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Language Information By Source

Europe and North Asia
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Vulnerable

Native Speakers Worldwide

16,500

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

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Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

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Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

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Year of info

2007

Location and Context

Countries

Northern Europe: Lapland

Coordinates

No data

Location description

Spoken in most parts of Finnmark and Troms provinces and in the northernmost corner of Nordland Province in Norway, in Kiruna and Pajala counties and parts of Ga¨llivare and other adjacent counties in Norrbotten Province (Torne Lappmark) as well as, because of resettlements in the twentieth century, also in more southerly regions in Sweden, and in Utsjoki and Enontekio counties, western parts of Inari County, and Vuotso region of Sodankyla County in Lapland Province in Finland. Formerly extended to Petsamo region in Murmansk Province in the Russian Federation.

Government support

official status in Finnmark Province

Institutional support

No data

Speakers’s attitudes

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Standard orthography

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Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

Spoken in most parts of Finnmark and Troms provinces and in the northernmost corner of Nordland Province in Norway, in Kiruna and Pajala counties and parts of Ga¨llivare and other adjacent counties in Norrbotten Province (Torne Lappmark) as well as, because of resettlements in the twentieth century, also in more southerly regions in Sweden, and in Utsjoki and Enontekio counties, western parts of Inari County, and Vuotso region of Sodankyla County in Lapland Province in Finland. Formerly extended to Petsamo region in Murmansk Province in the Russian Federation.

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

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Domains of other languages

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More on context

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Vulnerable

Native Speakers Worldwide

30,000

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2010

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

68.9099,22.9394

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers’s attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

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Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

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More on context

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Vulnerable

Native Speakers Worldwide

25,700

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

30,000-40,000

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

"20,000 in Norway (Laakso 2013). Population total all countries: 25,700. Ethnic population: 30,000 (1995 M. Krauss). 30,000–40,000."

Year of info

2015

Location and Context

Countries

Norway

Coordinates

No data

Location description

"Finnmark, Troms counties; Nordland county: Ofoten."

Government support

Statutory provincial language in Sami Administrative District (1987, Sami Act, No. 12, Article 3)

Institutional support

No data

Speakers’s attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

Cyrillic, Latin

Other writing systems

"Finnmark, Troms counties; Nordland county: Ofoten."

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

Norwegian [nor]

More on context

No data

Vulnerable

Native Speakers Worldwide

~ 17,000 - 32,000

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

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Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

"There is no register of ethnic affiliation in Norway, neither is there an official register of speakers of different Sámi languages. Therefore, the estimations on the total number of North Sámi speakers in Norway varies from 10,000 (Sammallahti 1998: 1) to 25,000 (Sametinget 2005). The number of North Sámi speakers in Sweden is estimated to be about 5000, and in Finland from about 2000 (Sammallahti 1998:1)."

Year of info

2012

Location and Context

Countries

Norway; Sweden; Finland; Russia

Coordinates

No data

Location description

"The North Sámi are in the majority in the following municipalities in Norway: Guovdageaidnu (in Norwegian Kautokeino), Kárášjohka (Karasjok), Deatnu (Tana) and Unjárga (Nesseby). The municipalities of Porsáŋgu (Porsang) and Gáivuotna (Kåfjord) also have a noticeable concentration of North Sámi people. In addition North Sámi speakers live outside the central North Sámi speaking area, especially in the cities."

Government support

Sámi Parliament in Norway

Institutional support

No data

Speakers’s attitudes

"The negative attitudes towards the Sámi languages, which arose in the era of Norwegianisation and were also transmitted among the Sámi themselves, partly still exist. Gradually however, the attitudes among the Sámi people have changed to a more positive direction and in some regions linguistic revitalisation has taken place, and the prestige and social status of the Sámi language has grown."

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

"The North Sámi are in the majority in the following municipalities in Norway: Guovdageaidnu (in Norwegian Kautokeino), Kárášjohka (Karasjok), Deatnu (Tana) and Unjárga (Nesseby). The municipalities of Porsáŋgu (Porsang) and Gáivuotna (Kåfjord) also have a noticeable concentration of North Sámi people. In addition North Sámi speakers live outside the central North Sámi speaking area, especially in the cities."

