# Karelian Proper language

Karelian Proper (Karelian Proper: varšinaiskarjala) is a supradialect of the Karelian language, which is a Finnic language. Karelian Proper is one of two/three Karelian dialects, along with Livvi-Karelian and Ludic. Karelian Proper is a direct descendent of the Old Karelian language, compared to Livvi-Karelian and Ludian supradialects which were formed through interactions between the Old Karelian and the Old Veps languages. Karelian Proper is situated in all of White Karelia and Central Karelia (parts of Olonets Karelia).

## Dialects

Karelian Proper is divided into two main dialects, which are Northern Karelian and South Karelian. The terms North and South Karelian are often avoided to avoid conflict with the Regions of Finland; North Karelia and South Karelia. Karelian Proper and most of its dialects are mostly mutually intelligible with the Finnish language, however Karelian Proper is not entirely mutually intelligible with Livvi-Karelian.
* Karelian Proper
** North Karelian (spoken in the parishes of Jyskyjärvi [ru], Kieretti [ru], Kiestinki, Kontokki, Oulanka [fi], Paanajärvi, Pistojärvi [fi], Suomussalmi, Uhtua, Usmana [ru], Vitsataipale [fi] and Vuokkiniemi)
** South Karelian (spoken in the parishes of Ilomantsi, Impilahti, Korpiselkä [fi], Mäntyselkä [fi], Paatene [ru], Porajärvi, Repola, Rukajärvi, Suikujärvi [fi], Suistamo [ru], Suojärvi and Tunkua [ru]; and additionally in the enclaves of Tver, Tikhvin and Valday)
*** Tver Karelian
***** Dorža [ru] dialect
***** Maksuatiha dialect
***** Ruameška dialect
***** Tolmattšu [ru] dialect
***** Vesjegonsk (Vessi) dialect

### White Sea Karelian

White Sea Karelian (North Karelian) is the second most spoken dialect of Karelian Proper, spoken in the northernmost parts of the Republic of Karelia and in Kuhmo, Finland. Within the Republic of Karelia it is mainly spoken in Kalevala, Kostomuksha and Loukhi. Within Finland, it is spoken in Suomussalmi. White Sea Karelian is the most mutually intelligible dialect of Karelian Proper to Finnish Language speakers.
Example:
| North Karelian | Finnish | English |
| Ennein vanhah karjalaiset varattih riähkyä. | Ennen vanhaan karjalaiset varoivat tekemästä syntiä. | In the old days, Karelians were careful not to sin. |

### South Karelian

South Karelian is the most spoken of the two dialects of Karelian Proper, and it is spoken in Central Karelia and Tver Oblast. South Karelian is spoken in Tunkua [ru], Suikujärvi [fi], Repola, Rukajärvi, Paatene [ru], Mäntyselkä [fi], Porajärvi, Ilomantsi, Korpiselkä [fi], Suojärvi, Tver Karelia (Tver Oblast, Likhoslavl), Tihvinä, Valday, Suistamo [ru] and Impilahti.
Example:
| South Karelian | Finnish | English |
| Terveh teillä kaikilla armahat rištikanzat! | Tervehdys teille kaikille rakkaat kuulijat! | Greetings to all you dear listeners! |

## Phonology
### Vowels
#### Diphthongs

| | Front-harmonic | Front-harmonic | Front-harmonic | Neutral | Back-harmonic | Back-harmonic | Back-harmonic |
| | Front+neutral | Front+front | Neutral+front | Neutral | Neutral+back | Back+neutral | Back+back |
| Open to close | äi | äy | | | | ai | au |
| Mid to close | öi | öy | ey | ei | eu | oi | ou |
| Close | yi | | iy | | iu | ui | |
| Close to mid | | yö | | ie | | | uo |
| Close to open | | yä | iä | | | | ua |

#### Triphthongs

| | Front-harmonic | Front-harmonic | Front-harmonic | Neutral | Back-harmonic | Back-harmonic | Back-harmonic |
| | Front+neutral | Front | Neutral+front | Neutral | Neutral+back | Back+neutral | Back |
| Close-mid-close | | yöy | iey | iei | ieu | uoi | uou |
| Close-open-close | yäi | yäy | iäy | | | uai | uau |

