Dear John, Most Samis live in Norway. In Norway, the Germanic language there borrowed the word S�pmi, S�mi, as "same" with an adjective "samisk". In Finland, where there are not very many Sami speakers compared to Norway, particular orthographic practices of that language write long vowels with double letters, hence "saami".
The English language borrows words from other languages and cultures sometimes. English, like Norwegian, is a Germanic language. There is no earthly reason why English should prefer a Finnish spelling to a Norwegian spelling for this word. Indeed, as stated, it could lead to error, as "aa" can be hypercorrected in Scandinavian contexts, to "�" by English speakers. Further, compare the native designation for the different Sami languages: Northern Sami: s�megiella Lule Sami: s�megiella Kildin Sami: s�m' k�ll Southern Sami: saemien giele Inari Sami: s��megiella Skolt Sami: s��'mk^i�ll None of these uses -aa-, and the use of -��- in Inari Sami and Skolt Sami is influenced by Finnish just as the Finnish word "saami" is. > > John this has been argued a thousand times. The preferred form of the > > word, as found on page 1644 of the New Oxford Dictionary of English > > (2001) is "Sami", with no accent. > >Well, the New Oxford Dictionary of English may represent use in the >UK in times past, but it does not necessarily represent English use >worldwide, or even an international source. The 9th edition of the Concise Oxford (1995, 1673 pp.) does not list Sami as a headword, but under Lapp it gives the note: "The Lapps' own name tor themselves, Sami, is now often preferred with reference to the people." The New Oxford Dictionary of English (2001, 2152 pp.) gives a similar note at Lapp: "Although the term Lapp is still widely used and is the most familiar term to may people, the people themselves prefer to be called Sami." The New Oxford Dictionary also *adds* a headword for Sami, showing that its status as a lexical item in English is greater, perhaps, than it may have been in 1998. It is noteworthy that the Concise Oxford's 8th edition (1990) did not contain the usage note, which was introduced in the 9th edition (1995). >When it boils down to it it's a proprietary usage. Well used, I >grant you, but it remains proprietary, and it is not explicitly >accepted as a standard (UK or >wider) in the same way that other reference sources (e.g. Duden in >German speaking countries) is. I'm sorry, John, but Oxford lexicographical practices are beyond question. You can't weasel out of an actual argument about usage and preference by saying, "well, I prefer another authority" -- which you didn't do, you simply say that there are others. I give two arguments (that a Germanic spelling sam- is preferable to a Finnic spelling saam- and that the Sami themselves don't spell saam- in their own language) >"Saami" certainly appears in some American general usage dictionaries >and encyclopedias. Does it indeed. Let's look at frequency for a moment. An initial Google search on "Saami" yields 19,100 hits, the first of which relates to the US National Shooting Sports Foundation. An initial Google search on "Sami" yields 1,110,000 hits. A secondary search of "saami lapp" yielded 692 hits, while "sami lapp" yielded 2570 hits. Detect a pattern of usage preference here? Merriam-Webster online http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm gives neither form. Wordnet at Princeton http://www.cogsci.princeton.edu/ gives "Sami". Cambridge online http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ gives neither. Microsoft's Encarta gives "Saami" only. The American Heritage http://www.bartleby.com/61/45/S0054550.html gives both "Sami" and "Saami" with "Sami" in first place. > > "Saami" does not appear in this dictionary, > >which remains Oxford University Press's problem, rather than the rest >of the world's problem. Generally - and certainly with the start of >the Oxord Dictionary series of publications - they always prided >themselves on recording various usages. The usage "Saami" should not be recommended in English, even if it occurs. As a borrowing it ought to come from Norwegian rather than Finnish; -aa- is rare enough in English and "Sami" is natural enough (cf swami, naturalized in English from Sanakrit for at least 200 years). > > and in any case should be avoided because people may >> hypercorrect it to S�mi, confusing it with equivalences like �lborg >> and Aalborg. > >The councils for Saami speakers in Norway, Sweden and Finland have >recommended the use of the term "Saami" and they, more than anybody, >are all used to needing to deal with specific uses of the string "aa" >in words. These organizations can't make up their minds, quite honestly. This has been discussed on and off since at least 1996. On one of their pages, http://www.saamicouncil.org/, they give both "Sami Councils page of Welcoming' and "Saami Council's Homepage". >If the Saami and non-Saami speakers in Norway, Sweden and Finland can >cope with it, and indeed recommend it, I don't see why anybody should >propose over their heads that they have to think that what is done by >a UK publisher The lexicographical work done at Oxford set the standard for modern lexicography world-wide. Do not pooh-pooh Oxford by belittling them as just a UK publisher. >just because we on standards committees think we know >better, particularly when the term that they recommend is already in >widespread use in various English language publications worldwide, >in both linguistic and more general publications. My views on the orthography of this word in English is not based on my participation in standards committees. They are based on my knowledge of English, phonetics, orthographic principles, etymology, and common sense. That the Oxford editorial staff have come to the same decision I have is an indication that there are sensible criteria one can apply to making orthographic decisions based on good sense and taste. Yes, it is my view that the councils for Sami speakers in the Nordic countries have erred in choosing "Saami" over "Sami", which is by far an away the more natural spelling in English, just as it is in Norwegian and Swedish. -- Michael Everson *** Everson Typography *** http://www.evertype.com
