48
rather than nativizing the vocabulary to
conform to Proto-Sámi’s inherited phonology.
If Proto-Sámi spread among speakers of
languages for whom such onsets were familiar,
this development in Southwest and Northwest
Proto-Sámi is not at all surprising, although not
all consonant clusters became acceptable (cf.
/dr/ > /r/ in example (3)). In contrast, the
language ecology on the Kola Peninsula seems
to have differed in ways that aligned with
inherited Proto-Sámi phonology rather than
tolerated by it. This is likely related to a less
significant presence of Proto-Scandinavian
(not to mention Proto-Finnic) on the Kola
Peninsula. What that situation was remains
unclear. The variety and quantity of
vocabulary that spread through Proto-Sámi
dialects and the probability of Proto-Sámi’s
significance for reciprocal communication in
extended contact networks makes it seem
doubtful that there were significant differences
in onset consonants
in the Northeast dialect, at
least in its early stages. Consequently, the
differences in Northeast Proto-Sámi seem not
only to be developments, but may be
developments connected with the phonology
of groups undergoing language shifts.
Considered in relation to dialects on the
Scandinavian Peninsula, what happens in
Northeast Proto-Sámi makes it seem likely that
the relevant features such as consonant clusters
(consistent with Uralic languages, but not
exclusive to them) were not nativized to more
prominent languages in the local ecology. Of
course, possible differences in local language
ideologies were potentially also a factor, while
archaeological evidence is quite limited and
might, for example, point to later contacts
impacting local populations. The history of
differences between Proto-Sámi dialects
remains obscure, but there are differences that
seem to point to differences in the language
ecologies where Proto-Sámi spread.
Proto-Scandinavian Loans
Common Proto-Sámi vocabulary includes a
striking number of Proto-Scandinavian loans,
of which six will be presented here. The first of
these belongs to cosmology (modern forms are
given in North Sámi):
(1)
*mānō (§647) (
mánnu)
‘moon’
The moon was linked to a variety of traditions.
Some of these attribute supernatural agency to
it and may indicate deification; others may
reflect conceptions of the moon as a source of
dynamic force that can affect the world while
its potential for agency is ambiguous (Karsten
1955: 33–35; Lundmark 1982: 57–80; Kulonen
et al. 2005: 224–225). The word
*mānō is a
transparent Proto-Scandinavian loan (~ ON
máni [‘moon’]). It must have been carried
through the dialect continuum of Proto-Sámi
after the language had spread. It is not clear
that any conceptions of the moon as a mythic
agent spread with the Scandinavian loan. Sámi
connections of the moon with reindeer (e.g.
Lundmark 1982: 63; Kulonen et al. 2005: 224–
225) are probably not of Scandinavian origin
because reindeer remain
completely outside of
known Scandinavian mythology. The word
*mānō should be considered to have a separate
history from any concept of the moon in
cosmology or as a supernatural
agent that may
have spread with Proto-Sámi language.
Another Proto-Scandinavian loan that
connects with cosmological conceptions is:
(2)
*sāvje
̮ (§1115) (
sáiva,
sávja)
‘freshwater lake; earth spirit of legends’
The term
*sāvje
̮ is cognate with Old Norse
sær
[‘lake’] and receives a great deal of attention in
discussions of Sámi religion, while the
diversity of concepts linked to the term have
made it an illustrative example of variation
(Wicklund 1916). According to the survey of
Klaas Ruppel (Kulonen et al. 2005: 375–376),
this term was most likely borrowed in the sense
of ‘fresh water’. In North Sámi and languages
descended from Northeast Proto-Sámi,
sáiva
refers to fresh water or lakes, and especially
lakes without inlet or outlet. The northeastern
group also exhibits a semantic field of ‘south’
(or ‘southwest’). In Lule Sámi, it is associated
with sacred or supernatural sites. In South Sámi
it is used to refer to subterranean supernatural
beings. (Kulonen et al. 2005: 375–376; see also
Wicklund 1916.) Lakes with no outlet were
connected with the concept of so-called ‘double-
bottomed lakes’. They were linked to ideas that
fish could move between lakes. Such lakes
could also be conceived as points of access to
an otherworld inhabited by the dead or
supernatural beings (Wicklund 1916: 61–66;
Kulonen et al. 2005: 374–375; see also Manker