North Sami language

North Sami (davvisámegiella)
Spoken in	Norway , Sweden , Finland
speaker	15,000-25,000
Linguistic classification	Ural Finno-Ugric Finnopermisch Volga Finnish Finno-Sami Sami Western Sami North Sami
Official status
Official language in	recognized as a minority language in individual municipalities in Finland , Norway and Sweden
Language codes
ISO 639 -1	se
ISO 639 -2	sme
ISO 639-3	sme

Distribution area of ​​North Sami (No. 5) in the Sami language area

North Sami (also Saami, Sámi; own name davvisámegiella ) is by far the largest language from the group of Sami languages . This makes it part of the Finno-Ugric language family. North Sami is spoken by 15,000 to 25,000 Sami in the Norwegian , Swedish, and Finnish parts of Lapland .

North Sami is recognized as a minority language in the municipalities of Kåfjord , Karasjok , Kautokeino , Lavangen , Nesseby , Porsanger and Tana in Norway , Arjeplog , Gällivare , Jokkmokk and Kiruna in Sweden and Enontekiö , Inari , Sodankylä and Utsjoki in Finland and is permitted in communication with authorities.

spelling, orthography

In 1979 a uniform North Sami spelling was established. Before that, each country had its own spelling standard. The official spelling was last changed in 1985. North Sami is written in a variant of the Latin alphabet , which has the following 29 letters:

A / a Á / á B / b C / c Č / č D / d Đ / đ E / e F / f G / g H / h I / i J / j K / k L / l M / m N / n Ŋ / ŋ O / o P / p R / r S / s Š / š T / t Ŧ / ŧ U / u V / v Z / z Ž / ž

In the following letters pronunciation means is IPA phonetic specified: A [⁠ ɑ ⁠] , Á [⁠ a ⁠] , C [⁠ ts ⁠] , C [⁠ tʃ ⁠] , dj [⁠ ð ⁠] Ð [⁠ ʃ ⁠] , t [⁠ thetav ⁠] , Z [⁠ dz ⁠] , Z [⁠ dʒ ⁠] .

Phonology

Northern Sami has five or six vowels , as <y> occurs in loan words. The <a> occurs in single length (<a>) and double length (<á>):

i: unrounded, closed front vowel.

y: rounded, closed front vowel.

e: unrounded, semi-closed front vowel.

á: unrounded, open central vowel.

a: unrounded, open back vowel.

u: rounded, closed back vowel.

o: rounded, semi-closed back vowel.

Consonants

North Sami has the following 26 consonants :

	Bilabial	Labiodental	Dental	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosives	p , b			t , d		c , ɟ	k , g
Nasals	m			n		ɲ	ŋ
Vibrants				r
Fricatives		f , v	θ , ð	s				H
Approximants						j
Lateral				l		ʎ
Affricates				ts , dz	tʃ , dʒ

grammar

Word order

With regard to word order , North Sami belongs to the group of subject-object languages ​​of the Urals language family. The agent and other subjects of transitive and intransitive verbs are in the nominative. The Patiens and other objects of transitive verbs, however, are generally in the accusative. The sequence of the main constituents (subject, object, verb, adverbial, etc.) is subject to almost no formal restrictions and is therefore quite free. The basic sequence is subject - verb - object (SVO):

 áhčči[S] oinnii[V] Niillasa[O] 
 Vater sehen-Sg.3.Verg. Nils-Acc.Sg.
 Vater sah Nils.

Without object:

 mátki[S] lea[V] guhkki 
 Reise sein-Sg.3.Präs. lang
 Die Reise ist lang ~ Es ist eine lange Reise.

In infinitive and participle constructions, the constituent sequence usually changes to a verb-final sequence, subject - object - verb (SOV):

 ii diktán              mu[S] dan[O] oaidnit[V] 
 Neg.Verb-Sg.3. lassen-Verg.Konneg. ich-Akk.Sg. es-Akk.Sg. sehen-Perf.Part.
 Er/sie ließ mich es nicht sehen.

The modifier is placed in front of the head within noun phrases:

 dát nuorra olmmái 
 es jung Mann
 dieser junge Mann

From a grammatical point of view, the modifier is behind the head in numerical and verb phrases , so that here too the head bears the morphological properties that the syntactic construction requires. As the example below shows, when a numeral noun phrase is used as the subject, the numeral is the head and the noun is the modifier of the noun phrase.

 golbma dálu ledje buollán 
 drei-Nom.Sg. Haus-Gen.Sg. sein-Pl.3.Verg. brennen-Perf.Part.
 Drei Häuser sind niedergebrannt.

