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.