Livvi-Karelian language

Livvi-Karelian language
Livvi
Spoken in	Russia  Finland
Region	Inhabiting the area between Ladoga and Onega lakes, northward of Svir River,  Republic of Karelia
Native speakers	14,100  (2000)
Language family	Uralic Finnic Karelian Livvi-Karelian language
Writing system	Latin (Karelian alphabet)
Official status
Regulated by	No official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-3	olo

Livvi-Karelian ^[3] (Alternate names: Livvi, Livvikovian, Livvikovskij Jazyk, Olonets, Southern Olonetsian, Karelian) ^[3][4] is a Finnic language of the Uralic family.^[5] spoken by Olonets Karelians (self-appellation livvi, livgilaizet), traditionally inhabiting the area between Ladoga and Onega lakes, northward of Svir River. The name "Olonets Karelians" is derived from the territory inhabited, Olonets Krai, named after the town of Olonets, named after the Olonka River.

History

Before World War II, Livvi-Karelian was spoken both in Russia and in Finland, in the easternmost part of Finnish Karelia. After Finland was forced to cede large parts of Karelia to the USSR after the war, the Finnish Livvi-Karelian population was resettled in Finland. Today there are still native speakers of Livvi-Karelian living scattered throughout Finland, but all areas in which Livvi-Karelian remain a community language are found in Russia.

Speakers of Livvi-Karelian may be found mainly in Olonetsky, Pryazhinsky, Pitkyarantsky, and partly Suoyarvsky districts of the Republic of Karelia.^[6]

Livvi-Karelianlong remained relatively uninfluenced by the Russian language despite the influx of Russians following the founding of Saint Petersburg in 1703.

See also

• Olonets
• Birch bark letter no. 292

References

1. ^ Change in the regulation by the president of Finland about European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, 27.11.2009 (in Finnish)
2. ^ Законодательные акты: О государственной поддержке карельского, вепсского и финского языков в Республике Карелия
3. ^ ^{a b} "Livvi-Karelian". Ethnologue. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=olo. Retrieved 28 May 2011. 
4. ^ Moseley, Christopher (2007). Encyclopedia of the world's endangered languages. Psychology Press. p. 263. http://books.google.com/books?id=6LoNl7ZRO70C&pg=PA263&dq. 
5. ^ "Language Family Trees, Uralic, Finnic". Ethnologue. http://www.ethnologue.org/show_family.asp?subid=1110-16. Retrieved 28 May 2011. 
6. ^ "Karelian Language", at the website about livvic culture

External links

• Oma Mua - a weekly newspaper in Olonets Karelian