Kven language

The Kven language is a Finnic language spoken in northern Norway by the Kven people.

Kven
kainun kieli
Native to Norway
Native speakers2,000 – 10,000  (2011)[1]
Language family
Writing systemLatin
Official status
Regulated byKven language board
Language codes
ISO 639-2fkv
ISO 639-3fkv

In 2005 the language was officially given minority status in Norway.[2] This was for political and historical reasons. The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages has rules for the signs of a minority language. Linguistically, however, it is seen as a mutually intelligible dialect of the Finnish language. Because of this it is grouped together with the Peräpohjola dialects, such as Meänkieli, spoken in Torne Valley in Sweden.

References

  1. Kven at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
  2. "Kvensk". Store norse lexicon. Retrieved 21 September 2017.