Noun phrases are in the North Sami Islands. However, they can be intersected by external elements such as verbs or sentence modifiers.

 buorit gal ledje olbmot, muhto …
 gut-Nom.Pl. sicherlich sein-Pl.3.Verg. Person-Nom.Pl. aber
 Sie waren sicherlich gute Leute, aber …

The noun phrase modifiers that come before the noun phrase appear in the following order: demonstrative pronoun - genitive attribute - numeral - adjective attribute - noun. Some modifiers appear exclusively after the noun, such as:

Relative clauses that are linked to the antecedents of the main clause by a relative pronoun:

 dat olbmot, mat manne sisa 
 es-Nom.Pl. Person-Nom.Pl. die-Nom.Pl. gehen-Pl.3.Verg. in
 diese Leute, die hineinliefen

Infinitive:

 mus ii                    leat dilli vuordit 
 ich-Lok. Verneinungsverb-Sg.3. sein-Präs.Konneg. Zeit warten-Inf.
 Ich habe keine Zeit zu warten.

Postpositional constructions:

 dat lea muitalus ovtta nieidda birra 
 es sein-Sg.3.Präs. Geschichte eins-Gen.Sg. Mädchen-Gen.Sg. über
 Es ist eine Geschichte über ein Mädchen.

Partitive locatives:

 mun dovddan ovtta du         vieljain 
 ich wissen-Sg.1.Präs. eins-Akk.Sg. du-Gen.Sg. Bruder-Lok.Pl.
 Ich kenne einen deiner Brüder.

In contrast to noun phrases, verb complexes such as compound tenses or other verb complexes consisting of a finite and an infinity verb form do not form a phrase in the actual sense. Elements in between are tolerated and word order is free. Verb complexes made up of finite and infinite verb forms, however, show the usual hierarchy: the infinite form is formally subordinate to the finite form.

pro-drop

In North Sami, the subject is not a constituent that has to be realized. In some cases the realization of a formal subject is even ungrammatic. First and second person verb forms need not be used in conjunction with a subject pronoun. Third person pronouns are optional for subordination:

 go Biera bodii, de   muitalii, ahte... 
 als Peter kommen-Sg.3.Verg. dann erzählen-Sg.3.Verg. dass
 Als Peter kam, erzählte er, dass...

If a natural phenomenon is described, one generally does not use a formal subject:

 arvá 
 regnen-Sg.3.Präs.
 Es regnet.

Level change

Like Finnish or Estonian , North Sami also has a level change . In contrast to Finnish, where mainly the plosives are involved, significantly more consonants or consonant combinations are involved in the level change in North Sami . In addition, in contrast to Finnish, a distinction is not made between two, but three consonant quantities .

The change in level plays an important role in flexion morphology. In many words, nominative singular and genitive / accusative singular are only differentiated by the change in level. The following table exemplifies the level change in the labial plosives and in consonant connections with them:

Type	strong level		weak level
hpp: hp	báhppa	'Priest'	báhpa	'the priest'
hp: b	giehpa	'Soot'	gieba	'of the soot'
bb: pp	spábba	'Ball'	spáppa	'of the ball'
bm: pm	biebmu	'Eat'	beep	'of the food'
pm: m	rápmi	'Praise'	rámi	'of praise'
đb: đbb	beađbi	' Shoulder blade '	beađbbi	'of the shoulder blade'
ib: ibb	láibi	'Loaf'	láibbi	'of the bread'
ip: ipp	biipu	'Pipe'	biippu	'the pipe'
lb: lbb	silba	'Silver'	silbba	'of silver'
lp: lpp	skoalpa	' Marsh Marigold '	skoalppa	'the marsh marigold'
mb: mbb	bumbá	'Chest'	bumbbá	'the chest'
mp: mpp	lámpá	'Lamp'	lámppá	'the lamp'
rb: rbb	skárba	'Whip'	skárbba	'the whip'
rp: rpp	soarpa	'Foam'	soarppa	'of the foam'
sp: spp	ráspa	'Grater'	rásppa	'the rasp'
šp: špp	rušpi	' Carrot '	rušppi	'the carrot'
vp: vpp	gávpi	'Business'	gávppi	'of the business'
ibm: imm	áibmu	'Air'	áimmu	'the air'
lbm: lmm	čuolbma	'Node'	čuolmma	'of the knot'
rbm: rpm	čorbma	'Fist'	čorpma	'the fist'

