Baltic-Finnic languages: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article

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Baltic-Finnic languages

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	Topics Baltic-Finnic languages Topic Home The Baltic-Finnic languages, spoken around the Baltic SeaBaltic Sea The Baltic Sea is located in Northern Europe, from 53N to 66N latitude and from 20E to 26E longitude.... by about 7 million people, are a branch of Finnic languagesFinnic languages Finnic languages is a language group including Baltic-Finnic languages and Volga-Finnic languages.... belonging to the Finno-UgricFinno-Ugric Finno-Ugric can refer to:* Finno-Ugric languages... group of the Uralic language familyUralic languages The Uralic languages form a language family of about 30 languages spoken by approximately 20 million people.... . The Finnic division of the language groups includes: Baltic-Finnic languages, Volga-Finnic languagesFinno-Volgaic languages The Finno-Volgaic languages, also known as the Finno-Mari, Finno-Cheremisic, or Volga-Finnic languages, are a language group... , Permic and SamiSAMI Summary Released in 1998, SAMI is a Microsoft accessibility initiative.... together with the UgricUgric Ugric can refer to:* Ugric languages... division of HungarianHungarian language Overview Hungarian is a Finno-Ugric language, unrelated to the other languages of Central Europe.... and the Ob-Ugric languages MansiMansi Mansi are an endangered indigenous people living in Khantia-Mansia, an autonomous okrug within Tyumen Oblast in Russia.... (Vogul) and Khanty (Ostyak) make the Finno-Ugric groupFinno-Ugric languages The Finno-Ugric languages form a subfamily of the Uralic languages.... of the Uralic language familyUralic languages The Uralic languages form a language family of about 30 languages spoken by approximately 20 million people.... . The major modern representatives of Baltic-Finnic languages are FinnishFinnish language Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside Finland.... and EstonianEstonian language Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and by some ten thousands in va... , the official languages of their respective nation states. The other Finnic languages in the Baltic Sea region are IngrianIngrian language The Ingrian language is a Finno-Ugric language spoken by the Izhorians of Ingria.... , KarelianKarelian language Overview The Karelian language is a variety closely related to Finnish, with which it is not necessarily mutually intelligible.... , LudicLudic language Ludic or Ludian is a Baltic Finnic language in the Uralic language family.... , VepsVeps language The Veps language, spoken by the Vepsians, belongs to the Baltic-Finnic group of the Finno-Ugric languages.... , VoticVotic language Votic or Votian is the language spoken by the Votes of Ingria.... , spoken around the Gulf of FinlandGulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland is an arm of the Baltic Sea that extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to the city of Saint ... and Lakes OnegaOnega Onega can refer to:Lake Onega in Russia.... and Ladoga. The Seto languageSeto language Seto* or Setu language is a dialect of the Finnic South Estonian or Võro language and also the name denoting its speak... and VõroVõro language The V?ro language is a language belonging to the Baltic-Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric languages.... are spoken in south-eastern EstoniaEstonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia , is a country in Northern Europe.... and LivonianLivonian language Livonian belongs to the Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric languages.... in parts of LatviaFacts About Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in Eastern Europe.... . The smaller languages are disappearing. In the 20th century both LivonianLivonian Livonian can refer to one of the following.... and Votic had fewer than 100 speakers left. Other groups of which there are records have long since disappeared. MeänkieliMeänkieli Menkieli is a Finno-Ugric language spoken in the most northern parts of Sweden, around the valley of the Torne River.... (in northern Sweden) and KvenKven language The Kven language is a Finno-Ugric language, spoken mostly by the Kven population in Northern Norway.... (in northern Norway) are Finnish dialects that the Scandinavian countries of Sweden and Norway have given a legal status of independent languages. They are mutually intelligible with Finnish. General Characteristics There is no grammatical gender, and there are no or articles nor definite or indefinite forms in Baltic-Finnic languages, only some female forms are used in professional names derived with a suffix. One of the characteristic features in the Baltic-Finnic languages is consonant gradationConsonant gradation Consonant gradation is a type of consonant mutation, in which consonants alternate between various "grades".... . Two kinds of gradation occur: the radical and suffix gradation with the plosives K, T and P. PalatalizationPalatalization Palatalization generally refers to two phenomena:... belongs to the Estonian literary language and is essential feature in VõroVõro V?ro may refer to:* V?ro language, a language belonging to the Baltic-Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric languages of Estonia... , Veps, Karelian and other eastern Baltic-Finnic languages. The Finnish literary language is the only Baltic-Finnic language that doesn't have palatalization. However, Baltic-Finnic palatalization is not of Uralic origin; rather, it is apparently reacquired from Slavic. This can be seen in that it is not an independent feature as in original Uralic, but dependent on the following vowel as in Slavic. A special characteristic of the languages is the large number of diphthongs. There are 16 diphthongs in Finnish and 25 in Estonian; at the same time the frequency is greater in Finnish than in Estonian. There are 14 noun casesGrammatical case In grammar, the case of a noun or pronoun indicates its grammatical function in a greater phrase or