Veps language

Veps
vepsän kelʹ
Native toRussia
RegionKarelia (Veps National Volost)
Leningrad Oblast
Vologda Oblast
Ethnicity5,900 Veps (2010 census)
Native speakers
1,300 (2020 census [1])[2]
Uralic
Latin (Vepsian alphabet)
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-3vep
Glottologveps1250
ELPVeps
Distribution of Veps at the beginning of the 20th and 21st centuries[4][5]
Veps is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010).[6]

Veps, also known as Vepsian (Veps: vepsän kelʹ, vepsän keli, or vepsä), is a Finnic language from the Uralic language family, that is spoken by Vepsians. The language is written in the Latin script, and is closely related to Finnish and Karelian.

According to Soviet statistics, 12,500 people were self-designated ethnic Veps at the end of 1989. There were 5,900 self-designated ethnic Veps in 2010,[2] and around 3,600 native speakers.

According to the location of the people, the language is divided into three main dialects: Northern Veps (at Lake Onega to the south of Petrozavodsk, to the north of the river Svir, including the former Veps National Volost), Central Veps (in the east of the Leningrad Oblast and northwest of the Vologda Oblast), and Southern Veps (in the Leningrad Oblast). The Northern dialect seems the most distinct of the three; however, it is still mutually intelligible for speakers of the other two dialects. Speakers of the Northern dialect call themselves "Ludi" (lüdikad), or lüdilaižed.

In Russia, more than 350 children learn the Veps language in a total of five national schools.[7]

  1. ^ "Росстат — Всероссийская перепись населения 2020". rosstat.gov.ru. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
  2. ^ a b Veps at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  3. ^ "O gosudarstvennoy podderzhke karelskogo, vepsskogo i finskogo yazykov v Respublike Kareliya" О государственной поддержке карельского, вепсского и финского языков в Республике Карелия. Kareliya ofitsialnaya Карелия официальная (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2018-12-25. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
  4. ^ Rantanen, Timo; Tolvanen, Harri; Roose, Meeli; Ylikoski, Jussi; Vesakoski, Outi (2022-06-08). "Best practices for spatial language data harmonization, sharing and map creation—A case study of Uralic". PLOS ONE. 17 (6): e0269648. Bibcode:2022PLoSO..1769648R. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0269648. PMC 9176854. PMID 35675367.
  5. ^ Rantanen, Timo, Vesakoski, Outi, Ylikoski, Jussi, & Tolvanen, Harri. (2021). Geographical database of the Uralic languages (v1.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4784188
  6. ^ "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger" (PDF). UNESCO. 2010. p. 36. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-05-31. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
  7. ^ "The Vepsian Culture Society in Karelia Celebrates its 15th Anniversary". The Official Karelia. 9 December 2004. Archived from the original on 2018-09-01. Retrieved 2012-08-03.