Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Kildin Sámi, Eastern Saami, Kola Saami, кильдинский саамский язык, Кӣллт са̄мь кӣлл, Kiillt saam' kiill, kiltinänsaame, Gielddasámegiella, Kildin Sami, "Kildin Lappish", "Lapp"
CLASSIFICATION		Uralic, Saami
ORTHOGRAPHY		Cyrillic
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		sjd
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

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Information from: “Documenting the endangered Kola Saami languages” (39–82) . Michael Riessler and Joshua Wilbur (2007) , Tove Bull and Jurij Kusmenko and Michael Rießler · Nordeuropa-Institut der Humbolt-Universität

Severely endangered

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available
~300
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
" The number of 500-700 speakers, which is found in most reference books, seems to be rather optimistic."

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

MORE ON VITALITY

"...several older and even a few younger Kildin Saami use their mother tongue in conversation with family members, relatives and friends. On the whole, however, the number of Kildin speakers is decreasing rapidly from year to year and the language must be characterized as severely endangered. Especially among the younger generation, there is a strong decline in active language competence due to the lack of a vibrant speech community and the lack of social motivations for learning and using Saami."

INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT

School books, revitalization projects, seminars

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Russian

Scripts (Writing system)

Cyrillic

Competing Orthographies

3 main variants

More on Orthography

"Even though only a few Saami seem to use the orthography, each different orthographic variant has its own group of adherents, and they frequently have very emotional views concerning the other variants."

PLACES: Russia, Murmansk oblast

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Kola peninsula

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: "Originally, Kildin was spoken in most parts of the central Kola Peninsula. Today, more or less compact Kildin Saami settlements in or close to their original villages are found only in Lujavv’r, Revda, Kola, and Teriberka. But small Kildin Saami speach communities are found today in all larger settlements, such as in Murmansk, Olenegorsk, Apatity, etc."

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
500
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
1,000
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"1,900 Saami in the Russian Federation (1995 M. Krauss). Data for the ethnic population is from M. Krauss (1995).

DATE OF INFO: 2007

PLACES: Russia;

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
500-600
Native speakers worldwide

MORE ON VITALITY

"Kildin, Inari, Skolt and South Sámi languages are all spoken by 300 to 1000 individuals. Although these four
varieties risk being replaced by the dominating languages, they are transmitted to children at home in some families and/or in special scholastic immersion environments known as “language nests” for a smaller number of children, and language emersion camps for adolescents. Therefore, they are not immediately threatened by extinction”

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

Russian Federation's 1991 law on language states that "Russian citizens have the right to obtain education in their own languages if it is possible to organize it"

INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT

Textbooks, radio broadcasts in Lovozero

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

Sámi is used as a supplmentary language in one kindergarten in Lovozero and in "mother tongue" instruction for 2-3 hours/week at one school in Lovozero for grades 1-4 (this is in reality foreign language instruction for the students.) There is a Sámi radio station in Lovozero that transmits 25 minutes/week of Kildin Sámi.

"The Sámi associations in the Murmansk area and the Kola Sámi Documentation Project have produced teaching materials, grammars, an online Kildin Sámi–Russian dictionary, arranged several language courses, conversation circles and immersion education for young people. This immersion education took the form of intensive two week camps during the summer of 2007 and 2008, where the participants were trained by elderly mother tongue speakers who spoke only Sámi to them (Rießler and Scheller 2007; Scheller 2008).”

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Russia, Murmansk County

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
300-700
Native speakers worldwide

MORE ON VITALITY

There are probably less than 300 speakers of Kildin who actively use their language

PLACES: Russia

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Kola Peninsula, northwestern-most region of Russia

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
800
Native speakers worldwide

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
787
Native speakers worldwide

