 | This article'sfactual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information. The reason given is: In addition to inaccuracy, another issue is that the palatalization marker is wrong in many places in this article. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(September 2019) |
| Skolt Sámi | |
|---|---|
| nuõrttsääʹmǩiõll | |
| Pronunciation | [nuɘrʰtːɕa̟ːmʰʲc͡çiɘlː] |
| Native to | Finland,Russia |
| Ethnicity | Skolts |
Native speakers | c. 330 (2002-2023) |
| Dialects | Northern:
Southern:
|
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | sms |
| ISO 639-3 | sms |
| Glottolog | skol1241 |
| ELP | Skolt Saami |
| Glottopedia | Skolt_Saami[1] |
 Skolt Sámi language area (red) withinSápmi (grey) | |
 Skolt Sámi is classified as Severely Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010) | |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
Skolt Sámi (sääʹmǩiõll,pronounced[ɕa̟ːmʰʲc͡çiɘlː],lit. 'the Sámi language'; ornuõrttsääʹmǩiõll,pronounced[nuɘrʰtːɕa̟ːmʰʲc͡çiɘlː],lit. 'the Eastern Sámi language') is aSámi language that is spoken by theSkolts, with approximately 300[2] speakers inFinland, mainly inSevettijärvi and approximately 20–30 speakers of theNjuõʹttjäuʹrr (Notozero) dialect[3] in an area surroundingLake Notozero inRussia. In Norway, there are fewer than 15 that can speak Skolt Sámi (as of 2023);[4] furthermore, the language is[4] largely spoken in theNeiden area.[3] It is written using a modified Romanorthography which was made official in 1973.
The termSkolt was coined by representatives of the majority culture and has negative connotation which can be compared to the termLapp. Nevertheless, it is used in cultural and linguistic studies.[5] In 2024, Venke Törmänen, the leader of an NGO called Norrõs Skoltesamene, wrote in Ságat, a Sámi newspaper, saying that the term "Eastern Sámi" ("østsame" in Norwegian) should not be used to refer to the Skolt Sámi.[6]
On Finnish territory Skolt Sámi was spoken in four villages before the Second World War. InPetsamo, Skolt Sámi was spoken in Suonikylä and the village of Petsamo. This area was ceded to Russia in theSecond World War, and the Skolts were evacuated to the villages ofInari,Sevettijärvi andNellim in theInari municipality.
On the Russian (then Soviet) side the dialect was spoken in the now defunct Sámi settlements of Motovsky, Songelsky,Notozero (hence its Russian name – theNotozersky dialect). Some speakers still may live in the villages ofTuloma andLovozero.
In Norwegian territory, Skolt Sámi was spoken in theSør-Varanger area with a cultural centre in the village ofNeiden. The language is not spoken asmother tongue anymore in Norway.
In Finland, Skolt Sámi is spoken by approximately 300[9] or 400 people. According to Finland's Sámi Language Act (1086/2003), Skolt Sámi is one of the three Sámi languages that the Sámi can use when conducting official business inLapland. It is an official language in the municipality ofInari, 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 learn the language and continue to use it actively.[citation needed] Skolt Sámi is thus a seriouslyendangered language, even more seriously thanInari Sámi, which has a nearly equal number of speakers and is even spoken in the samemunicipality. In addition, there are a lot of Skolts living outside of this area, particularly in the capital region.
From 1978 to 1986, the Skolts had a quarterly calledSääʹmođđâz published in their own language.[10] Since 2013, a new magazine calledTuõddri pee′rel has been published once a year.[11]
The Finnish news programYle Ođđasat featured a Skolt Sámi speaking newsreader for the first time on August 26, 2016. Otherwise YleOđđasat presents individual news stories in Skolt Sámi every now and then.[12] In addition, there have been various TV programs in Skolt Sámi on YLE such as the children's TV seriesBinnabánnaš.
