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The Savonian dialects (also called Savo Finnish)( fi, Savolaismurteet) are forms of the
Finnish language Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedish ...
spoken in Savonia and other parts of Eastern Finland. Finnish dialects are grouped broadly into
Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...
and Western varieties; Savonian dialects are of the Eastern variety. Savonian dialects are the most widely distributed Finnish dialect group (setting aside the higher-level east/west split mentioned above). They are spoken in the Savonia region (in both
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...
and
South Savo South Savo (or Southern Savonia; fi, Etelä-Savo; sv, Södra Savolax) is a region in the south-east of Finland. It borders the regions of North Savo, North Karelia, South Karelia, Kymenlaakso, Päijät-Häme, and Central Finland. The total ar ...
), but also in North Karelia, parts of
Päijät-Häme Päijät-Häme () is a region in Southern Finland south of the lake Päijänne. It borders the regions of Uusimaa, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Pirkanmaa, Central Finland, South Savo and Kymenlaakso. The biggest city in the region is Lahti. ...
,
Central Finland Central Finland ( fi, Keski-Suomi; sv, Mellersta Finland) is a Regions of Finland, region ( / ) in Finland. It borders the regions of Päijät-Häme, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, Northern Savonia, No ...
, Kainuu, Koillismaa district of
Northern Ostrobothnia North Ostrobothnia ( fi, Pohjois-Pohjanmaa; sv, Norra Österbotten) is a region of Finland. It borders the Finnish regions of Lapland, Kainuu, North Savo, Central Finland and Central Ostrobothnia, as well as the Russian Republic of Karelia. ...
, the lake section between Southern and
Central Ostrobothnia Central Ostrobothnia ( fi, Keski-Pohjanmaa; sv, Mellersta Österbotten) is a region in Finland. It borders the regions of Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, Central Finland and South Ostrobothnia. Historical provinces Municipalities ...
as far north as
Evijärvi Evijärvi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Kauhava, Kr ...
and in the municipalities of
Pudasjärvi Pudasjärvi () is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and a Municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Oulu (province), Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia regions of ...
and the Southern part of
Ranua Ranua is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Lapland, Finland, Lapland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population dens ...
in Lapland. Also the language spoken by forest settlers in
Värmland Värmland () also known as Wermeland, is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are ''Va ...
and Norwegian
Hedmark Hedmark () was a county in Norway before 1 January 2020, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged int ...
of Central
Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
belonged to the old Savonian dialects. The geographical area the Savonian dialects cover makes up one-third the area of Finland. To speak Savonian is sometimes referred to as speaking with a "crooked chin" (, or in standard Finnish).


History

The Savonian dialects are of different origin than Western Finnish dialects. Savonian dialects form a
dialect continuum A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of Variety (linguistics), language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulat ...
with other Eastern dialects of Finnish and the
Karelian language Karelian (North Karelian and Livvi Karelian: ; Ludic: ; Tver Karelian: ) is a Finnic language spoken mainly in the Russian Republic of Karelia. Linguistically, Karelian is closely related to the Finnish dialects spoken in eastern Finland, and ...
, with whom they have common ancestry in the Proto-Karelian language spoken in the coast of Lake Ladoga in the
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
.


Features

Although the Savonian dialects are spread over a large geographical area with significant variations, they are rather different from the standard language and are recognized as local dialects. There are large variations between different Savonian dialects, but a few of the most stereotypical features are the following.


