Lähdekoodi sivulle Lule Saami Language: Present situation

{{Artikkeli
|sivun nimi=Lule Saami Language: Present situation
|kieli=englanti
|id=0188
|artikkeliteksti=<p align="justify">Those who speak the language fluently, i.e. older people, are dying out and the transferring of language from parents and grandparents to children and grandchildren has diminished markedly in recent years. Over recent decades, migration, due to a lack of jobs, to the regions outside the central Saami area and the increased number of cross-ethnic marriages have had a negative effect on the mediation of the language to new generations. </p> 
<p align="justify">There are parents who want their children to learn Lule Saami, although they themselves only understand it to varying degrees or do not speak it. These parents view is that Lule Saami is an important mark of identity which unifies the group within a social community. Fewer children learn Saami in the first instance in their homes, which was common until the 1960 s. All adult Lule Saami people have either a command of Lule Saami combined with the majority language of the region, i.e. Norwegian or Swedish, or they only speak one of the majority languages. </p> 
<p align="justify">Lule Saami is rarely used in a public context. Special programming in the Lule Saami language is broadcast for 20 minutes a week in Sweden, and for 40 minutes a week in Norway. Some of the programming content from the Norwegian side is also broadcast in Sweden and vice versa. Furthermore, there are sporadic inserts in Lule Saami on the Northern Saami radio broadcasts in which interviewees speak Lule Saami. The television news broadcasts that commenced in Norway and Sweden in 2001 are in North Saami, with occasional Lule Saami inserts, broadcast for the same reasons as the Lule Saami inserts in the Northern Saami radio broadcasts.({{Artikkelilinkki|0322|Radio}}, {{Artikkelilinkki|0323|TV}})</p> 
<p align="justify">The Swedish Church sometimes holds services entirely or partly in Lule Saami, mainly in {{Artikkelilinkki|151303|Jokkmokk}}. In Sweden, christenings, marriages and even funeral services are held in Lule Saami provided priests who know the language are available. The Lule Saami sections of the ceremonies in the Norwegian church are mainly limited to occasional text readings, hymns and prayers. In the area around Tysfjord, on the other hand, there are some Laestadian Lutheran congregations that either have Lule Saami as their main language or have interpretations of the sermons into Lule Saami.</p> 
<p align="justify">In terms of numbers of participants, the Saami Villages annual meetings are among the largest of the most genuinely Saami meetings held. The Sirges, Jåhkågasska and Duorbun annual meetings are conducted mainly in Swedish. The Unna Tjerusj annual meetings are conducted mainly in the Saami language.</p> <p>The {{Artikkelilinkki|0521|Saami Parliaments}} (<em>Sameting</em>) in Norway and Sweden have representatives who handle issues pertaining to the Lule Saami language. At the plenary meeting of the Swedish <em>Sameting</em>, occasional interpretation into Lule Saami is provided. Many of the representatives are not familiar with the Saami languages and those who do have a command of Lule Saami often speak Swedish. There is very little experience of using Saami at these occasions, and some people maintain that there is also a lack of terminology needed in such contexts. At the plenary meetings of the Norwegian <em>Sameting</em>, the languages used are North Saami and Norwegian and even the participants who have Lule Saami as their mother tongue speak a language which is more reminiscent of North Saami, rather than Lule-Saami. There are representatives for the Lule Saami language on the<em>Sámi Giellalávdegoddi</em>, the {{Artikkelilinkki|0543|Saami Language Committee}}. {{Artikkelilinkki|05108|Language legislation}} has existed in Sweden as of the year 2000.