The Eastern Algonquian languages constitute a subgroup of the Algonquian languages. Prior to European contact, Eastern Algonquian consisted of at least seventeen languages collectively occupying the Atlantic coast of North America and adjacent inland areas, from the Canadian Maritime provinces to North Carolina. The available information about individual languages varies widely. Some are known only from one or two documents containing words and phrases collected by missionaries, explorers or settlers, and some documents contain fragmentary evidence about more than one language or dialect. Nearly all of the Eastern Algonquian languages are extinct. Mi'kmaq and Malecite-Passamaquoddy have appreciable numbers of speakers, while Western Abnaki and Delaware are each reported to have fewer than ten speakers post 2000.
Eastern Algonquian constitutes a separate genetic subgroup within Algonquian. Two other groups of Algonquian languages that are recognized, Plains Algonquian, and Central Algonquian; are geographic, and do not refer to genetic subgroupings.
Read more about Eastern Algonquian Languages: Classification, Eastern Algonquian As A Genetic Subgroup, Pro and Con
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