Kemi Sámi was a

Sámi language 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 ...

that was originally spoken in the southernmost district of Finnish Lapland as far south as the

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, Rus ...

siidas around

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 ...

. A complex of local variants which had a distinct identity from other Sámi dialects, but existed in a linguistic continuum between

Inari Sámi Inari Sámi (, "the Inarian language", or , "the Inari (Aanaar) Sámi language") is a Sámi languages, Sámi language spoken by the Inari Sámi people, Inari Sámi of Finland. It has approximately 300 speakers, the majority of whom are middle-ag ...

and

Skolt Sámi Skolt Sámi ( , "the Sámi language", or , "the Eastern Sámi language", if a distinction needs to be made between it and the other Sámi languages) is a Uralic, Sámi language that is spoken by the Skolts, with approximately 300 speakers in ...

(some Kemi groups sounded more like Inari, and some more like Skolt, due to geographic proximity). Extinct now for over 100 years, few written examples of Kemi Sámi survive.

Johannes Schefferus Johannes Schefferus (February 2, 1621 – March 26, 1679) was one of the most important Swedish humanists of his time. He was also known as Angelus and is remembered for writing hymns.See the link below "German Classics" Schefferus was born in ...

's ''

Lapponia Lapponia may refer to: * Laponia (historical province), a historical Swedish province * ''Lapponia'' (book), a 1673 ethnographic account of the region by Johannes Schefferus * Lapponia (train) The ''Lapponia'' was an express passenger train operate ...

'' from 1673 contains two

yoik A joik or yoik (anglicised, where the latter spelling in English conforms with the pronunciation; also named , , , or in the Sámi languages) is a traditional form of song in Sámi music performed by the Sámi people of Sapmi in Northern Europe. ...

poems by the Kemi Sámi Olof (Mattsson) Sirma, "Guldnasas" and "Moarsi favrrot". A short vocabulary was written by the Finnish

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

Jacob Fellman Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Ja ...

in 1829 after he visited the villages of

Salla Salla (''Kuolajärvi'' until 1936) ( smn, Kyelijävri) is a municipality of Finland, located in Lapland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The nearby settlement of ...

(Kuolajärvi until 1936) and Sompio.Äima, F, Itkonen, T.I. 1918: Jacob Fellmanin muistiinpanot Sompion ja Kuolajärven lapin murteista. Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran Aikakauskirja 30 p. 1-91.

Sample texts

The following translation of the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

still survives: Lord's Prayer, village of Sompio (

Sodankylä Sodankylä (; sme, Soađegilli ; smn, Suáđigil; sms, Suäʹđjel) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the region of Lapland, and lies at the northern end of Highway 5 ( E63) and along Highway 4 ( E75). The Kitinen River flows ne ...

) : : : : : : : : : : This is Sirma's first poem, "Guldnasas", a Sámi love story which he sang to spur on his

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

so that they will run faster:

This is Sirma's second poem, "Moarsi favrrot", the one he sang when he was far away from his love to prize her beauty.

References

{{Uralic languages Languages of Finland Sámi in Finland Eastern Sámi languages Extinct languages of Europe Languages extinct in the 20th century

Sample texts

See also

References