Inari Sami
Encyclopedia
Inari Sámi is a Uralic
, Sami
language
spoken by the Inari Sami of Finland
. It has approximately 300 speakers, the majority of whom are middle-aged or older and live in the municipality of Inari
. According to the Sami Parliament of Finland
269 persons used Inari Sami as their first language. It is the only Sami language
that is spoken exclusively in Finland. The language is classified as being seriously endangered as few children learn the language.
in 1906, although he had already translated some other books into Inari Sámi before that (Martin Luther and John Charles Ryles). After that, Inari Sami was mainly published in books written by linguists, Frans Äimä and Erkki Itkonen, in particular. For many years, very little literature was written in Inari Sami, although Sämitigge
has funded and published a lot of books, etc., in recent years.
Since 1992, Finland's Sami have had the right to interact with officials in their own language in areas where they have traditionally lived: in Enontekiö
, Utsjoki
, Inari
and the northern part of Sodankylä
as official policy favors the conservation of the language. All announcements in Inari
, which is the only officially quadrilingual municipality in Finland
, must be made in Finnish
, North Sami, Inari Sami and Skolt Sami
. Only about 10% of the public servants in the area, however, can actually serve the Inari Saami-speaking population in Inari Saami, so Finnish
is used by the remaining 90%.
In 1986, the Anarâškielâ servi
(Inari Sámi Language Association) was founded in order to promote the language and its use. The association also publishes numerous books, textbooks, a calendar, etc., in Inari Sami. They have also established a language immersion program in 1997 for 3-6-year-old children in a day care in Inari
and Ivalo
. In 2007, the association also started publishing an Inari Sámi newspaper called Kierâš
online.
A new phenomenon has been the fact that Inari Sami is currently being used in rap songs by Mikkal Morottaja
, whose stage name is Amoc. Morottaja has also published the first full-length Inari Sámi rap CD in the world on February 6, 2007 (Sami National Day
).
, Skolt Sami
and Northern Sami
, Inari Sámi is one of the four official languages in the municipality of Inari
, in particular in the following villages located on the shore of Lake Inari
(the Inari Sámi name for the village is enclosed in parentheses):
. The alphabet currently used for Inari Sami was made official in 1996 and stands as follows:
The phonetic values are the same as in Karelian
, and đ represents the voiced dental fricative
(in English "the"). Q/q, W/w, X/x, Å/å, Ö/ö are also used in words of foreign origin. Á is traditionally pronounced in the middle of /a/ and /ä/, but in modern Inari Sámi the difference between á and ä is nonexistent. In text, Á and ä are nevertheless considered as separate characters. Ä is used only, if
1) it is in a first syllable of a word, and there is an "e" or "i" in a second syllable of the same word,
2) it is in a word, which does have only one syllable (although á is also used), or
3) it is a part of diphthong "iä".
Ä however is not used, if it is supposed to be a part of diphthong "uá" (uá and uä are pronounced almost the same, but only uá is correct).
The partitive
appears to be a highly unproductive case in that it appears to only be used in the singular
. In addition, unlike Finnish
, Inari Sámi does not make use of the partitive case for objects of transitive verbs. Thus "Mun puurâm leeibi" could translate into Finnish as either "Minä syön leivän" (I'm eating (all of) the bread) or "Minä syön leipää" .
. The following table contains personal pronouns in the nominative and genitive/accusative cases.
The next table demonstrates the declension of a personal pronoun I/we (dual)/we (plural) in the various cases:
s conjugate for three grammatical person
s:
s:
s conjugate for three grammatical number
s:
and 2 compound tenses
:
. In Inari Sami, the negative verb conjugates according to mood
(indicative, imperative and optative), person
(1st, 2nd, 3rd) and number
(singular, dual and plural).
Ind. pres. Imperatiiva Optatiiva
sg. du pl. sg. du pl. sg. du pl.
1 jie'm iän ep 1 – – – 1 iällum iäl'loon iällup
2 jie'h eppee eppeđ 2 ele ellee elleđ 2 ele ellee elleđ
3 ij iä'vá iä 3 – – – 3 iä'lus iällus iällus
Uralic languages
The Uralic languages constitute a language family of some three dozen languages spoken by approximately 25 million people. The healthiest Uralic languages in terms of the number of native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Mari and Udmurt...
