Editing Sámi people (section)

==Etymologies==
{{Further|Sápmi}}
[[File:François-Auguste Biard - Un Lapon.jpg|thumb|A Sámi depicted in art, painting by [[François-Auguste Biard]]]]

===Sámi===
Speakers of Northern Sámi refer to themselves as {{lang|se|Sámit}} (the Sámis) or {{lang|se|Sápmelaš}} (of Sámi kin), the word {{lang|se|Sápmi}} being [[Inflection|inflected]] into various grammatical forms. Other Sámi languages use [[cognate]] words. As of around 2014, the current consensus among specialists was that the word ''Sámi'' was borrowed from the [[Baltic languages|Proto-Baltic]] word {{lang|bat|*žēmē}}, meaning 'land' ([[cognate]] with [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] {{lang|sla-Latn|zemlja}} ({{lang|ru|земля}}), of the same meaning).<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Grünthal |first=Riho |date=29 February 2008 |title=The Finnic Ethnonyms |url=http://www.sgr.fi/ct/ct51.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040708174734/http://www.sgr.fi/ct/ct51.html |archive-date=8 July 2004 |access-date=22 June 2013 |website=Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura |publisher=[[Finno-Ugrian Society]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Derksen |first=Rick |title=Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |year=2007 |location=Leiden |page=542}}</ref>{{sfn|Hansen|Olsen|2014|p=36}}

The word ''Sámi'' has at least one cognate word in [[Finnish language|Finnish]]: Proto-Baltic {{lang|bat|*žēmē}} was also borrowed into [[Finnic languages|Proto-Finnic]], as {{lang|fiu|*šämä}}. This word became modern Finnish {{lang|fiu|Häme}} (Finnish for the region of [[Tavastia (historical province)|Tavastia]]; the second ''ä'' of {{lang|fiu|*šämä}} is still found in the adjective {{lang|fi|häm{{strong|ä}}läinen}}). The Finnish word for Finland, {{lang|fiu|Suomi}}, is also thought probably to derive ultimately from Proto-Baltic {{lang|bat|*žēmē}}, though the precise route is debated and proposals usually involve complex processes of borrowing and reborrowing. {{lang|fiu|Suomi}} and its adjectival form {{lang|fi|suom{{strong|a}}lainen}} must come from ''{{lang|fiu|*sōme-}}''/''{{lang|fiu|sōma-}}''. In one proposal, this Finnish word comes from a [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] word {{lang|gem|*sōma-}}, itself from [[Baltic languages|Proto-Baltic]] {{lang|bat|*sāma-}}, in turn borrowed from Proto-Finnic {{lang|fiu|*šämä}}, which was borrowed from {{lang|bat|*žēmē}}.<ref name=":2" />

The Sámi institutions—notably the parliaments, radio and TV stations, theatres, etc.—all use the term ''Sámi'', including when addressing outsiders in Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, or English.{{cn|date=April 2025}} In Norwegian and Swedish, the Sámi are today referred to by the localized form {{lang|no|Same}}.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

===''Finn''===
{{main|Finn (ethnonym)}}

The first probable historical mention of the Sámi, naming them {{lang|la|Fenni}}, was by [[Tacitus]], about AD&thinsp;98.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tacitus |author-link=Tacitus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9xLVEPR-ax8C&q=Germania:+by+Cornelius+Tacitus+rives |title=Germania: Translated with Introduction and Commentary |date=1999 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-815050-3 |editor-last=Rives |editor-first=Archibald Black |pages=96, 322, 326, 327 |access-date=20 October 2020 |orig-date=c. 98 AD |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420110610/https://books.google.com/books?id=9xLVEPR-ax8C&q=Germania:+by+Cornelius+Tacitus+rives |archive-date=20 April 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> Variants of ''Finn'' or {{lang|la|Fenni}} were in wide use in ancient times, judging from the names {{lang|la|[[Fenni]]}} and {{lang|grc|Φίννοι}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|Phinnoi}}) in classical [[Latin literature|Roman]] and [[Ancient Greek literature|Greek works]]. ''Finn'' (or variants, such as {{lang|non|skridfinn}}, 'skiing Finn'<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mutt |first=Oleg |date=1965 |title=The Stems ''est'' and ''finn'' in Some Old English Words |url=https://kirj.ee/linguistica-uralica-publications/?filter[year]=1965&filter[issue]=1529&filter[publication]=13408 |journal=Linguistica Uralica |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=27–32 |doi=10.3176/lu.1965.1.04 |issn=0868-4731}}</ref>) was the name originally used by Norse speakers (and their proto-Norse speaking ancestors) to refer to the Sámi, as attested in the Icelandic [[Edda]]s and [[Norse sagas]] (11th to 14th centuries).

