Sámi languages

The Sámi languages are a branch of Uralic languages spoken by the Sámi people. They are spoken in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. They are related to the Finnish, the Estonian, and the Hungarian language.

Sámi
Native toFinland, Norway, Sweden, and Russia
RegionSápmi (Lapland)
EthnicitySámi
Native speakers
Approximately 20,000–30,000
Uralic
  • Sámi
Official status
Official language in
Sweden and some parts of Norway; recognized as a minority language in several municipalities of Finland.
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
sia – Akkala
sjd – Kildin
sjk – Kemi
sjt – Ter
smn – Inari
sms – Skolt
sju – Ume
sje – Pite
sme – Northern
smj – Lule
sma – Southern
Historically verified distribution of the Sami languages: 1. Southern Sami, 2. Ume Sami, 3. Pite Sami, 4. Lule Sami, 5. Northern Sami, 6. Skolt Sami, 7. Inari Sami, 8. Kildin Sami, 9. Ter Sami. Darkened area represents municipalities that recognize Sami as an official language.

"The Sámi languages ... are sometimes considered dialects of one language", says Encyclopædia Britannica; those who speak one Sámi language, [mostly] do not understand other Sami languages; "[t]he Sámi languages share many features (or things,) with the Baltic-Finnic languages (Finnish, Estonian, Karelian, etc.)," but "they cannot be closely related to any of these"... "[T]heir grammars are similar to that of Finnish, although their syntax has been influenced by the Scandinavian languages."[1]

Some researchers of linguistics, have an idea that the Sami languages have come from a proto-Sámi language; That kind of a language, can have existed c. 500[2][3][4] before Common Era.

Among the Sámi languages are

  • East Sami language[5]

Western Sami languages

Eastern Sami languages
Sami languages and settlements in Russia:
  Skolt (Russian Notozersky)
  Akkala (Russian Babinsky)
  Kildin
  Ter
  • Mainland
    • Inari Sami (300)[11]
    • Kemi Sami (extinct)
    • Skolt Sami (420)[12]
    • Akkala Sami (extinct)
    • Kainuu Sami (extinct)
  • Peninsular

References
  1. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sami-language#ref28791 Accessed 2017-08-25
  2. https://www.sagat.no/debatt/hva-er-samenes-eldre-historie/19.43546. Retrieved 2024-03-26
  3. https://www.academia.edu/114870366/Comment_on_the_article_Archaeology_Language_and_the_Question_of_S%C3%A1mi_Ethnogenesis?%20email_work_card=view-paper. Retrieved 2024-03-26
  4. https://www.academia.edu/105674225/Archaeology_Language_and_the_Question_of_S%C3%A1mi_Ethnogenesis?%20email_work_card=reading-history%3Cbr/%3E. Retrieved 2024-03-26
  5. "East Sami language". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  6. "Saami, South". Ethnologue.
  7. "Saami, Ume". Ethnologue.
  8. "Saami, Pite". Ethnologue.
  9. "Saami, Lule". Ethnologue.
  10. "Saami, North". Ethnologue.
  11. "Saami, Inari". Ethnologue.
  12. "Saami, Skolt". Ethnologue.
  13. "Saami, Kildin". Ethnologue.
  14. Karpova, Lisa (18 February 2010). "The 5 Smallest Languages of the World". PravdaReport. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  15. "Saami, Ter". Ethnologue.
Northern Sami edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Inari Sami edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.