Skolt Saami

Sociolinguistic Data

General Characteristics

Total number of speakers and their ethnic group

Based on the 2020 All-Russian Population Census, the total number of Saami in the Russian Federation is 1550  people, including 690 men and 860 women. Of this total, 1370  people (632 men and 738 women) live on their traditional territory (Murmansk Oblast), based on the data of October 1, 2021 [1] .

Table 1. Total number of Saami in the Russian Federation

This Census did not differentiate between the speakers of different Saami languages. The results of the Census are based on the voluntary information and elf-designation of respondents. The statistics provide no information about the existing language variants or dialects. There is also no information about the level of Saami language proficiency and the frequency and context of its use.

According to the 2020 Census, 224 people indicated Saami proficiency, and 223 of them identified themselves as Saami (with 204 living in the Murmansk Oblast) [2] . 247 people indicated Saami as their native language (of which 215 live in the Murmansk Oblast) and Saami as their nationality [3] . Based on the Murmanskstat data, 220 residents of the Oblast indicated Saami as their native language (as of October 1, 2021) [4] and 215 of them identified themselves as Saami [5] .

Sociolinguistic characteristics: threat of extinction, use in various communication spheres

In 2022, the Institute of Linguistics RAS attributed Skolt Saami the vitality status of 1B(R) [6] . Such status is granted to the so-called dormant languages, where there are no more regular communication, no intergenerational transmission, and the number of speakers varies between 1 and 40 people. The additional R in the classification is used to characterize the state of Skolt Saami only within Russia. The language can be considered extinct due to extensive areas of settlement and the fact that the region is divided between different countries [7] .

In Russia, it does not have any official status, and it is only taught in primary schools in the locations inhabited by ethnic groups. At present, there are only a few speakers of the Notozero dialect of Skolt Saami left (in the Russian Federation, Skolt Saami is represented only by the Notozero dialect), and they are all elderly people. The language is not transmitted within families, and there was never any system of writing for this dialect [8] .

According to the encyclopedia Язык и общество [Language and Society] (2016), Saami languages as a whole are not used in education, with the exception of optional courses of Kildin Saami and (occasionally) Skolt Saami.

Age structure of native speakers

Based on the 2020 All-Russian Population Census, Saami-speaking peoples (regardless of type) can be divided into the following age groups [9] .

Table 2. Distribution of Saami-speaking population in the Russian Federation by age

Dialects

Skolt Saami used to live in the western part of the Kolsky Peninsula with its center around Petsamo. The Petsamo region belonged to Russia from 1533 to 1920, which explains the considerable number of Russian loanwords in Skolt Saami. Under the peace treaty of Tartu signed in 1920, Petsamo became part of Finland, along with three Skolt Saami settlements: Paatsjoki (Pazreka), Petsamo, and Suonikyulya. After the World War II, however, Finland had to cede the Petsamo region to the Soviet Union. The Skolt Saami that were evacuated from Petsamo during the war years and fought alongside Finns preferred to stay in Finland and were relocated to the Finnish part, in the Inari municipality. These historical events had considerable consequences for Skolt Saami, both cultural and linguistic [10] . At present, there is no Saami population in the region of Petchenga. Since Inari Saami are Lutherans, whereas Skolt Saami are Orthodox, the marriages between them are a relatively rare occurrence, which contributes to the preservation of both languages.

It was traditional in Russian literature to present Saami as a unique language with numerous dialects. Nowadays, it is recognized that there are several Saami languages. There are following living Saami languages in the Russian Federation: Kildin, Yokang, and Skolt (Koltta, Sami Skolt, kolta számi sääˊmǩiõll) represented only by Notozero dialect [11] . In the area of distribution of Notozero dialect, the Saami  dialects are somewhat affected not only by Russian, but also by the dialects of Komi-Zyrians and Nenets, who had moved from the east to the west in the mid-19th century and settled on the Kolsky peninsula.

The Saami language group belongs to the Uralic language family, its Finno-Ugric strand. Until now, scientists have not been able to establish the origin of its vocabulary. It is believed that it stemmed from the language of the most ancient European population that was later assimilated by Saami or Finno-Ugric peoples. There is also another version that says that Saami was, in fact, that very indigenous population that lived in Lapland and just south of it as early as the fourth millennium BC [12] .

Today, there exist over 10 Saami dialects. Researchers divide them into two groups [13] :

Western Saami group:

• Ume Saami (Uume) – Sweden;
• South Saami – Norway and Sweden;
• Lule Saami (Luule) – Norway and Sweden;
• Pite Saami (Pite) – Norway and Sweden;
• Northern Saami – Norway, Sweden, and Finland.

Eastern Saami group:

• Inari Saami – Finland;
• Yokang Saami (Ter Saami) – Russia;
• Kildin Saami – Russia;
• Skolt Saami – Finland, Russia, Norway (the original language of Skolt Saami, there are now about 20 people in Russia that can speak it in a varying degree );
• Babinski Saami (Akkala) † – Russia;
• Kemi Saami † – Saami of the central Finnish Lapland.

