Namat dan nammii

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation is a multidisciplinary study of the treatment of Sáminomenclature in official use and of the creation by political means of Norwegianplacenames in indigenous Sámi areas up to the end of the unionification periode(1814–1905). The state of Norway initiated a harsh policy of assimilation in themiddle of the 19th century targeting minorities in northern Norway. TheNorwegianizing Sámi place names played a significant part in the intentionalassimilation policy.In the social analysis, the question of why Sámi placenames wereNorwegianised is discussed, with particular reference to theories of geography andhistorical cartography. In the linguistic analysis, the main purpose is to show ways inwhich Norwegian place names were created through translation and adaption fromthe original Sámi names. This analysis is based mainly on contact onomastic theories.The research area is in the eastern part of the county of Finnmark, especiallyUnjárga and Mátta-Várjjat, which are traditional settlement areas of both Sea andSkolt Sámi populations. The production of the first topographic maps in the county ofFinnmark at the end of 19th century has affected the choice of the research area. Theuse and choice of place names is analysed mainly in the context of mapping but alsoas a part of the land purchasing activities.Toponymic silence and toponymic subjugation are consequences ofNorwegianizing Sámi placenames. These strategies were consciously used as a meansof constructing Norwegian settlement history, and creating and strengthening theterritorial idea of the nation state. Toponymic silence has especially affected Sáminames of settlement, while toponymic subjugation is mostly used to make ahierarchical difference between Norwegian and Sámi nature names.Linguistically, the creation of a Norwegian name based on a Sámi placenamehas often caused morphological and semantic problems because of the structural andlexical differences in the languages. Different authorities have often used differentloan strategies in creating a Norwegian name from the original Sámi. This practiseillustrates clearly that these Norwegian names originally were lacking any tradition ina local, oral place name use.