This year, Norway is the host country for the awarding of the Nordic Sami language award Gollegiella (Northern Sami for “golden language”). The prize is awarded every other year to individuals, organizations or institutions that have made an effort to promote the Sami language. This year, it was Sig-Britt Persson and language professor Pekka Sammallahti who ran away with the award, which was handed out in Oslo. This year’s committee chose to divide it between the two candidates in order to highlight language work across national borders. Sami languages Between 20,000 and 30,000 speak the various Sami languages. The most common Sami languages in Norway are Northern Sami, Southern Sami and Lule Sami. Northern Sami is spoken by over 90 percent of those who use the Sami language on a daily basis. The core area is Finnmark and Nord-Troms. Around 600 people speak Southern Sami. About half of them live in Norway. Around 500 speak Lule Sami in Norway, and about 1,500 in Sweden. Source: store norske lexikon – Thank you – If I’m being completely honest, this is not an award I’ve been waiting for. This is what award winner Persson tells news. She describes it as a happy surprise. SPEECH: Sig-Britt Persson gives an acceptance speech for the Gollegiella language award. Photo: Dávvet Bruun-Solbakk / news – It was a pleasant surprise. I am grateful and feel honored to have received this award. Sami language week is underway and the flight train makes Sami visible. Persson has worked with the South Sami language for several decades and she believes the award is proof that they have, after all, achieved something. – I have always been a fighter and decided that Sami will be the path I continue on. – What has been my driving force is that the language work works. Today there are many, many more people who speak Southern Sami than when I started my work 50 years ago. Today, there are many young people who learn the language, but they have a long way to go, but it is a start. – What is Sami? Pekka Sammallahti was awarded the prize for his “invaluable” and long-term efforts for the Sami languages. TWO HAPPY WINNERS: Prize winners Sig-Britt Persson and Pekka Sammallahti are delighted to have won the prize. Photo: Dávvet Bruun-Solbakk / news – I don’t know what I can say other than that it seems to be very important and a big deal for us who received the award, he says to news. Sammallahti says that his biggest motivation for working with Sami has been the human relations in the north. – Sami is also an intellectual challenge, what is Sami? What belongs to Sami? – Touches the heart Sami Parliament President in Norway, Silje Karine Muotka (Norwegian Sami National Federation) tells news that both deserve the award. PRESENT: President of the Sami Parliament Silje Karine Muotka (NSR) was present when the Gollegiella language prize was awarded. Photo: Johan Isak Niska / news – They have done enormously important work throughout their lives to develop, secure and pass on our precious heart language. – What does such a price mean? – It touches the heart. Especially seeing that it is possible to revitalize Sami. I know many people feel that it seems hopeless, but that is not true. Sig-Britt has shown it, and I think of her when I see young South Sami people going to school. Muotka says that she is looking forward to the future of Sami. – Young people who know enough Sami to use it in working life have a gold card in working life and life in general. They can work in all kinds of fields and levels, so it is relevant and important to learn Sami. But it is also of great importance personally to be able to use Sami in everyday life. – I have known that is probably the most important gain, if you want to measure how good it is, she says. – Great joy. This is the eleventh time the language prize has been awarded. It was established by the ministers in Norway, Sweden and Finland who are responsible for Sami issues. Local Government and District Minister Erling Sande (Sp) was present during the awarding ceremony and says in a press release that the winners have, in their own way, been at the forefront of promoting the Sami languages. Municipal and District Minister Erling Sande (Sp) during the award ceremony. Photo: Dávvet Bruun-Solbakk / news – It is with great pleasure that I congratulate the two award winners. Sig-Britt Persson and Pekka Sammallahti show many sides of Sami language work – from the artistic and literary to the academic and linguistic, says Sande. – Valuable – It will certainly be a contribution to keeping the languages alive. That’s what Olaf Husby says to news. He is a retired Associate Professor of Linguistics at NTNU and believes that such a language prize is important. Olaf Husby is retired Associate Professor of Linguistics at NTNU. Photo: Private – What we see is that when you have such a language award, it is a sign that the language has taken the step from being an everyday language in an environment, to becoming a language that applies within Sami society, says Husby. He believes that the prize puts Sami on the map for those who use it and that you then see that the language is in focus. Then you appreciate that it is used, he says. – But also for those of us on the outside who do not use Sami on a daily basis, we see that this is a language that is in use and that is valuable. Such an award will be a very strong inspiration for people who have grown up with the language, and who see that it is about to disappear, he says. – But then it is strengthened by the fact that today a language prize is awarded which shows that the language is strong and that it is in use. Published 22.10.2024, at 13.48 Updated 22.10.2024, at 4 p.m
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Sami language prize awarded today: – A contribution to keeping the languages alive – news Sápmi
