Ume Sámi
Ume Sámi is a Sámi language spoken in Sweden and formerly in Norway. According to UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger, there are fewer than 20 speakers of Ume Sami. It was spoken mainly along the Ume River in the south of present-day Arjeplog, in Sorsele and in Arvidsjaur.
Dialects
The best documented variety of Ume Sami is that of one Lars Sjulsson from Setsele, close to Malå, whose idiolect was documented by W. Schlachter in a 1958 dictionary and subsequent work. Dialect variation exists within the Ume Sami area, however. A main division is between more western dialects such as those of Maskaure, Tärna and Ullisjaure, versus more eastern dialects such as those of Malå, Malmesjaure and Mausjaure.| Feature | Western Ume Sami | Eastern Ume Sami | Notes |
| original *ðː | |||
| accusative singular ending | -p | -w | from Proto-Samic *-m |
| word for 'eagle' | àrʰčə | àrtnəs |
Phonology
Consonants
and are allophones of and, respectively. When a sound occurs before a plosive or an affricate sound, they are then realized as preaspirated sounds. If an sound occurs before a sound, it is realized as a palatal lateral sound. Some western dialects of the language lack the phoneme.Vowels
Four diphthongs are included;,,,. A schwa sound may exist as an allophone of various vowel sounds.Writing system
Until 2010, Ume Sámi did not have an official written standard, although it was the first Sámi language to be written extensively. The New Testament was published in Ume Sámi in 1755 and the first Bible in Sámi was also published in Ume Sámi, in 1811.The current official orthography is maintained by the Working Group for Ume Sámi, whose most recent recommendation was published in 2016.
| Letter/Digraph | Phoneme |
| A a | |
| Á á | |
| B b | |
| D d | |
| Đ đ | |
| E e | , |
| F f | |
| G g | |
| H h | |
| I i | |
| Ï ï | |
| J j | |
| K k | , |
| L l | |
| M m | |
| N n | |
| Ŋ ŋ | |
| O o | |
| P p | , |
| R r | |
| S s | |
| T t | , |
| Tj tj | /tʃ/ |
| Ŧ ŧ | |
| U u | , |
| Ü ü | , |
| V v | |
| Y y | |
| Å å | , |
| Ä ä | |
| Ö ö |
Shortcomings:
- Vowel length is ambiguous for the letters, and. In reference works, the length is indicated by a macron. In older orthographies, length could be indicated by writing a double vowel.
- No distinction is made between long and overlong consonants, both being written with a double consonant letter. In reference works, the overlong stops are indicated with a vertical line
Grammar
Consonant gradation
Unlike its southern neighbor Southern Sámi, Ume Sámi has consonant gradation. However, gradation is more limited than it is in the more northern Sami languages, because it does not occur in the case of short vowels followed by a consonant that can gradate to quantity 1. In these cases, only quantity 3 appears. Consonant clusters can gradate regardless of the preceding vowel.Cases
Ume Sámi has 8 cases:- Nominative
- Accusative
- Genitive
- Illative
- Inessive
- Elative
- Comitative
- Essive
Pronouns
Like other Sámi languages, Ume Sámi distinguishes pronouns in three numbers but not in gender. There are different words for “we”, “you”, and “they” depending on whether the referent is the two of us, the two of you, the two of them or if it includes more than two.| Singular | Dual | Plural | |
| 1st person | månna | månnije | mïjjah |
| 2nd person | dådna | dåj | dïjjah |
| 3rd person | sådna | såj | sïjjah |
Verbs
Persons and numbers
Verbs in Ume Sámi encode three persons, first, second and third. As with pronouns, verbs also enconde the three grammatical numbers: singular, dual and plural.Tense, Mood, and aspect
Verbs in Ume Sámi encode two tenses, present and past, and two grammatical moods: indicative and imperative.Negative verb
Ume Sámi, like all Finnic and other Sámi languages, has a negative verb. In Ume Sámi, the negative verb conjugates according to mood, person and number.Lexicon
Kinship terms
in Ume Sámi mostly descend from proto-Uralic or proto-Samic. As in many Uralic languages, the word for “son” is a borrowing, in Ume Sámi bárnnie, is also borrowed from Germanic barna.| mother | father | daughter | son | sister | brother | |
| Ume Sámi | eädnie | áhttjie | neäjdda | bárnnie | åbbá | veällja |
| Northern Sámi | eadni | áhčči | nieida | bárdni | oabbá | viellja |
| Skolt Sámi | jeä′n'n ~ jie′n'n | e′č ~ ee′č | nijdd | pä′rnn | vuä′b'b | villj ~ vi′llj |
| Finnish | äiti | isä | tytär | poika | sisko | veli |
| Komi | мам | ай | ныв | детина '''' | соч | вок |
For extended family members, Ume Sámi distinguishes not only the relationship to ego, but also their gender, sometimes their age and their own relationship to one's nuclear family.
Reindeer husbandry words
Traditionally, the Sámi are reindeer herders, and as such, Sámi languages have developed a wide vocabulary with terms to describe both the animal and actions related to its husbandry. These terms describe not only gender and age but also their color, their position in the herd, and others. Below are only some of the underived words, and many other possibilities exist in compounds, especially with -tjuoke and -ahkka as head words: giätjuoke “untamed reindeer”, ruadtjuoke, “a reindeer that digs after urine”, tjånatahkka ''“a reindeer that is tied to a sledge”, lijrestahkka'' “a reindeer that one leads”, etc.| reindeer | gifted reindeer | lone reindeer | straggler reindeer | castrated reindeer |
| båtsuoj | bánieke | veäjssa | såjbba | gáskieke |