Menominee Language - Language Family

Language Family

Menominee is an Algonquian language, part of the larger family of Algic languages. Goddard (1996) and Mithun (1999) classify it with the Central and Plains Algonquian languages, along with languages like Blackfoot, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Cree-Montagnais, and Eastern Great Lakes languages like Ojibwe.

In his more controversial classification of American Indian languages, Joseph Greenberg places the Algic family within a family which he calls Almosan. The classification was first proposed by Edward Sapir in 1929. It groups Algic with other language families including Kutenai, otherwise thought to be an isolate, and Mosan, which includes Wakashan, Chimakuan, and Salishan. The Mosan family proposal is currently considered to be unfounded.

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