Plains Algonquian languages

The Plains Algonquian languages are commonly grouped together as a subgroup of the larger Algonquian family, itself a member of the Algic family.

The Plains Algonquian languages are well known for having diverged significantly from Proto-Algonquian (the parent of all Algonquian languages), both phonologically and lexically.

For example, Proto-Algonquian *keriwa, "eagle", becomes Cheyenne netse; Proto-Algonquian *weθali, "her husband", becomes Arapaho ííx,[1] *nepyi, "water" becomes Gros Ventre níc, *wa·poswa, "hare" becomes Arapaho nóóku,[2] *maθkwa, "bear" becomes Arapaho wox, and *sakime·wa, "fly" becomes Arapaho noubee.

[3] Proto-Algonquian *eθkwe·wa 'woman' becomes Arapaho hisei, Cheyenne hé’e, Gros Ventre iiθe, and Nitsitapi skiima "female animal" and -ohkiimi- "have a wife".

[4] The languages are listed below along with dialects and subdialects.