clause; such as the role... in Estonian and 15 in Finnish, which are denoted by adding a suffix. Baltic-Finnic languages share some obviously noticeable features. The consonant sets are rather simple, featuring no voicing contrast, and almost all are alveolar consonantAlveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that be... s. However, there are two chronemeChroneme In spoken language, a chroneme is a basic, theoretical unit of sound that can distinguish words by duration only of a vowel ... s, which are phonemic: short, half-long geminate and over-long geminate consonants distinguish meanings and thus are different phonemePhoneme In human language, a phoneme is a set of phones that are cognitively equivalent.... s. The same goes with vowels; short, half-long and over-long vowels distinguish meanings. The meaning-distinguishing effect is the strongest in Estonian and Võro, where all three lengths are fully phonemic; other languages distinguish only two lengths, where half-long is an allophone of short. There is a large number of vocalic phonemes with strong contrasts between them and complex diphthong systems. For example, Estonian has nine monophthongs [aeiouyæø?] in three different lengths, and 26 diphthongs, each a distinct phonemePhoneme In human language, a phoneme is a set of phones that are cognitively equivalent.... . The modern Baltic-Finnic diphthongs are an exclusively Baltic-Finnic innovation. The morphophonology (how the grammatical function of a morphemeMorpheme In morpheme-based morphology, a morpheme is the smallest lingual unit that carries a semantic interpretation.... affects its production) is complex. One important morphophonological process is vowel harmonyVowel harmony Vowel harmony is a type of long-distance assimilatory phonological process involving vowels in some languages.... , another consonant gradationConsonant gradation Consonant gradation is a type of consonant mutation, in which consonants alternate between various "grades".... . This is a lenitionLenition Lenition is a kind of consonant mutation that appears in many languages.... process, where a word-final stop is changed into a "weaker" form with some (but not all) oblique cases. For geminates, the process is simple to describe: geminates become simple stops, e.g. kuppia ? kupin. For simple consonants, the process complicates immensely, since the stops would become voiced fricatives, but there are no such fricatives, and some other consonant is selected instead, according to the phonetic environment. For example, haka ? haan, kyky ? kyvyn, järki ? järjen (Finnish). Another important process, strongest in Livonian, Võro and Estonian, is the "erosion" of word-final sounds. This may leave a phonemic status to the morphophonological variations caused by the agglutination of the lost suffixes, which is the source of the third length level in these languages. In grammar, Baltic-Finnic languages follow the pattern of Uralic languages. With the Sami languagesSami languages Sami or Saami is a general name for a group of Uralic languages spoken by the Sami people in parts of northern Norway,... Baltic-Finnic languages share consonant gradationConsonant gradation Consonant gradation is a type of consonant mutation, in which consonants alternate between various "grades".... and the three-way consonant length contrast. Relative to Proto-Uralic, both have developed noninitial labial vowels and lost the labial glide preceding initial labial vowels. These features can be caused by a common ancestry (i.e. a distinct protolanguage giving rise to Proto-Baltic-Finnic and Proto-Sami), areal influence (Finnic peoples and Sami have coexistenced in the same areas), or coincidence. PalatalizationPalatalization Summary Palatalization generally refers to two phenomena:... was lost in proto-Finnic, but dialects reacquired it, probably from Slavic. Standard or Western Finnish, however, did not. Therefore, it is found in East Finnish dialects and EstonianEstonian language Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and by some ten thousands in va... , and their descendants, but not originally in West Finnish dialects. Palatalization is stronger and more widespread in VõroVõro V?ro may refer to:* V?ro language, a language belonging to the Baltic-Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric languages of Estonia... , Veps, Karelian and other eastern Baltic-Finnic languages. For more features, see Finno-Ugric languagesFinno-Ugric languages The Finno-Ugric languages form a subfamily of the Uralic languages.... . The UrheimatUrheimat Urheimat is a linguistic term denoting the original homeland of the speakers of a proto-language.... of Baltic-Finnic speaking peoples is believed to be somewhere in the region of what is now Estonia, and consequently, the most central, integrated and oldest loans are from the Baltic languagesBaltic languages The Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in ar... , (proto-)LithuanianLithuanian language Lithuanian is the official language of Lithuania, spoken by about 4 million native speakers.... and (proto-)LatvianLatvian language Latvian , sometimes referred to as Lettish, is the official state language of the Republic of Latvia.... . German and Russian are also the origin of some loans, added with other Germanic, such as GothicGothic language The Gothic language is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths and specifically by the Visigoths.... or later SwedishSwedish language Swedish is a North Germanic language spoken predominantly in Sweden and in parts of Finland, especially along the coast an... , loans. There is little overt Russian influence in most languages, except in smaller languages, such as Karelian, which has a long history of close contact with RussianRussian language Russian is the most widely spoken language of Eurasia and the most widespread of the Slavic languages.... . See also Birch bark letter no. 292Birch bark letter no. 292 The Birch bark letter given the document number 292, found in 1957 in excavations in Novgorod, is the oldest known doc... External links Tapani Salminen.