2.3.5 Sami languages
Description
This article is from the Nordic countries FAQ, by Antti Lahelma and Johan Olofsson, with numerous contributions by others.
2.3.5 Sami languages
As there are several Sami cultures there are also several Sami
languages and dialects. It is not exactly known what kind of language
the ancestors of the Sami originally spoke, obviously it was some kind
of proto-Uralic language. Now the common theory is that the Sami
languages developed from early proto-Finnic languages side by side
with proto-Finnic language, so that there was some sort of
proto-Lappic language around 1000 BC - 700 AD. This then developed to
various languages and dialects as we know them now. The Sami languages
are regarded as Finno-Ugric languages and their closest relatives are
the Baltic-Finnic languages (Finnish, Estonian).
It's often hard to decide whether two related forms of speech are in
fact different languages or merely dialects of a single language,
especially when there are transition areas between them. Commonly the
Sami languages are divided into nine main dialectal areas.
The numbers in brackets represent the approximate number of speakers
of the language according to the Geographical distribution of the
Uralic languages made by Finno-Ugric Society in 1993.
1. South Sami - in central Scandinavia [500]
2. Ume language [very few]
3. Pite language [very few]
4. Lule language [2 000]
5. Northern languages (Norwegian Sami, fjeld language) [30 000]
6. Enare language - north of lake Inari [400]
7. Skolt language - in Pechenga [500]
8. Kildin language - in central Kola peninsula [1 000]
9. Ter (Turja) language - in eastern Kola peninsula [500]
As there are several languages, there are also several grammars and
orthographies for them. The areas 2 - 5 have more or less the same
written language but several orthographies. Language 6 has its own
orthography whereas areas 7 - 9 use mainly Kildin language in
publications.
The following description about the history of written Sami concerns
mainly the languages spoken in Sweden.
The first Sami books were religious literature, used for converting
the Sami people to Christianity during Gustav II Adolf's reign in the
17th century. The first books (ABC book and mass book) were made by
the priest Nicolaus Andreae in Piteå in 1619, but they were in a very
clumsy language. The first written grammar was again made in Sweden by
the priest Petrus Fiellström in Lycksele in 1738.
For a long time the written texts in Sami languages were solely for
religious purposes. Poetry and other literature in Sami languages is
rather recent. In 1906 the Sami teacher Isak Saba (1875-1921)
published a poem Same soga lavla (the Song of Sami Family) which is
known as the national anthem of the Sami. Four years later Johan
Turi's (1854-1936) Muittalus Samid birra (A Story about Sami) was
published in Sweden. This is probably the most famous volume written
in Sami language. Just as an example what Sami language looks like
here's the first verse of Same soga lavla in the orthographic form
proposed by Sami Language Board in 1978:
Sami soga lavlla Song of Sami Family
Guhkkin davvin Dávggáid vuolde Far in the north under the Plough
sabmá suolggai Samieatnan: looms quietly the land of Lapps:
duottar laebbá duoddar duohkin, a fjeld lies behind a fjeld,
jávri seabbá jávrri lahka, a lake spreads near a lake,
c´ohkat c´ilggiin, c´orut c´earuin peaks on ridges, tops on bare fjelds
allánaddet almmi vuostá; rise against the sky;
s´ávvet jogat, s´uvvet vuovddit, rushing rivers, wuthering forests,
cáhket ceakko stállinjárggat steep steel capes stick
máraideaddji mearaide. into roaring seas
[ c´ and s´ denote c and s with apostrophe ]
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