, Sami
Sami languages
Sami or Saami is a general name for a group of Uralic languages spoken by the Sami people in parts of northern Finland, Norway, Sweden and extreme northwestern Russia, in Northern Europe. Sami is frequently and erroneously believed to be a single language. Several names are used for the Sami...
language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
spoken by the Inari Sami of Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. It has approximately 300 speakers, the majority of whom are middle-aged or older and live in the municipality of Inari
Inari, Finland
Inari is Finland's largest, sparsely populated municipality with four official languages, more than any other in the country. Its major sources of income are lumber industry and nature maintenance. With the museum Siida in the village of Inari, it is a center of Sami culture...
. According to the Sami Parliament of Finland
Sami Parliament of Finland
The Sami Parliament of Finland is the representative body for people of Sami heritage in Finland. The parliament consists of 21 elected mandates...
269 persons used Inari Sami as their first language. It is the only Sami language
Sami languages
Sami or Saami is a general name for a group of Uralic languages spoken by the Sami people in parts of northern Finland, Norway, Sweden and extreme northwestern Russia, in Northern Europe. Sami is frequently and erroneously believed to be a single language. Several names are used for the Sami...
that is spoken exclusively in Finland. The language is classified as being seriously endangered as few children learn the language.
History
The first book in Inari Sámi was Anar sämi kiela aapis kirje ja doctor Martti Lutherus Ucca katkismus, which was written and translated by Edvard Wilhelm Borg in 1859. The written history of modern Inari Sámi, however, is said to begin with Lauri Arvid Itkonen's translation of the history of the BibleBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
in 1906, although he had already translated some other books into Inari Sámi before that (Martin Luther and John Charles Ryles). After that, Inari Sami was mainly published in books written by linguists, Frans Äimä and Erkki Itkonen, in particular. For many years, very little literature was written in Inari Sami, although Sämitigge
Sami Parliament of Finland
The Sami Parliament of Finland is the representative body for people of Sami heritage in Finland. The parliament consists of 21 elected mandates...
has funded and published a lot of books, etc., in recent years.
Since 1992, Finland's Sami have had the right to interact with officials in their own language in areas where they have traditionally lived: in Enontekiö
Enontekiö
Enontekiö is a municipality in the Finnish part of Lapland with approx. inhabitants. It is situated in the outermost northwest of the country and occupies a large and very sparsely populated area of about between the Swedish and Norwegian border...
, Utsjoki
Utsjoki
Utsjoki is a municipality in Finland. It is located in Lapland and borders Norway as well as the municipality of Inari. The municipality was founded in 1876. It has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water. The population density is....
, Inari
Inari, Finland
Inari is Finland's largest, sparsely populated municipality with four official languages, more than any other in the country. Its major sources of income are lumber industry and nature maintenance. With the museum Siida in the village of Inari, it is a center of Sami culture...
and the northern part of Sodankylä
Sodankylä
-Twin towns: Kola, Russia, since 1968 Berlevåg, Norway, since 1971 Norsjö, Sweden, since 1977 Heiligenblut, Austria, since 1979-External links:* – Official website* * * * * *...
as official policy favors the conservation of the language. All announcements in Inari
Inari, Finland
Inari is Finland's largest, sparsely populated municipality with four official languages, more than any other in the country. Its major sources of income are lumber industry and nature maintenance. With the museum Siida in the village of Inari, it is a center of Sami culture...
, which is the only officially quadrilingual municipality in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, must be made in Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
, North Sami, Inari Sami and Skolt Sami
Skolt Sami
Skolt Sami is a Uralic, Sami language spoken by approximately 400 speakers in Finland, mainly in Sevettijärvi, and approximately 20–30 speakers of the Njuõˊttjäuˊrr dialect in an area surrounding Lake Lovozero in Russia. Skolt Sami used to also be spoken on the Neiden area of Norway,...
. Only about 10% of the public servants in the area, however, can actually serve the Inari Saami-speaking population in Inari Saami, so Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
is used by the remaining 90%.
