{{Short description|Nearly extinct Uralic language}}{{multiple issues|{{Expand language|topic=|langcode=ru|otherarticle=Йоканьгско-саамский язык|date=May 2024}}{{Cleanup lang|date=October 2024|iso=sjt}}}}{{Infobox language | name = Ter Sámi | nativename = {{lang|sjt-Latn|sām’e kīll}} ({{lang|sjt-Cyrl|са̄мя кӣлл}}), {{lang|sjt-Latn|tar’je kīll}} ({{lang|sjt-Cyrl|тарье кӣлл}}) | states = Russia | speakers = 2 | date = 2011 | ref = <ref name="Scheller20112" /> | familycolor = Uralic | fam2 = Sámi | fam3 = Eastern Sámi | iso3 = sjt | glotto = ters1235 | glottorefname = Ter Saami<!-- Actual name of referenced Glottolog page --> | script = Latin script (historical), Cyrillic script (current; unofficial)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/tersami.htm|title=Ter Sámi alphabet, pronunciation and language |publisher=Omniglot.com |access-date=27 November 2017}}</ref> | map = File:Ter-SamiLanguageLocatorMap.svg | mapcaption = Ter Sami language area (red) within Sápmi (grey) | map2 = Lang Status 20-CR.svg | mapcaption2 = {{center|{{small|Ter Sámi is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO ''Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger'' (2010)}}}} | region = Murmansk Oblast, St. Petersburg | speakers2 = 30 (2007) | ethnicity = Kola Sámi}} '''Ter Sámi''' is the easternmost of the Sámi languages. It was traditionally spoken in the northeastern part of the Kola Peninsula, but now it is a moribund language; in 2004, only ten speakers were left. By 2011, the number of speakers had decreased to two.<ref name="barents">{{Cite news |last=Nilsen |first=Thomas |date=2010-02-19 |title=Sami languages disappears |language=en |work=Barent's Observer |url=https://barentsobserver.com/en/sections/society/sami-languages-disappears |access-date=2022-06-04 |archive-date=2020-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108121555/https://barentsobserver.com/en/sections/society/sami-languages-disappears |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Scheller20112">{{Cite book |last=Scheller |first=Elizabeth |title=Ethnic and Linguistic Context of Identity: Finno-Ugric Minorities |date=2011 |publisher=University of Helsinki, Department of Finnish, Finno-Ugrian and Scandinavian Studies |isbn=978-952-5667-28-8 |editor1-last=Grünthal |editor1-first=Riho |location=Helsinki, Finland |pages=90–91 |chapter=The Sámi Language Situation in Russia |oclc=755168782 |editor2-last=Kovács |editor2-first=Magdolna |chapter-url=https://munin.uit.no/bitstream/handle/10037/5123/article.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}}</ref> Other estimates counted about 30 Ter Sámi speakers in Murmansk Oblast, as well as in St. Petersburg, in 2007. The mean age of the youngest Ter Sámi speakers at that time was 50.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rießler |first=Michael |title=Språk og språkforhold i Sápmi |last2=Wilbur |first2=Joshua |publisher=Nordeuropa-Institut |year=2007 |isbn=978-3-932406-26-3 |editor-last=Bull |editor-first=Tove |location=Berlin, Germany |page=40 |trans-title=Language and Language Conditions in Sápmi |chapter=Documenting the Endangered Kola Saami Languages |doi=10.18452/1896 |editor-last2=Kusmenko |editor-first2=Jurij |editor-last3=Rießler |editor-first3=Michael}}</ref> thumbnail|300px|Sámi dialects and settlements in Russia:{{legend|lightgreen|Ter}}

==History== [[File:ZoyaGerasimovaNinaAfanasyevaInterview.jpg|thumb|Zoya Gerasimova (left), one of the last speakers of Ter Sámi, speaking with Nina Afanasyeva (2006)|alt=]] 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.<ref name="Tiuraniemi Olli 2004">Tiuraniemi Olli: "Anatoli Zaharov on maapallon ainoa turjansaamea puhuva mies", ''Kide'' 6 / 2004.</ref>

The rapid decline in the number of speakers was caused by Soviet collectivisation, 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.<ref name="Tiuraniemi Olli 2004"/>

==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.<ref>Itkonen T. I.: "Koltan- ja kuolanlapin sanakirja", Helsinki: Société Finno-Ougrienne, 1958.</ref><ref>Itkonen T. I.: "Koltan- ja kuolanlappalaisia satuja", 1931.''Memoires de la Société Finno-Ougrienne 60''</ref>

<!--The earliest known documentation of Sámi languages is a short Ter Sámi vocabulary collected by the British explorer Stephen Burrough in 1557; the vocabulary was published by Richard Hakluyt.<ref>Aikio Samuli: "Olbmot ovdal min - Sámiid historjá 1700-logu rádjái". Girjegiisá: Kárášjohka, 1992.</ref>--> {{clear}}

