/463813. ISSN 0020-7071. S2CID 143895922.
• Mithun, Marianne (1999). The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-23228-9. (hbk); ISBN 0-521-29875-X.
• Moratto, Michael J. (1984). California archaeology. Academic Press. ISBN 9780125061803.
• Nikolaev, Sergei L. (2015). "Toward the reconstruction of Proto-Algonquian-Wakashan. Part 1: Proof of the Algonquian-Wakashan relationship". Journal of Language Relationship. 13 (1): 23–61. doi:10.31826/jlr-2015-131-206. S2CID 212688261. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
• Nikolaev, Sergei L. (2016). "Toward the reconstruction of Proto-Algonquian-Wakashan. Part 2: Algonquian-Wakashan sound correspondences". Journal of Language Relationship. 13 (4): 289–328. doi:10.31826/jlr-2016-133-408. S2CID 212688688. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
• Proulx, Paul (1982). "Yurok Retroflection and Vowel Symbolism in Proto-Algic". Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics. 7: 119–123. doi:10.17161/KWPL.1808.3621. hdl:1808/3621. ISSN 1043-3805.
• Proulx, Paul (1984). "Proto-Algic I: Phonological Sketch". International Journal of American Linguistics. 50 (2): 165–207. doi:10.1086/465826. ISSN 0020-7071. S2CID 144185501.
• Proulx, Paul (1985). "Proto-Algic II: Verbs". International Journal of American Linguistics. 51 (1): 59–93. doi:10.1086/465860. ISSN 0020-7071. S2CID 143787643.
• Proulx, Paul (1991). "Proto-Algic III: Pronouns". Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics. 16: 129–170. doi:10.17161/KWPL.1808.429. hdl:1808/429. ISSN 1043-3805.
• Proulx, Paul (1992). "Proto-Algic IV: Nouns". Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics. 17: 11–57. doi:10.17161/KWPL.1808.644. hdl:1808/644. ISSN 1043-3805.
• Proulx, Paul (1994). "Proto-Algic V: Doublets and their Implications". Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics. 19 (2): 115–182. doi:10.17161/KWPL.1808.321. hdl:1808/321. ISSN 1043-3805.
• Proulx, Paul (2004). "Proto Algic VI: Conditioned Yurok Reflexes of Proto Algic Vowels". Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics. 27: 124–138. doi:10.17161/KWPL.1808.1247. hdl:1808/1247. ISSN 1043-3805.
• Sturtevant, William C., ed. (1978). Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 1–20. Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution.
• Sapir, Edward (1913). "Wiyot and Yurok, Algonkin languages of California". American Anthropologist. 15 (4): 617–646. doi:10.1525/aa.1913.15.4.02a00040. ISSN 0002-7294.
• Sapir, E. (1922). "Algonkin languages of California: A reply". American Anthropologist. 17 (1): 188–198. doi:10.1525/aa.1915.17.1.02a00270. ISSN 0002-7294.
• Sapir, Edward (1922). "The Algonkin affinity of Yurok and Wiyot kinship terms". Journal de la Société des Américanistes. 14 (1): 36–74. doi:10.3406/jsa.1922.3991. hdl:1974/11913. ISSN 0037-9174.
• Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe (1839). Algic researches, comprising inquiries respecting the mental characteristics of the North American Indians. First series. Indian tales and legends. Vol. 1. New York: Harper & Brothers. OCLC 6836253. OL 17492450M.