Phonology


Vowels

#Where standard Finnish has a
diphthong A diphthong ( ; , ), also known as a gliding vowel, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech o ...
, Savo may have a narrower diphthong or long vowel. Conversely, where standard Finnish has a long vowel, Savo may have a diphthong. #* as the second element of a diphthong lowers to , e.g. ''laeta'' for ''laita'' "side", ''söe'' for ''söi'' "ate". #* lower similarly to , or they may assimilate completely to produce a long vowel, e.g. or for standard Finnish "store", or for "full". #*When standard occur in an initial syllable (and thus have primary stress), they become opening diphthongs. In some varieties these are pronounced as , but in most varieties these diphthongs are wider: . Thus many Savo speakers have ''mua'' for Standard Finnish ''maa'' "land, country, ground", and have ''piä'' for ''pää'' "head". #Word-final of standard Finnish correspond to Savonian respectively. Thus Savonians say , , and for standard , , and . #When both would be unstressed, the otherwise bisyllabic combinations of ''o/ö/e'' followed by ''a/ä'' are produced as monosyllabic long vowels when no consonant intervenes. For instance, Savonian dialects have for "brown", and have for "plowing (partitive)". (This change is not specific to Savonian dialects and is found in most forms of spoken Finnish today.) #An
epenthetic vowel In phonology, epenthesis (; Greek ) means the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially in the beginning syllable ('' prothesis'') or in the ending syllable (''paragoge'') or in-between two syllabic sounds in a word. The word ''epenth ...
is inserted after a medial syllable coda of , or, in certain cases, , e.g. (standard "old"). #*The epenthetic vowel is often identical in
quality Quality may refer to: Concepts *Quality (business), the ''non-inferiority'' or ''superiority'' of something *Quality (philosophy), an attribute or a property *Quality (physics), in response theory *Energy quality, used in various science discipli ...
to the preceding vowel. However, if the first of the non-epenthetic vowels is
high High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...
and the second is low, the epenthetic vowel may be mid (but preserves the
roundness Roundness is the measure of how closely the shape of an object approaches that of a mathematically perfect circle. Roundness applies in two-dimensional space, two dimensions, such as the cross section (geometry), cross sectional circles along a c ...
specification of the preceding vowel). Thus and are different Savonian forms for standard Finnish "eye", and and are Savonian version of "cold".


Consonants

#Savonian dialects have re-developed palatalized consonants (which were lost in
Proto-Finnic Proto-Finnic or Proto-Baltic-Finnic is the common ancestor of the Finnic languages, which include the national languages Finnish and Estonian. Proto-Finnic is not attested in any texts, but has been reconstructed by linguists. Proto-Finnic is it ...
). The consonants that can be palatalized are those that are coronal: ''l, n, t, r, s''. Palatalization of these consonants occurs word-finally, in contexts where a consonant is followed by in standard Finnish. Orthographically, palatalization is often denoted by , where C is the palatalized consonant. Examples include and (standard Finnish , ). #Singleton consonants are
geminated In phonetics and phonology, gemination (), or consonant lengthening (from Latin 'doubling', itself from ''gemini'' 'twins'), is an articulation of a consonant for a longer period of time than that of a singleton consonant. It is distinct from s ...
when they occur after a (primarily or secondarily) stressed short syllable and before a long vowel. Thus replace standard . This gemination is fed by the process described point 3 of the preceding section: Native Savonians do not say that they speak ; they say that they speak ( ). #*In the eastern Savonian dialects, this gemination is more general; it applies to non-singleton consonants (, cf. standard ), to consonants that don't ordinarily participate in the consonant gradation process, and after unstressed short vowels (, cf. standard }). #The word-final of standard Finnish corresponds to a variety of consonants in Savo, depending on the environment in which it occurs. #*When the next word begins with a vowel, /n/ is replaced with a
glottal stop The glottal plosive or stop is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents thi ...
. For example, the genitive case, marked by in the standard language, is marked with a glottal stop in the Savonian phrase (standard "father's voice"). #*Word-final assimilates to consonants that follow it, yielding a geminate consonant; contrasts with standard . Unlike standard Finnish, Savonian Finnish permits gemination of and , which gives examples like (standard ) in addition. #All syllable-initial consonants except the last one (which contacts the nucleic vowel) are systematically and completely removed in loanwords, e.g. (standard ). #The weak grade of , in contrast to standard Finnish, is never . In Savo the weak grade of this consonant may be , , , , or may simply be null. #* occurs between a long back vowel/diphthong and a short back vowel: for standard . #* occurs between a long ''front'' vowel/diphthong and a short front vowel: for standard . #* weakens to or is null following another instance of : or for standard . #*If none of the above apply, the weak form may remain as : for standard . #The consonant sequences found in standard Finnish (whose weak grade is likewise in the standard language) are not found in Savonian dialects. Depending on the specific Savonian dialect they use, a Savo speaker may have: #* (weak grade ), thus instead of standard "forest, forest's". #* (weak grade ), thus . #* (weak grade ), thus .


Morphology and syntax

*The use of the ''-loi'' plural suffix is more general than in other dialects, including standard Finnish. For instance ''risti'' "cross" has the plural partitive form ''ristilöitä'' (standard Finnish: ''ristejä''). *Although standard and known elsewhere, the usage of verb compounds is particularly prevalent in Savo Finnish and a prolific source of creative expressions. The first verb is in the infinitive and indicates the action, and the second verb is inflected and indicates the manner. For example, ''seistä toljotat'' "you stand there gawking" consists of words meaning "to-stand you-gawk".


List of dialects


Northern Savonian dialects

Northern Savonian dialects are spoken in the municipalities of
Hankasalmi Hankasalmi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Han ...
(Eastern part),
Haukivuori Haukivuori is a List of former municipalities of Finland, former municipality of Finland located in the provinces of Finland, province of Eastern Finland and part of the Southern Savonia regions of Finland, region. The municipality had a populati ...
,
Heinävesi Heinävesi () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Savonlinna, Varka ...
,
Iisalmi Iisalmi (; sv, Idensalmi) is a town and municipality in the region of Northern Savonia in Finland. It is located north of Kuopio and south of Kajaani. The municipality has a population of (), which makes it the second largest of the five towns ...
,
Joroinen Joroinen is a municipality in the North Savo region of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia sub-region. The municipality has a population of approximately 4,626 people and covers an area of ...
,
Jäppilä Jäppilä () is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2004, it was merged to Pieksämäen maalaiskunta and Virtasalmi to form the new municipality of Pieksänmaa, which merged with the town of Pieksämäki in 2007. The village of Jäpp ...
,
Kaavi Kaavi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia region. Kaavi is also a part of historical Karelia. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . It is fr ...
,
Kangaslampi Kangaslampi is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated to Varkaus on 1 January 2005. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality had a population of 1,611 (31 Dece ...
, Karttula,
Keitele Keitele is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbour municipalities are Pielavesi, Pihtipudas, ...
,
Kiuruvesi Kiuruvesi is a town and municipality of Finland located in the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbour municipalities are Iisalmi, Pielavesi, ...
,
Konnevesi Konnevesi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the former province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. Neighbouring municipalit ...
, (Eastern part),
Kuopio Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cult ...
,
Lapinlahti Lapinlahti (; sv, Lapinlahti, also ) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Northern Savonia region, located north of the city of Kuopio. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The populati ...
,
Leppävirta Leppävirta () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia region, south of Kuopio along the Finnish national road 5. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population densi ...
,
Maaninka Maaninka ( sv, Maaninka, also ) is a former municipality in the region of Northern Savonia, in Finland. It was merged with the city of Kuopio on 1 January 2015. The municipality had a population of 3,747 (30 November 2014) and it covered an area ...
,
Muuruvesi Muuruvesi is a village and a former municipality of Finland at the time of its existence in the Kuopio Province, now in Northern Savonia. Together with Säyneinen, it was consolidated with Juankoski in 1971, since 2017 part of Kuopio. Geogra ...
(part of Juankoski since 1971),
Nilsiä Nilsiä is a former small town and a municipality of Finland. It joined the city of Kuopio at the beginning of year 2013. It is located in the Northern Savonia region. The town has a population of (31 December 2012) and covers an area of of whic ...
,
Pieksämäki Pieksämäki () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region, about north of Mikkeli, east of Jyväskylä and south of Kuopio. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The ...
,
Pielavesi Pielavesi is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Geography ...
, Pyhäsalmi,
Rantasalmi Rantasalmi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region, northwest of Savonlinna and northeast of Mikkeli. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density i ...
,
Rautalampi Rautalampi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Neigh ...
,
Riistavesi Riistavesi is a medium-sized lake in the Vuoksi main catchment area. It is located in the Northern Savonia region in Finland, close to the town of Kuopio Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savon ...
(part of Kuopio since 1973),
Siilinjärvi Siilinjärvi () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in Northern Savonia, north of the city of Kuopio, which largely surrounds Siilinjärvi. Another neighbour municipality with Kuopio is Lapinlahti. The name, in Finnish, apparently transla ...
,
Sonkajärvi Sonkajärvi (; formerly known as ''Rutakko'') is a municipality of Finland. It is located in Northern Savonia region, north of Kuopio. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . ...
,
Suonenjoki Suonenjoki (; literally means "vein's river") is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia region, southwest of the Kuopio city. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The pop ...
,
Säyneinen Säyneinen is a village and a former municipality of Finland at the time of its existence in the Kuopio Province, now in Northern Savonia. Together with Muuruvesi, it was consolidated with Juankoski in 1971, since 2017 part of Kuopio. Geograph ...
(part of Juankoski since 1971),
Tervo Tervo is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of (), making it Northern Savonia's least populous municipality. It covers an area ...
,
Tuusniemi Tuusniemi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Savo region, east of Kuopio. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is Neighbour municipalities are Heinäv ...
,
Varpaisjärvi Varpaisjärvi is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with the municipality of Lapinlahti on January 1, 2011. The municipality was located in the Northern Savonia region in the province of Eastern Finland. It had a population of ...
,
Varkaus Varkaus (before year 1929 ''Warkaus'') is a Middle- Savonian industrial town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region, between city of Kuopio and town of Savonlinna. T ...
,
Vehmersalmi Vehmersalmi is a former municipality of Finland. It has been a part of the city of Kuopio since January 1, 2005. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality had a population of 2, ...
,
Vesanto Vesanto is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbour municipalities are Keitele, Konnevesi, ...
,
Vieremä Vieremä is a municipality of Finland in the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Municipality is unilingually Finnish. Ponsse, one of the world ...
and
Virtasalmi Virtasalmi is a former municipality of Finland. On January 1, 2004, it was joined to the new municipality of Pieksänmaa with Jäppilä and Pieksämäen maalaiskunta Pieksämäen maalaiskunta is a former municipality of Finland. On January 1, ...
.


Southern Savonian dialects

Southern Savonian dialects are spoken in the municipalities of Anttola,
Hirvensalmi Hirvensalmi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbour municipalities: Joutsa, Kangasniem ...
,
Juva Juva ( sv, Juva, also ) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region some North-East of Helsinki. It was founded on 19 January 1442, and is the oldest parish/municipality in Finland whose exact date of birth is known ...
,
Kangasniemi Kangasniemi is a municipality in the Southern Savonia region, Finland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Kangasniemi is located on the Finnish national road 13, north ...
,
Mikkeli Mikkeli (; sv, S:t Michel; la, Michaelia) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Etelä-Savo region. The municipality has a population of () (around 34,000 i ...
,
Mäntyharju Mäntyharju (, literally 'Pine Ridge') is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The coastline is almost . The population density ...
,
Pertunmaa Pertunmaa () is a municipality of Finland located in the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbour municipalities are Hartola, Heinola, Hirv ...
, (Eastern part)
Puumala , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = , area_land_km2 = , area_water_km2 = , area_rank = , population_as_of = , population_footnotes = , population_total = , population_density_km2 = , population_rank = , demographics_type1 = , demograph ...
,
Ristiina Ristiina (; in Swedish language, Swedish also known as ''Kristina'') was a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It was founded in 1649 and it was named after Kristina Stenbock, the wife of Governor-General in the Swedish Realm, Gover ...
,
Sulkava Sulkava is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Juva, Puumala, R ...
and
Suomenniemi Suomenniemi is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with Mikkeli on 1 January 2013. It was located in the province of Southern Finland and was part of the South Karelia region. The municipality had a population of (31 December ...
.


