ENDANGERED LANGUAGES

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The Sami languages slowly disappearing

Image Credit: Wix

Slideshow by Lucie Jung

The Force of Words

“ Buorre beaivi! “

Those are the words used by the Sami people to salute each other in one of their multiple varieties of languages. Having a strong cultural background, their languages are really important for them and are essential to the tribe’s identity.

Because the Sami population is spread over Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, the languages used by the tribe can be different depending on the area where it is spoken. Even though they have difficulties to understand each other, the Sami people, whatever Sami languages they are speaking, can communicate together.

In total there are ten languages which are spoken depending on the location where it is used: Southern Sami, Lule Sami, Southern Sami, Inari Sami, Skolt Sami, Kildin Sami, Pite SAmi, Ume Sami, Sami Ter and Akkala Sami. Then, these ten languages form two main groups called Eastern Sami and West Sami.

According to Omniglot.com, the first Sami language was Ume Sámi which is a Western language mainly used in Norway and Sweden. Today, the online encyclopedia of writing systems & languages states that only ten people are still speaking it now.

Regarding the rest, there are no official figures and it is impossible to know exactly how many people are truly speaking every language since no official census have been made since the Second World War. However, estimations have been made and the online encyclopedia is giving the figures:

Infographic by Lucie Jung

Did you know ?

The Sami languages are a mix of Uralic wordings spoken in Northern Eurasia – Estonia, Finland and Hungary mainly. It said to be so because those languages are spoken in areas around the Ural Mountains which are the boundary between Europe and Asia, from the Ural River and Kazakhstan to the Arctic Ocean.

Anneline Ulfrstad, Senior Adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and modernization at the Department of Sami and Minority Affairs explained me that :

- Northern Sami is spoken in Norway, Sweden and Finland

- Lule Sami is spoken in Norway and Sweden

- Southern Sami is spoken in Norway and Sweden

- Inari Sami is spoken only in Finland

- Skolt Sami is both spoken in Finland and Russia (and before in Norway)

- Kildin Saami is only spoken in Russia

- Pite Sami is only spoken in Sweden and is now extinct in Norway

- Ume Sami is only spoken in Sweden and is now extinct in Norway

- Sami Ter is only spoken in Russia

- Akkala Sami is only spoken in Russia (not on the infographic)

Infographic by Lucie Jung

Formalised languages

Norway, 1988. Through the Article 110a of 1998, the Norwegian Constitution granted the tribe to “preserve and develop its language, culture and way of life”. In the 90s, the Sami Language Act became official and the tribe’s languages became official in the counties of Finnmark and the municipalities of Kautokeino, Karasjok, Gáivuotna (Kåfjord),Nesseby, Porsanger, Tana, Tysfjord, Lavangen and Snåsa.

Finland, 1991. In Finland, three Sami languages were officially recognized. The Sami were granted to use the Northern Sami, the Skolt Sami and the Inari Sami in all government services thanks to the Sami Language Act of 1991.

In addition, a new act called the Sami Language Act of 2003 was adopted in order to make official the Sami languages in several municipalities such as in Enontekiö, Inari, Sodankylä and Utsjoki.

Sweden, 2002. In Sweden four minority languages are officially recognized. In 2002, the Sami became the fifth one and Sami could use it in the municipalities of Arjeplog, Gällivare, Jokkmokk, and Kiruna. In 2011, the Sami languages are growing and Universities such as Uppsala University offers courses in North Sami while Umeå University teaches North Sami, Ume Sami and South Sami.

Russia. Even though Sami has been taught at the Institute of Peoples of the North in Saint Petersburg and at Murmansk University in 2012, the Sami languages are not official in Russia.

A culture in danger

Most of the time, languages are taught because of their influence in the world and the location where they are spoken, as well as the number of people who speak them. And, with fewer and fewer learnings and practices of the languages, the uses of the Sami languages are decreasing.

In some areas, the Sami languages and traditions are unchanged. In some other places, the Sami culture is disappearing little by little. Anneline Ulfrstad, Senior Adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and modernization at the Department of Sami and Minority Affairs declares that in Northern Sami areas, children have more often the opportunity to speak the Sami languages at their homes either as a monolingual language or bilingual language (Sami and Norwegian) than in other places. She states:

“The loss of continuity in passing down the languages between the generations has left many Sea Sami and Forest Sami dialects in danger of becoming extinct.”

