Aanaar (Inari) Saami

Abstract

<p>Aanaar (Inari) Saami is an indigenous language spoken around Lake Aanaar in the municipality of Aanaar (Finnish: Inari) in the northernmost Finland. Aanaar Saami is the only Saami language traditionally spoken only within the territory of Finland. One of the most successful examples of language revitalization globally, Aanaar Saami has currently approximately 450 speakers. While the grammatical structure of the language shares many typical features with the eastern Saami languages, from the perspective of the lexicon it is closer to North Saami in the west than to Skolt Saami in the east. The most prominent feature of Aanaar Saami grammar is the complex morphophonology in nominal and verbal inflection and derivation: metaphony, consonant gradation, and quantity-type alteration in single vowels, diphthongs, and consonants. As virtually all speakers of Aanaar Saami are bilingual in Finnish, this majority language increasingly affects especially the syntax and lexicon of Aanaar Saam<br></p>