Valgbilde Ole Henrik Magga farger (3849685006) (cropped)

Ole Henrik Magga taler til Sametinget og Dalai Lama1989

Ole Henrik Magga (born 12 August 1947) is a

Sámi The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Ru ...

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

, professor and politician from

Kautokeino Kautokeino ( no, Kautokeino; se, Guovdageaidnu ; fkv, Koutokeino; fi, Koutokeino) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino. Other village ...

, Norway.

As a linguist

As a linguist, Magga is best known for his work on syntax. His master's thesis at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

, "Lokative læt-setninger i samisk" (''Locative "to be" sentences in Sámi''), discussed the structure of

existential Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...

and habitive sentences, whose structures in many of the

Uralic languages The Uralic languages (; sometimes called Uralian languages ) form a language family of 38 languages spoken by approximately 25million people, predominantly in Northern Eurasia. The Uralic languages with the most native speakers are Hungarian (w ...

are similar to each other. His

doctoral dissertation A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

in 1986 discussed the structure of Sámi verbal phrases, in particular, the interaction between

modal verb A modal verb is a type of verb that contextually indicates a modality such as a ''likelihood'', ''ability'', ''permission'', ''request'', ''capacity'', ''suggestion'', ''order'', ''obligation'', or ''advice''. Modal verbs generally accompany the b ...

s and

infinitives Infinitive (abbreviated ) is a linguistics term for certain verb forms existing in many languages, most often used as non-finite verbs. As with many linguistic concepts, there is not a single definition applicable to all languages. The word is deri ...

. Magga became professor of

Finno-Ugric languages Finno-Ugric ( or ; ''Fenno-Ugric'') or Finno-Ugrian (''Fenno-Ugrian''), is a traditional grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except the Samoyedic languages. Its formerly commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is ...

at the

in 1997, after

Knut Bergsland Knut Bergsland (7 March 1914 – 9 July 1998) was a Norwegian linguist. Working as a professor at the University of Oslo from 1947 to 1981, he did groundbreaking research in Uralic (especially Sami) and Eskaleut languages. Career He was born in K ...

, but relinquished his post to work as professor of Sámi Linguistics at the

Sámi University College The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Rus ...

in Kautokeino. Magga became a member of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick Unive ...

in 1993. In 2006, Magga was made Commander of the Order of St. Olav.

Political career

Magga was a delegate to the

World Council of Indigenous Peoples The World Council of Indigenous Peoples (WCIP) was a formal international body dedicated to having concepts of aboriginal rights accepted on a worldwide scale. The WCIP had observer status in the United Nations, a secretariat based in Canada and r ...

(WCIP) when it was founded in Canada in 1975. Magga led the

Norwegian Sami Association Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

from 1980 to 1985 and was the first president of the

Sami Parliament of Norway Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise n ...

from 1989 to 1997. From 1992 to 1995, Magga was a member of the Worlds Commission on Culture and Development. In 2002, Magga became the first chairman of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Bibliography

* ''Lokative læt-setninger i samisk''. Dieđut 1978. * ''Modalverb og infinitiv innen verbalet : prosjektrapport''. Dieđut 1982. * ''Infinitives within the VP in Northern Sami: The accusative with infinitive''. in Riepmočála (1984) * ''Studier i samisk infinitivsyntaks''. Doctoral dissertation, University of Oslo. 1986.

References

1947 births Living people People from Kautokeino University of Oslo alumni Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters Sámi activists Sámi linguists Linguists from Norway Linguists of Sámi Norwegian Sámi people Members of the Sámi Parliament of Norway Norwegian Sámi politicians Norwegian officials of the United Nations Norwegian Sámi academics Norwegian human rights activists {{Norway-linguist-stub