The Notozero dialect of Skolt Saami is a unique case. It is the only Saami dialect that is spoken not only in Russia, but also in Finland (around 300 people). As a result, Notozero dialect is much better analyzed than other Eastern Saami languages. However, there are less than 30 speakers of Notozero dialect in Russia, and it is considered in danger of extinction. Most of the speakers live in the northwest parts of Murmansk Oblast, mainly in Verkhnetulomsky, as well as Tuloma, Murmashakh, etc [14] .

Geographic characteristics

Total number of localities traditionally inhabited by native speakers

At present, Russian Skolt Saami live in the Murmansk Oblast (in the north and west of the Kolsky Peninsula). Based on the 2020 Census, Murmanskstat published data regarding the location of Saami in their traditional areas as of October 1, 2021. In the Kolsky Municipal District, traditionally inhabited by Skolt Saami, there are 233 Saami, including 100 men and 133 women [15] . There was no publication of data regarding specific settlements (Verkhnetulomsky, Tuloma, Murmashi).

Table 3. Number of Saami in the Kolsky Municipal District

List of settlements with corresponding data (based on the 2021 All-Russian Population Census)

Before the World War II, Skolt Saami speakers were found in four villages in the region of Petchenga, including Petsamo (Petchenga) and Suonikyulya. Before this territory was handed over to the Soviet Union, the Saami population was relocated to the villages of Inari, Sevettijärvi, and Nellim in the Inari municipality (Finland). Today, approximately 20 – 30 speakers of Notozero dialect (Njuõˊttjäuˊrr) live in Russia, near the village of Lovozero.

Table 4. Number of Saami by city districts, municipal districts and okrugs in  Murmansk Oblast as of October 1, 2021 [16] :

Total population, population of the language-related ethnic groups, number of native speakers, language preservation in the locality, dialects

Table 5. Localization of Saami population in their traditional areas of Murmansk Oblast as of October 1, 2021 [17] :

Table 6. Proficiency in Saami and its use by city districts, municipal districts and okrugs of Murmansk Oblast as of October 1, 2021 [18] :

Historical dynamics

Number of native speakers and their ethnic group based on various Censuses (starting from 1897)

The absence of numbers means that the data is not available. The Censuses do not distinguish between Saami languages. The questions about languages in the 2002 Census concern only language proficiency, this Census did not contain any questions about native languages.

Источники:

1. Демоскоп Weekly [Demoscope Weekly]. Vishnevsky Institute of Demography. Retrieved from: http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/pril.php
2. Комментарии к сводной таблице «Народы и Языки Российской Федерации» [Comments to Summary Table “Peoples and Languages of Russian Federation”]. In Endangered Languages of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia. Department of the North and Siberia, IEA RAS. Retrieved from: https://lingsib.iea.ras.ru/en/languages/statistics_comment.shtml
3. Язык и общество. Энциклопедия [Language and community. Encyclopedia]. M.: Azbukovnik, 2016.
4. Итоги ВПН-2002 [Results of the 2002 All-Russian Population Census]. Retrieved from: http://www.perepis2002.ru/
5. Итоги ВПН-2010. Том 4. Национальный состав и владение языками, гражданство [Results of the 2010 All-Russian Population Census. Volume 4. Ethnic structure and language proficiency, nationality]. Retrieved from: https://rosstat.gov.ru/free_doc/new_site/perepis2010/croc/perepis_itogi1612-tom4.htm
6. Итоги ВПН-2020. Том 5. Национальный состав и владение языками [Results of the 2020 All-Russian Population Census. Volume 5. Ethnic structure and language proficiency]. Retrieved from: https://rosstat.gov.ru/vpn/2020/Tom5_Nacionalnyj_sostav_i_vladenie_yazykami

[1] Итоги ВПН-2020. Том 5 Национальный состав и владение языками. Таблица 17. Население коренных малочисленных народов Российской Федерации [Results of the 2020 All-Russian Population Census. Volume 5. Ethnic structure and language proficiency. Table 17. Population of the small indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation]. Retrieved from: https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/Tom5_tab17_VPN-2020.xlsx

[2] Итоги ВПН-2020. Том 5 Национальный состав и владение языками. Таблица 18. Владение языками коренных малочисленных народов Российской Федерации [Results of the 2020 All-Russian Population Census. Volume 5. Ethnic structure and language proficiency. Table 18. Command of languages of the small indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation] . Retrieved from: https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/Tom5_tab18_VPN-2020.xlsx

[3] Итоги ВПН-2020. Том 5 Национальный состав и владение языками. Таблица 20.  Население коренных малочисленных народов Российской Федерации по родному языку [Results of the 2020 All-Russian Population Census. Volume 5. Ethnic structure and language proficiency. Table 20. Population of the small indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation by native language]. Retrieved from: https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/Tom5_tab20_VPN-2020.xlsx

