Kola Sámi
The aim of the project is to provide
comprehensive linguistic and ethnographic documentation of the
endangered Saami languages of Russia, which are spoken in the
northwestern-most region of Russia (Murmansk Region – Murmanskaja
oblast') on the Kola Peninsula. The Kola Sámi languages Skolt, Kildin,
Ter and Akkala belong to the group of eastern Saami languages. Saami
itself is a branch of the Uralic language family.
Today only a minor part of the approximately 1800 Kola Sámi speak and understand their mother tongue fluently. Most of them are elder speakers. The middle generation has either a very limited knowledge of the Saami, or does not know the language at all. There is almost no member of the younger generation who actively uses Saami. The absence of a language environment in which the language is spoken by everyone all the time as well as a lack of social motivation for language use pose a threat to the survival of the languages. Taking into account the age of the active speakers, the end of the Saami speech communities in Russia is probably not far away.
There are probably less than 300 speakers of Kildin who actively use their language. The situation is even more dramatic in the case of Skolt. There are only a few Skolt Saami (in Russia) who use their mother tongue in daily communication. Ter and Akkala are on the way to full extinction with only a handful of speakers left.
Comprehensive linguistic documentation must thus focus on Kildin. Recording language practices in the social lives and social interactions of Kildin Saami speakers of different generations is the main objective of the project. Language data is recorded during various field trips to the Kola Peninsula. We plan to work with Kildin speakers in both rural and urban environments. The principal methods used are extensive interviews, group discussions and speaking with local experts. In addition, recordings will be made of speakers in natural situations. Documentation will also include the small number of people with native-speaker competency among the Skolt, Akkala and Ter Saami in order to produce as complete a survey as possible.
One primary goal of the project is to systematically record, transcribe and translate the widest possible variety of spoken language data from the Kola Sámi languages. The recordings will be supplemented with rich linguistic and ethnographic annotations. The documentation is expected to reflect active and passive native-speaker competence, situational and social structuring as well as the geographical distribution of the Kola Sámi languages according to their current patterns of use. The work in Russia focuses on transcription and translation of the recorded data, while processing the recorded language data is carried out mainly in Germany.
Today only a minor part of the approximately 1800 Kola Sámi speak and understand their mother tongue fluently. Most of them are elder speakers. The middle generation has either a very limited knowledge of the Saami, or does not know the language at all. There is almost no member of the younger generation who actively uses Saami. The absence of a language environment in which the language is spoken by everyone all the time as well as a lack of social motivation for language use pose a threat to the survival of the languages. Taking into account the age of the active speakers, the end of the Saami speech communities in Russia is probably not far away.
There are probably less than 300 speakers of Kildin who actively use their language. The situation is even more dramatic in the case of Skolt. There are only a few Skolt Saami (in Russia) who use their mother tongue in daily communication. Ter and Akkala are on the way to full extinction with only a handful of speakers left.
| Languages | Countries | Speakers | Degree of endangerment | |
| Western Saami | South | Norway, Sweden | 300-500 | seriously endangered |
| Ume | Sweden | < 20 | nearly extinct | |
| Pite | Sweden | < 20 | nearly extinct | |
| Lule | Norway, Sweden | 2 000-3 000 | seriously endangered | |
| North | Norway, Sweden, Finland | 30 000 | endangered | |
| Eastern Saami | Inari | Finland | 300-500 | seriously endangered |
| Kemi | Finland, Russia | extinct (19th century) | ||
| Skolt | Norway | extinct (20th century) | ||
| Skolt | Finland | 300-500 | seriously endangered | |
| Skolt | Russia | < 20 | nearly extinct | |
| Kildin | Russia | 300-700 | seriously endangered | |
| Ter | Russia | 6 | nearly extinct | |
| Akkala | Russia | ? |
probably extinct (2003) | |
| The Saami languages: number of speakers and degree of endangerment. Sources: Sammallahti (1998), Hasselblatt & Blokland (2003), Salminen (1993), own estimates (for Kola Sámi). | ||||
Comprehensive linguistic documentation must thus focus on Kildin. Recording language practices in the social lives and social interactions of Kildin Saami speakers of different generations is the main objective of the project. Language data is recorded during various field trips to the Kola Peninsula. We plan to work with Kildin speakers in both rural and urban environments. The principal methods used are extensive interviews, group discussions and speaking with local experts. In addition, recordings will be made of speakers in natural situations. Documentation will also include the small number of people with native-speaker competency among the Skolt, Akkala and Ter Saami in order to produce as complete a survey as possible.
One primary goal of the project is to systematically record, transcribe and translate the widest possible variety of spoken language data from the Kola Sámi languages. The recordings will be supplemented with rich linguistic and ethnographic annotations. The documentation is expected to reflect active and passive native-speaker competence, situational and social structuring as well as the geographical distribution of the Kola Sámi languages according to their current patterns of use. The work in Russia focuses on transcription and translation of the recorded data, while processing the recorded language data is carried out mainly in Germany.