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Events on December 29 in history

Akkala Sami language
2003Dec, 29

The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct.

Akkala Sami is a Sámi language that was spoken in the Sámi villages of A´kkel (Russian Бабинский, Finnish Akkala), Ču´kksuâl (Russian Экостровский) and Sââ´rvesjäu´rr (Russian Гирвасозеро, Finnish Hirvasjärvi), in the inland parts of the Kola Peninsula in Russia. Formerly erroneously regarded as a dialect of Kildin Sámi, it has recently become recognized as an independent Sámi language that is most closely related to its western neighbor Skolt Sámi.

Akkala Sámi is the most endangered Eastern Sámi language. On December 29, 2003, Maria Sergina – the last fluent native speaker of Akkala Sámi – died. However, as of 2011 there were at least two people, both aged 70, with some knowledge of Akkala Sámi. Remaining ethnic Akkala Sámi live in the village Yona.

Although there exist a description of Akkala Sámi phonology and morphology, a few published texts, and archived audio recordings, the Akkala Sami language remains among the most poorly documented Sami languages.. One of the few items in the language are chapters 23-28 of the Gospel of Matthew published in 1897. It was translated by A. Genetz, and printed at the expense of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

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