Skolt Sami language
| Skolt Sami | |
|---|---|
| sääʹmǩiõll | |
| Native to | Finland, Russia |
| Ethnicity | Skolts |
|
Native speakers
|
320 (1995–2007) |
| Latin | |
| Official status | |
|
Recognised minority
language in |
Finland; Norway
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | skol1241 |
Skolt Sami is 6 on this regional map of Sami languages.
|
|
Skolt Sami (sääʹmǩiõll 'the Saami language' or nuõrttsääʹmǩiõll if a distinction needs to be made between it and the other Saami languages) is a Uralic, Sami language spoken by approximately 400 speakers in Finland, mainly in Sevettijärvi, and approximately 20–30 speakers of the Njuõʹttjäuʹrr (Notozero) dialect in an area surrounding Lake Lovozero in Russia. Skolt Sami also used to be spoken in the Neiden area of Norway. It is written using a Roman orthography that was made official in 1973.
The term Skolt was coined by representatives of the majority culture and has negative connotation which can be compared to the term Lapp. Nevertheless it is used in cultural and linguistic studies.
On Finnish territory Skolt Sami was spoken in four villages before the Second World War. In Petsamo, Skolt Sami was spoken in Suonikylä and the village of Petsamo. This area was ceded to Russia in the Second World War, and the Skolts were evacuated to the villages of Inari, Sevettijärvi and Nellim in the Inari municipality.
On the Russian (then Soviet) side the dialect was spoken in the now defunct Sami settlements of Motovsky, Songelsky, Notozero (hence its Russian name – the Notozersky dialect). Some speakers still may live in the villages of Tuloma and Lovozero.
Skolt Sami is spoken by approximately 400 people by the government as one of the official Sami languages used in Lapland and can thus be used by anyone conducting official business in that area. It is an official language in the municipality of Inari, and elementary schools there offer courses in the language, both for native speakers and for students learning it as a foreign language. Only a small number of youths do learn the language and continue to use it actively. Skolt Sami is thus a seriously endangered language, even more seriously than Inari Sami in the same municipality, which has a nearly equal number of speakers.
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Wikipedia