The first book published in Skolt Sámi was anEastern Orthodox prayer book (Risttoummi moʹlidvaǩeʹrjj,Prayerbook for the Orthodox) in 1983. Translation of theGospel of John was published (Evvan evaŋǧeʹlium) in 1988 andLiturgy of Saint John Chrysostom (Pââʹss Eʹččen Evvan Krysostomoozz Liturgia,Liturgy of our Holy Father John Chrysostom) was published in 2002[13] Skolt Sámi is used together withFinnish in worship of theLappi Orthodox Parish (Lappi ortodookslaž sieʹbrrkåʹdd) at churches ofIvalo,Sevettijärvi andNellim.[14]
LikeInari Sámi, Skolt Sámi has recently borne witness to a new phenomenon, namely it is being used in rock songs sung byTiina Sanila-Aikio, who has published two full-length CDs in Skolt Sámi to date.
In 1993,language nest programs for children younger than 7 were created. For quite some time these programs received intermittent funding, resulting in some children being taught Skolt Sámi, while others were not. In spite of all the issues these programs faced, they were crucial in creating the youngest generations of Skolt Sámi speakers. In recent years, these programs have been reinstated.
In addition, 2005 was the first time that it was possible to use Skolt Sámi in aFinnish matriculation exam, albeit as a foreign language. In 2012, Ville-Riiko Fofonoff (Skolt Sami:Läärvan-Oʹlssi-Peâtt-Rijggu-Vääʹsǩ-Rijggu-Ville-Reeiǥaž) was the first person to use Skolt Sámi for the mother tongue portion of the exam; for this, he won theSkolt of the Year Award the same year.[15]
In 1973, an official, standardized orthography for Skolt Sámi was introduced based on theSuõʹnnʼjel dialect. Since then, it has been widely accepted with a few small modifications.[16] The Skolt Sámi orthography uses theISO basic Latin alphabet with the addition of a few special characters:
| Letter | Phoneme(s) | Letter | Phoneme(s) | Letter | Phoneme(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A a | /ɑ/ | Ǧ ǧ | /ɟ͡ʝ/ | Õ õ | /ɘ/ |
| Â â | /ɐ/ | Ǥ ǥ | /ɣ/ | P p | /p/ |
| B b | /b/ | H h | /x/ | R r | /r/ |
| C c | /t͡s/ | I i | /i/,/j/ | S s | /s/ |
| Č č | /t͡ʃ/ | J j | /ʝ/ | Š š | /ʃ/ |
| Ʒ ʒ | /d͡z/ | K k | /k/ | T t | /t/ |
| Ǯ ǯ | /d͡ʒ/ | Ǩ ǩ | /c͡ç/ | U u | /u/,/w/ |
| D d | /d/ | L l | /l/ | V v | /v/ |
| Đ đ | /ð/ | M m | /m/ | Z z | /z/ |
| E e | /e/,/ɛ/ | N n | /n/ | Ž ž | /ʒ/ |
| F f | /f/ | Ŋ ŋ | /ŋ/ | Å å | /ɔ/ |
| G g | /ɡ/ | O o | /o/ | Ä ä | /a/ |
Notes:
Additional marks are used in writing Skolt Sámi words:
Special features of this Sámi language include a highly complex vowel system and a suprasegmental contrast of palatalized vs. non-palatalized stress groups; palatalized stress groups are indicated by a "softener mark", represented by the modifier letter prime (′).
The system of vowel phonemes is as follows:
| front | central | back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| close | i | u | |
| close-mid | e | ɘ | o |
| open-mid | ɛ | ɐ | ɔ |
| open | a | ɑ |
Notes:
Skolt Sámi hasvowel length, but it co-occurs with contrasts in length of the following consonant(s). For example,leʹtt 'vessel' vs.leeʹtt 'vessels'.
The vowels can combine to form twelve openingdiphthongs:
| front | front tocentral | back tofront | back tocentral | back | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| close toclose-mid | ie | iɘ | ue | uɘ | |
| close toopen-mid | iɛ | iɐ | uɛ | uɐ | uɔ |
| close toopen | ua | ||||
| close-mid toopen-mid | eɐ | ||||
| close-mid toopen | ea |
Like the monophthongs, all diphthongs can be short or long, but this is not indicated in spelling. Short diphthongs are distinguished from long ones by both length and stress placement: short diphthongs have a stressed second component, whereas long diphthongs have stress on the first component.
