Sami (Sámi/Saami)

Sami is a Finno-Ugric language with about 20,000 speakers. The language was formerly known as Lapp, but that name is now considered derogatory. Sami is in fact made up of three mutually unintelligible languages: Southern Sami, Central Sami and Eastern Sami, each of which has a number of dialects.

Sami is an official language in the Norwegian municipalities of Kautokeino, Karasjok, Kåfjord, Nesseby, Sør-Varanger and Tana. In Finland, the Sami people have the right to use Sami languages for all government services, and Sami is the official language in the Enontekiö, Inari, Sodankylä and Utsjoki municipalities. Sami has offical status in the Swedish municipalities of Arjeplog, Gällivare, Jokkmokk and Kiruna, and is one of five recognized minority languages in Sweden.

The main dialects of Sami are:

Northern Sami, a dialect of Central Sami spoken by about 15,000 people in Norway, Sweden and Finland
Lule Sami, a dialect of Central Sami with about 1,500 speakers in Norway and Sweden
Kildin Sami, a dialect of Eastern Sami spoken in the Kola peninsula of Russia by about 650 people
Southern Sami, with around 600 speakers in Sweden and Norway.

Sami languages spoken in Finland include Inari Sami and Skolt Sami, which is also spoken in the Kola peninsula. Each has only a few hundred speakers. Most of the dialects are mutually unintelligible with neighbouring dialects.

The first Sami language to be used extensively in writing was Ume Sami, a dialect of Southern Sami spoken in Sweden and Norway by about 20 people. A Ume Sami translation of the New Testament was first published in 1755, and a complete translation of the bible in 1811.

North Sami alphabet (sámegiella)
A a	Á á	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
a	á	be	ce	če	de	đe	e	eff	ge	ho	i	je	ko	ell
M m	N n	Ŋ ŋ	O o	P p	R r	S s	Š š	T t	Ŧ ŧ	U u	V v	Z z	Ž ž
emm	enn	eŋŋ	o	pe	err	ess	eš	te	ŧe	u	ve	ez	ež

Pronunciation of Northern Sami

Northern Sami pronunciation

Southern Sami alphabet (saemien giele)
A a	B b	D d	E e	F f	G g	H h	I i	J j	K k	L l	M m
N n	O o	P p	R r	S s	T t	U u	V v	Y y	Æ æ	Ø ø	Å å

Notes

The letters c, ï, q, w, x, z, ä and ö are also used, but only in foreign loanwords.

Lule Sami alphabet (sámegiella)
A a	Á á	B b	D d	E e	F f	G g	H h	I i	J j	K k	L l
M m	N n	Ń ń	O o	P p	R r	S s	T t	U u	V v	Å å	Ä ä

Notes

The letter ń is also written ñ.
The letters c, q, w, x, y, z and ö are also used, but only in foreign loanwords.

Ume Sami

Ume Sami is spoken in Sweden and Norway by about 20 people, who live along the Ume River in the north of Arjeplog and Arvidsjaur.

Ume Sami alphabet
A a	Á á	B b	D d	E e	F f	G g	H h	I i	Í í	J j	K k	L l
M m	N n	O o	P p	R r	S s	T t	U u	Ú ú	V v	Y y	Å å	Ä ä	Ö ö

Inari Sami alphabet (säämegiella)
A a	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

Notes

The letters â, q, w, x, å, á and ö are also used, but only in foreign loanwords.

Inari Sami pronunciation

Skolt Sami alphabet (sääʼmǩiõll)
A a	Â â	B b	C c	Č č	Ʒ ʒ	Ǯ ǯ	D d	Đ đ	E e	F f	G g
Ǧ ǧ	Ǥǥ	H h	I i	J j	K k	Ǩ ǩ	L l	M m	N n	Ŋ ŋ	O o
Õ õ	P p	R r	S s	Š š	T t	U u	V v	Z z	Ž ž	Å å	Ä ä

Notes

The letters q, w, x, ö are also used, but only in foreign loanwords.
' after vowels causes centralization and before consonants it causes palatalization

Skolt Sami pronunciation

Kildin Sami alphabet and pronunciation (самь кӣлл)

Kildin Sami alphabet and pronunciation

Sample text in Sami (Inari)

Buot olbmot leat riegádan friddjan ja olmmošárvvu ja olmmošvuoigatvuoðaid dáfus dássásažžab, Sudhuude kea addib huervnu ha ianedivdym ha vyigjat gakget neabbydut gyunnuudeaset gyivdy vuekhakaš vuoiŋŋain.

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Links

Information about the Sami language
http://www.eurolang.net/Languages/Sami.htm
http://home.earthlink.net/~arran4/siida/sami-language.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kildin_Sami

Information about Sami pronunciation (PDF)
http://157.150.184.1/unsd/geoinfo/gegn22wp49.pdf

The Sami Language in education in Sweden
http://www1.fa.knaw.nl/mercator/regionale_dossiers/regional_dossier_sami_in_sweden.htm

Norsk-Samisk Orddatabank (Norwegian <> Sami dictionary)
http://www.samisk-sr.no/toppindex_no1.html

The Sámi of Far Northern Europe
http://arcticcircle.uconn.edu/HistoryCulture/samiindex.html

Samisk språkråd - Sami language department of the Norwegian Sami parliament
http://www.samisk-sr.no

Sámi Radio
http://www.yle.fi/samiradio/

Saami University College
http://www.samiskhs.no

Sametinget / Sámediggi / Sami Parliament of Sweden
http://www.sametinget.se

Free Cyrillic fonts for Kildin Sami
http://www.peoples.org.ru/kildinfont.html

Related languages

Erzya, Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian, Karelian, Khanty, Komi, Livonian, Mansi, Mari, Moksha, Saami, Võro, Votic

Other languages written with the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets