Language/Finnish/Grammar/Sami-and-Karelian-Languages

Finnish Grammar → → Sami and Karelian Languages

Finnish is not the only language spoken in Finland. There are also minority languages that are recognized by law, such as Sami and Karelian. Sami and Karelian are unique languages with different rules and characteristics than Finnish. They are not dialects of Finnish, but completely separate languages.

Sami Language

Sami, also known as Sámi or Saami, is a Uralic language and is spoken by the Sami people in the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. There are nine different Sami languages, with the biggest being Northern Sami. Northern Sami has an official minority language status in Norway, Sweden, and Finland.

Sami grammar differs greatly from Finnish grammar. Sami has nine cases, just like Finnish, but has a simpler system of vowel harmony. Sami vocabulary also includes words that relate to reindeer herding, a traditional Sami occupation.

Here are some examples of basic Sami phrases:

Sami	Pronunciation	English
Buorre iđit!	boh-re ih-dit	Good morning!
Mánu lea mu mielas.	ma-nu le-a mu miel-as	I like the month of the moon (meaning January).
Dát lea Sápmi.	dat le-a sahp-mi	This is Sápmi.
Báhcci lea vuossá.	bahh-tchi le-a vuoh-sah	The reindeer is fat.

Karelian Language

Karelian is a Balto-Finnic language spoken by the Karelian people in Russia and Finland. It is closely related to the Finnish language, with similar vocabulary and grammar.

Karelian has three dialects: Northern, Central, and Southern Karelian. The language is written using both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets.

Here are some examples of basic Karelian phrases:

Karelian	Pronunciation	English
Hyvää päivvvää.	hyh-vää päi-vää	Good day.
Kažon n'äät?!	kaz-on näät	What do you see?
Vuahta omma pazemmua.	vuah-ta om-ma paz-em-mua	My goat is faster.
Muaššõlzõn čïžy.	muah-sh-shol-zon chi-zy	I would like some cheese.

If you want to learn more about the Sami or Karelian languages, there are several resources available online that can help you get started.

Sources

• Sami Languages
• Karelian Language

Table of Contents - Finnish Course - 0 to A1

• Course Presentation

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Introduction to Finnish

• Alphabet and Pronunciation
• Basic Sentence Structure

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Greetings and Introductions

• Basic Greetings
• Introducing Yourself

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Nouns and Adjectives

• Noun Cases
• Adjective Agreement

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Numbers and Time

• Numbers 1-20
• Telling Time

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Verbs and Tenses

• Present Tense
• Past Tense

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Daily Activities

• Daily Routine
• Hobbies and Leisure

  ---

Questions and Negation

• Forming Questions
• Negation

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Food and Dining

• Food Vocabulary
• Dining Out

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Prepositions and Postpositions

• Prepositions
• Postpositions

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Travel and Transportation

• Modes of Transportation
• Travel Phrases

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Finnish Culture and Traditions

• Holidays and Celebrations
• Finnish Sauna

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Weather and Seasons

• Weather Vocabulary
• Seasons

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Conjunctions and Subordinate Clauses

• Conjunctions
• Subordinate Clauses

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Family and Relationships

• Family Members
• Relationships

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Finnish Literature and Music

• Finnish Literature
• Finnish Music

Related Lessons

• Asking Directions in Finnish
• Give your Opinion
• The Finnish Alphabet
• Definite Articles in Finnish
• Sentence Structure
• Present Tense
• Regional Finnish Dialects
• Questions
• 0 to A1 Course
• Prepositions