Diphthongs may also have two variants depending on whether they occur in a plain or palatalized environment. This has a clearer effect with diphthongs whose second element is back or central. Certain inflectional forms, including the addition of the palatalizing suprasegmental, also trigger a change in diphthong quality.[19]
| plain | palatalized |
|---|---|
| iõ | iõʹ |
| iâ | ieʹ |
| eâ | eäʹ |
| eä | |
| uõ | uõʹ |
| uå | ueʹ |
| uâ | |
| uä | uäʹ |
The inventory of consonant phonemes is the following:
| Labial | Dental /Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | sibilant | sibilant | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||
| Plosive / affricate | voiceless | p | t | t͡s | t͡ʃ | c͡ç | k |
| voiced | b | d | d͡z | d͡ʒ | ɟ͡ʝ | ɡ | |
| Fricative | voiceless | (f) | s | ʃ | x | ||
| voiced | v | ð | z | ʒ | ʝ | ɣ | |
| Trill | r | ||||||
| Approximant | central | w | j | ||||
| lateral | l | ʎ | |||||
Consonants may be phonemically short or long (geminate) both word-medially or word-finally; both are exceedingly common. Similarly to other Sámic languages, there exists a three-way contrast between weak, strong, and overlong consonants (In some reference works, these are referred to as weak, strong, and strong+, or transcribed as C, Cː, and CːC). Overlong consonants do not occur word-finally.[26] Long and short consonants also contrast in consonant clusters, cf.kuõskkâd 'to touch' :kuõskam 'I touch'. A short period of voicelessness orh, known as preaspiration, before geminate consonants is observed, much as inIcelandic, but this is not marked orthographically, e.g.jo′ǩǩe 'to the river' is pronounced[jo̟ʰcc͡çe].
There is one phonemicsuprasegmental, thepalatalizing suprasegmental that affects the pronunciation of an entire syllable. In written language the palatalizing suprasegmental is indicated with a free-standing acute accent between a stressed vowel and the following consonant, as follows:
The suprasegmental palatalization has three distinct phonetic effects:
Skolt Sámi has four different levels of stress for words:
The first syllable of any word is always the primary stressed syllable in Skolt Sámi as Skolt is a fixed-stress language. In words with two or more syllables, the final syllable is quite lightly stressed (tertiary stress) and the remaining syllable, if any, are stressed more heavily than the final syllable, but less than the first syllable (secondary stress).
Using theabessive and thecomitativesingular in a word appears to disrupt this system, however, in words of more than one syllable. The suffix, as can be expected, has tertiary stress, but the penultimate syllable also has tertiary stress, even though it would be expected to have secondary stress.
Zero stress can be said to be a feature ofconjunctions,postpositions,particles and monosyllabic pronouns.
As in other Sámi and Finnic languages, Skolt Sámi has a system ofconsonant gradation. In its origins, consonants occurring in the middle of words would change depending on the number and type of consonants occurring in the end of the syllable (e.g.CxV in open syllables,CyVC in syllables closed by one consonant,CzVCC in syllables closed by two consonants). As the language continued to undergo various sound changes, some of the phonetic motivation for those changes have become obscure.
In this subsystem, non-initial consonants change place of articulation, voicing or manner, and sometimes duration. There are only two variants: strong (i.e. long, voiceless, and/or plosive) and weak (i.e. short, voiced, fricated and/or lenited). In Skolt Sámi, vowel changes often accompany the qualitative gradation.
