Ludic language


Ludic, or Ludian, or Ludic Karelian, is a Finnic language in the Uralic language family. It is transitional between the Olonets Karelian language and the Veps language. It originated as a northern dialect of Veps transformed under heavy Karelian influence. It is spoken by 3,000 Karelians in the Republic of Karelia in Russia, near the northwestern shore of Lake Onega, including a few children.

Classification

In the Finnish research tradition, Ludic has been considered, on historical grounds, a transitional dialect area between Karelian and Veps, while in the Russian research tradition it is, on ethnographic grounds, normally considered a dialect of Karelian. A status as an independent language has been proposed in recent times. Ludic is characterised by a specific mixture of Karelian-like traits and Veps-like traits.

Dialects

Ludic comprises three main dialect groups:
The strongest Karelian influence is found in Northern Ludic, while the Kuďäŕv dialect shares the most features with Veps.

Literature

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