Spotlight on minority languages – Ume Sami

There are only about 20 native speakers left of Ume Sami.
According to UNESCO, the current number may be less than 10.

Currently, there are approximately 1,000 ethnic Ume Sami, of which most along the Ume River in Sweden.

Like other Sami languages, it is a Uralic language, which means it is related to a certain extent to languages such as Finnish and Estonian.
Ume Sami is included in the Western group of Sami languages.

Other Western Sami languages include Southern Sami, Lule Sami and North Sami.

Like other Sami languages, Ume Sami has three grammatical numbers: singular, dual and plural.
Since the ‘dual’ exists, plural forms are only used to refer to three or more of something.

Ume Sami does not yet have an official written language.
However, in 1811, Ume Sami became the first Sami language in which the complete Bible was published.

There are several ongoing efforts to preserve the language.
Here’s an article that will help you get started learning the language: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/dec/22/-sp-teach-yourself-five-phrases-in-an-endangered-language-video

There is a course to learn numbers up to 100 on Memrise

For more resources, visit the Ume Sami page on this blog.
Here is a sample of someone singing in Ume Sami:

References
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ume_Sami_language
Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. Paris, UNESCO Publishing. Online version: http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/sju