The same applies to other plosives or generally other consonants. The nom. Sg. Áhčči 'father' has as Gen. Sing. Áhči , the nom. Sg. Eadni 'mother' a gene. Sg. Eatni , next to a nominative sávdnji 'seam' there is a genitive sávnnji , next to a nominative muohta 'snow' in the weak level there is a genitive muohttaga in the strong level. These alternations are also present in the verb: for the infinitive juhkat 'drink' there is a 1st person singular in the present tense jugan 'I drink', for the infinitive doaivut 'hope' there is a 1st P. Sg. Pres . Doaivvun 'I hope'.

In some cases all three quantity levels can even alternate. This occurs, for example, with some verbs, for example: oađ'đi '(you two) sleep!': Oađđit 'sleep': oađán 'I sleep'. But also between jiegŋái 'iced, frozen', jiekŋa 'ice' and jieŋa 'of the ice' there is a threefold quantity opposition .

case

North Sami has seven cases : nominative , genitive , accusative , locative , illative , comitive and essive . The genitive and accusative have the same form, so the number of cases is sometimes given as six.

noun

The noun inflects in two numbers, the singular and the plural. In contrast to the pronouns and the verbs, there is no dual here. The morphological marking usually takes place at the end of the word as a suffix. A distinction is made between markers (modality, time, number), inflexional suffixes (case, possessor, person) and derivation endings (modified word meaning). The following sequence of suffixes applies: word stem - derivation ending - number marker - case suffix - possessor suffix - enclitic (for example question-enclitic).

A distinction is also made between different types of nouns: nouns with an even number of syllables, nouns with an odd number of syllables and contracted nouns. These are shown as examples in the following overview table. The assignment is as follows: nouns with an even number of syllables: guolli 'fish', beaivvádat 'sunshine'; Nouns with an odd number of syllables: duottar 'Berg, Tundra, Fjell', beana 'Hund'; Contracted nouns: boazu 'reindeer', geavŋŋis 'big rapids, waterfall'.

case	Singular						Plural
Nom.	guolli	beaivvádat	duottar	beana	boazu	geavŋŋis	guolit	beaivvádagat	duoddarat	beatnagat	bohccot	geavgŋát
Gene. / Acc.	guoli	beaivvádaga	duoddara	beatnaga	bohcco	geavgŋá	guliid	beaivvádagaid	duoddariid	beatnagiid	bohccuid	geavgŋáid
Locomotive.	guolis	beaivvádagas	duoddaris	beatnagis	bohccos	geavgŋás	guliin	beaivvádagain	duoddariin	beatnagiin	bohccuin	geavgŋáin
Ill.	gullái	beaivvádahkii	duoddarii	beatnagii	bohccui	geavgŋái	guliide	beaivvádagaide	duoddariidda	beatnagiidda	bohccuide	geavgŋáide
Com.	guliin	beaivvádagain	duoddariin	beatnagiin	bohccuin	geavgŋáin	guliiguin	beaivvádagaiguin	duoddariiguin	beatnagiiguin	bohccuiguin	geavgŋáiguin
Eating	guollin	beaivvádahkan	duottarin	beanan	boazun	geavŋŋisin	guollin	beaivvádahkan	duottarin	beanan	boazun	geavŋŋisin

In addition, a distinction is made between an absolute declension and a possessive declension, with personal suffixes being appended to the noun in the respective case. So guos'si just means 'guest', while guos'sán means 'my guest', guos'sát 'your guest' and so on. In addition to singular and plural, the possessive declension also distinguishes between the dual ( guos'sáme 'my two guests', guos'sáde 'your two guests' etc.).