== Phonology == === Consonants === {| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center ! !Labial !Alveolar !Post-<br>alveolar !Palatal !Velar !Glottal |- align="center" !Plosive |{{IPA link|p}} {{IPA link|b}} |{{IPA link|t}} {{IPA link|d}} | | |{{IPA link|k}} {{IPA link|ɡ}} | |- !Affricate | |{{IPA link|t͡s}} {{IPA link|d͡z}} |{{IPA link|t͡ʃ}} {{IPA link|d͡ʒ}} | | | |- align="center" !Fricative |{{IPA link|f}} {{IPA link|v}} |{{IPA link|s}} {{IPA link|z}} |{{IPA link|ʃ}} {{IPA link|ʒ}} | |{{IPA link|x}} |{{IPA link|h}} |- align="center" !Nasal |{{IPA link|m}} |{{IPA link|n̥}} {{IPA link|n}} | | |{{IPA link|ŋ}} | |- align="center" ! rowspan="2" |Approximant<br>(Lateral) | | | |{{IPA link|j}} | | |- align="center" | |{{IPA link|l̥}} {{IPA link|l}} | | | | |- align="center" !Trill | |{{IPA link|r̥}} {{IPA link|r}} | | | | |}

* All consonants except for /j/ may be palatalized [ʲ]. * Consonants /t, d/ can also sound as half-palatalized.

=== Vowels === {| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center ! rowspan="2" | ! colspan="2" |Front ! colspan="2" |Central ! colspan="2" |Back |- !<small>short</small> !<small>long</small> !<small>short</small> !<small>long</small> !<small>short</small> !<small>long</small> |- align="center" !Close |{{IPA link|i}} |{{IPA link|iː}} |{{IPA link|ɨ}} |{{IPA link|ɨː}} |{{IPA link|u}} |{{IPA link|uː}} |- align="center" !Mid | colspan="2" |{{IPA link|ɛ}} | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" |{{IPA link|o}} |- align="center" !Open | colspan="2" | |{{IPA link|a}} |{{IPA link|aː}} | colspan="2" |{{IPA link|ɔ}} |}

* After palatalized consonants, {{IPA|/ɛ/}} is realized as {{IPAblink|e}}.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tereškin|first=Sergej N.|title=Jokan'gskij dialekt Saamskogo Jazyka|publisher=Sankt Petersburg: Rossijskij Gosudarstvennyj pedagogičeskij Universitet imeni|year=2002}}</ref>

==Writing system== A spelling system for Sámi languages using the Latin alphabet and based on Skolt Sámi was developed in the 1930s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ter Sami alphabet, pronunciation and language |url=https://www.omniglot.com/writing/tersami.htm |access-date=16 February 2018 |publisher=Omniglot.com}}</ref> Oktyabrina Voronova published the only poetry booklet in Ter Sámi in 1989 using an orthography based on the Cyrillic Kildin Sámi orthography of 1982.<ref>Rießler, Michael (2018). "Kola Sámi literature (Kildin Sámi, Ter Sámi, Akkala Sámi)". In: [https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/305133/riesler2018b.pdf?sequence=1 ''"Čálli giehta olla guhkás" A writing hand reaches further ({S}ámi proverb)''] Johanna Domokos (ed.). Helsinki: Yhdenvertaisen kulttuurin puolesta ry, pp.&nbsp;73–78.</ref><!-- А аÄ äБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еË ë

[a][æ][b][v][g][d][jɛ][jɔ]

Ж жЗ зҺ һИ иЙ йҊ ҋЈ јК к

[ʒ][z][ʰ][i][j][j̥][k]

Л лӅ ӆМ мӍ ӎН нӉ ӊӇ ӈО о

[l][l̥][m][m̥][n][n̥][ŋ][ɔ]

П пР рҎ ҏС сТ тУ уФ фХ х

[p][r][r̥][s][t][u][f][x]

Ц цЧ чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ьЭ э

[ts][ʧ][ʃ][ʃtʃ]”[ɨ]’[ɛ]

Ӭ ӭЮ юЯ я

[ɛ][ju][ja]

A aĀ āÅ åB bC cČ čD dE e

[a][a:][ɒ][b][ts][ʧ][d][e]

Ē ēF fG gH hI iĪ īƗ ɨJ j

[e:][f][g][x/ʰ][i][i:][ɨ][j]

K kL lM mN nŊ ŋO oŌ ōP p

[k][l][m][n][ŋ][o][o:][p]

S sŠ šT tU uŪ ūV vZ zŽ ž

[s][ʃ][t][u][u:][v][z][ʒ]

