Ter Sámi

Ter Sámi is the easternmost of the Sámi languages. It was

traditionally spoken in the northeastern part of the Kola Ter Sámi
Peninsula, but now it is an extinct language; in 2004, only ten saa´mekiil / са̄мькӣлл
speakers were left. By 2010, the number of speakers had Native to Russia
decreased to two.[1] In 2020, they were presumed dead or
Native speakers 2 (2010)[1]
uncontactable. Other estimates counted about 30 Ter Sámi
speakers in Murmansk oblast, as well as in St. Petersburg, in Language Uralic
2007. The mean age of the youngest Ter Sámi speakers at that family
Sámi
time was 50.[3]
Eastern
Sámi
Ter Sámi
Contents Writing system Latin script
History (historical),
Cyrillic script
Phonology (current) [2]
Consonants
Language codes
Vowels
ISO 639-3 sjt
Documentation
Glottolog ters1235 (ht
Writing system tp://glottol
Example of words in Ter Sámi og.org/resou
rce/languoi
Grammar[11] d/id/ters123
Notes 5)

External links ELP Ter Saami (htt

p://www.endang
eredlanguages.c

History om/lang/3566)

In the end of the 19th century, there were six Ter Sámi villages
in the eastern part of the Kola Peninsula, with a total
population of approximately 450. In 2004, there were
approximately 100 ethnic Ter Sámi of whom two elderly
persons speak the language; the rest have shifted their
language to Russian.[4]

The rapid decline in the number of speakers was caused by

Soviet collectivisation, during which its use was prohibited in
schools and homes in the 1930s, and the largest Ter Sámi
village, Yokanga, was declared "perspectiveless" and its
inhabitants were forced to move to the Gremikha military
base.[4] Ter Sámi is number 9 on the map.

Phonology
Consonants Ter Sámi is classified as Critically
Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the
World's Languages in Danger (2010)

Sámi dialects and settlements in Russia:

   Ter

Zoya Gerasimova (left), one of the

last speakers of Ter Sámi.

Photo taken in 2006.

Post-

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal

alveolar
Plosive p b t d k ɡ
Affricate t͡s d͡z t͡ʃ d͡ʒ
Fricative f v s z ʃ ʒ x h
Nasal m n̥ n ŋ

Approximant
j
(Lateral) l̥ l
Trill r̥ r

All consonants except for /j/ may be palatalized [ʲ].

Consonants /t, d/ can also sound as half-palatalized.

Vowels
 Front Central Back
short long short long short long

Close i iː ɨ ɨː u uː
Mid ɛ o
Open a aː ɔ

After palatalized consonants, /ɛ/ is realized as [e].[5]

Documentation
There are no educational materials or facilities in Ter Sámi, and the language has no standardized
orthography. The language is incompletely studied and documented, though text specimens and
audio recordings as well as dictionaries for linguistic purposes exist.[6][7]

Writing system
A spelling system for Ter Sámi using the Latin alphabet and based on Skolt Sámi was developed in
the 1930s. After the Second World War, this was replaced by a system using the Cyrillic alphabet,
and based on Kildin Sámi.[8] This system was used by the Sámi poet Oktyabrina Voronova.[9]

Example of words in Ter Sámi

Sample vocabulary in Ter
Sámi[10]
Ter Sámi English gloss
выэййвэ head
ныкчым tongue
кидт hand

лоннҍт bird

чадце water

ке̄ддҍкэ stone

аббьрэ rain
толл fire

Grammar[11]
Ter saami has 8 cases, Nominative, Genitive, Accusative, Essive, Inessive-Lative, Dative-Illative,
Abessive and Comitative.
 case singular plural
nom - change of the main part of word
gen change of the main part of word change of the main part of word
acc change of the main part of word t
ess n n
ine s't n
dat a, i t
abe ta ta
com n k'em, g'em

Examples of the Genitive

(in the UPA)

abre' paл = raining cloud

pɛci̮ pal'čemi̮š = slaughter of deer

taja oлmi̮j = German inhabitant

tara parnɛ = Russian boys

Plurals

In the Nominative case the base word changes when a plural is made.

Word Meaning Plural Meaning

mi̮rr forest mi̮r forests
k'iлл language k'iл languages
šiɛn'n' swamp šiɛn' swamps
tast star taast stars

The word "ku", meaning: who, which in the cases.

Case Singular Plural

Nominative ku kogg
Genetive konn kojt
Accusative konn kojt
Essive kon'n'in kojn
Inessive kon'n'es't kojn
Dative kon'n'i kojt
Abessive konta kojta
Cominative kon'in kojgujm
Notes
1. Nilsen, Thomas (2010-02-19). "Sami languages disappears" (https://barentsobserver.com/en/s
ections/society/sami-languages-disappears). Barent's Observer. Retrieved 2022-06-04.
2. "Ter Sámi alphabet, pronunciation and language" (https://www.omniglot.com/writing/tersami.ht
m). Omniglot.com. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
3. Rießler, Michael; Wilbur, Joshua (2007). "Documenting the Endangered Kola Saami
Languages". In Bull Tove; Kusmenko, Jurij; Rießler, Michael (eds.). Språk og språkforhold i
Sápmi [Language and Language Conditions in Sápmi]. Berlin, Germany: Nordeuropa-Institut.
p. 40. ISBN 978-3-932406-26-3.
4. Tiuraniemi Olli: "Anatoli Zaharov on maapallon ainoa turjansaamea puhuva mies", Kide 6 /
2004.
5. Tereškin, Sergej N. (2002). Jokan'gskij dialekt Saamskogo Jazyka. Sankt Petersburg:
Rossijskij Gosudarstvennyj pedagogičeskij Universitet imeni.
6. Itkonen T. I.: "Koltan- ja kuolanlapin sanakirja", Helsinki: Société Finno-Ougrienne, 1958.
7. Itkonen T. I.: "Koltan- ja kuolanlappalaisia satuja", 1931.Memoires de la Société Finno-
Ougrienne 60
8. "Ter Sami alphabet, pronunciation and language" (https://www.omniglot.com/writing/tersami.ht
m). Omniglot.com. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
9. Rießler, Michael (2018). "Kola Sámi literature (Kildin Sámi, Ter Sámi, Akkala Sámi)". In: "Čálli
giehta olla guhkás" A writing hand reaches further ({S}ámi proverb) (https://helda.helsinki.fi/bits
tream/handle/10138/305133/riesler2018b.pdf?sequence=1) Johanna Domokos (ed.). Helsinki:
Yhdenvertaisen kulttuurin puolesta ry, pp. 73–78.
10. "Tersamisk - Allkunne" (https://www.allkunne.no/framside/sprak/sprak-i-verda/tersamisk/7/8412
7/). www.allkunne.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2021-01-24.
11. Tereškin, Sergej (2002). . Йоганьгский диалект саамского языка. Saint Petersburg.

External links
Media related to Ter Sami language at Wikimedia Commons
Ter saami dictionary (http://gtweb.uit.no/webdict/index_sjt-eng.html)
Die Struktur der Nominalphrase im Tersaamischen (https://www.academia.edu/30303100/Die_
Struktur_der_Nominalphrase_im_Tersaamischen) (in German)
Koltan- ja kuolanlapin sanakirja (https://www.sgr.fi/fi/files/original/f57ffb28586762170a1ee2002
de8d2ef.pdf) (dictionary in German, contains Ter Saami)
Koltan- ja kuolanlappalaisia satuja (https://fennougrica.kansalliskirjasto.fi/handle/10024/89931)
(texts in Kola Saami languages, includes Ter Saami)

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