The etymology is somewhat uncertain,<ref>{{Cite book |last=de Vries |first=Jan |title=Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |year=1962 |edition=2nd |location=Leiden |language=de |trans-title=Old Norse Etymological Dictionary |chapter=Finnr. |oclc=685115}}</ref> but the consensus seems to be that it is related to [[Old Norse]] {{lang|non|finna}}, from proto-Germanic {{lang|gem|*finþanan}} ('to find'), the logic being that the Sámi, as [[hunter-gatherers]] "found" their food, rather than grew it.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Collinder |first=Björn |title=An Introduction to the Uralic Languages |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=1965 |isbn=978-0-520-32988-1 |location=Berkeley |page=8}}</ref> This etymology has superseded older speculations that the word might be related to ''fen''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 2021 |title=Finn, n |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/70478 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728171637/https://www.oed.com/start;jsessionid=176B25A100D361BCA4A7EA6B9DD9129F?authRejection=true&url=%2Fview%2FEntry%2F70478 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |access-date=3 July 2020 |website=[[Oxford English Dictionary|OED Online]]}}</ref>

As Old Norse gradually developed into the separate Scandinavian languages, Swedes apparently took to using ''Finn'' to refer to inhabitants of what is now Finland, while the Sámi came to be called ''Lapps''. In Norway, however, Sámi were still called ''Finns'' at least until the modern era (reflected in toponyms like {{lang|no|[[Finnmark]]}}, {{lang|no|[[Finnsnes]]}}, {{lang|no|Finnfjord}} and {{lang|no|Finnøy}}), and some northern Norwegians will still occasionally use ''Finn'' to refer to Sámi people, although the Sámi themselves now consider this to be an inappropriate term. Finnish immigrants to Northern Norway in the 18th and 19th centuries were referred to as [[Kven people|Kvens]] to distinguish them from the Sámi "Finns". Ethnic [[Finns]] ({{lang|fi|suomalaiset}}) are a group related to the Sámi, but distinct from them.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Uralilaiset kansat: tietoa suomen sukukielistä ja niiden puhujista |publisher=WSOY |year=1992 |editor-last=Laakso |editor-first=Johanna |location=Juva |pages=39–40 |language=fi |trans-title=Uralic peoples: information on Finnish mother tongues and their speakers}}</ref>

===''Lapp''===
[[File:Laureus, Lappalaisia nuotiolla (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Aleksander Lauréus]]'s painting of the Sámi by the fire]]
The word ''Lapp'' can be traced to [[Old Swedish]] {{lang|non|lapper}}, Icelandic {{lang|is|lappir}} (plural) perhaps of Finnish origin;<ref name="Hellquist 1922">{{Cite book |last=Hellquist |first=Elof |url=https://runeberg.org/svetym/0485.html |title=Svensk etymologisk ordbok |date=1922 |publisher=C. W. K. Gleerups förlag |location=Lund |page=397 |language=sv |trans-title=Swedish Etymological Dictionary |access-date=16 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026103642/http://runeberg.org/svetym/0485.html |archive-date=26 October 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> compare Finnish {{lang|fi|lappalainen}} "Lapp", {{lang|fi|Lappi}} "Lapland" (possibly meaning "wilderness in the north"), the original meaning being unknown.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1939 |title=Lapp |url=https://www.saob.se/artikel/?unik=L_0225-0073.57q2&pz=3 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516103145/https://www.saob.se/artikel/?unik=L_0225-0073.57q2&pz=3 |archive-date=16 May 2021 |access-date=16 May 2021 |website=[[Svenska Akademiens ordbok]] |language=sv}}</ref><ref name="Hellquist 1922" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=de Vries |first=Jan |title=Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |year=1962 |location=Leiden |pages=s.v. lappir |language=de |oclc=555216596}}</ref> It is unknown how the word ''Lapp'' came into the [[Old Norse|Norse language]], but one of the first written mentions of the term is in the {{lang|la|[[Gesta Danorum]]}} by the twelfth-century Danish historian {{lang|la|[[Saxo Grammaticus]]|italic=no}}, who referred to 'the two Lappias', although he still referred to the Sámi as {{lang|non|(Skrid-)Finn}}s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Simms |first=Doug |title=The Early Period of Sámi History, from the Beginnings to the 16th Century |url=http://www.utexas.edu/courses/sami/dieda/hist/early.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141231235005/http://www.utexas.edu/courses/sami/dieda/hist/early.htm |archive-date=31 December 2014 |access-date=11 January 2013 |website=Sami Culture |publisher=[[University of Texas at Austin]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Grammaticus |first=Saxo |author-link=Saxo Grammaticus |url=http://mcllibrary.org/DanishHistory/book5II.html |title=The Danish History: Book Five, Part II |editor-last=Killings |editor-first=Douglas B. |translator-last=Elton |translator-first=Oliver |access-date=5 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618103443/http://mcllibrary.org/DanishHistory/book5II.html |archive-date=18 June 2019}}</ref> In fact, Saxo never explicitly connects the Sámi with the "two Laplands". The term "Lapp" was popularized and became the standard terminology by the work of {{lang|la|[[Johannes Schefferus]]|italic=no}}, {{lang|la|[[Lapponia (book)|Lapponia]]}} (1673).