Ʒ ʒǮ ǯ’

[dz][dʒ][ʲ]--> {| style="font-family:Microsoft Serif; font-size:1.6em; border-color:#000000; border-width:1px; border-style:solid; border-collapse:collapse; background-color:#F8F8EF; text-align:center; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em;" |+Ter Sámi alphabet | style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |А а | style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ӓ ӓ | style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Б б | style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |В в | style="width:3.5em" |Г г | style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Д д | style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Е е | style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ё ё | style="width:3em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" |Ж ж |- |З з |И и |Й й |К к |Л л |Ӆ ӆ |М м |Ӎ ӎ |Н н |- |Ӊ ӊ |Ӈ ӈ |О о |П п |Р р |Ҏ ҏ |С с |Т т |У у |- |Ф ф |Х х |Ц ц |Ч ч |Ш ш |Ъ ъ |Ы ы |Ӹ ӹ |Ь ь |- |Ҍ ҍ |Э э |Ӭ ӭ |Ю ю |Я я | | | | |} == Morphology == Ter Sámi has 8 cases, Nominative, Genitive, Accusative, Essive, Inessive-Lative, Dative-Illative, Abessive, and Comitative.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tereškin|first=Sergej|title=. Йоганьгский диалект саамского языка|year=2002|location=Saint Petersburg}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" |+ !case !singular !plural |- |{{abbr|{{sc|NOM}}|Nominative}} | - |change of the main part of word |- |{{abbr|{{sc|GEN}}|Genitive}} |change of the main part of word |change of the main part of word |- |{{abbr|{{sc|ACC}}|Accusative}} |change of the main part of word |t |- |{{abbr|{{sc|ESS}}|Essive}} |n |n |- |{{abbr|{{sc|INE}}|Inessive}} |s't |n |- |{{abbr|{{sc|DAT}}|Dative}} |a, i |t |- |{{abbr|{{sc|ABE}}|Abessive}} |ta |ta |- |{{abbr|{{sc|COM}}|Comitative}} |n |k'em, g'em |}

=== Examples of the genitive === (in the UPA)

{{UPA|abre' paл}} = raining cloud

{{UPA|pɛci̮ pal'čemi̮š}} = slaughter of deer

{{UPA|taja oлmi̮j}} = German inhabitant

{{UPA|tara parnɛ}} = Russian boys

=== Plurals === In the nominative case, the base word changes when a plural is made. {| class="wikitable" |+ !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 'who' in the cases. {| class="wikitable" |+ !Case !Singular !Plural |- !Nominative |ku |kogg |- !Genitive |konn |kojt |- !Accusative |konn |kojt |- !Essive |kon'n'in |kojn |- !Inessive |kon'n'es't |kojn |- !Dative |kon'n'i |kojt |- !Abessive |konta |kojta |- !Comitative |kon'in |kojgujm |}

== Vocabulary == {| class="wikitable" |+ Sample vocabulary in Ter Sámi<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tersamisk - Allkunne |url=https://www.allkunne.no/framside/sprak/sprak-i-verda/tersamisk/7/84127/ |access-date=2021-01-24 |website=www.allkunne.no |language=no}}</ref> ! Ter Sámi || Latin transcription || English gloss |- | {{lang|sjt|выэййвэ}} | vɨejjve | head |- | {{lang|sjt|ныкчым}} | nɨkčɨm | tongue |- | {{lang|sjt|кидт}} | kidt | hand |- | {{lang|sjt|лоннҍт}} | lonn't | bird |- | {{lang|sjt|чадце}} | čadc'e | water |- | {{lang|sjt|ке̄ддҍкэ}} | kiedd'ke | stone |- | {{lang|sjt|аббьрэ}} | abb're | rain |- | {{lang|sjt|толл}} | toll | fire |}

== Notes == {{reflist}} ==External links== *{{Commons category inline}} *[http://gtweb.uit.no/webdict/index_sjt-eng.html Ter saami dictionary] *[https://www.academia.edu/30303100/Die_Struktur_der_Nominalphrase_im_Tersaamischen Die Struktur der Nominalphrase im Tersaamischen] (in German) *[https://www.sgr.fi/fi/files/original/f57ffb28586762170a1ee2002de8d2ef.pdf Koltan- ja kuolanlapin sanakirja] (Kola Saami dictionary translating into Finnish and German, includes Ter Saami) *[https://fennougrica.kansalliskirjasto.fi/handle/10024/89931 Koltan- ja kuolanlappalaisia satuja] (texts in Kola Saami languages, includes Ter Saami) {{Uralic languages}} {{Sámi journalism}}

Category:Sámi in Russia Category:Eastern Sámi languages Category:Indigenous languages of European Russia Category:Endangered Uralic languages Category:Endangered languages of Europe