Eastern Algonquian As A Genetic Subgroup, Pro and Con
The languages assigned to the Eastern Algonquian group are hypothesized to descend from an intermediate common ancestor proto-language, referred to as Proto-Eastern Algonquian (PEA). By virtue of their common ancestry the Eastern Algonquian languages constitute a genetic subgroup, and the individual Eastern Algonquian languages descend from PEA. By contrast, other Algonquian languages are hypothesized to descend directly from Proto-Algonquian, the ultimate common language ancestor of the Algonquian languages. In historical linguistics in general, the primary criterion for status as a genetic subgroup is that there exist a number of shared innovations assigned to the proposed subgroup that cannot be assigned to the ultimate ancestor language. A complex series of phonological and morphological innovations define Eastern Algonquian as a subgroup. "There is less diversity, by any measure, among as a group than among the Algonquian languages as a whole or among the non-Eastern languages."
The validity of PEA as a genetic subgroup has been disputed by Pentland and Proulx. Pentland questions the Eastern Algonquian status of the southern New England languages, as well as Powhatan and Carolina Algonquian. Proulx has proposed that the similarities can be explained as the result of diffusion. Goddard has countered that the extent of the similarities would require extensive diffusion very early in the breakup of the Eastern Algonquian languages, and that such a position would be difficult in principle to differentiate from analyzing PEA as a genetic subgroup.
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