| Strong Grade | Weak Grade | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tʃː | / eːtʃː / | ee′čč | father | ɟʝː | / eːɟʝː / | ee′jj | fathers |
| cː | / suecː / | sue′ǩǩ | birch | ɟʝː | / sueɟʝː / | sue′jj | birches |
| kː | / jokː / | jokk | river | ɣː | / joːɣː / | jooǥǥ | rivers |
| tsː | / puɘtsːi / | puõcci | patient | dzː | / puɘdzːi / | puõʒʒi | patients |
| pː | / koːpːʲ / | kåå′pp | hole | v | / koːvːʲ / | kåå′v | hole (acc) |
| sː | / kusː / | kuss | cow | zː | / kuːzː / | kuuzz | cows |
| ʃ | / tobdːmɘʃ / | tobddmõš | feeling | ʒː | / tobdːmɘːʒː / | tobddmõõžž | feelings |
| tː | / ciɘtː / | ǩiõtt | hand | ð | / ciɘð / | ǩiõđ | hand (acc) |
| ðː | / ciðː / | ǩiđđ | spring | ð | / ciːð / | ǩiiđ | spring (acc) |
Skolt Sámi is asynthetic, highlyinflected language that shares many grammatical features with the otherUralic languages. However, Skolt Sámi is not a typicalagglutinative language like many of the other Uralic languages are, as it has developed considerably into the direction of afusional language, much likeEstonian. Therefore, cases and other grammatical features are also marked by modifications to the root and not just marked with suffixes. Many of the suffixes in Skolt Sámi areportmanteau morphemes that express several grammatical features at a time.
Umlaut is a pervasive phenomenon in Skolt Sámi, whereby the vowel in the second syllable affects the quality of the vowel in the first. The presence or absence of palatalisation can also be considered an umlaut effect, since it is also conditioned by the second-syllable vowel, although it affects the entire syllable rather than the vowel alone. Umlaut is complicated by the fact that many of the second-syllable vowels have disappeared in Skolt Sámi, leaving the umlaut effects as their only trace.
The following table lists the Skolt Sámi outcomes of the Proto-Samic first-syllable vowel, for each second-syllable vowel.
| Proto | *ā, *ō | *ē | *ë, *u | *i |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skolt | a | e | â, u | e |
| *ë | â | â′ | õ | õ′ |
| *o | å | å′ | o | o′ |
| *i | e | e′ | i | i′ |
| *u | o | u′ | u | u′ |
| *ā | ä | ä′ | a | a′ |
| *ea | eä | eä′, iẹ′ | iâ | ie′ |
| *ie | eâ | ie′ | iõ | iõ′ |
| *oa | uä | uä′, uẹ′ | uå | ue′ |
| *uo | uâ | ue′ | uõ | uõ′ |
Some notes:
As can be seen, palatalisation is present before original second-syllable*ē and*i, and absent otherwise. Where they survive in Skolt Sámi, both appear ase, so only the umlaut effect can distinguish them. The original short vowels*ë,*u and*i have a general raising and backing effect on the preceding vowel, while the effect of original*ā and*ō is lowering. Original*ē is fronting (palatalising) without having an effect on height.
Skolt Sámi has 9 cases in the singular (7 of which also have a plural form), although the genitive and accusative are often the same.
The following table shows the inflection ofčuäcc ('rotten snag') with the singlemorphemes marking noun stem, number, and case separated byhyphens for better readability. The last morpheme marks for case,i marks the plural, anda is due toepenthesis and does not have a meaning of its own.[27]
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | čuäcc[t͡ʃuatt͡s] | čuäʒʒ[t͡ʃuadd͡z] |
| Genitive | čuäʒʒ[t͡ʃuadd͡z] | čuäʒʒ-a-i[t͡ʃuadd͡zɑj] |
| Accusative | čuäʒʒ-a-i-d[t͡ʃuadd͡zɑjd] | |
| Illative | čuåc'c-u[t͡ʃuɔʰtt͡su] | |
| Locative | čuäʒʒ-a-st[t͡ʃuadd͡zɑst] | čuäʒʒ-a-i-n[t͡ʃuadd͡zɑjn] |
| Comitative | čuäʒʒ-a-in[t͡ʃuadd͡zɑjn] | čuäʒʒ-a-i-vuiʹm[t͡ʃuadd͡zɑjvʲu̟i̟m] |
| Abessive | čuäʒʒ-tää[t͡ʃuadd͡ztaː] | čuäʒʒ-a-i-tää[t͡ʃuadd͡zɑjtaː] |
| Essive | čuäcc-a-n[t͡ʃuaʰtt͡sɑn] | – |
| Partitive | čuäcc-a-d[t͡ʃuaʰtt͡sɑd] | – |
Like the otherUralic languages, thenominative singular is unmarked and indicates thesubject or apredicate. The nominative plural is also unmarked and always looks the same as thegenitive singular.
