{{Short description|Dialect of Finnish}}{{Distinguish|Kainuu Sámi}}{{infobox language | familycolor = Uralic | fam2 = Finno-Ugric | fam3 = Finnic | fam4 = Northern Finnic | fam5 = Finnish | fam6 = Savonian dialects | glotto = none | states = Finland | region = Kainuu<br>North Ostrobothnia <small>(partially)</small><br>Lapland <small>(partially)</small> | map = Kainuun murrekartta.png | mapscale = | mapcaption = The area in which Kainuu dialect is spoken. | name = Kainuu | ethnicity = Kainuu people }}
The '''Kainuu dialect''' ({{langx|fi|Kainuun murre}}) is a dialect of Finnish spoken in Kainuu, Vaala, Koillismaa, Posio and Ranua. It belongs to the Savonian dialects, or more broadly, the eastern dialects of Finnish. Due to the region's close ties to North Ostrobothnia, the dialect has been influenced in vocabulary by Central and Northern Ostrobothnian dialects and vice versa.<ref>Puuttonen, Mikko (2018). ''[https://www.hs.fi/tiede/art-2000005832668.html Tutkijaryhmä selittää uudella tavalla Suomen murrealueet – Luonnonolojen synnyttämät kulttuurikuplat eriyttivät puhetavat]''. hs.fi. Retrieved 2021-12-17.</ref>
The Kainuu dialect can be divided into Northern, Central, and Southern groups. The Northern Kainuu dialect is spoken in Koillismaa, Posio and Ranua. The Central dialect is spoken in most of Kainuu, as well as in Vaala. The Southern dialect is spoken in Sotkamo and Kuhmo, in Southern Kainuu.<ref name="uoo"/>
==Development== In the 16th century, people from Savonia, and later that century also Ostrobothnia, started moving to the Kainuu area. Most of them spoke Savonian dialects from Upper Savonia, and the Ostrobothnian arrivals spoke North Ostrobothnian dialects. This began Kainuu dialect's development as its own branch among the Savonian dialects.<ref name="tul"/> Already in the 16th century, the people of Kainuu began to have less contact with people of Savonia and more contact with people of North Ostrobothnia, solidified when the Kainuu area was made a part of Ostrobothnia County. Thus, the administrative and economic center for the Kainuu dialect area became the North Ostrobothnian city, Oulu. In Kainuu and Koillismaa, the North Ostrobothnian dialect was more respected than their own native Kainuu dialect.<ref name="naa"/>
The Kainuu dialect is the northernmost Savonian dialect.<ref name="tul">{{cite book |last=Seppänen |first=Markku |date=2021 |title=Van tul[l]ook[k]oon siitä kal[l]uo? – Rikasta ja ronskia Kainuun murretta |url= |location=Joensuu |publisher=PunaMusta Oy |page=10 |isbn=978-952-94-5802-8}}</ref> While it had begun its independent development in Kainuu, Pudasjärvi and Taivalkoski already in the 16th century due to Savonian migration, it only later spread to Kuusamo and Posio in the late 1600s due to Kainuu migration.<ref name="naa"/>
The term "Kainuu dialects" was only started to use after World War II. The border of western and eastern dialects of Finnish is not very strong in Kainuu and North Ostrobothnia, but both dialect groups have influenced each other in the area. Ostrobothnian influence is the strongest in the western parts of Vaala, and the second strongest in the Northern Kainuu dialects.<ref name="naa">{{cite book |last=Räisänen |first=Alpo |date=1982 |title=Kainuun murteen ja nimistön opas |url= |location=Kajaani |publisher=Kainuun Sanomain Kirjapaino Oy |page=12–13 |isbn=951-95748-1-6}}</ref> The dialect of Sotkamo, on the other hand, has more Savonian features than anywhere else in Kainuu dialect area.<ref name="tul"/>
==Features== As typical for non-standard dialects of Finnish, the /d/ sound usually occurs as other consonants in the Kainuu dialect. For example, the word ''lehdet'' (/ˈlehdet/ ‘leaves’) occurs as /ˈlehet/, the word ''pöydät'' (/ˈpøy̯dæt/ ‘tables’) occurs as [ˈpøy̯ʋæt], the word ''hidas'' (/ˈhidɑs/ ‘slow’) sounds like [ˈhijɑs], and the word ''saada'' (/ˈsɑːdɑ/ ‘to get’) sounds like [ˈsɑːhɑ]. The affricate /ts/ present in the standard variety also occurs as different sounds, such as in [ˈme'''ht'''æ ''~'' ˈme'''t'''æn] (''metsä'' ~ ''metsän,'' "forest") and [ˈo'''ht'''ɑ] for (''otsa'' /ˈotsɑ/ ‘forehead’).<ref name="uef">Savolainen, Erkki (1998). ''[http://sokl.uef.fi/aineistot/aidinkieli/murteet/savolmur.html 3.6 Savolaismurteiden piirteitä] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217170302/http://sokl.uef.fi/aineistot/aidinkieli/murteet/savolmur.html |date=2021-12-17 }}''. Suomen murteet. sokl.uef.fi. Retrieved 2021-12-17.</ref>
A common feature in the dialect are the occurrence of different diphthongs from standard Finnish. For instance, ''koira'' (/ˈkoirɑ/ dog) is [ˈk'''oe̯'''rɑ], ''Kainuu'' /kɑi̯nuː/ is [k'''ɑe̯'''nuː], ''kaula'' (/kɑu̯lɑ/ neck) is pronounced [k'''ɑo̯'''lɑ], and ''täysi'' (/ˈtæy̯si/ ‘full’) is [t'''æø̯'''si]. At the same time, long vowels that are present in the standard variety such as /æː/ in words like ''määrä'' /ˈmæːræ/, ‘quantity’) occur as [ˈm'''eæ̯'''ræ] in Kainuu Finnish. This diphthongization is, on the other hand, quite rare in nearby Vaala and Koillismaa.<ref name="uoo">Vattula, Laura (2019). ''[http://jultika.oulu.fi/files/nbnfioulu-201902021128.pdf Kulkemista ja paikallaan olemista ilmaisevat verbit Kainuun murteen verbisanastossa]''. University of Oulu. Pages: 2–3.</ref>
Breaking of consonant clusters through vowel epenthesis is also common, such as in [ˈjɑlɑkɑ] for ''jalka'' /ˈˈjɑlkɑ/ ‘leg’). Consonant strengthening (or gemination) in intervocalic contexts is also very common in Kainuu dialects, such as [sɑ'''nː'''oː] for ''sanoo'' [sɑ'''n'''oː], ‘s/he says’) or [ˈmɑkse'''tː'''ɑːn] for ''maksetaan'' /ˈmɑksetɑːn/ (‘it is paid’).<ref name="uef" />
However, many features that are common in other Savonian dialects are missing in Kainuu dialects. For example, Kainuu Finnish shows no palatalization at the end of words, nor are the personal pronouns [myø̯], [tyø̯] and [hyø̯] instead of ''me, te,'' and ''he'' /me te he/.<ref name="uef" />
==Links== *[http://sokl.uef.fi/aineistot/aidinkieli/murteet/suomussa.html Text and sound sample from Suomussalmi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217170304/http://sokl.uef.fi/aineistot/aidinkieli/murteet/suomussa.html |date=2021-12-17 }} *[https://www.kotus.fi/aineistot/puhutun_kielen_aineistot/murreaanitteita/kauden_murre/murrenaytteet/puolangan_murrenayte Texts and sound samples from Puolanka]
==References== <references/> Category:Finnish-language dialects Category:Kainuu {{Finnish dialects}}