The Sámi are often known in other languages by the [[exonym]]s ''Lap'', ''Lapp'', or ''Laplanders'', although these are considered derogatory terms by some,<ref name="Paine57">{{Cite book |date=1957 |title=Coast Lapp society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1hlmAAAAIAAJ |url-status=live |publisher=[[Tromsø University Museum]] |volume=4 |page=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420110446/https://books.google.com/books?id=1hlmAAAAIAAJ |archive-date=20 April 2023 |access-date=25 August 2020 |author-last=Paine |author-first=Robert}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Grimes |first1=Barbara F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b2liAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Lapp+is+derogatory%22 |title=Ethnologue |last2=Grimes |first2=Joseph Evans |publisher=SIL International |others=Summer Institute of Linguistics |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-55671-103-9 |pages=54, 688, 695 |access-date=25 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420110609/https://books.google.com/books?id=b2liAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Lapp+is+derogatory%22 |archive-date=20 April 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences Commission on Nomadic Peoples |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v4M_PbMV05MC&q=%22is+simply+no+longer+used+in+Fennoscandia,+at+least+not+in+public+contexts+where+it+might+be+taken+to+be+derogatory.+English+has+been+slow+to+follow%22 |title=Nomadic Peoples |publisher=Commission on Nomadic Peoples |year=1983 |pages=54 |access-date=28 November 2015 }}</ref> while others accept at least the name ''Lappland''.<ref name="Sámis don't want to be Lapps">{{Cite news |date=8 February 2008 |title=Sámis don't want to be 'Lapps' |url=http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2246107.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929001926/http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2246107.ece |archive-date=29 September 2008 |access-date=3 October 2008 |work=[[Aftenposten]] |last1=Rapp |first1=Ole Magnus |last2=Stein |first2=Catherine}}</ref> Variants of the name ''Lapp'' were originally used in Sweden and Finland and, through Swedish, adopted by many major European languages: {{langx|en|Lapps}}; German, {{langx|nl|Lappen}}; {{langx|fr|Lapons}}; {{langx|el|Λάπωνες}} ({{lang|el-Latn|Lápōnes}}); {{langx|hu|lappok}}; {{langx|it|Lapponi}}; {{langx|pl|Lapończycy}}; {{langx|pt|Lapões}}; {{langx|es|Lapones}}; {{langx|ro|laponi}}; {{Langx|tr|Lapon}}. In Russian the corresponding term is {{lang|ru|лопари́}} ({{lang|ru-Latn|lopari}}) and in Ukrainian {{lang|uk|лопарі́}} ({{lang|uk-Latn|lopari}}).

In Finland and Sweden, ''Lapp'' is common in place names, such as {{lang|fi|Lappi}} ({{lang|fi|[[Satakunta]]|italic=no}}), {{lang|fi|Lappeenranta}} ([[South Karelia]]) and {{lang|fi|Lapinlahti}} ([[North Savo]]) in Finland; and {{lang|sv|Lapp}} ([[Stockholm County]]), {{lang|sv|Lappe}} ({{lang|sv|[[Södermanland]]|italic=no}}) and {{lang|sv|Lappabo}} ({{lang|sv|[[Småland]]|italic=no}}) in Sweden. As already mentioned, ''Finn'' is a common element in Norwegian (particularly Northern Norwegian) place names, whereas ''Lapp'' is exceedingly rare.

Terminological issues in Finnish are somewhat different. Finns living in [[Finnish Lapland]] generally call themselves {{lang|fi|lapp{{strong|i}}lainen}}, whereas the similar word for the Sámi people is {{lang|fi|lapp{{strong|a}}lainen}}. This can be confusing for foreign visitors because of the similar lives Finns and Sámi people live today in Lapland. {{lang|fi|Lappalainen}} is also a common family name in Finland. In Finnish, {{lang|fi|saamelainen}} is the most commonly used word nowadays, especially in official contexts.