Thegenitive singular is unmarked and looks the same as thenominative plural. The genitive plural is marked by an-i. The genitive is used:
The genitive has been replacing the partitive for some time and is nowadays more commonly used in its place.
Theaccusative is the directobject case and it is unmarked in the singular. In the plural, its marker is-d, which is preceded by the plural marker-i, making it look the same as the pluralillative. The accusative is also used to mark some adjuncts, e.g.obb tääʹlv ('the entire winter').
Thelocative marker in the singular is-st and-n in the plural. This case is used to indicate:
In addition, it is used with certain verbs:
Theillative marker actually has three different markers in the singular to represent the same case:-a,-e and-u. The plural illative marker is-d, which is preceded by the plural marker-i, making it look the same as the pluralaccusative. This case is used to indicate:
Thecomitative is used to state "with whom" or "with what means" something is done. The case marker is -in in the singular and-vuiʹm in the plural. T:
To form the comitative singular, use the genitive singular form of the word as theroot and-i'. To form the comitative plural, use the plural genitive root and-vuiʹm.
The abessive case is used to state that someone is "without" something. Theabessive marker is-tää in both the singular and the plural. It always has a tertiary stress.
The dual form of theessive is still used with pronouns, but not with nouns and does not appear at all in theplural.
Thepartitive is only used in thesingular and can be replaced by the genitive in most cases. The partitive marker is-d.
1. It appears after numbers larger than six:
This can be replaced withkääʹuc čâustõõǥǥ.
2. It is also used with certainpostpositions:
This can be replaced withkuäʹđ vuâstta
3. It can be used with thecomparative to express that which is being compared:
This would nowadays more than likely be replaced bypueʹrab ko kåʹll
Thepersonal pronouns have three numbers: singular, plural anddual. The following table contains personal pronouns in the nominative and genitive/accusative cases.
| singular | dual | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | |||
| 1st person | mon | muäna | mij |
| 2nd person | ton | tuäna | tij |
| 3rd person | son | suäna | sij |
| genitive | |||
| 1st person | muu | muännai | mij |
| 2nd person | tuu | tuännai | tij |
| 3rd person | suu | suännai | sij |
The next table demonstrates the declension of a personal pronounhe/she (no gender distinction) in various cases:
| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | son | suäna | sij |
| Genitive | suu | suännai | sij |
| Accusative | suu | suännaid | siʹjjid |
| Illative | suʹnne | suännaid | siʹjjid |
| Locative | suʹst | suännast | siiʹst |
| Comitative | suin | suännain | siʹjjivuiʹm |
| Abessive | suutää | suännaitää | siʹjjitää |
| Essive | suuʹnen | suännan | – |
| Partitive | suuʹđed | – | – |
Next to number and case, Skolt Sámi nouns also inflect for possession. However, usage ofpossessive affixes seems to decrease among speakers. The following table shows possessiveinflection of the wordmuõrr ('tree').[28]
| Possessor | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||||||
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |||
| Possessed | Singular | Nominative | muõrram | muõrrâm | muõrrad | muõrrâd | muõrrâs | muõrrâz |
| Accusative/ Genitive | muõrran | muõrrân | muõrad | muõrâd | muõrâs | muõrâz | ||
| Illative | muõrˈrsan | muõrˈrseen | muõrˈrsad | muõrˈrseed | muõrˈrses | muõrˈrseez | ||
| Locative | muõrstan | muõrsteen | muõrstad | muõrsteed | muõrstes | muõrsteez | ||
| Comitative | muõrinan | muõrineen | muõrinad | muõrineed | muõrines | muõrineez | ||
| Abessive | muõrrantää | muõrrântää | muõradtää | muõrâdtää | muõrâstää | muõrâztää | ||
| Essive | muõrˈrnan | muõrˈrneen | muõrˈrnad | muõrˈrneed | muõrˈrnes | muõrˈrneez | ||
| Plural | Nominative | muõrran | muõrrân | muõrad | muõrâd | muõrâs | muõrâz | |
