Algonquian–Wakashan languages


Algonquian–Wakashan is a hypothetical language family that would connect together several North American, and possibly Siberian according to an interpretation, established language families.
The original 1929 proposal, made by Edward Sapir, consists of the following families:
Kutenai may possibly be distantly related to the Salishan family, but this link has not been demonstrated. The Mosan family proposal is also hypothetical and is currently considered undemonstrated, rather appearing to be a Sprachbund.
A more recent hypothesis, first formulated in 2015 by Sergei Nikolaev, includes
  • Algonquian-Wakashan
  • * Nivkh-Algic
  • ** Nivkh
  • ** Algic
  • * '''Wakashan'''

    Proposed external relationships

renamed Sapir's proposal Almosan and grouped it in an even more inclusive Almosan–Keresiouan phylum with the Caddoan, Iroquoian, Keresan, and Siouan families. This proposal has been rejected by linguists specializing in Native American languages.
Murray Gell-Mann, Ilia Peiros, and Georgiy Starostin group Chukotko-Kamchatkan and Nivkh with Almosan.
Sergei Nikolaev in the two papers where he was arguing for a relationship between the Nivkh language, the Algic languages and the Wakashan languages, also proposed a more remote relationship between these three together and the Salishan languages.