case	person	Singular	dual	Plural
Nom. Sg.	1. 2. 3.	guos'sán guos'sát guos'sis	guos'sáme guos'sáde guos'siska	guos'sámet guos'sádet guos'siset
Gene. / Acc. Sg.	1. 2. 3.	guos'sán guos'sát guossis	guos'sáme guos'sáde guossiska	guos'sámet guos'sádet guossiset
Locomotive. Sg.	1. 2. 3.	guossistan guossistat guossistis	guossisteame guossisteatte guossisteaskka	guossisteamet guossisteattet guossisteaset
Ill. Sg.	1. 2. 3.	guos'sásan guos'sásat guos'sásis	guos'sáseame guos'sáseatte guos'sáseaskka	guos'sáseamet guos'sáseattet guos'sáseaset
Kom. Sg.	1. 2. 3.	gussiinan gussiinat gussiinis	gussiineame gussiineatte gussiineaskka	gussiineamet gussiineattet gussiineaset
Eating	1. 2. 3.	guos'sinan guos'sinat guos'sinis	guos'sineame guos'sineatte guos'sineaskka	guos'sineamet guos'sineattet guos'sineaset
Gene. / Acc. Pl.	1. 2. 3.	gussiidan gussiidat gussiidis	gussiideame gussiideatte gussiideaskka	gussiideamet gussiideattet gussiideaset
Locomotive. Pl.	1. 2. 3.	gussiinan gussiinat gussiinis	gussiineame gussiineatte gussiineaskka	gussiineamet gussiineattet gussiineaset
Ill. Pl.	1. 2. 3.	gussiidasan gussiidasat gussiidasas	gussiidasame gussiidasade gussiidasaska	gussiidasamet gussiidasadet gussiidasaset
Kom. Pl.	1. 2. 3.	gussiidanguin gussiidatguin gussiidisguin	gussiideameguin gussiideatteguin gussiideaskkaguin	gussiideametguin gussiideattetguin gussiideasetguin

Pronouns

In North Sami there are personal, reflexive, relative, indefinite and demonstrative pronouns. The morphology of the pronouns largely corresponds to that of the nouns. However, some pronouns have a monosyllabic word stem, whereas word stems of nouns are at least two-syllable (exception leat , sein). The personal pronouns appear in three numbers : singular (singular), dual (two-number) and plural (plural).

person	North Sami	German
1. Sg.	mun	I
2nd Sg.	Don	you
3rd Sg.	son	he she
1. You.	moai	we both
2. You.	doai	you both
3. You.	soai	they both
1st pl.	mii	we
2nd pl.	dii	her
3rd pl.	sii	she

Flexion paradigm to don , you:

case	Singular	dual	Plural
Nom.	Don	doai	dii
Gene.	you	dudno	din
Acc.	you	dudno	din
Ill.	dutnje	dudnuide	didjiide
Locomotive.	you	dudnos	dis
Com.	duinna	dudnuin	denguin
Eating	dunin	dudnon	dinin

The reflexive pronoun is always provided with the possessive suffixes in the oblique cases :

Gene. / Acc.Sg .: iežan 'me'

Kom.Sg .: iežainis 'with him / her self'

Eating Sg: iehčanis 'he / she himself'

etc.

In the case of indefinite pronouns, relative pronouns and demonstrative pronouns, a distinction is only made between two numbers (singular, plural):

Indefinite pronoun soames , anyone:

case	Singular	Plural
Nom.	soames	soapmásat
Gene.	soapmása	soapmásiid
Acc.	soapmása	soapmásiid
Ill.	soapmásii	soapmásiidda
Locomotive.	soapmásis	soapmásiin
Com.	soapmásiin	soapmásiiguin
Eating	soamisin	soamisin

Like most languages ​​that belong to the Finno-Ugric language family, North Sami also has no determiners. Mostly, instead of articles, demonstrative pronouns are used that express proximity or distance to the speaker or listener.

Adjectives

Some adjectives in the North Sami language have a separate form that is used when the adjective is used in an attributive construction. Based on the various forms of realization of this attributive form, adjectives are divided into three different groups.

1. Adjectives that do not have a separate morphological attributive form

1. two-syllable stem : duohta "true"
2. three-syllable stem: beakkán "famous"
3. contracted tribe: rikkis "rich"
4. four-syllable stem: issoras "terrible"
5. Comparative: buoret "better"

2. Adjectives that have a separate morphological attributive form

1. Attributive form ends in -s: láiki, attributive: láikkes "lazy"
2. Attributive form ends in -a: un'ni, attributive: unna "small"

3. Adjectives that have no attributive form

1. Use of the participle instead of the attributive form: váibbas, participle: váiban "tired"
2. Use of a compound noun: šnjuokkas "too little curvy"

verb

The North Sami verb is conjugated in three persons and three numbers (singular, dual, plural). It has two simple (past and non-past) and two composite ( Perfect , Past Perfect ) tenses and four modes ( indicative , imperative , conditional and potential ). Furthermore, a distinction is made between two genera verbs ( active, passive ). Like the other Sami languages, Finnish and Estonian , North Sami uses a negative verb.