In 1986, the Anarâškielâ servi
Anarâškielâ servi
Anarâškielâ servi is a Sámi association from Inari, Finland. The association was founded in the auditorium of the Ivalo Hotel in Ivalo on December 4, 1986 by Veikko Aikio, Ilmari Mattus and Matti Morottaja....
(Inari Sámi Language Association) was founded in order to promote the language and its use. The association also publishes numerous books, textbooks, a calendar, etc., in Inari Sami. They have also established a language immersion program in 1997 for 3-6-year-old children in a day care in Inari
Inari
Inari may refer to:* Inari , a Shinto spirit** Mount Inari in Japan, site of Fushimi Inari-taisha, the main Shinto shrine to Inari** Inari Shrine, shrines to the Shinto god Inari* Inari Sami, one of the Sami languages...
and Ivalo
Ivalo
Ivalo is a village in Inari Municipality, in Finland's Lapland Province, located on the Ivalo river 20 kilometres to the south of Lake Inari. It has a population of 3,998 and a small airport...
. In 2007, the association also started publishing an Inari Sámi newspaper called Kierâš
Kierâš
Kierâš is an Inari Sámi-language on-line weekly that was published for the first time on September 6, 2007. It is published by Anarâškielâ servi and its editor-in-chief is Petter Morottaja. The newspaper is published once a week and offers news, announcements and current topics in Inari Sámi to its...
online.
A new phenomenon has been the fact that Inari Sami is currently being used in rap songs by Mikkal Morottaja
Amoc (rapper)
Amoc is a Finnish rap musician. He is noted for rapping in the nearly extinct language of Inari Sami.-External links:* *-Produced by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland*...
, whose stage name is Amoc. Morottaja has also published the first full-length Inari Sámi rap CD in the world on February 6, 2007 (Sami National Day
Sami National Day
The Sami National Day falls on February 6 as this date was when the first Sámi congress was held in 1917 in Trondheim, Norway. This congress was the first time that Norwegian and Swedish Sámi came together across their national borders to work together to find solutions for common problems.In 1992,...
).
Geographic distribution
Along with FinnishFinnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
, Skolt Sami
Skolt Sami
Skolt Sami is a Uralic, Sami language spoken by approximately 400 speakers in Finland, mainly in Sevettijärvi, and approximately 20–30 speakers of the Njuõˊttjäuˊrr dialect in an area surrounding Lake Lovozero in Russia. Skolt Sami used to also be spoken on the Neiden area of Norway,...
and Northern Sami
Northern Sami
Northern or North Sami is the most widely spoken of all Sami languages. The speaking area of Northern Sami covers the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland...
, Inari Sámi is one of the four official languages in the municipality of Inari
Inari, Finland
Inari is Finland's largest, sparsely populated municipality with four official languages, more than any other in the country. Its major sources of income are lumber industry and nature maintenance. With the museum Siida in the village of Inari, it is a center of Sami culture...
, in particular in the following villages located on the shore of Lake Inari
Lake Inari
Lake Inari is the third largest lake in Finland and the largest lake in Sápmi. It is located in the northern part of Lapland, north of the Arctic Circle. The lake is 117–119 meters above sea level and it is regulated at the Kaitakoski power plant in Russia...
(the Inari Sámi name for the village is enclosed in parentheses):
- NellimNellimNellim is a village on the shore of Lake Inari in Inari, Finland that has three distinctly different cultures: Finns, the Inari Sámi and the Skolt Sámi. Nellim is approximately northeast of Ivalo and approximately away from the Russian border...
(Njellim) - IvaloIvaloIvalo is a village in Inari Municipality, in Finland's Lapland Province, located on the Ivalo river 20 kilometres to the south of Lake Inari. It has a population of 3,998 and a small airport...
(Avveel) - Menesjärvi (Menišjävri)
- Repojoki (Riemâšjuuhâ)
- Tirro (Mosshâš)
- the village of InariInari (village)Inari is a population centre in the municipality of Inari in Finland.-History:The village grew up along in a spot where the fast-flowing Juutua River empties into Lake Inari. As the centuries went by, the village developed into a robust and active market and trade centre...
