ThePlains Algonquian languages are commonly grouped together as a subgroup of the largerAlgonquian family, itself a member of theAlgic family. Though the grouping is often encountered in the literature, it is an areal grouping rather than a genetic one. In other words, the languages are grouped together because they were spoken near one another, not because they are more closely related to one another than to any otherAlgonquian language. Most studies indicate that within the Algonquian family, onlyEastern Algonquian constitutes a separate genetic subgroup.

The Plains Algonquian languages are well known for having diverged significantly fromProto-Algonquian (the parent of all Algonquian languages), bothphonologically andlexically. For example, Proto-Algonquian*keriwa, "eagle", becomesCheyennenetse; Proto-Algonquian*weθali, "her husband", becomesArapahoííx,^[1]*nepyi, "water" becomesGros Ventreníc,*wa·poswa, "hare" becomes Arapahonóóku,^[2]*maθkwa, "bear" becomes Arapahowox, and*sakime·wa, "fly" becomes Arapahonoubee.^[3] Proto-Algonquian *eθkwe·wa 'woman' becomes Arapahohisei, Cheyennehé’e, Gros Ventreiiθe, andNitsitapiskiima "female animal" and-ohkiimi- "have a wife".^[4]

The languages are listed below along with dialects and subdialects. This classification follows Goddard (1996, 2001) and Mithun (1999).

• Algonquian peoples

• Algonquian Family
• Algonquian languages

• Berman, Howard (2006). "Studies in Blackfoot prehistory".International Journal of American Linguistics, vol. 72, no. 2, 264–284.
• Campbell, Lyle (1997).American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN 0-19-509427-1.
• Goddard, Ives (1994). "The West-to-East Cline in Algonquian Dialectology." In William Cowan, ed.,Papers of the 25th Algonquian Conference 187-211. Ottawa: Carleton University.
• ———— (1996). "Introduction". In Ives Goddard, ed., "Languages". Vol. 17 of William Sturtevant, ed.,The Handbook of North American Indians. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
• ———— (2001). "The Algonquian Languages of the Plains". In Raymond J. DeMaille, ed., "Plains". Vol. 13 of William Sturtevant, ed.,The Handbook of North American Indians. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
• Mithun, Marianne (1999).The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-521-23228-7 (hbk);ISBN 0-521-29875-X.

• Plains Algonquian languages
• Algonquian languages
• Indigenous languages of the North American Plains
• Indigenous languages of North America

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Families rejected by Glottolog