There are also several infinite forms. The division here is as follows: infinitives, connegatives, participles, and gerunds.

All verbs have at least two-syllable word stems (exceptions leat , sein and in , negative verb). There are no forms in the conditional or potential or past tense for the negative verb.

Felxion paradigm for conjugation in North Sami:

Tense	number	person	Negative verb	leat , be	oaddit , sleep	gul'lot , to be heard
Present	Singular	1. 2. 3.	in it ii	lean leat lea	oadán oadát oaddá	gul'lon gul'lot gul'lo
	dual	1. 2. 3.	ean eahppi eaba	letne leahppi leaba	odde oaddibeahtti oaddiba	gul'loje (me) gul'lobeahtti gul'loba
	Plural	1. 2. 3.	eat ehpet eai	leat lehpet leat	oaddit oaddibehtet oddet	gul'lot gul'obothet gul'lojit
preterite (Past)	Singular	1. 2. 3.	- - -	ledjen ledjet lei ~ leai	odden oddet odii	gul'lojin gul'lojit gul'lui
	dual	1. 2. 3.	- - -	glue sorry leigga	odiime odiids odiiga	gul'luime gul'luide gul'luiga
	Plural	1. 2. 3.	- - -	glues suffers ledje	odiimet odiides odde	gul'luimet gul'luidet gul'loje (dje)
Conditionalis (Present)	Singular	1. 2. 3.	- - -	livččen livččet livččii	oadášin oadášit oadášii	gul'lošin gul'lošit gul'lošii
	dual	1. 2. 3.	- - -	livččiime livččiide livččiiga	oadášeimme oadášeidde oadášeigge	gul'lošeimme gul'lošeidde gul'lošeigga
	Plural	1. 2. 3.	- - -	livččiimet livččiidet livčče	oadášeimmet oadášeiddet oadáše (dje)	gul'lošeimmet gul'ošeiddet gul'loše (dje)
Potentials (Present)	Singular	1. 2. 3.	- - -	leaččan leaččat leažžá	odežan odežat odeža	gul'ložan gul'ložat gul'loža
	dual	1. 2. 3.	- - -	ležže leažžabeahtti leažžaba	odeže (tne) odežeahppi odežeaba	gul'lože (tne) gul'ložeahppi gul'ložeaba
	Plural	1. 2. 3.	- - -	leažžat leažžabehtet ležžet	odežit odežehpet odežit	gul'ložit gul'ložehpet gul'ložit
imperative (Present)	Singular	1. 2. 3.	allon ale allos	lehkon leage lehkos	oddon oade oddos	gul'lojehkon gul'lo gul'lojehkos
	dual	1. 2. 3.	al'lu al'li alloska	leahkku leahkki lehkoska	oad'du oad'di oddoska	gul'lojeahkku gul'lojeahkki gul'lojehkoska
	Plural	1. 2. 3.	allot all alloset	lehkot lehket lehkoset	oddot oddet oddoset	gul'lojehkot gul'lojehket gul'lojehkoset
infinitive			-	leat, leahkit	oaddit	gul'lot
Connegative (Present indicative)			-	leat	oade	gul'lo
Connegative (Past indicative)			-	lean	oaddán	gul'lon
Connegative (Conditional)			-	livčče	oadáše	gul'loše
Connegative (Potentials)			-	leačča	odeš	gul'loš
Connegative (Imperative)			-	leage	oade	gul'lo
Connegative (Imperative II)			-	lehko	oddo	gul'lojehko

In addition to the two simple tenses, present and past, there are two more compound tenses, perfect and past perfect. With the help of a copula , which is in the present perfect tense and in the past perfect past perfect, and the past participle these are formed. The tenses are a means of expressing different aspects . The following rules of use apply here:

1. Past (absolut past): completed events that lie in the past

  fitnen doppe golmma geardde. 
  besuchen-Sg.1.Verg. dort drei-Gen.Sg. Zeit-Gen.Sg.
  Ich bin dort drei Mal hingegangen (und nicht öfter).

2. Perfect (relative past): Events that started in the past and extend into the present / future

 lean fitnan doppe golmma geardde. 
 sein-Sg.1.Präs. besuchen-Part.Perf. dort drei-Gen.Sg. Zeit-Gen.Sg.
 Ich war dort drei Mal(und werde dort vielleicht noch öfter hingehen).