[4] Итоги ВПН-2020 по Мурманской области. Том 5 Национальный состав и владение языками. Таблица 5.10. Население по родному языку на 1 октября 2021 года [Results of the 2020 All-Russian Population Census in Murmansk Oblast. Volume 5. Ethnic structure and language proficiency. Table 5.10. Population by native language as of October 1, 2021]. Retrieved from: https://51.rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/5.10.xlsx

[5] И тоги ВПН-2020 по Мурманской области. Том 5 Национальный состав и владение языками. Таблица 5.24. Население коренных малочисленных народов Российской Федерации по родному языку на 1 октября 2021 года [Results of the 2020 All-Russian Population Census in Murmansk Oblast. Volume 5. Ethnic structure and language proficiency. Table 5.24. Population of the small indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation by native language as of October 1, 2021] . Retrieved from: https://51.rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/5.24.xlsx

[6] Проект « Языки России » ИЯ РАН [Languages of Russia Project of the Institute of Linguistics RAS]. Retrieved from: http://jazykirf.iling-ran.ru/list_2022.shtml

[7] Статусы языковой витальности [Language vitality statuses]. In Проект « Языки России » ИЯ РАН [Languages of Russia Project of the Institute of Linguistics RAS]. Retrieved from: http://jazykirf.iling-ran.ru/Statuses.shtml

[8] Agranat, T. Функционирование саамских языков в синхронии и диахронии [Functioning of Saami languages in synchrony and diachrony. In Вестник МГЛУ. Гуманитарные науки . 2020, 4 (834). Retrieved from: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/funktsionirovanie-saamskih-yazykov-v-sinhronii-i-diahronii

[9] Итоги ВПН-2020. Том 5 Национальный состав и владение языками. Таблица 12. Владение языками населением разных возрастных групп [Results of the 2020 All-Russian Population Census. Volume 5. Ethnic structure and language proficiency. Table 12. Language proficiency of the population by age groups]. Retrieved from: https://rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/Tom5_tab12_VPN-2020.xlsx

[10] Feist, T. A Grammar of Skolt Saami. The University of Manchester Library. School of Language, Linguistics and Cultures, 2010: https://www.escholar.manchester.ac.uk/api/datastream?publicationPid=uk-ac-man-scw:123128&datastreamId=FULL-TEXT.PDF

[11] Язык и общество . Энциклопедия [Language and community. Encyclopedia]. M, 2016. P. 416 – 418. Retrieved from: https://iling-ran.ru/library/sociolingva/2016_jazyk_i_obschestvo.pdf

[12] Saami – the mysterious inhabitants of Lapland: https://travelask.ru/articles/saamy-tainstvennye-zhiteli-laplandii

[13] Саамские языки [Saami Languages]. In Большая российская энциклопедия [Great Russian Encyclopedia]. Retrieved from: https://old.bigenc.ru/linguistics/text/3526297

[14] Из доклада Валентины Вячеславовны Совкиной – члена Постоянного форума ООН по вопросам коренных народов [From the report by Valentina Sovkina, member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues]. Retrieved from: http://skuvla.info/valentina-ru.htm

[15] Итоги ВПН-2020 по Мурманской области. Том 5 Национальный состав и владение языками. Таблица 5.25 Размещение населения саамов в местах традиционного проживания на 1 октября 2021 года [Results of the 2020 All-Russian Population Census in Murmansk Oblast. Volume 5. Ethnic structure and language proficiency. Table 5.25. Distribution of Saami population on its traditional territory as of October 1, 2021]. Retrieved from: https://51.rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/5.25.xlsx

[16] Итоги ВПН-2020 по Мурманской области. Том 5 Национальный состав и владение языками. Таблица 5.2. Национальный состав населения по городским округам, муниципальным районам и муниципальным округам [Results of the 2020 All-Russian Population Census in Murmansk Oblast. Volume 5. Ethnic structure and language proficiency. Table 5.2. Ethnic structure of population by city districts, municipal districts and okrugs]. Retrieved from: https://51.rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/5.2(11).xlsx

[17] Ibid.

[18] Итоги ВПН-2020 по Мурманской области. Том 5 Национальный состав и владение языками. Таблица 5.7. Владение языками и использование языков населением по городским округам, муниципальным районам и муниципальным округам на 1 октября 2021 года [Results of the 2020 All-Russian Population Census in Murmansk Oblast. Volume 5. Ethnic structure and language proficiency. Table 5.7. Proficiency in languages and their use by city districts, municipal districts and okrugs as of October 1, 2021]. Retrieved from: https://51.rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/5.7..xlsx
Таблица 5.11. Население по родному языку по городским округам, муниципальным районам и муниципальным округам на 1 октября 2021 года [Table 5.11. Native languages of population by city districts, municipal districts and okrugs as of October 1, 2021]. Retrieved from: https://51.rosstat.gov.ru/storage/mediabank/5.11.xlsx