Algonquin language
| Algonquin | |
|---|---|
| Anicinâbemowin | |
| Native to | Canada |
| Region | Quebec and into Ontario. |
|
Native speakers
|
1,800 (2011 census) |
|
Algic
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | algo1255 |
Algonquin (also spelled Algonkin; in Algonquin: Anicinàbemowin or Anishinàbemiwin) is either a distinct Algonquian language closely related to the Ojibwe language or a particularly divergent Ojibwe dialect. It is spoken, alongside French and to some extent English, by the Algonquin First Nations of Quebec and Ontario. As of 2006, there were 2,680 Algonquin speakers, less than 10% of whom were monolingual. Algonquin is the language for which the entire Algonquian language subgroup is named. The similarity among the names often causes considerable confusion. Like many Native American languages, it is strongly verb-based, with most meaning being incorporated into verbs instead of using separate words for prepositions, tense, etc.
Algonquin is an Algonquian language, of the Algic family of languages, and is descended from Proto-Algonquian. It is considered a particularly divergent dialect of Ojibwe by many; it acts as a transitional language between the Ojibwe languages and the Abenaki languages. But, although the speakers call themselves Anicinàbe ("Anishinaabe"), the Ojibwe call them Odishkwaagamii (those at the end of the lake). Among the Algonquins, however, the Nipissing are called Otickwàgamì (the Algonquin orthography for the Ojibwe Odishkwaagamii) and their language as Otickwàgamìmowin. The rest of the Algonquin communities call themselves Omàmiwininiwak (down-stream men), and the language Omàmiwininìmowin (speech of the down-stream men).
Other than Algonquin, languages considered as particularly divergent dialects of the Anishinaabe language include Mississauga (often called "Eastern Ojibwe") and Odawa. The Potawatomi language was considered a divergent dialect of the Anishinaabe language but now is considered a separate language. Culturally, the Algonquin and the Mississaugas were not part of the Ojibwe–Odawa–Potawatomi alliance known as the Council of Three Fires. The Algonquins maintained stronger cultural ties with the Abenaki, Atikamekw and Cree.
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