Gällivare dialects are a dialect group of

Meänkieli (literally 'our language') is a group of distinct Finnish dialects or a Finnic language spoken in the northernmost part of Sweden along the valley of the Torne River. Its status as an independent language is disputed, but in Sweden it is recogn ...

or Northern Finnish. They are spoken around

Gällivare Gällivare (; fi, Jällivaara; se, Jiellevárri or ; smj, Jiellevárre or ; fit, Jellivaara) is a locality and the seat of Gällivare Municipality in Norrbotten County, province of Lapland, Sweden with 8,449 inhabitants in 2010. The town wa ...

, but also in Killivaara and Nattavaara. Features of the dialects are absence of

Vowel harmony In phonology, vowel harmony is an assimilatory process in which the vowels of a given domain – typically a phonological word – have to be members of the same natural class (thus "in harmony"). Vowel harmony is typically long distance, mea ...

: kyla 'village' (

and

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

: kylä), and the passive being used for the third person plural ending: ''äijät poltethin'' (

: ukot polttivat). The dialect is also heavily influenced by

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

and many loanwords have entered the Gällivare dialects. A Gällivare dialect dictionary was made in 1992 by Birger Winsa.

Features

* Passive being used for the third person plural ending * /o/ has changed to /u/ often: isu 'big', (Finnish: iso). * Triphthongs: syöi 'ate'.

Example

*Oliko tännet tietä ennen? * ei. * eei oles, tie on. jaa, kyllä se on kuuskymmentä vuotta aikaa tullu. * juust vasta tie tehty. * sit ei ol ollu tietä, se on ollu liki Jällivaarhaav viis peniŋkulmaa kantant. * ei se niiv niin ra hauska homma sekkää. * ei ole miellùtta olleŋkha. * täältä kaloja vienhet ja vaihethanhej jauhuja ja kaffi(a ja sokkeri(a. * takka mennessä takka tullessa. * joo. * joo mie olen kans kokenu se reissu. * joo hän on kantannu mutta mi en ole kantan. * niit on ollu äijjiä jokka oŋ kantanhe sata kilua jauhuja. se on ollu lujat miehet en enne vanhast. Seon niemess oll yks äijä joka oŋ kantanu, sata kilu- Ollin Filppaaksi sanotti. sata kilua lyöny selkhän̬, ja lähteny marsii. ja eikä sollu pitkä.{{Cite web, title=Jällivaaran näyte, url=https://www.kotus.fi/aineistot/puhutun_kielen_aineistot/murreaanitteita/suomen_murrealueet_-kokoelma/perapohjalaisten_murteiden_naytteet/jallivaaran_nayte, access-date=2021-03-30, website=Kotimaisten kielten keskus, language=fi

References

Finnic languages Finnish dialects Languages of Sweden

External links

Meänkieli dictionary (Includes Gällivare dialect)