However, the education of the Sami languages is still small and vulnerable giving that very few communities make Sami a visible part of everyday life. Today, the Sami are naturally bilingual both with their own languages and the national one. Ulfrstard explains:

“Many children and youths who receive their education in Sami do not meet Sami as the language of interaction; neither within the family or local community. This is the result of loss of continuity, since Sami is not used as the everyday language in these areas.”

Today and in an international context, all Sami languages are characterized as endangered, seriously endangered or nearly extinct languages and are entering UNESCO’s “red book on endangered languages”. And, even if some attempts are made to save the languages, few varieties are going extinct such as the Ánar, Skolt and Northern languages in Finland as well as the Southern and Lule Sami in Sweden and Norway.

Image Credit: Terje Rakke/Nordic Life

Image Credit: Terje Rakke/Nordic Life

According to a study led by the Governement of Norway - Regjeringen.no, the number of pupils asking the teaching of Sami as a second language in primary schools has dramatically decreased since the school year 2005-2006. When we look into the numbers, the problem seems even more striking: in 2006, 2057 pupils asked to learn Sami as a seond language whereas only 1201 pupils requested it in 2013 which represents a decrease of around 41.6% in the space of seven years.

In 2006, 1020 pupils were learning Sami as a first language. Over the years, the demand decreased and only 915 pupils were asking to learn Sami as a first language in 2014, that is to say a decline of 10.% in 8 years. However, the pupils that are learning Sami (as first and second language, taken together) in upper secondary school has increased of around 21.6% with 369 pupils in 2009 and 449 in 2014.

ANNELINE ULFRSTAD

Senior Adviser at the Ministry of Local Government and modernization at the Department of Sami and Minority Affairs

More and more actions are taken in order to revitalize the language and avoid its complete oblivion. Many facilities are put in place to allow pupils to learn Sami languages even though there is no teachers or classes available in the municipality they are living in. Indeed, videoconferences are held, kindergartens with Sami languages are being open and, more and more pupils are receiving an education in Sami languages in schools.

“For many, Sami is the language of everyday interaction and communication in these areas."

During the dual Swedish-Norwegian monarchy that existed from 1814 to 1905, the public authorities started what they called the Lapps assimilation policy''. This action better known under the name of Norwegianization in Norway for example, was not fully accepted by the Sami people because this process was forcing them to give up their own languages to speak the majority one (Norwegian, Swedish or Finnish). Its aim was to “etnically and culturally uniform Norwegian population”, said to be necessary to training and raising their standard of living.

Now part of the modern society, the Sami people are more and more using the majority language at the cost of their own. Along with the difficulties to teach and learn the tribe’s languages after the Second World War, the Sami language is less and less used. As a direct consequence, their native languages are being forgotten. For example, in other regions such as Sea Sami and Marka Sami areas the language changing process - the Norwegianization - has has been hard for them and have directly influenced on their culture. Ulfrstad declares:

If you want to know more about the Sami languages, please go on "Part of a larger society"

Sauvegarding the languages

"According to the Education Act, all Sami pupils in primary and upper secondary school are entitled to education in Sami as a subject wherever they live in the country. The right encompass North Sami, Lule Sami or South Sami” declares the Senior Adviser of the Ministry of Local Government and modernization at the Department of Sami and Minority Affairs, Anneline Ulfrstad.

_ To start, Ulfrstad explains that in the South Sámi area, two Sami schools are set up. The first one is in Hattfjelldal in Nordland and the second one is in Snåsa in Nord-Trøndelag.

Even though there is a great lack of teachers of South Sami on those two schools, the pupils can still access facilities to read Southern Sami. In return, many pupils find themselves forced to study South Sami through a distant learning.

As the Senior Adviser states, “Brekken oppvekstsenter at Røros Municipality together with the Sami schools in Snåsa and Hattfjelldal are offering distant learning in South Sami”.

