North Saami

Name
Alternative names:
 * Northern Lapp
 * Norwegian Lapp

Location
Sweden, Norway, Finland.

Standard language 1948, reformed 1973. Recognized minority language in the municipalities of Kautokeino, Karasjok, Kåfjord, Nesseby, Porsanger, Tana (N), Gällivare, Jokkmokk, Kiruna (S), and Enontekiö, Inari, Sodankylä, Utsjoki (SF).

Speakers
15000 in Norway, 4000 in Sweden, and 2000 in Finland according to Ethnologue.

Dialects
North Saami is divided in three main groups: Torne Saami (in the south), Finnmark Saami, and Sea Saami (on the coast).

Torne Saami shares some features with Lule Saami and may therefore be considered transitional to the western group of Central Saami. It is subdivided into four dialects.

Sea Saami shows some remarkable achaisms that agree with Eastern Saamic, especially the retention of geminated nasals. Its western dialect shares some features with western Finnmark Saami, while its central and eastern dialect rather agree with eastern Finnmark Saami, and the eastern dialect shares some features with Inari Saami.

Finnmark Saami (spoken by the majority of North Saami speakers) may be divided into western and eastern dialects. In the east stressed long vowels and diphthongs show front-back umlaut variation, stressed short vowels might be lengthened depending on the quantity of the following consonants, and single short intervocalic b, g are fricativized. In the west, "preaspirated" clusters hp, ht, hk are simplified to h (if following an unstressed vowel), and after a short stressed vowel, geminate consonants or unstressed a may be lengthened.

Classification

 * Uralic
 * Finnic-Ugric
 * Saamic
 * Central Saamic

Other Languages

 * German Nordsaamisch