Middle dialects of Savonlinna area

Middle dialects of
Savonlinna Savonlinna (, , ; sv, Nyslott, lit=New Castle) is a town and a municipality of inhabitants in the southeast of Finland, in the heart of the Saimaa lake region, which is why the city is also nicknamed the "Capital of Saimaa". Together with Mikke ...
area are spoken in the Eastern Savonia, the municipalities surrounding the city of Savonlinna between Southern Savonia and North Karelia:
Enonkoski Enonkoski () is a municipality of Finland. It is encircled by the city of Savonlinna in the Southern Savonia region. It is the smallest municipality in Southern Savonia in terms of population. History Enonkoski was founded in 1882. Before that it ...
,
Kerimäki Kerimäki is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with the town of Savonlinna on January 1, 2013. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region. The municipality was unilingually Finni ...
,
Punkaharju Punkaharju is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with the town of Savonlinna on January 1, 2013. It was located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region. The municipality had a population of ...
,
Savonranta Savonranta is a former municipality of Finland. It became part of Savonlinna in early 2009. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region. The municipality had a population of 1,263 (2003) and cov ...
and
Sääminki Sääminki (; sv, Säminge) is countryside and List of former municipalities of Finland, former municipality of Finland. Most of Sääminki municipality was incorporated in 1973 with the Savonlinna town and the rest with Punkaharju municipality. ...
(part of Punkaharju and Savonlinna since 1973). The dialect spoken in Enonkoski has many similarities with the dialects of Northern Savo, while the dialect spoken in the Southern parts of Punkaharju resembles South-Eastern dialects in many ways. The difference between dialects in Savonlinna district has its roots in the colonization history. The area of greater Kerimäki (which consisted Enonkoski, Punkaharju and Savonranta) was settled by Karelian people till the 16th century, but from the 14th century the Savonian has started to settle to the Eastern side of Lake Pihlajavesi and the coasts of
Puruvesi Puruvesi is a lake in Eastern Finland. The lake is located in Kerimäki, Kesälahti and Punkaharju municipalities. Part of the Saimaa lake system, it borders on the sub-lake system of Pihlajavesi to the south. As is the case of other lakes of Sai ...
. The differences between natural and governmental borders goes together in many ways. In Enonkoski the dialect is more Savonian in the Northern side of Hanhivirta. The other reason to this is that the Northern villages of Enonkoski belonged to Heinävesi in the 19th century, while the Southern villages were part of Kerimäki. The Northern border of Puruvesi goes through Lake Puruvesi. So the old Karelian-based dialect features have kept in Punkaharju much better than in Kerimäki, which is located in the Northern side of Puruvesi.


Eastern Savonian dialects or the dialects of North Karelia

Eastern Savonian dialects or the dialects of North Karelia are spoken in
North Karelia North Karelia ( fi, Pohjois-Karjala; sv, Norra Karelen) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of Kainuu, North Savo, South Savo and South Karelia, as well as Russia's Republic of Karelia. It is the easternmost region of Fin ...
in the municipalities of Eno,
Ilomantsi Ilomantsi ( krl, Il'manči or Ilomančči, sv, Ilomants) is municipality and a village of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population densi ...
,
Joensuu Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) is a city and municipality in North Karelia, Finland, located on the northern shore of Lake Pyhäselkä (northern part of Lake Saimaa) at the mouth of the Pielinen River (''Pielisjoki''). It was founded in 1848. Th ...
,
Juuka Juuka (; sv, Juga) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. ...
, Kesälahti,
Kiihtelysvaara Kiihtelysvaara is a former municipality of Finland. On 1 January 2005 it was consolidated, together with Tuupovaara, with the city of Joensuu. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the North Karelia region. The munici ...
(now part of Joensuu),
Kitee Kitee ( sv, Kides) is a town and a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The populat ...
,
Kontiolahti Kontiolahti ( sv, Kontiolax; literally meaning "bear bay") is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia regions of Finland, region, about north of Joensuu. The municipality has a population of () and ...
, Korpiselkä (now part of Russia, little part of Tohmajärvi since 1946),
Outokumpu Outokumpu Oyj is a group of international companies headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, employing 10,600 employees in more than 30 countries. Outokumpu is the largest producer of stainless steel in Europe and the second largest producer in the A ...
,
Liperi Liperi ( sv, Libelits) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia region. Liperi is a community of () with the growth rate of 83 newcomers in 11 months in 2007. The population density is . The municipality covers an area of ...
,
Nurmes Nurmes is a town and municipality of Finland, located in the county of North Karelia. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The
Pielisjärvi Pielisjärvi is a former municipality in the region of North Karelia in Finland. The municipality had inhabitants in 1970. Pielisjärvi was a Finnish-speaking municipality. Pielisjärvi municipality was joined with the city of Lieksa in 197 ...
(part of Lieksa since 1973),
Polvijärvi Polvijärvi (; literally "knee lake") is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipaliti ...
,
Pyhäselkä Pyhäselkä is a former municipality of Finland, now part of Joensuu. It seat was located in ''Hammaslahti''. Pyhäselkä is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the North Karelia region. The municipality had a population ...
, Pälkjärvi (now part of Russia, little part of Tohmajärvi since 1946),
Rautavaara Rautavaara is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Tiili ...
,
Ruskeala Ruskeala (russian: Рускеала; ) is a rural locality (a settlement) under the administrative jurisdiction of the town of republic significance of Sortavala in the Republic of Karelia, Russia. Within the framework of municipal divisions ...
(now part of Russia), Soanlahti,
Tohmajärvi Tohmajärvi () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Neig ...
,
Tuupovaara Tuupovaara (''Kovero'' until 1913) is a former municipality of Finland, located in the province of North Karelia. It was consolidated, together with Kiihtelysvaara, into the municipality of Joensuu on January 1, 2005. The municipality had a popu ...
(now part of Joensuu) and
Valtimo Valtimo () is a former municipality of Finland. It was merged with the town of Nurmes on 1 January 2020. It was located in the North Karelia region. In 2019, the municipality had a population of 2,140 and covered an area of , of which was wa ...
.