3. Past perfect: expression of prematurity in the past

 ledjen dassážii fitnan doppe golmma geardde. 
 sein-Sg.1.Verg. bis dann besuchen-Part.Perf. dort drei-Gen.Sg. Zeit-Gen.Sg.
 Bis zu einem Zeitpunkt in der Vergangenheit war ich dort schon drei Mal gewesen (und bin dort vielleicht auch danach nochmal gewesen).

There is also the option of describing particularly complex time structures using the double perfect or past perfect.

The North Sami language has no future tense. Often the potential, which is otherwise used to express expected events, serves as a substitute form. As a rule, the conditional expresses wishes, unrealized events or desirable circumstances (e.g. when the sun would shine, ...).

Intransitive verbs

There are three classes of intransitive verbs:

1. In intransitive verbs that describe weather phenomena, no subject is used:

1. arvit "raining" arvá "It's raining"
2. bieggat "be windy" bieggá "It's windy"
3. muohta "snow" muohttá "it's snowing"
4. leat čoaskkis "be cold" lea čoaskkis "It's cold"

2. intransitive verbs that take a subject:

1. nohkkat "go to bed" čohkkat "sit"
2. girdit "fly" eallit "live"

3. intransitive verbs that take a subject and a complement:

1. mannat "go"
2. boahtit "come",
3. mátkkoštit "travel"

Transitive verbs

1.Transitive verbs that take an object:

1. goarrut "sew"
2. gullat "hear",
3. čuohppat "cut"
4. that "know"

2. transitive verbs that take an object and a complement:

1. doalvut "take"
2. addit "give"

negation

Northern Sami, like most languages ​​in the Finno-Ugric family, uses a negative verb. The formation of the negative of a sentence depends on the chosen tense form. In the present tense, the negative verb in is combined with the corresponding present form of the connegative (negative form of the main verb). The negative verb has the same form in all modes. The mode is therefore always marked on the main verb. Only in the imperative is the mode marked on both the negative verb and the main verb.

The negation of sentences in the simple past is formed by the finite negation verb in combination with the infinite past-connegative.

The negative of the sentences in the compound tenses, perfect and past perfect, is formed according to the negative of the copula (example perfect: it leat boahtán you did not come, example past perfect : it lean boahtán you did not come).

The negation concerns the verb in North Sami and therefore mostly takes Scopus over the entire event that is connected with the verb. However, it is possible to limit the scope to one constituent:

 mun ožžon dan, in                    fal Niillasis, muhto Iŋggás 
 Ich bekommen-Sg.3.Verg. es-Akk.Sg. Verneinungsverb-Sg.1. sicherlich Nils-Lok.Sg. aber Inga-Lok.Sg.
 Ich habe es sicherlich nicht von Nils bekommen, sondern von Inga.

In participle and infinitive constructions, the matrix verb is negated. The scope of the negation, however, only covers the embedded sentence:

 dat ii                    lohkan bierggu nohkat 
 er/sie/es verneinungsverb-Sg.3. sagen-Verg.Konneg. Fleisch-Akk.Sg. ausgehen-Inf.
 Er sagte, dass das Fleisch nicht ausgeht.

Gender verbi

Nordsámi differentiates between active and passive. The passive has two functions: It makes it possible not to realize the agent or the logical subject of the verb. For the same reason it is used in intransitive verbs ( e.g. el'lojuv'vui - Sg.3.Per.Verg.Pass., Life went on, literally: it was lived). The passive form of a verb can be recognized by a marker attached to the stem as a suffix. The marker -ojuv'vo (j) - is used for two-syllable stems, the marker -uv'vo (j) - for three-syllable stems . Both markers are to be heard like gul'lot , inflected (see conjugation paradigm above).

Infinitive constructions

The North Sami language distinguishes between a number of infinite verb forms. The infinitive, the gerund, various action forms, the supinum and the present participle or perfect have different roles in infinite constructions:

The infinitive is mostly used as an argument for other verbs. The finite verb forms the head of the construction here:

 dat doaivvui mu          boahtit 
 er/sie/es denken-Sg.3.Verg. ich-Akk.Sg. komme-Inf.
 Er/sie/es dachte, dass ich kommen würde.

The action essive is used in verbs of immediate observation:

 dat oinnii báhpa boahtimen 
 er/sie sehen-Sg.3.Verg. Priester-Akk.Sg. kommen-Act.Ess.
 Er/sie sah den Priester kommen.

