Ingrian (Ižoran keeli)

Ingrian or Izhorian is a Finno-Ugric language spoken by about 500 people in Ingria, a region of Russia on the eastern shores of the Baltic. It is closely related to Karelian and eastern dialects of Finnish. The majority of Ingrian speakers are elderly.

Ingrian has four groups of dialects: the Lower-Luga and Soikkola dialects, which are spoken in the western part of Ingria, the Kheva dialect on the Ingrian Plateau, and the Oredezh or the Upper-Luga dialect which was spoken near the River Oredezh, but is now extinct.

The Ingrian language is closely related with the eastern Finnish dialects, and there have also been numerous contacts with the neighbouring Votes and Finns, who had begun to arrive from the southeast of Finland by the 17th century. These contacts resulted in mutual influences. In West-Ingria (Lower-Luga, Soikkola) the Votic language has influenced both Ingrian and Finnish (the more distant Oredezh dialect excluded) and in the surroundings of the River Khevakha there is a discernible Ingrian influence in the Votic language. Since the 1930s Ingrian has also been significantly influenced by Russian in terms of vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar.

Between 1932 and 1937 a spelling system for Ingrian based on the Latin alphabet was used. A number of textbooks and a grammar were published, and the language was taught in schools on the Soikono Peninsula and around the mouth of the Luda River. From 1937 however, writing in Ingrian was forbidden and the Ingrian or Izhorian people, along with many other peoples, suffered mass repression.

Some of the information was provided by Максим Лобачевский (Maksim Lobachevskiy)

Ingrian alphabet (1932)

A a Ä ä B b D d E e F f G g H h
I i J j K k L l M m N n Ö ö P p
R r S s T t U u V v Y y    

Ingrian alphabet (1936)

A a Ä ä B b V v G g D d E e Ƶ ƶ Z z I i
J j K k L l M m N n O o Ö ö P p R r S s
T t U u Y y F f H h C c Ç ç Ş ş ь  

Modern Ingrian alphabet

A a B b C c D d E e F f G g H h I i
J j K k L l M m N n O o P p R r S s
Š š T t U u V v Y y Z z Ž ž Ä ä Ö ö

Ingrian pronunciation

Ingrian pronunciation

Notes

Sample text

Sis ku raasseli, otti hämmin kättee i lykkäis sinne kalloi, sis hää nägi kuim paljo seel on kallaa, arvais kuim paljo höö maksad. Siz raasseli märnää: kuimn paljo maksaat kalan? No kippari seeld märnää, sto viiskymmend rublaa! Seelt taaz raasseli mörnää: oda koltkymmend. Kolmaz veel lizäjää: oda viiskymmend. Kippari taaz mörnää: lissää veel! No olkaa sis viiz rublaa veel lissään! Sis kippari sanoo, sto: olkaa sis sevverran hintaa! Raasseli siz mörnää: ossettu on. Sis toized raasselin ajjaad loond poiz, a hää jääbi kallooja mättämää saahka. No viiz rublaa veel liitkoja kyzytti: naized ostiit pulgad a meehed joivad viinaa.

Source: http://depvladimir.narod.ru/urokkat/lingva.htm

Translation

So when he scrabbled, he took the rock in his hand and put it there, he saw how much rock there was, and guessed how much he had to pay. So it's a big question for brokers: how much does a fish cost? Well the skipper seeld wet, one hundred and fifty roubles! A third still remains: a fiftieth of spear. The skipper roars loudly: add more! Well, it will be five rubles extra! Then the skipper says the same: so let's be that price! So the brokers roared: it's assigned. You're making me laugh, boy, and the wedding would remain until the skulls were chewed. Well, five rubles more for the joint house: the women eat sticks and the men drink vodka.

Translation provided by Michael Peter Füstumum

Sample videos

Information about Ingrian | Numbers

Links

Information about the Ingrian language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingrian_language
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ижорский_язык

Online Ingrian lessons and phrases (in Russian)
http://in-yaz-book.narod.ru/izhor.html
https://izhora-museum.ru/phrasebook

Finno-Ugric languages

Enets, Erzya, Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian, Karelian, Khanty, Komi, Kven, Livonian, Mansi, Mari, Moksha, Nenets, Sámi, Udmurt, Veps, Võro, Votic

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page last modified: 16.12.23

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