Ter Sámi

Ter Sámi is the easternmost of the Sámi languages. It was traditionally spoken in the northeastern part of the Kola Peninsula, but now it is an extinct language; in 2004, only ten speakers were left. By 2010, the number of speakers had decreased to two.[1] In 2020, they were presumed dead or uncontactable. Other estimates counted about 30 Ter Sámi speakers in Murmansk oblast, as well as in St. Petersburg, in 2007. The mean age of the youngest Ter Sámi speakers at that time was 50.[3]

Sámi dialects and settlements in Russia:
  Ter
Ter Sámi
saa´mekiil / са̄мькӣлл
Native toRussia
Native speakers
2 (2010)[1]
Latin script (historical), Cyrillic script (current) [2]
Language codes
ISO 639-3sjt
Glottologters1235
ELPTer Saami
Ter Sami language area (red) within Sápmi (grey)
Ter Sámi is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010)

History
Zoya Gerasimova (left), one of the last speakers of Ter Sámi.
Photo taken in 2006.

In the end of the 19th century, there were six Ter Sámi villages in the eastern part of the Kola Peninsula, with a total population of approximately 450. In 2004, there were approximately 100 ethnic Ter Sámi of whom two elderly persons speak the language; the rest have shifted their language to Russian.[4]

The rapid decline in the number of speakers was caused by Soviet collectivisation, during which its use was prohibited in schools and homes in the 1930s, and the largest Ter Sámi village, Yokanga, was declared "perspectiveless" and its inhabitants were forced to move to the Gremikha military base.[4]

Phonology

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive p b t d k ɡ
Affricate t͡s d͡z t͡ʃ d͡ʒ
Fricative f v s z ʃ ʒ x h
Nasal m n̥ n ŋ
Approximant
(Lateral)		 j
l̥ l
Trill r̥ r
  • All consonants except for /j/ may be palatalized [ʲ].
  • Consonants /t, d/ can also sound as half-palatalized.

Vowels
Front Central Back
short long short long short long
Close i iː ɨ ɨː u uː
Mid ɛ o
Open a aː ɔ
  • After palatalized consonants, /ɛ/ is realized as [e].[5]

Documentation

There are no educational materials or facilities in Ter Sámi, and the language has no standardized orthography. The language is incompletely studied and documented, though text specimens and audio recordings as well as dictionaries for linguistic purposes exist.[6][7]

Writing system

A spelling system for Ter Sámi using the Latin alphabet and based on Skolt Sámi was developed in the 1930s. After the Second World War, this was replaced by a system using the Cyrillic alphabet, and based on Kildin Sámi.[8] This system was used by the Sámi poet Oktyabrina Voronova.[9]

Example of words in Ter Sámi
Sample vocabulary in Ter Sámi[10]
Ter SámiEnglish gloss
выэййвэ head
ныкчым tongue
кидт hand
лоннҍт bird
чадце water
ке̄ддҍкэ stone
аббьрэ rain
толл fire

Grammar[11]

Ter saami has 8 cases, Nominative, Genitive, Accusative, Essive, Inessive-Lative, Dative-Illative, Abessive and Comitative.

case singular plural
NOM - change of the main part of word
GEN change of the main part of word change of the main part of word
ACC change of the main part of word t
ESS n n
INE s't n
DAT a, i t
ABE ta ta
COM n k'em, g'em

Examples of the Genitive

(in the UPA)

abre' paл = raining cloud

pɛci̮ pal'čemi̮š = slaughter of deer

taja oлmi̮j = German inhabitant

tara parnɛ = Russian boys


Plurals

In the Nominative case the base word changes when a plural is made.

Word Meaning Plural Meaning
mi̮rr forest mi̮r forests
k'iлл language k'iл languages
šiɛn'n' swamp šiɛn' swamps
tast star taast stars


The word "ku", meaning: who, which in the cases.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative ku kogg
Genitive konn kojt
Accusative konn kojt
Essive kon'n'in kojn
Inessive kon'n'es't kojn
Dative kon'n'i kojt
Abessive konta kojta
Cominative kon'in kojgujm

Notes
  1. Nilsen, Thomas (2010-02-19). "Sami languages disappears". Barent's Observer. Retrieved 2022-06-04.
  2. "Ter Sámi alphabet, pronunciation and language". Omniglot.com. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  3. Rießler, Michael; Wilbur, Joshua (2007). "Documenting the Endangered Kola Saami Languages". In Bull Tove; Kusmenko, Jurij; Rießler, Michael (eds.). Språk og språkforhold i Sápmi [Language and Language Conditions in Sápmi]. Berlin, Germany: Nordeuropa-Institut. p. 40. ISBN 978-3-932406-26-3.
  4. Tiuraniemi Olli: "Anatoli Zaharov on maapallon ainoa turjansaamea puhuva mies", Kide 6 / 2004.
  5. Tereškin, Sergej N. (2002). Jokan'gskij dialekt Saamskogo Jazyka. Sankt Petersburg: Rossijskij Gosudarstvennyj pedagogičeskij Universitet imeni.
  6. Itkonen T. I.: "Koltan- ja kuolanlapin sanakirja", Helsinki: Société Finno-Ougrienne, 1958.
  7. Itkonen T. I.: "Koltan- ja kuolanlappalaisia satuja", 1931.Memoires de la Société Finno-Ougrienne 60
  8. "Ter Sami alphabet, pronunciation and language". Omniglot.com. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  9. Rießler, Michael (2018). "Kola Sámi literature (Kildin Sámi, Ter Sámi, Akkala Sámi)". In: "Čálli giehta olla guhkás" A writing hand reaches further ({S}ámi proverb) Johanna Domokos (ed.). Helsinki: Yhdenvertaisen kulttuurin puolesta ry, pp. 73–78.
  10. "Tersamisk - Allkunne". www.allkunne.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  11. Tereškin, Sergej (2002). . Йоганьгский диалект саамского языка. Saint Petersburg.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Ter Sámi test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator
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