The past participle is used to express that the event in the embedded sentence has ended:

 dat oinnii báhpa boahtán 
 er/sie sehen-Sg.3.Verg. Priester-Akk.Sg. kommen-Perf.Part.
 Er/sie sah, dass der Priester gekommen war.

The present participle modifies verbs and nouns:

 odda čovdosiid [OBJ] gáibideaddji-Prä.Part. čuolbma 
 ein Problem, das neue Lösungen braucht.

The gerund is used as a temporal adverb and takes an argument in the genitive:

 bodii mu          vuolggedettiin 
 kommen-Sg.3.Verg. ich-Gen.Sg. gehen-Ger.
 Er/sie kam, als ich ging.

In those cases in which the infinitive construction realizes the object, the constituents that represent the nominative subject and the nominative complement of the embedded sentence are in the accusative.

Embedded sentence:

 Joavnna logai daid olbuid leat      čeavláid 
 John sagt-Sg.3.Verg. es-Akk.Sg. Person-Acc.Pl. sein-Inf. hochmütig-Acc.Pl.
 John sagte, dass diese Leute hochmütig sind.

Similarly, the non-embedded sentence:

 dat olbmot leat            čeavlát 
 es-Nom.Pl. Person-Nom.Pl. sein-Pl.3.Präs. hochmütig-Nom.Pl.
 Diese Leute sind hochmütig.

If the subject of the embedded sentence is koreferent with that of the matrix sentence, it is represented by the possessive accusative form of the reflexive pronoun iehča- :

 Joavnna logai iežas diehtán            vástádusa 
 John sagen-Sg.3.Verg. selbst-Acc.Sg.+Sg.3. wissen-Perf.Part. Antwort-Akk.Sg.
 John sagte, dass er (selbst) die Antwort weiß.

Interrogative clauses

Questions start with a focused phrase. Usually this consists of the question word:

gos   don boadát?
woher du kommen-Sg.2.Präs.
Woher kommst du?

For decision-making questions, the verb is moved to the beginning of the sentence and a question particle -go is appended to it. The verb and question particle then form the focused phrase:

 oidnetgo                (don) Biera? 
 sehen-Sg.2.Verg.+Fragep.(du) Peter-Akk.Sg.
 Hast du peter gesehen?

The answer to decision-making questions consists either of repeating the focused phrase with modified personal endings or the negative verb in :

 Oidnetgo Biera?        - Oidnen. / - In.
 Hast du Peter gesehen? - Ja.    /  - Nein.

Linking of sentences

1. Coordination

There are a number of coordinating conjunctions : yes and, see - yes both ... and, dahje or, juogo - dahje - either ... or, muhto but, vaikko though etc .:

 váldde gáffala ja  niibi 
 nehmen-Imper.Sg.2. Gabel-Akk.Sg. und Messer-Akk.Sg.
 Nimm eine Gabel und ein Messer.

In negative sentences, the coordination can also be expressed by a clitic particle -ge , which is attached to the negative verb in :

 mun in leat oaidnán          inge gullan 
 Ich Verneinungsverb-Sg.1. sein-Präs.Kon. sehen-Perf.Part. Verneinungsverb-Sg.1.+-ge hören-Perf.Part.
 Ich habe weder gesehen noch gehört.

2. Subordination

There are a number of subordinate conjunctions: ahte that, go as, that, juos if, vai ~ vuoi with it, amas with it, etc. Subordinate sentences can have different functions in the sentence:

Subject:

 buorre lei, go   bohtet 
 gut sein-Sg.3.Verg. dass kommen-Sg.2.Verg.
 Es war gut, dass du kamst.

Object:

 mun diedán, ahte Niillas boahtá 
 Ich wissen-Sg.1.Präs. dass Nils kommen-Sg.3.Präs.
 Ich weiß, dass Nils kommt.

Adverbial:

 mun boadán, go   don dáhtut 
 Ich komme-Sg.1.Präs. als you-Sg. want-Sg.2.Präs.
 Ich sollte kommen, wenn du mich fragst.

Indirect questions are either subordinated subjects or subordinated objects.

Subordinated subject:

  ii leat           čielggas, boahtágo Niillas 
  Verneinungsverb-Sg.3. sein-Präs.Kon. klar kommen-Sg.3.Präs.+Fragepartikel Nils
  Es ist nicht klar, ob Nils kommen wird.

Subordinated object:

 mun in diede boahtágo Niillas 
 Ich Verneinungsverb-Sg.1. wissen-Präs.Kon. kommen-Sg.3.Präs.+Fragepartikel Nils
 Ich weiß nicht, ob Nils kommen wird.