Dialects of Kainuu

Kainuu dialects are spoken in
Hyrynsalmi Hyrynsalmi is a municipality in Finland and is part of the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish Finnish may refe ...
,
Kajaani Kajaani (; sv, Kajana) is the most populous town and the capital of the Kainuu Region of Finland. It is located southeast of Lake Oulu (Oulujärvi), which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulu River (Oulujoki). As of , it had a pop ...
,
Kuhmo Kuhmo (known as ''Kuhmoniemi'' until 1937) is a town and a municipality in Finland and is located at the south-eastern corner of the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population ...
,
Kuusamo Kuusamo ( sme, Guossán; smn, Kuáccám) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . T ...
,
Paltamo Paltamo ( sv, Paltamo, also ) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . There are two built-up areas in the municip ...
,
Posio Posio is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Lapland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbour municipalities are Rovaniemi, Kemijärvi, Ranua ...
,
Pudasjärvi Pudasjärvi () is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and a Municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Oulu (province), Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia regions of ...
,
Puolanka Puolanka ( sv, Puolanka, also ) is a municipality in Finland located in the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. ...
,
Ranua Ranua is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the provinces of Finland, province of Lapland, Finland, Lapland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population dens ...
(Southern part),
Ristijärvi Ristijärvi is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of (), which make it the smallest municipality in Kainuu in terms of population. It covers an area of of which is water. The populati ...
,
Sotkamo Sotkamo is a municipality of Finland, located in the Kainuu region about east of Kajaani, the capital of Kainuu. Vuokatti, in west of Sotkamo, is the most populous village in the municipality and also a popular skiing resort. Both Hiidenportti Nat ...
,
Suomussalmi Suomussalmi () is a municipality in Finland and is located in the Kainuu region about northeast of Kajaani, the capital of Kainuu and south of Kuusamo. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The popul ...
,
Taivalkoski Taivalkoski is a municipality of Finland, it is located in the Province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The m ...
and
Vaala Vaala is a municipality in Finland. It is located in the North Ostrobothnia region. Established in 1954 (predecessor municipality ''Säräisniemi'', established in 1867), the municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which ...
.


