The Saami language is the language of the northern people (Saami) scattered across countries such as Sweden, Finland, Norway and Russia. It is a subgroup of the Finno-Volga group of languages, and the languages of Estonians, Finns and Karelians can be called its "relatives". The Mordovian and Mari languages are slightly less related to the Saami.
Distribution of languages
All Saami speak different dialects, which are usually combined into one continuum, that is, all of them, so to speak, being in the same territory, have minimal differences between themselves. And yet this is a moot point. To this day, linguists cannot come to a consensus: whether to divide the Sami language into several independent ones, or to combine the existing dialects into one.
Here's the thing. The Saami, living in separate groups in different territories, have a different culture. This, in turn, is reflected in the language of each group. And not only that. In fact, there are many more influencing factors:
- country of residence (Finland, Sweden, Russia orNorway);
- occupation of certain Saami (fishing, reindeer herding, hunting);
- natural features of the territory (Mountain Saami and Forest Saami);
- traditional place of origin (Inner Finnmark Saami in Norway, Yukkasjärvi Saami in Sweden, Jokang, Varza, Lovozero Saami);
- current place of residence (urban or rural).
Officially, the Saami languages are usually divided into Western and Eastern groups. To the west include the Sami of Finland, Norway and Sweden, and to the east - the Sami of Finland and Russia.
Classification of Western and Eastern Sámi languages
Deep into Sami even further. Both Western and Eastern languages also include several languages. The Western group includes the South Sami, North Sami, as well as Ume-Sami, Pite-Sami, Lule-Sami. They are all common to varying degrees in Sweden, Finland and Norway.
The eastern group includes the Saami language, which is spoken by both the Saami of Russia and the Saami of Finland, and some of them are already considered dead languages here:
- Kemi-Sami - once spoken by the Sami in central Lapland (Finland);
- Babin Sami is its second name Akkala, and the Saami of Russia spoke this language (the last speaker of Akkala died in 2003).
The living East Sami languages include Terek Sami and Kildin Sami. They are spoken by a few Saami of Russia. Koltta Sami is spoken by about 420 people in total, 20 of whom live in Russia,the remaining 400 are in Finland.
Sami writing
The Saami living in Finland, Sweden and Norway use the alphabet based on the Latin alphabet, while the Russian Saami use the Cyrillic alphabet, respectively. The first mention of the written language of the Western Sami dates back to the 17th century, when the literary Swedish-Sami language was born. Later, in the 18th century, the Norwegian Sami acquired their own written language, and even later, the Finnish ones (writing came to them in the 19th century). And already in the second half of the last century, a spelling was developed that was the same for all the Saami of Finland, Norway and Sweden.
Today, the Sami language in these countries is taught in primary schools. The Saami of Russia, who mainly live on the Kola Peninsula, have their own script, and it is based on Cyrillic. It appeared at the end of the 19th century. In 1926, the Cyrillic alphabet was replaced by the Latin alphabet, and ten years later, the Cyrillic alphabet again formed the basis of writing. Today, there is a new version of Cyrillic writing, which first saw the light in 1982. It began to be printed in primers in the same year. And in 1985, a large dictionary of the Sami language was published.
Interesting linguistic features
The Saami language has a very complex phonetics. There are also long vowels and consonants, here there are not only diphthongs, but also triphthongs (when one syllable is formed from three consonants). In this language, vowels and consonants alternate, the stress can fall on the first syllable, but it can also be secondary (that is, itfalls on other odd syllables, but can never fall on the last).
The Saami language is distinguished by its dual number, that is, dual or paired objects are declined and conjugated. There is no gender category here. Sami adjectives do not agree with nouns in number and case.
There are eight cases here, also case meanings are expressed by prepositions and postpositions, and the verb has four tenses, as well as the form of the infinitive, participle and gerund. Verbal nouns can be formed from verbs.
The Saami language has borrowed many words from the B altic-Finnish languages, as well as from the Russian language and the large macrofamily of the Uralic languages. However, some of the words here have no analogues in other Fino-Ugric languages.
The situation with the Saami languages in Russia
According to the census conducted in 2002, about 800 Saami are registered in our country. However, according to these data, it is still difficult to assess the extent of the spread of the Sami language in Russia. The fact is that information during the census is given voluntarily, so it is impossible to accurately calculate how many people know the language or its dialects. Similarly, it was difficult to determine how many of the Sámi were fluent in the language, and which of them had only basic knowledge.
In 2007, a large-scale survey began, the purpose of which was to identify how many Saami live in Russia and how many of them own a nativelanguage. And here it did not play any role how good this knowledge is. Such research helps to preserve and develop the language, develop teaching aids, publish books, textbooks and phrasebooks of the Sami language.
