Karelian Proper () is a supradialect of the Karelian language, which is a Finnic language. Karelian Proper is one of two or three Karelian dialects, along with Livvi-Karelian and Ludic. Karelian Proper is a direct descendent of the Old Karelian language, compared to Livvi-Karelian and Ludian supradialects which were formed through interactions between the Old Karelian and the Old Veps languages. Karelian Proper is situated in all of White Karelia and Central Karelia (parts of Olonets Karelia).
Dialects Karelian Proper is divided into two main dialects, which are Northern Karelian and South Karelian. The terms North and South Karelian are often avoided to avoid conflict with the Regions of Finland; North Karelia and South Karelia. Karelian Proper and most of its dialects are mostly mutually intelligible with the Finnish language, however Karelian Proper is not entirely mutually intelligible with Livvi-Karelian.
Karelian Proper North Karelian (spoken in the parishes of , , Kiestinki, Kontokki, , Paanajärvi, , Suomussalmi, Uhtua, , and Vuokkiniemi) South Karelian (spoken in the parishes of Ilomantsi, Impilahti, , , , Porajärvi, Repola, Rukajärvi, , , Suojärvi and ; and additionally in the enclaves of Tver, Tikhvin and Valday) Tver Karelian dialect Maksuatiha dialect Ruameška dialect dialect Vesjegonsk (Vessi) dialect
White Sea Karelian White Sea Karelian (North Karelian) is the second most spoken dialect of Karelian Proper, spoken in the northernmost parts of the Republic of Karelia and in Kuhmo, Finland. Within the Republic of Karelia it is mainly spoken in Kalevala, Kostomuksha and Loukhi. Within Finland, it is spoken in Suomussalmi. White Sea Karelian is the most mutually intelligible dialect of Karelian Proper to Finnish language speakers.
Example: North KarelianFinnishEnglishEnnein vanhah karjalaiset varattih riähkyä.Ennen vanhaan karjalaiset varoivat tekemästä syntiä.In the old days, Karelians were careful not to sin.
South Karelian
South Karelian is the most spoken of the two dialects of Karelian Proper, and it is spoken in Central Karelia and Tver Karelian in Tver Oblast. South Karelian is spoken in , , Repola, Rukajärvi, , , Porajärvi, Ilomantsi, , Suojärvi, Tver Karelia (Tver Oblast, Likhoslavl), Tihvinä, Valday, and Impilahti.
Example: South KarelianFinnishEnglishTerveh teillä kaikilla armahat rištikanzat!Tervehdys teille kaikille rakkaat kuulijat!Greetings to all you dear listeners!
Phonology
Vowels
Diphthongs П.М. Зайков. Грамматика карельского языка. Петрозаводск: Периодика, 1999Front-harmonicNeutralBack-harmonicFront+neutralFront+frontNeutral+frontNeutral+backBack+neutralBack+backOpen to closeäiäyaiauMid to closeöiöyeyeieuoiouCloseyiiyiuuiClose to midyöieuoClose to openyäiäua
Triphthongs Front-harmonicNeutralBack-harmonicFront+neutralFrontNeutral+frontNeutral+backBack+neutralBackClose-mid-closeClose-open-close
Consonants Voiced consonants /b, d, ɡ, z, ʒ/ are found in loanwords in Karelian Proper. Palatalized consonants /dʲ lʲ nʲ rʲ sʲ tʲ/ (/zʲ/) are present in loanwords only in Karelian Proper. In South Karelian (Tver Karelian), /dʲ lʲ nʲ rʲ sʲ tʲ zʲ/ also exist in native words. LabialDental/ AlveolarPostalv./ PalatalVelarGlottalNasal Plosivevoiceless voiced Affricate( ) Fricativevoiceless( ) voiced Trill Approximant
Grammatical cases Case system of Karelian Proper is extremely similar to the Finnish language and to other related Baltic-Finnic languages. These are the grammatical cases for food: casesingularpluralnom.acc.gen.par.ess.tra.ine.abe.ela.ade.-all.abl.com.prol.approx.
Alphabet Until the 1930s, Karelian had an official alphabet, and the Russian Cyrillic alphabet was used for sporadic publications. in 1930–31 a new Latin-based alphabet was developed. Majuscule Forms (also called uppercase or capital letters)ABČDEFGHIJKLMNOPRSŠZŽTUVYÄÖʼMinuscule Forms (also called lowercase or small letters)abčdefghijklmnoprsšzžtuvyäöʼ In 2007, the current Karelian alphabet was approved in the Republic of Karelia, making it a uniform script for all Karelian languages. This unified alphabet was introduced as a replacement to deal with the separate Olonets Karelian and Karelian Proper alphabets. The main difference between the two alphabets is the inclusion of the letter C. Majuscule Forms (also called uppercase or capital letters)ABCČDEFGHIJKLMNOPRSŠZŽTUVYÄÖʼMinuscule Forms (also called lowercase or small letters)abcčdefghijklmnoprsšzžtuvyäöʼ
Letter names and IPA LetterLetter nameIPAA/ɑ/B/b/C/ts/Č/tʃ/D/d/E/e/F/f/G/ɡ/H/h/I/i/J/j/K/k/L/l/M/m/N/n/O/o/P/p/R/r/S/s/Š/ʃ/Z/z/Ž/ʒ/T/t/U/u/V/v/Y/y/Ä/æ/Ö/ø/ʼ/ʲ/
Common phrases
Notes
References