#### Consonants

/b, d, ɡ, z, ʒ/ are consonants found in loanwords in Karelian Proper alongside; /dʲ lʲ nʲ rʲ sʲ tʲ/ (/zʲ/ as palatalized consonants in loanwords only in Karelian Proper. In South Karelian (Tver Karelian), /dʲ lʲ nʲ rʲ sʲ tʲ zʲ/ also exist as palatalized consonants.
| | | Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Postalv./ Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
| Nasal | Nasal | m ⟨m⟩ | n ⟨n⟩ | | | |
| Plosive | voiceless | p ⟨p⟩ | t ⟨t⟩ | | k ⟨k⟩ | |
| Plosive | voiced | b ⟨b⟩ | d ⟨d⟩ | | ɡ ⟨g⟩ | |
| Affricate | Affricate | | (ts ⟨c⟩) | tʃ ⟨č⟩ | | |
| Fricative | voiceless | (f ⟨f⟩) | s ⟨s⟩ | ʃ ⟨š⟩ | | h ⟨h⟩ |
| Fricative | voiced | v ⟨v⟩ | z ⟨z⟩ | ʒ ⟨ž⟩ | | |
| Trill | Trill | | r ⟨r⟩ | | | |
| Approximant | Approximant | | l ⟨l⟩ | j ⟨j⟩ | | |

## Grammatical cases

Grammatical cases of Karelian Proper is extremely similar to the Finnish language and to other related Baltic-Finnic languages. These are the grammatical cases for food:
| case | singular | plural |
| nom. | ruoga | ruogat |
| acc. | ruoga, ruogan | ruogat |
| gen. | ruogan | ruogin |
| par. | ruogua | ruogie |
| ess. | ruogana | ruogina |
| tra. | ruogakši | ruogiksi |
| ine. | ruogašša | ruogissa |
| abe. | ruogatta | ruogitta |
| ela. | ruogašta | ruogista |
| adessive-allative | ruogalla | ruogilla |
| abl. | ruogalda | ruogilda |
| com. | ruoganke, ruogineh | ruogineh, ruoginke |
| prol. | ruogačči | ruogičči |
| approx. | ruogalluo | ruogilluo |

## Alphabet

Until the 1930s, no Karelian language nor dialect had an official alphabet, and the Cyrillic alphabet was sometimes used until then. From 1930 to 1931 a new alphabet was developed and all Karelian languages adopted the Latin alphabet.
Majuscule Forms (also called uppercase or capital letters) :
| A | B | Č | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | Š | Z | Ž | T | U | V | Y | Ä | Ö | ʼ |
| Minuscule Forms (also called lowercase or small letters) ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| a | b | č | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | r | s | š | z | ž | t | u | v | y | ä | ö | ʼ |
In 2007, the current Karelian alphabet was adopted by the Republic of Karelia, making it a uniform script for all Karelian languages. This unified alphabet was approved in 2007 as a replacement to deal with the separate Olonets Karelian and Karelian Proper alphabets. The main difference between the two alphabets is the inclusion of the letter C.
Majuscule Forms (also called uppercase or capital letters) :
| A | B | C | Č | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | Š | Z | Ž | T | U | V | Y | Ä | Ö | ʼ |
| Minuscule Forms (also called lowercase or small letters) |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| a | b | c | č | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | r | s | š | z | ž | t | u | v | y | ä | ö | ʼ |

### Letter names and IPA

| Letter | Letter name | IPA |
| A | aa | /ɑ/ |
| B | bee | /b/ |
| C | cee | /ts/ |
| Č | čee | /tʃ/ |
| D | dee | /d/ |
| E | ee | /e/ |
| F | ef | /f/ |
| G | gee | /ɡ/ |
| H | hoo | /h/ |
| I | ii | /i/ |
| J | jii | /j/ |
| K | koo | /k/ |
| L | el | /l/ |
| M | em | /m/ |
| N | en | /n/ |
| O | oo | /o/ |
| P | pee | /p/ |
| R | er | /r/ |
| S | es | /s/ |
| Š | šee | /ʃ/ |
| Z | zee | /z/ |
| Ž | žee | /ʒ/ |
| T | tee | /t/ |
| U | uu | /u/ |
| V | vee | /v/ |
| Y | yy | /y/ |
| Ä | ää | /æ/ |
| Ö | öö | /ø/ |
| ʼ | pehmennyšmerkki | /ʲ/ |