A group of languages which historically developed from a common source or "parent language". According to linguists, eight of the eleven major aboriginal language families of Canada are found in BC: Algonquian, Dene (Athapaskan), Salish, Tlingit, Tsimshianic, and Wakashan, plus the language isolates Ktunaxa and X̱aaydaa Kil. Groupings within a language family may be referred to as sub-families - such as Coast Salish and Interior Salish within the Salish family. A language can be described at various levels of classification within language families and sub-families. English can be classified as Anglo-Frisian, West Germanic, Germanic, or Indo-European. Similarly, SENĆOŦEN can be described as Northern Straits Salish, South-Central Salish, Coast Salish, or at the broadest level of classification, simply Salish.
A language family is a group of related languages said to have descended from a common proto-language. Most languages are known to belong to language families. An accurately identified family is a phylogenetic unit; that is, all its members derive from a common ancestor.
