The Central Algonquian languages are commonly grouped together as a subgroup of the larger Algonquian family, itself a member of the Algic family. Though this 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 each other, not because they are any closer related to one another than to any other Algonquian language. Within the Algonquian family, only Eastern Algonquian constitutes a separate genetic subgroup.
Within the Central Algonquian grouping, the only languages known to be more closely related to each other than to any other Algonquian languages are Potawatomi and Ojibwe, which are generally grouped together in an Ojibwe–Potawatomi subbranch. However, there is some evidence for a larger subbranch within Central Algonquian, called "Eastern Great Lakes" by some and "Core Central" by Goddard (1994), consisting of Ojibwe–Potawatomi, Miami–Illinois, Fox–Sauk–Kickapoo, and Shawnee, and excluding Cree–Montagnais and Menominee. This grouping has been suggested on the basis of certain lexical and phonological innovations, though this theory has not yet been fully fleshed out and is still considered conjectural.
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