Sámi languages are used by around 36,000 people across Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. As part of the Uralic language family, it is written using the Latin alphabet and follows an SOV word order with an extensive case system. With an agglutinative structure, Sámi expresses complex meanings through suffixes and modifications. Traditionally an oral language, it has a strong presence in folklore, music, and indigenous activism. Despite historical marginalization, revitalization efforts, including bilingual education and digital resources, aim to preserve Sámi linguistic and cultural heritage. (We used Northern Sámi as a grammatical reference).
Estadísticas
Language Family: Uralic
Writing System: Latin
Writing System Type: Alphabet
Writing Direction: L to R
Tones / Pitch Accent: None
Morphology: Agglutinative
Cases: 7
Grammatical Gender / Noun Class: None
Number of Verb Tenses: 2
Word Order: SOV
Number of Vowels (Monophthongs): 10
Number of Consonants: 35
Áreas Donde Se Habla
Finland (0.05%) (2,700)
Norway (0.45%) (25 k)
Russia (0.0003%) (500)
Sweden (0.08%) (8 k)
Recursos
Mass Resource List
OAHPA!: North, South, Lule, Inari, Kilden, and Skolt
Giellatekno, Sámi Technology Project: North, South, Lule, Pite, Inari, Skolt, Kilden
Dictionary
Divvun: Proofing & translation tools (North, South, Lule, Inari, Sklot, Pite, Kildin, Ter)
Glosbe.com: North
Risten: Sámi dictionary and terminology (North)
Grammar
News
nrk.no/sapmi (North)
avvir.no (North)
Radio
NRK Sápmi (talk, intl. music)
TV
Ođđasat (daily news program)
Translator
gtweb.uit.no: North Sami to Norwegian (translates text, docx, urls)
Website
sayitinsaami.yle.fi: Culture and phrasebook (North Sámi, Inari North Sámi, Skolt North Sámi)
Sátnemeahccái: Vocab (North, for native speakers)
ling.ohio-state.edu: Wordlist with sound files (North)
Sámi Giellatekno: Grammar and inflectional paradigms
Unilang Language Forum: Vocab lists (Skolt Sámi, South Sámi, Ume Sámi, and more)
ordbok.sametinget.se: Sami Parliament’s digital dictionary and dictionary app
Sámi Giellagáldu: Nordic Resource Centre for South, Lule, Inari, Skolt, and North
Davvi Girji: Bookstore (North)
Ájtte: Museum with books in many languages
laits.utexas.edu: Sámi Culture
YouTube
Channels
Ville Söderbaum's channel: North Sámi for Beginners (12 Lessons)
Sámediggi Oahppamateriála: Videos for kids
Lohkan: Course designed for young children, great for beginners