My uncle just finished 1.6 kg, 700 pages long dictionary of Northern Sami, a language spoken by around 20,000 speakers.
Sami are an indigenous people who have inhabited large parts of Northern Europe spanning from Russia to Norway for millenniums.
He has dedicated his life to advocate for their rights and preserve their languages and culture. This book is a major contribution in an effort to ensure that this ancient language will be passed on to future generations.
@LeoSammallahti Giitu! That’s incredibly cool of your uncle! It hits me when I see finnish and davvisámegiella next to each other that the languages are very similar.
@lilletale @LeoSammallahti Is there an on-line version of this dictionary? Also, next steps: is there a Wikipedia in this language? Tried language codes smi and sme, and they don't seem to exist. And not in https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Requests_for_new_languages .
@tzafrir It seems to be exactly one Wikipedia in davvisámegiella: https://se.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Njalla
@LeoSammallahti it’s good to know that there’s at least one reasonable language in Finland
@LeoSammallahti this is amazing to read!
Congratulations to him and big up the Sami 😁
@LeoSammallahti This is so lovely!!
@LeoSammallahti cool guy!
@LeoSammallahti
Interesting, but is there any reason to have a book rather than using the Wiktionary ?
It last longer. 👍
Books are still symbol of knowlegde that last in time.
And Sàpmi is not a place where you can access internet everywhere at anytime.
One doesn't need permanent internet access to use Wikipedia/Wiktionary (as long as the latest revision is not specifically needed).
Also, it's not obvious that a collective project like the Wiktionary would be less resilient than a book...
@lienrag @LeoSammallahti Wiktionary requires (well, encourages) sources, you know.
@LeoSammallahti That is awesome. Language preservation is so important. I'm curious after all of this, what some of his favorite words are?
I will ask him, good question :)
@LeoSammallahti LET'S GOOOO
@LeoSammallahti this rules, wow
@LeoSammallahti Cool.
Maybe @loke might be interested in this.
@LeoSammallahti this is amazing! 😊🙌🏻
@LeoSammallahti Image description: Indoors. A white senior man with grey hair and beard holds up a ream of paper. On the paper it says: SÁMI-SUOMA SÁTNEGIRJI / POHJOISSAAME – SUOMI-SANAKIRJA
@LeoSammallahti Please say him thank's a lot for his work!
@LeoSammallahti Many congratulations, a deep respect to your uncle and the culture he maintains
@LeoSammallahti That is exceptionally impressive. I'm assuming that the dictionary takes into account the different dialects and languages within the Sapmi branch?
How would one go about getting their hands on one of those dictionaries... ? Does your uncle have a publishing deal? When can one expect to be able to order a copy?
@LeoSammallahti this RULES, great job to your uncle
@LeoSammallahti this fuckin owns
@LeoSammallahti That's awesome!
@LeoSammallahti
The Autor's name in not visible, but thanks, preserving human languages is saving part of human history
@LeoSammallahti congratulations!
@LeoSammallahti oh wow! I used to know the Sami tribes single IT guy in 2001 when I lived in Tornio
@LeoSammallahti I appreciate the effort.
@LeoSammallahti That’s amazing. Ancestors of mine within the last couple of centuries spoke both Māori and Welsh, so support for indigenous and minority languages is close to my heart.
@LeoSammallahti all languages and cultures deserve to be preserved, for the future generations to learn what it was, or it is.
@LeoSammallahti Congratulations to your uncle! Is this published or are there publishing plans? I’d like to shoot a link to a linguistics group I’m in.
Thanks! I will ask and get back to you :)
@LeoSammallahti whoa what a cool dude!!!