Literature on North Sami

Textbooks

• Hans-Hermann Bartens: Textbook of the Saami (Lappish) language . Buske, Hamburg 1989, ISBN 978-3-87118-885-5 .
• Bettina Dauch: Sami for Lapland. Word for word (=  gibberish . Volume 192 ). 1st edition. Reise Know-How Verlag Rump, Bielefeld 2005, ISBN 978-3-89416-360-0 .
• Pekka Sammallahti: The Saami Languages. An Introduction , Davvi Girji, Kárášjohka 1998
• Pekka Sammallahti: Saamic . In: Daniel Abondolo (Ed.): The Uralic Languages , Routledge, London / New York 1998

Dictionaries

• Klaus Peter Nickel, Pekka Sammallahti: Sámi-duiskka sátnegirji. Saami-German dictionary , Davvi Girji, Kárášjohka 2006
• Pekka Sammallahti: Sámi-suoma-sámi sátnegirji. Saamelais-suomalais-saamelainen sanakirja , Girjegiisá Oy, Ohcejohka 1993
• Klaus Peter Nickel, Pekka Sammallahti: Duiskka-sámi sátnegirji. German-Saami dictionary , Davvi Girji, Kárášjohka 2008

Newspapers

There is also Ávvir , a newspaper published in Finland, Sweden and Norway .

North Sami literature

Title page of the first book printed in North Sami, Copenhagen 1728

The first book printed in North Sami is a translation of Martin Luther's catechism from 1728. The author of this translation was Morten Lund , a Danish priest who worked as a missionary in Overhalla . It was very important to him to speak their mother tongue with the Sami and he learned it intensively. His Sami translation of Martin Luther's catechism, entitled Doctor Marten Lutter Utza Katekismusaz, was completed in 1724, but was only published in Copenhagen four years later as a bilingual edition .

The first North Sami grammar was published in 1748 by Knud Leem .

The first secular book in North Sami is the well-known book by Johan Turi Muitalus sámiid birra , also bilingual in Copenhagen in 1910 , which was also published in German two years later as "The story of the life of the rag".

Web links

Wikipedia in North Sami

• North Sami-English vocabulary (5019 words)
• North Sami dictionaries (translation to / from Finnish and Norwegian)
• North Sami-Norwegian machine translation
• Annotated linguistic corpus for North Sami

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gáldu: Language - the Map of Reality ( Memento of the original from November 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Pekka Sammallahti: The Saami Languages. An Introduction . Ed .: Davvi Girji. Kárášjohka 1998, p. 95 .
3. ↑ Pekka Sammallahti: The Saami Languages. An Introduction . Ed .: Davvi Girji. Kárášjohka 1998, p. 97 .
4. ↑ Pekka Sammallahti: The Saami Languages. An Introduction . Ed .: Davvi Girji. Kárášjohka 1998, p. 101 .
5. ↑ Pekka Sammallahti: The Saami Languages. An Introduction . Ed .: Davvi Girji. Kárášjohka 1998, p. 95-96 .
6. ↑ ^{a b} glottopedia.org
7. ↑ Pekka Sammallahti: The Saami Languages. An Introduction . Ed .: Davvi Girji. Kárášjohka 1998, p. 102-103 .
8. ↑ Pekka Sammallahti: The Saami Languages. An Introduction . Ed .: Davvi Girji. Kárášjohka 1998, p. 84-85 .
9. ↑ Pekka Sammallahti: The Saami Languages. An Introduction . Ed .: Davvi Girji. Kárášjohka 1998, p. 103 .
10. ↑ Pekka Sammallahti: The Saami Languages. An Introduction . Ed .: Davvi Girji. Kárášjohka 1998, p. 96 .
11. ↑ Pekka Sammallahti: The Saami Languages. An Introduction . Ed .: Davvi Girji. Kárášjohka 1998, p. 104 .
12. ↑ Pekka Sammallahti: The Saami Languages. An Introduction . Ed .: Davvi Girji. Kárášjohka 1998, p. 105 .
13. ↑ Åke Jünge: Sameskole and samemisjon i Indre Namdalen for 250 år sidan . In: Samisk skolehistorie , Volume 5. Kárášjohka, Davvi Girji 2011 (Norwegian)
14. ↑ Norges Samemisjon - en kortfracht historisk oversikt . (Norwegian)