| Accusative/ Genitive/ Illative | muõrrään | muõreen | muõrääd | muõreed | muõrees | muõreez | ||
| Locative | muõrinan | muõrineen | muõrinad | muõrineed | muõrines | muõrineez | ||
| Comitative | muõräänvuiʹm | muõreenvuiʹm | muõräädvuiʹm | muõreedvuiʹm | muõreesvuiʹm | muõreezvuiʹm | ||
| Abessive | muõrääntää | muõreentää | muõräädtää | muõreedtää | muõreestää | muõreeztää | ||
Skolt Sámi verbsinflect (inflection of verbs is also referred to asconjugation) forperson,mood,number, andtense. A full inflection table of all person-marked forms of the verbkuullâd ('to hear') is given below.[29]
| Non-past | Past | Potential | Conditional | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Person Singular | kuulam | ku′llem | kuulžem | kuulčem | - |
| 2nd P. Sg. | kuulak | ku′lliǩ | kuulžiǩ | kuulčiǩ | kuul |
| 3rd P. Sg. | kooll | kuuli | kuulâž | kuulči | koolas |
| 1st Person Plural | kuullâp | kuulim | kuulžep | kuulčim | kuullâp |
| 2nd P. Pl. | kuullve′ted | kuulid | kuulžid | kuulčid | kuullâd |
| 3rd P. Pl. | ko′lle | kuʹlle | kuulže | kuulče | kollaz |
| 4th Person | kuulât | kuʹlleš | kuulžet | kuulčeš | - |
It can be seen that inflection involves changes to the verb stem as well as inflectional suffixes. Changes to the stem are based on verbs being categorized into several inflectional classes.[30] The different inflectional suffixes are based on the categories listed below.
Skolt Sámiverbs conjugate for fourgrammatical persons:
Skolt Sámi has 5grammatical moods:
Skolt Sámiverbs conjugate for twogrammatical numbers:
Unlike other Sámi varieties further west, but in common withKildin Saami, Skolt Sámi verbs do not inflect fordual number. Instead, verbs occurring with the dual personal pronouns appear in the corresponding plural form.
Skolt Sámi has 2simple tenses:
and 2compound tenses:
The verb forms given above are person-marked, also referred to asfinite. In addition to the finite forms, Skolt Sámi verbs have twelveparticipial andconverb forms, as well as theinfinitive, which arenon-finite. These forms are given in the table below for the verbkuullâd ('to hear').[31]
| Verb form | |
|---|---|
| Infinitive | kuullâd |
| Action Participle | kuullâm |
| Present Participle | kuulli |
| Past Participle | kuullâm |
| Passive Participle | kullum |
| Progressive Participle | kuullmen |
| Temporal Participle | kuuleen |
| Instrumental Participle | kullee′l |
| Abessive Participle | kuulkani |
| Negative converb | kuul, kullu (indicative and imperative mood, form depending on which person) kuulže (potential mood) kuulče (conditional mood) |
Skolt Sámi has twoauxiliary verbs, one of which islee′d (glossed as 'to be'), the other one is thenegative auxiliary verb (see the following paragraph).
Inflection ofleeʹd is given below.[32]
| Non-past | Past | Potential | Conditional | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Person Singular | leäm | leʹjjem | leʹžžem | leʹččem | – |
| 2nd P. Sg. | leäk | leʹjjiǩ | leʹžžiǩ | leʹččiǩ | leäk'ku |
| 3rd P. Sg. | lij | leäi | leeʹžž | leʹčči | leäǥǥas |
| 1st Person Plural | leäʹp | leeiʹm | leʹžžep | leʹččim | leäkkap |
| 2nd P. Pl. | leäʹped | leeiʹd | leʹžžveʹted | leʹččid | leäkku |
| 3rd P. Pl. | lie, liâ (idiolectal variation) | leʹjje | leʹžže | leʹčče | leäkkaz |
| 4th Person | leät | leʹjješ | leʹžžet | leʹččeš | – |
Lee'd is used, for example, to assign tense tolexical verbs in theconditional orpotential mood which are not marked for tense themselves:
(negation (1st P. Sg.) – then – 1st P. Sg. – even – ask (negated conditional) – if – 1st P. Sg. – know (1st P. Sg. conditional) –be (1st P. Sg. conditional) – soup –make (past participle, no tense marking) – before)
'I wouldn't even ask if I knew, if I had made soup before!'[33]
Skolt Sámi, like Finnic and the other Sámi languages, has anegative verb. In Skolt Sámi, the negative verb conjugates according tomood (indicative, imperative and optative),person (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th) andnumber (singular and plural).
