| Also Known As: Kven,North Finnish
Description:
The Kven language, also known as Kvennish, (suomi, kveenin kieli or recently proposed kainun kieli) is a Finno-Ugric language, spoken mostly by the Kven population in Northern Norway. From a linguistic point of view the Kven language is a mutually intelligible dialect of Finnish, but for political and historical reasons it received in 2005 status of a legal minority language in Norway, within the framework of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
From the linguistic point of view Kven belongs to the sub-dialect group of Ruija (Finnmark) in the much larger dialect group of Peräpohjola dialects in the Western dialects of Finnish language (see dialect chart).
Today, most speakers of the Kven language are found mostly in Northeastern Norwegian communities such as Bugøynes, Neiden, Vestre Jakobselv, Vadsø, and Børselv. Also a few older speakers may still be found in the municipalities of Nordreisa and Storfjord. Bugøynes perhaps remains the most vital of all the remaining Kven communities in Norway.
In Northeastern Norway, mainly around Varanger Fjord, the spoken language is quite similar to the standard Finnish, whereas west of Alta the few remaining Kven speakers..... full article at Wikipedia |