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Kven, Finnish, Swedish

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

"In 1988 the Norwegian Parliament, adopted an amendment, Section 110 A, to the Norwegian constitution. This amendment states that the Norwegian state has the duty and responsibility to provide and ensure the conditions for the Sámi people to preserve and develop their culture, language and way of life. According to the Sámi Act the Norwegian and Sámi language have equal status, which in practice means the area of, Sámegiela hálddášanguovlu ‘the Administration Area for Sámi language’.

Vulnerable

Native Speakers Worldwide

No data

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2005

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

69.0,24.0

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

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Speakers’s attitudes

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Standard orthography

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Script (Writing system)

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Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

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Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

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Vulnerable

Native Speakers Worldwide

21,000

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

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Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

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Institutional support

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Speakers’s attitudes

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Standard orthography

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Script (Writing system)

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Other writing systems

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More on writing systems

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Other languages used

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Domains of other languages

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More on context

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Media Resources

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  1. The Saami Languages: An Introduction
    Sammallahti, Pekka. 1998. "The Saami Languages: An Introduction." Davvi Girji.
  2. Sámi Gielladieða Online (Saami Linguistics Online)
    https://saamilinguistics.wordpress.com/
  3. North Sámi in Norway: An Overview of a Language in Context
  4. North Sámi in Norway: ELDIA Case-Specific Report
    https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/detail_object/o:361122
  5. Legal and Institutional Framework Analysis: North Sámi and Kven
    https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/detail_object/o:104917
  6. Lappische Chrestomathie mit grammatikalischem Abriss und Wörterverzeichnis
    Itkonen, Erkki. 1969. "Lappische Chrestomathie Mit Grammatikalischem Abriss Und Wörterverzeichnis." 7: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura.
  7. Saamic
    Sammallahti, Pekka. 1998. "Saamic." In The Uralic Languages, edited by Daniel Abondolo. 43-95. Routledge.
  8. Lappische Grammatik mit Lesestücken
    Bergsland, Knut. 1976. "Lappische Grammatik Mit Lesestücken." Harrasowitz.
  9. Samisk grammatikk
    Nickel, Klaus Peter. 1994. "Samisk Grammatikk." Girji.
  10. Numerusprobleme. Ein Erkundungszug durch den Dschungel der uralischen Numeri
    1997. "Numerusprobleme. Ein Erkundungszug Durch Den Dschungel Der Uralischen Numeri." In Finnisch-Ugrische Mitteilungen, 54: 1-126.
  11. Endangered Languages Catalogue Project. Compiled by research teams at University of Hawai'i Mānoa and Institute for Language Information and Technology (LINGUIST List) at Eastern Michigan University
    2012. "Endangered Languages Catalogue Project. Compiled By Research Teams At University of Hawai'i Mānoa and Institute For Language Information and Technology (LINGUIST List) At Eastern Michigan University."
  12. Lehrbuch der saamischen (lappischen) Sprache
    Bartens, Hans-Hermann. 1989. "Lehrbuch Der Saamischen (lappischen) Sprache." Helmut Buske Verlag.
  13. The Saami Languages: An Introduction
    Sammallahti, Pekka. 1998. "The Saami Languages: An Introduction." Kárášjohka: Davvi Girji.
  14. Encounters in Border Country Saami and Scandinavian peoples in Central Scndinavia
    Zachrisson, Inger. 2005. "Encounters in Border Country Saami and Scandinavian Peoples in Central Scndinavia." In Finno-Ugric People in the Nordic Countries: ROOTS V: The Roots of Peoples and Languages of Northern Eurasia, edited by Birger Winsa. 40-45. Övertorneå: Academia Tornedaliensis - Meän akateemi (Norrbottens kultur- och forskningscentrum).
  15. On Germanic-Saami contacts and Saami prehistory
    Aikio, Ante. 2006. "On Germanic-Saami Contacts and Saami Prehistory." In Journal de la Société Finno-Ougrienne, 91: 9-55.
  16. The World Atlas of Language Structures
    2005. "The World Atlas of Language Structures." edited by Bernard Comrie et al. Oxford University Press.
  17. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)
    Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)
    http://www.ethnologue.com/
  18. Europe and North Asia
    Salminen, Tapani. 2007. "Europe and North Asia." In Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, edited by C. Moseley. 211-282. London & New York: Routledge.
  19. World Oral Literature Project
    "World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.
    http://www.oralliterature.org
  20. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger
    Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)
    http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas