In 2025, I started the year with a particular goal in mind. I wanted to commit fully, to the best of my ability, to learn an indigenous language, and reflect on this process towards the end of the year. Now that it is the December of 2025, it is finally time to share this experience. … Continue reading Learning Northern Sámi (Davvisámegiella)
Uralic
Is this a distinct language or a Finnish dialect group? (Meänkieli)
Remember that sign that I came across in UmeĂĄ, for which I wrote an introduction to Ume Sámi? I raised the question over where the word Tehkheilä could have come from, and posted it to the languages and linguistics community over in Bluesky, and received a rather compelling answer. It is perhaps a Finnic language … Continue reading Is this a distinct language or a Finnish dialect group? (Meänkieli)
An introduction to Ume Sámi
A while ago, I traveled to UmeĂĄ in Västerbotten County in Sweden. It was there when I came across signs like these, on which upcoming events in the city are posted. But it was not the events that caught my attention, but more rather, the languages which are featured on the signs themselves. While I … Continue reading An introduction to Ume Sámi
Which language has the most grammatical cases?
"It's Hungarian." It is probably the one answer you would come across the most, online and in person. After all, being part of the Uralic languages, members of this family are generally known for their extensive grammatical case system. Estonian has 14 or 15, Finnish has 15, and Hungarian has 18 of these. But there … Continue reading Which language has the most grammatical cases?
The Language Closet 