Wave diagrams for the Algonquian family

Will Oxford, 28 July 2023 | how to cite | home

Wave diagrams are a tool for visualizing the varying degrees of relatedness among the languages in a family. A wave diagram is like an abstract dialect map. The names of the languages in the family are arranged in some approximation of their geographic locations. For each diachronic change that has taken place, a line is drawn around the languages that underwent the change. The result is a more nuanced picture of relationships within the family than can be conveyed by a standard genetic tree diagram.

The wave diagrams on this page summarize the observations made by Goddard regarding shared changes across the Algonquian family as a whole (Goddard 1994) and within the Eastern Algonquian branch (Goddard 1978).

Jump to: Algonquian family | Eastern Algonquian branch

Algonquian family

Drawn by Will Oxford, summarizing the changes identified in Goddard 1994. Thick lines indicate primary relationships: either genetic groupings or the initial west-to-east cline of diffusion proposed by Goddard. Thin lines indicate secondary relationships: changes that diffused by contact some time after the initial west-to-east cline had already been established.

Wave diagram for Algonquian based on Goddard 1994

Key to changes:

  1. "Western Algonquian" changes: *we > *o and word-initial *e- > *i-. [Note, however, that in later work, Goddard (2002: 45, n. 2; 2015: 399, n. 2; 2018: 102, n. 2) no longer posits a change from *we to *o in "Western Algonquian". Instead, he reconstructs PA as having *o rather than *we in word-initial and word-medial positions, with the "Western" languages retaining *o and the Eastern languages changing *o to *we (Proto-Eastern Algonquian *wə).]
  2. Innovations distinguishing the non-Blackfoot languages and Blackfoot (see also Goddard 2018).
  3. The Great Plains Sound Shift (term from Pentland 1979: 402): (a) *o and *oː merge with *i and *iː, respectively; (b) *w merges with *y; (c) *y merges with *n if not after a consonant; (d) *k is lost unconditionally (Arapaho) or conditionally (Cheyenne).
  4. Merger of *θ with *r before a vowel or semivowel (i.e. everywhere besides *θC and *rC clusters).
  5. *hC, xC, θC > *hC.
  6. Many shared changes, including the merger of short *e with *i and the loss of *y after consonants.
  7. Genetic group: Cree-Innu-Naskapi language continuum.
  8. "Core Central" changes, most obviously *hr, hθ, ʔr, ʔθ > *hs.
  9. Genetic group: Ojibwe-Potawatomi.
  10. Changes reflecting contact between Potawatomi and Meskwaki-Sauk (mentioned but not exemplified by Goddard, p. 204).
  11. Loss of contrast between *ʔC and *hC clusters.
  12. Several shared innovations in phonology, morphology, and lexicon.
  13. Genetic group: Eastern Algonquian (Goddard 1980).

Eastern Algonquian branch

Drawn by Will Oxford, summarizing the changes identified in Goddard 1978. The lines are coloured to make it easier to distinguish them; the colours have no other significance.

Wave diagram for Eastern Algonquian based on Goddard 1978

Key to changes (Goddard 1978: 74–76):

  1. Proto-Eastern Algonquian *hr (which reflects Proto-Algonquian *ʔr, nr) > *h.
  2. "Abenaki syncope": Proto-Eastern Algonquian *a, ə delete before *hC, sC.
  3. Merger of *s and *š.
  4. *nC > C.
  5. *aː > nasal ã. (Applies to western dialects of Eastern Abenaki but not to the Penobscot dialect.)
  6. *eː > aː.
  7. *k > kʸ (> tʸ or č depending on the language; Costa 2007: 84).
  8. *hk > h.
  9. Proto-Eastern Algonquian *hr > hs.
  10. Peripheral suffixes lose number distinction in the obviative; original obviative singular suffix (Proto-Eastern Algonquian *-ar) generalized as number-neutral obviative suffix.
  11. Peripheral suffixes lose number distinction in the obviative; original obviative plural suffix (Proto-Eastern Algonquian *-ah) generalized as number-neutral obviative suffix.