</p> <p>Few authors write novels, short-stories and poetry in Lule Saami. One of the reasons is that many have not been able to learn to read and write the language in school. Another reason is that it is generally difficult to reach a larger public through literature written in a minority language. Stig Riemmbe Gælok from Norway is the most prolific author and has mainly written poetry. His first collection of poems, <em>O, Oarjjevuodna</em> (Hellemofjorden), was published in 1983. The first novel in Lule Saami, <em>Tjaktjalasta</em> (Autumn leaves), was written by Lars Matto Tuolja. Tuolja s sister, Sigga Tuolja-Sandström, has written several books, including: <em>Ja jage gållin</em> (And the Years Went By), <em>Máno niejdda</em> (The Moon s Daughter) and <em>Soldottern, Biejveniejdda</em> (The Sun s Daughter). A young Lule Saami, Gøran Andersen, has recently written a short novel called <em>Stuorlådde</em> (The Large Bird). Mikal Urheim has written the children s book <em>Gålmmå giehto</em>, the content of which is the familiar everyday lives of the children who live in the northern Norwegian fjords. Urheim has been a teacher and is best known for his efforts for the preservation and development of his mother tongue and his culture in Norway. ({{Artikkelilinkki|0423|Literature}})</p> 
<p align="justify">Between 1976 and 2002 some 150 books were published in Lule Saami. Most of these are used in language teaching. The first writers to write teaching material in Lule Saami for younger children in schools were Maria Kitok and Susanna Kitok-Lindberg. These days most of the books that are published for school teaching are translations. However, some books, for instance, <em>Jåvvå</em>, written by Gun Aira and Ingegerd Vannar, <em>Biehtár ja Duommá jávren stulliba</em> and <em>Biehtár ja Duommá háhkabivdon</em>, written by Stig Riemmbe Gælok, are written in the original Lule Saami. During the years 1998 to 2001, almost all the publishing of books in only Lule Saami took place in Norway, with the exception of an experimental translation of the New Testament (<em>Ådå Testamennta</em>: ÅT-2000). ÅT-2000 has the largest continuous body of text of all published books and will most likely have a great impact on the normalisation of the written language. A hymn book with Lule Saami hymns and a book of the Gospels are underway and the final version of the ÅT-2000 was published in 2003. This continues a long-standing tradition of providing Christian literature in Saami languages. </p> 
<p align="justify">Nils Eric Spiik was a well-known language and culture activist who was a teacher head teacher of the {{Artikkelilinkki|0206|Saami School}} in {{Artikkelilinkki|151303|Jokkmokk}}. He wrote a grammar book (second edition in 1989) and a preliminary edition of a dictionary which was published a few years after his death in 1990. Other well-known names in Lule language work are Kurt Tore Andersen, Samuel Gælok, Anders Kintel, Susanna Angéus Kuoljok, Kåre Tjihkkom and Karin Tuolja. They have written teaching material and other books. These writers, as well as others, have also translated texts ofvarious types into Lule Saami. During the years 2000 and 2001 there was a collaboration project between {{Artikkelilinkki|1706|Árran}} - the Lule Saami Centre in Norway, the Swedish Saami Education Centre and Educational Radio in Sweden which has resulted in the Lule Saami textbooks for beginners <em>Sámásta</em> 1 and 2. Apart from course and exercise books written by Anders Nystø and Sigmund Johnsen, the course package also includes a radio programme and website with exercises.However, there is today a lack of modern dictionaries from both Norwegian and Swedish into Lule Saami and vice versa on sale in shops. </p> 
<p align="justify">An import channel for the dissemination of information for people working with language and others interested in current language issues, new literature and new teaching material in Norwegian, Swedish and Saami, is the Internet. The best example of such a service is SameNet, developed by the Saami Centre for Education in Jokkmokk.</p> <p>No Saami-language publications are published on the Swedish side. In the Saami-owned publication {{Artikkelilinkki|0314|<em>Samefolket</em>}}, which is published monthly and <em>Sáminuorra</em>, a young peoples magazine which over recent years has only been published three to four times a year, Swedish is the main language, and there are only a few inserts in Lule Sami. In Norway, there are a few Saami-language publications that are published acouple of times a week. The language in these is North Saami with occasional inserts in Lule Saami. </p> 
<p align="justify">{{Artikkelilinkki|0187|Lule Saami: Child welfare and education}}, <BR>
{{Artikkelilinkki|0106|Lule Saami Language}}</p>
|kirjoittaja=Susanna Angéus-Kuoljok
|luokat=Languages and naming
}}