Livvi-Karelian language

Livvi-Karelian
Livvi
Native to	Russia, Finland
Region	between Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega, northward of Svir River, Karelia
Native speakers	unknown (31,000 cited 2000–2010)
Language family	Uralic Finnic Karelian Livvi-Karelian
Writing system	Latin (Karelian alphabet) Cyrillic (Russia)
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Finland Republic of Karelia
Language codes
ISO 639-3	olo
Glottolog	livv1243

Livvi-Karelian (Alternate names: Livvi, Livvikovian, Olonets, Southern Olonetsian, Karelian; Russian: ливвиковский язык) is a Finnic language of the Uralic family. spoken by Olonets Karelians (self-appellation livvi, livgilaizet), traditionally inhabiting the area between Ladoga and Onega lakes, northward of Svir River. The name "Olonets Karelians" is derived from the territory inhabited, Olonets Krai, named after the town of Olonets, named after the Olonka River.

History

Before World War II, Livvi-Karelian was spoken both in Russia and in Finland, in the easternmost part of Finnish Karelia. After Finland was forced to cede large parts of Karelia to the USSR after the war, the Finnish Livvi-Karelian population was resettled in Finland. Today there are still native speakers of Livvi-Karelian living scattered throughout Finland, but all areas in which Livvi-Karelian remain a community language are found in Russia.

Speakers of Livvi-Karelian may be found mainly in Olonetsky, Pryazhinsky, Pitkyarantsky, and partly Suoyarvsky districts of the Republic of Karelia.

Livvi-Karelian long remained relatively uninfluenced by the Russian language despite the influx of Russians following the founding of Saint Petersburg in 1703.

See also

File:Gazeta-petroskoi21.jpg

et, a weekly newspaper in Olonet Karelian

• Olonets
• Birch bark letter no. 292

External links

• Oma Mua - a weekly newspaper in Olonets Karelian
• Livvi language resources at Giellatekno