			2006	"Kola Sámi" DoBES Project							http://www.mpi.nl/DOBES/projects/sami	Jurij Kusmenko and Michael Rießler and Elisabeth Scheller	Kusmenko, Jurij, Michael Rießler and Elisabeth Scheller. 2006. ""Kola Sámi" DoBES Project." Online: http://www.mpi.nl/DOBES/projects/sami.			300-700		100-999						Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	There are probably less than 300 speakers of Kildin who actively use their language				Russia	Kola Peninsula, northwestern-most region of Russia
0199255911			2005	The World Atlas of Language Structures			Bernard Comrie and David Gil and Martin Haspelmath and Matthew S. Dryer	Oxford University Press		New York			2005. "The World Atlas of Language Structures." edited by Bernard Comrie et al. Oxford University Press.																		67.0,37.0
		16	2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)			M. Paul Lewis	SIL International		Dallas, TX	http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub	1,000	500	2007	100-999	"1,900 Saami in the Russian Federation (1995 M. Krauss). Data for the ethnic population is from M. Krauss (1995).					Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)					Russia;
			2020	Reclaiming Sámi languages: indigenous language emancipation from East to West				De Gruyter Mouton	Linguistic Minorities in Europe Online		https://www.degruyter.com/database/LME/entry/lme.12421415/html	Rasmussen, Torkel and Shaun Nolan, John	Rasmussen, Torkel and Shaun Nolan, John. "Reclaiming Sámi languages: indigenous language emancipation from East to West". Linguistic Minorities in Europe Online. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, 2020. https://www.degruyter.com/database/LME/entry/lme.12421415/html. Accessed 2021-11-02.			500-600		100-999			Russian Federation's 1991 law on language states that "Russian citizens have the right to obtain education in their own languages if it is possible to organize it"	Sámi is used as a supplmentary language in one kindergarten in Lovozero and in "mother tongue" instruction for 2-3 hours/week at one school in Lovozero for grades 1-4 (this is in reality foreign language instruction for the students.) There is a Sámi radio station in Lovozero that transmits 25 minutes/week of Kildin Sámi. "The Sámi associations in the Murmansk area and the Kola Sámi Documentation Project have produced teaching materials, grammars, an online Kildin Sámi–Russian dictionary, arranged several language courses, conversation circles and immersion education for young people. This immersion education took the form of intensive two week camps during the summer of 2007 and 2008, where the participants were trained by elderly mother tongue speakers who spoke only Sámi to them (Rießler and Scheller 2007; Scheller 2008).”	Textbooks, radio broadcasts in Lovozero	Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	"Kildin, Inari, Skolt and South Sámi languages are all spoken by 300 to 1000 individuals. Although these four varieties risk being replaced by the dominating languages, they are transmitted to children at home in some families and/or in special scholastic immersion environments known as “language nests” for a smaller number of children, and language emersion camps for adolescents. Therefore, they are not immediately threatened by extinction”					Russia, Murmansk County
973-3-932406-26-3	Berliner Beiträge zur Skandinavistik		2007	Documenting the endangered Kola Saami languages	Språk og språkforhold i Sápmi	39–82	Tove Bull and Jurij Kusmenko and Michael Rießler	Nordeuropa-Institut der Humbolt-Universität			https://www.academia.edu/5817518/Documenting_the_endangered_Kola_Saami_languages	Michael Riessler and Joshua Wilbur				~300		100-999	" The number of 500-700 speakers, which is found in most reference books, seems to be rather optimistic."	Russian			School books, revitalization projects, seminars	Severely Endangered (60 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	"...several older and even a few younger Kildin Saami use their mother tongue in conversation with family members, relatives and friends. On the whole, however, the number of Kildin speakers is decreasing rapidly from year to year and the language must be characterized as severely endangered. Especially among the younger generation, there is a strong decline in active language competence due to the lack of a vibrant speech community and the lack of social motivations for learning and using Saami."	14	14	"Originally, Kildin was spoken in most parts of the central Kola Peninsula. Today, more or less compact Kildin Saami settlements in or close to their original villages are found only in Lujavv’r, Revda, Kola, and Teriberka. But small Kildin Saami speach communities are found today in all larger settlements, such as in Murmansk, Olenegorsk, Apatity, etc."	Russia, Murmansk oblast	Kola peninsula	68.004353, 35.001731
		3rd	2010	Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger				UNESCO Publishing		Paris	http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas	Christopher Moseley (ed.)	Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)	ll_pub		787		100-999						Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)							68.0075,35.0079
				World Oral Literature Project							http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.			800		100-999						Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)

Kildin Saami

Language metadata

Language information by source

Severely endangered

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~300

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

500

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

500-600

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

300-700

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

800

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

787

Discussion

Kildin Saami

Language metadata

Language information by source

Severely endangered

60 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~300

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

500

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

500-600

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

300-700

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

800

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

787

Discussion

Suggest information or improvement

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Sources of information

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