Dialects of Middle Finland

Dialects of Middle Finland are spoken in
Hankasalmi Hankasalmi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Han ...
(Western part),
Karstula Karstula is a municipality of Finland founded in 1867. It is located in the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are ...
,
Kinnula Kinnula is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Kivijärvi, L ...
,
Kivijärvi Kivijärvi (; literally "stone lake") is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring munici ...
,
Konginkangas Konginkangas is a settlement and former municipality of Finland in the Central Finland region. It was consolidated with Äänekoski in 1993. The municipality bordered Äänekoski, Saarijärvi, Kannonkoski, Viitasaari, Vesanto, Konnevesi and ...
(part of Äänekoski since 1993),
Konnevesi Konnevesi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the former province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. Neighbouring municipalit ...
(Western part),
Kyyjärvi Kyyjärvi (; lit. " adder lake") is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region, about northwest of Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density ...
,
Laukaa Laukaa (; sv, Laukas) is a municipality of Finland. It is located next to Jyväskylä and is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The ...
,
Multia Multia is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland regions of Finland, region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The ...
,
Pihtipudas Pihtipudas is a municipality of Finland. It is located in northern Central Finland along the highway 4 ( E75), about north of Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. There are all together ...
,
Pylkönmäki Pylkönmäki is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated to Saarijärvi on 1 January 2009. It is located in the Central Finland region. The municipality had a population of 975 (2006) and covered an area of 392.61 km² of whic ...
,
Saarijärvi Saarijärvi () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are ...
,
Sumiainen Sumiainen is a former municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality had a population of 1,293 (2003) and covered an area of 307.93 km2 of which 77.34&n ...
,
Uurainen Uurainen ( sv, Uurainen, also ) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities a ...
,
Viitasaari Viitasaari is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland regions of Finland, region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is ...
and
Äänekoski Äänekoski () is a town in Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region, about north of Jyväskylä. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities ...
.


Dialects of Päijät-Häme

Päijät-Häme Savonian dialects are spoken in
Joutsa Joutsa is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland region. Jyväskylä is located about north of the Joutsa municipality. The municipality has a population of () and covers an ...
,
Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...
,
Jämsä Jämsä () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region, about southwest of Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of (), which make it the second largest town of the Central Finland after Jyväsk ...
,
Korpilahti Korpilahti is a former municipality of Finland. Together with Jyväskylän maalaiskunta, Korpilahti was consolidated with Jyväskylä on January 1, 2009. It is located in the former province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland ...
,
Koskenpää Koskenpää is a village and former municipality of Finland in the Central Finland region. It was consolidated with Jämsänkoski in 1969, which in turn was consolidated with Jämsä in 2009. It bordered Jämsänkoski, Jämsä, Kuorevesi, Keuru ...
(part of
Jämsänkoski Jämsänkoski is a former town and municipality of Finland in the Central Finland region. It is located near Lake Päijänne and the Jämsänjoki river. The town had a population of 7,351 in 2008. It covered an area of 448.67 km² of which ...
since 1969),
Kuhmoinen Kuhmoinen ( sv, Kuhmois) is a municipality of Finland, in Pirkanmaa region, but until 2021, it was part of the Central Finland region. The municipality is home to inhabitants. Neighbour municipalities are Jämsä, Kangasala, Luhanka, Orivesi, ...
,
Leivonmäki Leivonmäki is a former municipality of Finland in the Central Finland region. It became a part of Joutsa in 2008. It is located south-east from Jyväskylä. It is known for its marshy grounds and its national park. The municipality was uni ...
,
Luhanka Luhanka ( sv, Luhanka, also ) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. In relation to its population Luhanka is not just the small ...
,
Muurame Muurame is a municipality of Finland, located south-west of Jyväskylä. Muurame itself is located between two lakes, Lake Päijänne and Lake Muuratjärvi. These two lakes are connected to each other via River Muurame. All together there are 37 ...
,
Pertunmaa Pertunmaa () is a municipality of Finland located in the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbour municipalities are Hartola, Heinola, Hirv ...
(Western part),
Petäjävesi Petäjävesi (; lit. "pine water") is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland, next to the city of Jyväskylä, and is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an ar ...
,
Sysmä Sysmä () is a municipality of Finland. It is situated in the Päijät-Häme region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Asikkala, Hartol ...
and
Toivakka Toivakka is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Central Finland region, near Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually ...
.


