Southern Sámi

Southern Sámi

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Southern Sámi is the southernmost of the Sámi languages. It is classified by UNESCO as “definitely endangered”,UNESCO, n.d. and Ethnologue counts about 600 speakers in Norway and Sweden.Ethnologue, 2015.

Script

Latin

Speakers

500

ISO 639-2

sma

Regions

Västerbottens län, Jämtlands län, Härjedalen, Dalarna, Nordland, Trøndelag, Innlandet

In Norway, the Southern Sámi area stretches from Saltfjellet in the north to Elgå in the south,Theil & Knutsen, 2023. and in Sweden it covers Västerbottens län, Jämtlands län as well as parts of Härjedalen and Dalarna.Samiskt informationscentrum, n.d.

History of written Southern Sámi

The first written example of Southern Sámi language is a catechism, Enfaldige och korte frågor sampt swar, aff Thesauro catechetico Paulini from 1668, published by Olaus Stephani Graan – a Sámi priest and teacher from Lycksele.Graan, 1668. Graan’s native Ume Sámi forms a dialect continuum with Southern Sámi. They were both called Southern Sámi at the time, and the distinction is a relatively contemporary notion. The earliest Southern Sámi grammar – in the broad sense – was published in 1738 by Swedish teacher and minister Petrus Fjellström, meant for the clergy as an aid in the ministry.Fjellström, 1738.

The first book written for a Southern Sámi audience is a 1957 primer called Sámien lukkeme-gärjá, published by Norwegian and Swedish linguists Knut Bergsland and Gunnar Hasselbrink.Bergsland & Hasselbrink, 1957. Elias Lagercrantz’ 1923 grammar, Sprachlehre des Südlappischen, is directed at a professional audience.Lagercrantz, 1923. A similar focus marks Knut Bergsland’s Røros-lappisk grammatikk from 1946.Bergsland, 1946. Additional 19th century works on the Southern Sámi language comes from the Hungarian linguist Ignác Halász and Karl Bernhard Wiklund in Sweden.Bergsland, 1982.

In 1974, Knut Bergsland, in collaboration with Sámi teacher and politician Ella Holm Bull, proposed a new orthography. This was accepted by the Sámi Language Council in 1976 and ratified by the Norwegian department of Church and Education in 1978.Simonsen, 2023.

Literature

Bergsland, K. (1946). Røros-lappisk grammatikk: et forsøk på strukturell språkbeskrivelse [Røros-Sámi grammar: an attempt at structural language description]. H. Aschehoug & Company.

Bergsland, K., Hasselbrink, G. (1957). Sámien lukkeme-gärjá: Sydsamisk lesebok med grammatikk og ordliste. Oslo. Retrieved 16 September 2026 from openlibrary.org

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Bergsland, K. (1982). Sydsamisk grammatikk [Southern Sámi Grammar]. Davvi Girji.

Ethnologue. (2015). Southern Sámi. Retrieved 16 September 2026 from ethnologue.com

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Fjellström, P. (1738). Grammatica lapponica [Grammar of Sámi] Lycksele.

Graan, O. S. (1668). Enfaldige och korte frågor sampt swar, aff Thesauro catechetico Paulini [Simple and short questions and answers from Laurentius Paulinus Gothus’s Thesaurus catecheticus]. Stockholm.

Lagercrantz, E. (1923). Sprachlehre des Südlappischen: nach der Mundart von Wefsen [Linguistics of Southern Lappish: according to the dialect of Wefsen]. Oslo. Retrieved 16 September 2026 from nb.no

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Samiskt informationscentrum. (n.d.). Sydsamiska. Retrieved 16 September 2026 from samer.se

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Simonsen, H. G. (28 March 2023). Knut Bergsland. In Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 16 September 2026 from snl.no

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Theil, R., Knutsen S-E. (2023, February 2). Sørsamisk [Southern Sámi]. In Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 16 September 2026 from snl.no

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UNESCO. (n.d.). South Saami. In World Atlas of Languages. Retrieved 16 September 2026 from en.wal.unesco.org

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Sámi

Fjellström

Bergsland-Hasselbrink

Bergsland-Bull

Sámi

Southern Sámi

Fjellström

Bergsland-Hasselbrink

Bergsland-Bull

Southern Sámi

Fjellström

Bergsland-Hasselbrink

Bergsland-Bull

Laangie vaajmo

Ovlla saanie

Åarjel saemien

Fonte vuese

Volljemoonnie

Eteläsaamen rikas kulttuuri ja historia elävät jokaisessa kirjaimessa ja sanassa. Tämä teksti on suunniteltu esittelemään eteläsaamen kielen ainutlaatuisia merkkejä ja kirjoitustapoja. Kielen estetiikan ja typografisen moninaisuuden korostamiseksi tämä pätkä on myös erinomainen keino testata fonttien luettavuutta ja visuaalista houkuttelevuutta. Eteläsaame, sen laaja sanasto ja stylistinen joustavuus, sopii erinomaisesti sekä perinteisiin että moderneihin suunnitelmiin.

Litnjie vaarjoe

Buerie Aednie

Gærja voestes

Buajdákåbbuo

Disse lin dibr’etamme nâjbien dappeb, skárján dappeb, náluo-goadieb jih båŋguob, gusnie lij bîstˈe jih suorme-goadie-dappe.

Uššˈedemienie huv leam duoguo oarjese, daj duv oarj’el-gránnáj goaj-guo, guh lin helsˈeme dâllie, ažžim viekkitiedh rárkˈedh jallh báldediedh jallh –

Čuoppidh

Bearguojgujmie

Völg’iden

Állieh doar’edh

Gåbba dunnost

Jubmelas lektes rampo ja hewetz

Gitemin

Deudnahijib holmeh japeh

Buerie Aednie

Čuoppidh

Disse lin dibr’etamme nâjbien dappeb, skárján dappeb, náluo-goadieb jih båŋguob, gusnie lij bîstˈe jih suorme-goadie-dappe.

Állieh doar’edh

Völg’iden

Bearguojgujmie

Buajdákåbbuo

Uššˈedemienie huv leam duoguo oarjese, daj duv oarj’el-gránnáj goaj-guo, guh lin helsˈeme dâllie, ažžim viekkitiedh rárkˈedh jallh báldediedh jallh –

Gitemin

Gåbba dunnost

Jubmelas lektes rampo ja hewetz

Deudnahijib holmeh japeh

History of written Southern Sámi

Subfamily

Language

Orthography

Subfamily

Language

Orthography

Language

Orthography

Sámi

Southern Sámi

Fjellström

Bergsland-Hasselbrink

Bergsland-Bull

Sámi

Southern Sámi

Fjellström

Bergsland-Hasselbrink

Bergsland-Bull

Southern Sámi

Fjellström

Bergsland-Hasselbrink

Bergsland-Bull

Sámien lukkeme-gärjá: Sydsamisk lesebok med grammatikk og ordliste [Southern Sámi Primer with Grammar and Dictionary]