| Person | Indicative | Imperative | Optative | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Singular | jiõm | – | – |
| Plural | jeä′p | – | jeälˈlap | |
| 2 | Singular | jiõk | jeä′l | |
| Plural | jeä′ped | jie′lled | ||
| 3 | Singular | ij | – | jeälas |
| Plural | jie ~ jiâ | – | jeällas | |
| 4 | jeät | – | ||
Note thatij +leeʹd is usually written asiʹlla,iʹlleäkku,iʹllää oriʹlläjie +leeʹd is usually written asjeäʹla orjeäʹlä.
Unlike the Sámi languages further west, Skolt Sámi no longer has separate forms for the dual and plural of the negative verb and uses the plural forms for both instead.
The most frequent word order in simple,declarative sentences in Skolt Sámi issubject–verb–object (SVO). However, as cases are used to mark relations between differentnoun phrases, and verb forms mark person and number of the subject, Skolt Sámi word order allows for some variation.[34]
An example of an SOV sentence would be:
Intransitive sentences follow the order subject-verb (SV):
An exception to the SOV word order can be found in sentences with anauxiliary verb. While in other languages, an OV word order has been found to correlate with the auxiliary verb coming after thelexical verb,[35] the Skolt Sámi auxiliary verbleeʹd ('to be') precedes the lexical verb. This has been related to theverb-second (V2) phenomenon which binds thefinite verb to at most the second position of the respective clause. However, in Skolt Sámi, this effect seems to be restricted to clauses with an auxiliary verb.[36]
An example of a sentence with the auxiliary in V2 position:
In Skolt Sámi,polar questions, also referred to as yes–no questions, are marked in two different ways.Morphologically, aninterrogativeparticle,-a, is added as anaffix to the first word of the clause.Syntactically, the element which is in the scope of the question is moved to the beginning of the clause. If this element is the verb, subject and verb are inversed in comparison to the declarative SOV word order.
If an auxiliary verb is used, this is the one which is moved to the initial sentence position and also takes the interrogative affix.
A negated polar question, using the negative auxiliary verb, shows the same structure:
An example of the interrogative particle being added to something other than the verb, would be the following:
Information questions in Skolt Sámi are formed with a question word in clause-initial position. There also is a gap in the sentence indicating the missing piece of information. This kind of structure is similar toWh-movement in languages such asEnglish. There are mainly three question words corresponding to the English 'what', 'who', and 'which' (out of two). They inflect for number and case, except for the latter which only has singular forms. It is noteworthy that the illative form ofmii ('what') corresponds to the English 'why'. The full inflectional paradigm of all three question words can be found below.[38]
| What | Who | Which | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Nominative | mii | ǩii | kuäbbaž |
| Accusative | mâiʹd | ǩeän | kuäbba | |
| Genitive | mõõn | ǩeän | kuäbba | |
| Illative | mõõzz ('why') | ǩeäzz | kuäbbže | |
| Locative | mâ′st | ǩeäʹst | kuäbbast | |
| Comitative | mõin | ǩeäin | kuäbbain | |
| Abessive | mõntää | ǩeäntää | kuäbbatää | |
| Essive | mââ′den | ǩeä′đen | kuäbbžen | |
| Partitive | mââ′đed | ǩeä′đed | kuäbbžed | |
| Plural | Nominative | mõõk | ǩeäk | - |
| Accusative | mâid | ǩeäid | - | |
| Genitive | mââi | ǩeäi | - | |
| Illative | mâid | ǩeäid | - | |
| Locative | mâin | ǩeäin | - | |
| Comitative | mââivui′m | ǩeäivui′m | - | |
| Abessive | mââitää | ǩeäitää | - | |
Some examples of information questions using one of the three question words:
In addition to the above-mentioned, there are other question words which are not inflected, such as the following:
An example sentence would be the following:
The Skolt Sámi imperative generally takes a clause-initial position. Out of the five imperative forms (seeabove), those of the second person are most commonly used.