Middle dialects of Keuruu-Evijärvi

Middle dialects of Keuruu-Evijärvi are spoken in
Alajärvi Alajärvi is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The town is unilingually Finnish; there are fe ...
,
Evijärvi Evijärvi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Kauhava, Kr ...
,
Keuruu Keuruu (; sv, Keuru) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The popul ...
,
Lappajärvi Lappajärvi is a municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland in Southern Ostrobothnia regions of Finland, region. It is from Lappajärvi to Seinäjoki, to Kokkola and to Vaasa. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area ...
,
Lehtimäki Lehtimäki is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated to Alajärvi on 1 January 2009. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality had a population of 1,850 (200 ...
, Pihlajavesi, Soini,
Vimpeli Vimpeli (; sv, Vindala) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region, northeast of Seinäjoki and northwest of Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The p ...
and
Ähtäri Ähtäri ( sv, Etseri) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Ähtäri is located southeast of ...
. This sub-dialect area is wedge shaped in the middle of Ostrobothnia, which has its own dialects and also Swedish-speaking population. This is the influence of Savonian
slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed veget ...
farmers who colonized the lake section in
Southern Ostrobothnia South Ostrobothnia ( fi, Etelä-Pohjanmaa; sv, Södra Österbotten) is one of the 19 regions of Finland. It borders the regions of Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Pirkanmaa, and Satakunta. Among the Finnish regions, South ...
in the 17th century.


Värmland Savonian dialects

The expansion of Savonian
slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed veget ...
agriculture, which started in the beginning of
Modern era The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is applie ...
, expanded to Central Scandinavia. Mostly in the beginning of the 17th century Savonian settlers, mainly from the parish of
Rautalampi Rautalampi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Neigh ...
, settled in
Värmland Värmland () also known as Wermeland, is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are ''Va ...
, Sweden. In the beginning of the 19th century tens of thousands of people spoke the Savonian language as their mother tongue. These "
Forest Finns Forest Finns ( fi, Metsäsuomalaiset, Norwegian bokmål: ''Skogfinner'', Norwegian nynorsk: ''Skogfinnar'', sv, Skogsfinnar) were Finnish migrants from Savonia and Northern Tavastia in Finland who settled in forest areas of Sweden proper and N ...
" were an interesting group from a linguistic point of view because their language was isolated from other influences. The practice of slash and burn agriculture was prohibited in Sweden in the middle of the 17th century and no new Finnish settlers moved to the area. The language of Forest Finns lacked the
Schwa In linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa (, rarely or ; sometimes spelled shwa) is a vowel sound denoted by the IPA symbol , placed in the central position of the vowel chart. In English and some other languages, it rep ...
vowel and
gemination In phonetics and phonology, gemination (), or consonant lengthening (from Latin 'doubling', itself from ''gemini'' 'twins'), is an articulation of a consonant for a longer period of time than that of a singleton consonant. It is distinct from s ...
, which are used now in the dialect spoken in Rautalampi. Nowadays the Savonian dialect of Värmland is extinct. The last Savonian speakers were Johannes Johansson-Oinonen (died in 1965) and Karl Persson (died 1969).


Music

The band
Verjnuarmu Verjnuarmu was a heavy metal band from Finland singing in the Savo dialect of the Finnish language. Performing in a dialect is rare in the Finnish heavy metal scene. Sometimes their style is dubbed as "Savo metal". According to Viitakemies, form ...
performed
melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavine ...
in the Savo dialect, while
Värttinä Värttinä (, meaning " spindle") is a Finnish folk music band that started as a project by Sari and Mari Kaasinen in 1983 in the village of Rääkkylä, in Karelia, the southeastern region of Finland. Many transformations have taken place in t ...
performs folk music. The folk song "
Ievan polkka "Ievan polkka" (Finnish for "Ieva's Polka") is a popular Finnish song with lyrics printed in 1928 and written by Eino Kettunen to a traditional Finnish polka tune. The song is sung in an Eastern Savonian dialect spoken in North Karelia. It' ...
" is in the dialect, as well.


Sources


''Suomen murrealueet'' ('Finnish dialects' – in Finnish)


References

Finnish dialects Savonia (historical province) {{Finnish dialects