Editing Algonquian languages (section)

===Subgroups===
''Eastern Algonquian'' is a true genetic subgrouping. The ''Plains Algonquian'' and the ''Central Algonquian'' groups are not genetic groupings but rather [[areal feature|areal]] groupings. Although these areal groups often do share linguistic features, these commonalities are usually attributed to [[language contact]].{{sfn|Goddard|1994|p=187}} Paul Proulx has argued that this traditional view is incorrect,{{sfn|Proulx|2003}} and that ''Central Algonquian'' (in which he includes the Plains Algonquian languages) is a genetic subgroup, with Eastern Algonquian consisting of several different subgroups. However, this classification scheme has failed to gain acceptance from other specialists in the Algonquian languages.{{sfn|Goddard|1994|p=199}}

Instead, the commonly accepted subgrouping scheme is that proposed by [[Ives Goddard]] (1994). The essence of this proposal is that [[Proto-Algonquian language|Proto-Algonquian]] originated with people to the west who then moved east, although Goddard did not attempt to identify a specific western [[Linguistic homeland|urheimat]] for Proto-Algonquian in his 1994 paper. By this scenario, Blackfoot was the first language to branch off, which coincides well with its being the most divergent language of Algonquian. In west-to-east order, the subsequent branchings were:
* Arapaho-Gros Ventre, Cree-Montagnais, Menominee, and Cheyenne;
* Then the core Great Lakes languages: (Ojibwe–Potawatomi, Shawnee, Sauk–Fox–Kickapoo, and Miami–Illinois); and
* Finally, Proto-Eastern Algonquian.

This historical reconstruction accords best with the observed levels of divergence within the family, whereby the most divergent languages are found furthest west (since they constitute the earliest branches during eastern migration), and the shallowest subgroupings are found furthest to the east (Eastern Algonquian, and arguably Core Central). This general west-to-east order is compatible with the proposal from J.P. Denny (1991) that Proto-Algonquian people may have moved east from the [[Columbia Plateau|Plateau]] region of [[Idaho]] and [[Oregon]] or the [[Continental Divide of the Americas|Rocky Mountain-Great Plains]] boundary of [[Montana]], dropping off subgroups as people migrated.{{sfn|Denny|1991|p=103}} Goddard also points out that there is clear evidence for pre-historical contact between Eastern Algonquian and Cree-Montagnais, as well as between Cheyenne and Arapaho–Gros Ventre. There has long been especially extensive back-and-forth influence between Cree and Ojibwe.{{sfn|Goddard|1994}}

It has been suggested that the "Eastern Great Lakes" languages – what Goddard has called "Core Central", e.g., Ojibwe–Potawatomi, Shawnee, Sauk–Fox–Kickapoo, and Miami-Illinois (but not Cree–Montagnais or Menominee) – may also constitute their own genetic grouping within Algonquian. They share certain intriguing lexical and phonological innovations. However, this theory has not yet been fully fleshed out and is still considered conjectural.

Algonquian is sometimes said to have included the extinct [[Beothuk language]] of [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]], whose speakers were both in geographic proximity to Algonquian speakers and who share DNA in common with the Algonquian-speaking [[Miꞌkmaq people|Miꞌkmaq]].{{sfn|Goddard|1979|pp=106–7}}{{sfn|Kuch|2007}} However, linguistic evidence is scarce and poorly recorded, and it is unlikely that reliable evidence of a connection can be found.{{sfn|Mithun|1999|p=368}}