Imperatives in the first person form, which only exist as plurals, are typically used forhortative constructions, that is for encouraging the listener (not) to do something. These imperatives include both the speaker and the listener.
Finally, imperatives in the third person are used injussive constructions, themood used for orders and commands.
Kinship terms in Skolt Sámi mostly descend from proto-Uralic or proto-Samic. However, as in many other Uralic languages, the word for "son" is a borrowing (pä′rnn, from Germanicbarna).
| mother | father | daughter | son | sister | brother | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skolt Sámi | jeä′n'n ~ jie′n'n | e′č ~ ee′č | nijdd (niõđ) | pä′rnn | vuä′b'b | villj ~ vi′llj |
| Northern Sámi | eadni | áhčči | nieida | bárdni | oabbá | viellja |
| Finnish | äiti (emä) | isä | tytär | poika | sisko | veli |
| Komi | мам (mam) | ай (aj) | ныв (nɨv) | детина(djetina) | соч (soč) | вок (vok) |
For extended family members, Skolt Sámi distinguishes not only the relationship to ego, but also their gender, age and their own relationship to one's nuclear family.
| Extended family[40] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Grandmother | äkk | ||
| Grandfather | ä′jj | ||
| Aunt | maternal | older than mother | kuä′sǩǩ |
| younger than mother | mue′đđ | ||
| paternal | sie′ss | ||
| uncle's wife | e′mm ~ ee′mm | ||
| Uncle | maternal | jäänn ~ jeänn | |
| paternal | older than father | jiẹ′ǩǩ | |
| younger than father | čiẹ′cc | ||
| Niece orNephew | older sister's child | kuä′sǩ'ǩev | |
| younger sister's child | mue′đ'đev | ||
| older brother's child | jiẹ′ǩ'ǩev | ||
| younger brother's child | čiẹ′c'cev | ||
| Cousin | female | vuä′r'nnbiẹ′ll | |
| male | vi′lljbiẹ′ll | ||
Traditionally, the Sámi arereindeer herders, and as such, Sámi languages have developed a wide vocabulary with terms to describe both the animal and actions related to itshusbandry. These terms describe not only gender and age but also their color, their position in the herd, and others. Below are only some of the underived words, and many other possibilities exist incompounds, especially with -puäʒʒ and -čuä′rvv as head words:paaspuäʒʒ "an angry reindeer",njä′bllpuäʒʒ, "a quiet reindeer",koomčuäʹrvv"a reindeer with curved antlers", etc.
| reindeer | untamed | unmarked | wild reindeer | reindeer stag | male | young male | female | young female | rutting | castrated | recently castrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| puäʒʒ | udam | kå′dd | tääjjai | sââ′rves | jeä′rǧǧ | jeärǥaž | äldd | njerr | kåålvak | spaai′liǩ | kää′cǩiǩ |
| Calf younger than 3 months | Calf before its first winter | First-winter calf | Two-year old | Three-year old | Four-year old | Five-year old | Six-year old or older | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | čiõppârjvue′ss | vue′ss | čiõrmiǩ | åå′reǩ | vuei′res | kååddas | kooiskõs | - |
| Female | vuõnjâl | vuõnjâlvaajj | kååddasäldd | kådsnjerräldd | vue′sstiiudâš |
| white | black | quite light | light gray with a black back |
|---|---|---|---|
| ju′vjj | sa′mja′d | čuõivâk | kulggâd |
Skolt Saami numerals 1-7 descend from Porto-Uralic, whereas the numeral 10 descends from Proto-Finno-Ugric. All numerals are declined like other nouns in the language.
| Cardinal | Ordinal | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | õhtt | 1st | vuõss |
| 2 | kue′htt | 2nd | nu′bb |
| 3 | koumm | 3rd | kuälmad |
| 4 | nellj | 4th | neelljad |
| 5 | vitt | 5th | viiđad |
| 6 | kutt | 6th | kuuđad |
| 7 | čiččâm | 7th | čiiččad |
| 8 | kääu′c | 8th | kääucad |
| 9 | ååu′c ~ å′hcc | 9th | ååucad |
| 10 | lååi | 10th | lååǥǥad |
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