(Aanaar markkân) - KaamanenKaamanenKaamanen is a village in the municipality of Inari, Lapland.The village counts about 200 inhabitants, whose main sources of livelihood are reindeer husbandry and tourism. The area is extremely valuable for bird-watchers and there are relatively important hiking paths.- External links :...
(Kaamâs) - Aksujärvi (Ákšujävri)
- SyysjärviSyysjärvi-References:* *...
(Čovčjävri) - IijärviIijärvi-References:* *...
(Ijjävri) - SevettijärviSevettijärviSevettijärvi is a village in the municipality of Inari, Finland approximately north of downtown Inari. Näätämö, as it is known on the Finnish side of the Norwegian border, is approximately away. The village’s green, yet stark terrain opens up as Näätämö approaches.The village is built on what...
(Čevetjävri) - Partakko (Päärtih)
Orthography
Inari Sámi is written using an extended version of the Latin alphabetLatin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
. The alphabet currently used for Inari Sami was made official in 1996 and stands as follows:
| А а | (Â â) | B b | C c | Č č | D d | Đ đ | E e | |
| F f | G g | H h | I i | J j | K k | L l | M m | |
| N n | Ŋ ŋ | O o | P p | R r | S s | Š š | T t | |
| U u | V v | Y y | Z z | Ž ž | Ä ä | (Á á) |
The phonetic values are the same as in Karelian
Karelian language
Karelian language is a Finnic language spoken mainly in the Russian Republic of Karelia. Linguistically Karelian is closely related to the Finnish dialects spoken in eastern Finland and some Finnish linguists even classified Karelian as a dialect of Finnish...
, and đ represents the voiced dental fricative
Voiced dental fricative
The voiced dental non-sibilant fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound, eth, is . The symbol was taken from the Old English letter eth, which could stand for either a voiced or unvoiced...
(in English "the"). Q/q, W/w, X/x, Å/å, Ö/ö are also used in words of foreign origin. Á is traditionally pronounced in the middle of /a/ and /ä/, but in modern Inari Sámi the difference between á and ä is nonexistent. In text, Á and ä are nevertheless considered as separate characters. Ä is used only, if
1) it is in a first syllable of a word, and there is an "e" or "i" in a second syllable of the same word,
2) it is in a word, which does have only one syllable (although á is also used), or
3) it is a part of diphthong "iä".
Ä however is not used, if it is supposed to be a part of diphthong "uá" (uá and uä are pronounced almost the same, but only uá is correct).
Cases
Inari Sámi has 9 cases, although the genitive and accusative are often the same:- Nominative
- Genitive
- Accusative
- Locative
- Illative
- Comitative
- Abessive
- Essive
- PartitivePartitiveIn linguistics, the partitive is a word, phrase, or case that divides something into parts. For example, in the English sentence I'll have some coffee, some is a partitive determiner because it makes the noun phrase some coffee refer to a subset of all coffee...
The partitive
Partitive
In linguistics, the partitive is a word, phrase, or case that divides something into parts. For example, in the English sentence I'll have some coffee, some is a partitive determiner because it makes the noun phrase some coffee refer to a subset of all coffee...
appears to be a highly unproductive case in that it appears to only be used in the singular
Grammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
. In addition, unlike Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
, Inari Sámi does not make use of the partitive case for objects of transitive verbs. Thus "Mun puurâm leeibi" could translate into Finnish as either "Minä syön leivän" (I'm eating (all of) the bread) or "Minä syön leipää" .
Pronouns
The personal pronouns have three numbers: singular, plural and dualDual (grammatical number)
Dual is a grammatical number that some languages use in addition to singular and plural. When a noun or pronoun appears in dual form, it is interpreted as referring to precisely two of the entities identified by the noun or pronoun...
. The following table contains personal pronouns in the nominative and genitive/accusative cases.
| English | nominative | English | genitive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First person (singular) | I | mun | my | muu |
| Second person (singular) | you (thou) | tun | your, yours | tuu |
| Third person (singular) | he, she | sun | his, her | suu |
| First person (dual) | we (two) | muoi | our | munnuu |
| Second person (dual) | you (two) | tuoi | your | tunnuu |
| Third person (dual) | they (two) | suoi | theirs | sunnuu |
| First person (plural) | we | mij | our | mii |
| Second person (plural) | you | tij | your | tii |
| Third person (plural) | they | sij | their | sii |
The next table demonstrates the declension of a personal pronoun I/we (dual)/we (plural) in the various cases:
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | mun | muoi | mij |
| Genitive-Accusative | muu | munnuu | mii |
| Locative | must, muste | munnust | mist, miste |
| Illative | munjin | munnui | mijjân |
| Comitative | muuin, muin | munnuin, munnuuin | miiguim |
| Abessive | muuttáá | munnuuttáá | miittáá |
| Essive | munen | munnun | minen |
| Partitive | muđe | munnud? | miđe? |
Person
Inari Sami verbVerb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
s conjugate for three grammatical person
Grammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
s:
- first person
- second person
- third person
Mood
Inari Sami has 5 grammatical moodGrammatical mood
In linguistics, grammatical mood is a grammatical feature of verbs, used to signal modality. That is, it is the use of verbal inflections that allow speakers to express their attitude toward what they are saying...
s:
- indicative
- imperativeImperative moodThe imperative mood expresses commands or requests as a grammatical mood. These commands or requests urge the audience to act a certain way. It also may signal a prohibition, permission, or any other kind of exhortation.- Morphology :...
- conditionalConditional moodIn linguistics, the conditional mood is the inflectional form of the verb used in the independent clause of a conditional sentence to refer to a hypothetical state of affairs, or an uncertain event, that is contingent on another set of circumstances...
- potential
- optativeOptative moodThe optative mood is a grammatical mood that indicates a wish or hope. It is similar to the cohortative mood, and closely related to the subjunctive mood....
Grammatical number
Inari Sami verbVerb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
s conjugate for three grammatical number
Grammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
s:
- singularGrammatical numberIn linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
- dual
- pluralPluralIn linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
Tense
Inari Sami has 2 simple tenses:- pastPreteriteThe preterite is the grammatical tense expressing actions that took place or were completed in the past...
- non-pastGrammatical tenseA tense is a grammatical category that locates a situation in time, to indicate when the situation takes place.Bernard Comrie, Aspect, 1976:6:...
and 2 compound tenses
Grammatical tense
A tense is a grammatical category that locates a situation in time, to indicate when the situation takes place.Bernard Comrie, Aspect, 1976:6:...
:
- perfect
- Pluperfect
Negative verb
Inari Sami, like Finnish, the other Sámi languages and Estonian, has a negative verbNegative verb
A negative verb is a type of auxiliary that is used to form the negative of a main verb. The main verb itself has no personal endings, while the negative verb takes the inflection...
. In Inari Sami, the negative verb conjugates according to mood
Grammatical mood
In linguistics, grammatical mood is a grammatical feature of verbs, used to signal modality. That is, it is the use of verbal inflections that allow speakers to express their attitude toward what they are saying...
(indicative, imperative and optative), person
Grammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
(1st, 2nd, 3rd) and number
Grammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
(singular, dual and plural).
Ind. pres. Imperatiiva Optatiiva
sg. du pl. sg. du pl. sg. du pl.
1 jie'm iän ep 1 – – – 1 iällum iäl'loon iällup
2 jie'h eppee eppeđ 2 ele ellee elleđ 2 ele ellee elleđ
3 ij iä'vá iä 3 – – – 3 iä'lus iällus iällus
External links
- Salminen, Tapani. UNESCO Red Book on Endangered Languages. 1993.
- Kimberli Mäkäräinen A minute vocabulary (Inari Sámi-English) (233 words)
- Names of birds found in Sápmi in a number of languages, including Skolt Sámi and English. Search function only works with Finnish input though.
- Clip about keeping Inari Sami alive (requires RealPlayerRealPlayerRealPlayer is a cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.-History:...
) - The Inari Sami Language by Toivonen and Nelson
- Hans Morottaja speaks about himself, etc. in Inari Sámi