In addition, several high schools in Norway such as Røros and Grong high school are teaching South Sami as a second language and are providing service to other schools in and outside the South Sámi area. According to the data, 74 pupils were trained in South Sami in primary and upper secondary schools in 2014.

_ In the Lule Sámi area, the school in Drag in the Tysfjord district is the epicentre of the Lule Sami education in Norway. The school in Drag is considered as a bicultural school giving that Norwegian and Sami languages are taught at an equal level.

Árran which means fireplace, is the Lule Sámi cultural and education center in Drag. In this center various facilities related to the Lule Sámi language are available such as videoconferencing equipments to facilitate the center’s staff in order to teach Lule Sámi language at distance education.

Also, Ms. Ulfrstad adds that the center provides also various other language programs, such as immersion and internal company language courses. Moreover, the center houses a kindergarten, the Lule kindergarten Arran mannagárdde, where the only language used is the Lule Sámi. Ulfrstad declared that in 2014, 99 pupils were studying Lule Sami in primary schools. However, when we look closer at higher education, only Nord University is responsible for providing higher education in South Sámi and Lule Sami.

_ In the Northern Sámi area, the Northern Sami is the most spoken Sami language and 1943 pupils had lessons in the language in 2014. In Karasjok and Kautokeino municipalities, the majority of people are speaking Northern Sami and that’s why each of the municipalities houses a Sami secondary school offering Northern Sami classes.

In addition in Kautokeino, the Sami University College provides courses in Northern Sami. In Tromsø, the Arctic University is the only body offering Northern Sami classes in higher education.

Action Plan for Sami Languages.

Also, in order to prevent the oblivion of the tribe's languages and re stimulate the interest in the Sami culture, the Norwegian Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion established an “Action Plan for Sami Languages” made of 66 measures.

Among them, the institution banked on boosting the use of the Sami languages by teaching them more in kindergartens, as well as primary and secondary schools. Also, actions are taken to increase the domains in which the Sami languages can be spoken in an attempt to standardise their use within the society and others to make the Sami languages visible to the public. And, within the scope of this action plan, the 18th President of the Storting (Norwegian Parliament), Dag Terje Andersen, declared that:

"The principal focus of the plan of action is to create the right conditions to increase the number of people actively using the Sami languages..."

Because of this oblivion, Sami people weren't authorised to talk in Sami anymore since nobody could unterstand them and by extension, answer them. Thanks to this plan and those efforts to revive the Sami languages, the indigenous tribe may not have to scrap their identity. However, in a report published by the United Nations of Human Rights, the Sami Parliament declared that although the interest is growing since those attempts not everybody willing to will be able to participate to this project because of money problems.

Language provisions in the Sami Act.

The Language provisions in the Sami Act approved in 1990 were created to increase people using the Sami languages within the public services. Stipulations must be followed and every public authorities under the Sami Act's chapter 3 have to ensure that its members are qualified in Sami languages. However, it is hard sometimes considering that not many people are meeting the requirements in Sami languages anymore.

In 2007, the languages provisions in the Sami Act were evaluated and conducted by the Sami Institute commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and Church affairs. The report showed that the public authorities handling the language provisions of the Sami Act are not competent in Sami languages enough and therefore, don’t meet the exigencies of the law.

At this point, Ulfrstad reacts: “Understanding that Sami and Norwegian are languages of equal worth, appears to be far from a natural way of thinking.” However, thanks to the Sami Act, many jobs requiring the Sami languages have been created resulting in a positive impact for the Sami population.

The mordernization of ancient languages

Even though the tribe’s languages have deep roots and some Sami are still speaking them with family or friends, the Sami languages are less and less spoken in everyday life. However in recent years, people are trying to develop the Sami languages in favor of their survival by learning it at school or during private courses.

After the efforts to formalised the Sami languages, Sami regions are allowed to use them within the society and in some public authorities. Also, more and more young people are willing to learn the languages and the tribe’s culture.

In addition, the Sami languages have been modified in recent decades, along with the entry of Sami people within the modern society. And, because of evolution or new means, thousands of new words are now used within the Sami languages. For example, words such as 'computer' which is spelled "dihtor" in Sami, are now used within the tribe's language.

Sami people and a traditional peat hut. Image Credit: Saamiblog, Flickr