Introduction

Finnic languages is a language group including Baltic-Finnic languages and Volga-Finnic languages. Finnic languages belong to Uralic languages.

The major modern representatives of Finnic languages are Finnish and Estonian. The other Finnic languages in the Baltic Sea region are Ingrian, Karelian, Ludian, Veps, Vod (Votic), spoken around the Gulf of Finland and Lakes Onega and Ladoga. Võro and Setu (modern descendants of historical South Estonian) are spoken in south-eastern Estonia and Livonian (Liv) in parts of Latvia.

The smaller languages are disappearing. In the 20th century both Livonian and Votic had fewer than 100 speakers left. Other groups of which there are records have long since disappeared.

Meänkieli (in northern Sweden) and Kven (in northern Norway) are Finnish dialects that the Scandinavian countries of Sweden and Norway have given a legal status of independent languages. They are mutually intelligible with Finnish.

Language Family Tree

Uralic > Finnic

• Coastal Finnic
  • Neva
    • Central Finnic
      • [ekk] Estonian
      • [vot] Votic
    • North Finnic
      • Ladogan
        • East Ladoga
          • [olo] Livvi
          • [lud] Ludian
          • [vep] Veps
        • [izh] Ingrian
        • [krl] Karelian
      • Nuclear Finnish
        • [fin] Finnish
          • Finglish
          • Finnish, Värmland
        • [fkv] Kven Finnish
        • [fit] Tornedalen Finnish
  • [liv] Liv
• [vro] South Estonian

Languages Sorted Alphabetically

• Finglish
• Finnish
• Finnish Tornedalen
• Finnish, Kven, Kvennish, suomi, kveenin kieli, kainun kieli
• Finnish, Värmland
• Ingrian
• Karelian
• Liv
• Livvi
• Ludian
• Veps
• Vod
• Võro