Kildin Sami orthography

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Over the last century, the alphabet used to write Kildin Sami has changed three times: from the Cyrillic alphabet to the Latin alphabet and back again to the Cyrillic.

Contents

[edit] The first Cyrillic period

A couple of religious pamphlets were published in Kildin Sámi in Russia and using Cyrillic letters while the czars were in power. In addition, the Gospel of Matthew (Kildin Sami: Махтьвеест пась-евангели) was published by the Finnish Literature Society in 1878 using Cyrillic letters.

[edit] The Latin period

After the Russian Revolution, the Soviet language policy stated, as a part of the so-called Korenizatsiya policy, that all minority languages in the Soviet Union should have their own written languages, that the minorities should be taught to read and write them, and that they should receive education in their own tongue.

In 1932, a group from the Institute of the Peoples of the North travelled to Notozero to study the dialect of Sámi spoken there. Their studies resulted in a primer based on Kildin Sámi being published in 1933, although part of it was taken from the Sámi spoken in Notozero. A. G. Endjukovski played a central role in this research (Endjukovski 1937). According to Endjukovski, the reason why the Kildin dialect was chosen was that it was both geographically the most central of the dialects and that it had more speakers than the other dialects did. With the exception of the dialect spoken in Notozero, which is actually a dialect of Skolt Sámi, the differences between the various Kildin Sámi dialects is more of a lexical difference than a grammatical difference. For this reason, Endjukovski decided that a literary language for Kildin Sámi could be created. Endjukovski also used the research done during 1932–1933 to publish textbooks for arithmetic and reading, outlines of the grammar of Kildin Sámi, a couple of children's book and political pamphlets.

A a B в C c Ç ç Є є D d D̦ d̦ Ʒ ʒ
З з E e Ə ə F f G g Ģ ģ H h I i
Ь ь J j K k Ķ ķ L l L̡ l̡ M m M̡ m̡
N n N̡ n̡ Ŋ ŋ O o P p R r R̡ r̡ S s
Ş ş S̷ s̷ T t T̡ t̡ U u V v V̦ v̦ Z z
Z̡ z̡ Ƶ ƶ

[edit] The second Cyrillic period

In 1937, the Latin alphabet was replaced by the Cyrillic alphabet. The same year, Endjukovskij published two more textbooks — a primer and a reader — this time using the new alphabet. Kert writes that teaching in Sámi stopped already in 1937, without any explanation.[1]. Kildin Sámi shares the fate of the other Finno-Ugric minorities that surround Finland, such as Karelian and Vepsian, in that they lost their language rights after World War II. One possible explanation for this is that the Soviet Union quite strongly pushed Russification in these border areas for security reasons.

[edit] The third Cyrillic period

Instruction in Kildin Sámi was first incorporated into the curriculum at the end of the 1970s in the village of Lovozero. In 1982, the first modern primer entitled Букварь для подготовительного класса саамской школы[2] (A Primer for Preparatory Classes in Sámi Schools), written by Aleksandra Andreevna Antonova (Russian: А.А. Антонова), was published. Rimma Kuruch (Russian: Р. Д. Куруч), author of the largest dictionary on Kildin Sámi, states that instruction in the language should be reinstated as it has become apparent that Sámi children make a lot of errors in their Russian due to interference, thus their mother tongue could not be Russian, and therefore Kildin Sámi needs to be taught in school.

Work on the latest version of the official orthography commenced in 1979. It was officially approved in 1982 and started to be widely used by 1987:

А а Ӓ ӓ Б б В в Г г Д д Е е Ё ё
Ж ж З з ' (Һ һ) И и Й й Ҋ ҋ (Ј ј)
К к Л л Ӆ ӆ М м Ӎ ӎ Н н Ӊ ӊ Ӈ ӈ
О о П п Р р Ҏ ҏ С с Т т У у Ф ф
Х х Ц ц Ч ч Ш ш Щ щ Ъ ъ Ы ы
Ь ь Ҍ ҍ Э э Ӭ ӭ Ю ю Я я

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ p. 210 in Kert, Georgi Martinovich (Russian: Керт, Георгий Мартынович). Saamskij jazyk. Osnovy finno-ugorskogo jazykoznanija. Pribaltijsko-finskie, saamskij i mordovskie jazyki. pp. 203–247. Moskva, 1975
  2. ^ Sámi: Bibliographical guide : Teaching Materials. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.

[edit] Notes

[edit] Bibliography

  • Endjukovskij, A.G. Saamskij (loparskij) jazyk. Jazyki i pis'mennost' narodov severa. tsjast' I. Moskva-Leningrad, 1937.
  • Kert, Georgi Martinovich (Russian: Керт, Георгий Мартынович). Saamskij jazyk. Osnovy finno-ugorskogo jazykoznanija. Pribaltijsko-finskie, saamskij i mordovskie jazyki. pp. 203–247. Moskva, 1975.
  • Utvik, Unni K. Kolasamene - fra tsarens undersåtter til sovjetiske borgere. Hovedoppgave, Russisk institutt, Universitetet i Bergen, 1985.