The
Algonquian languages ( or ; also
Algonkian) are a subfamily of
Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the
Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar
Algonquin dialect of the indigenous
Ojibwe language (Chippewa), which is a senior member of the Algonquian language family. The term "Algonquin" has been suggested to derive from the
Maliseet word
elakómkwik (pronounced ), "they are our relatives/allies". A number of Algonquian languages, like many of the
Iroquoian languages of the hereditary enemies of the Algonquian peoples, have already become extinct.