Skolt Sámi

Skolt Sámi (sääʹmǩiõll, pronounced [ɕa̟ːmʰʲc͡çiɘlː], lit. 'the Sámi language'; or nuõrttsääʹmǩiõll, pronounced [nuɘrʰtːɕa̟ːmʰʲc͡çiɘlː], lit. 'the Eastern Sámi language') is a Sámi language that is spoken by the Skolts, with approximately 300 speakers in Finland, mainly in Sevettijärvi and approximately 20–30 speakers of the Njuõʹttjäuʹrr (Notozero) dialect in an area surrounding Lake Notozero in Russia. In Norway, there are fewer than 15 that can speak Skolt Sámi (as of 2023); furthermore, the language is largely spoken in the Neiden area. It is written using a modified Roman orthography which was made official in 1973.

The term Skolt was coined by representatives of the majority culture and has negative connotation which can be compared to the term Lapp. Nevertheless, it is used in cultural and linguistic studies. In 2024, Venke Törmänen, the leader of an NGO called Norrõs Skoltesamene, wrote in Ságat, a Sámi newspaper, saying that the term "Eastern Sámi" ("østsame" in Norwegian) should not be used to refer to the Skolt Sámi.