Endangered Languages Project

The Votic language belongs to the southern group of the Baltic-Finnic languages and is the closest relative of the Estonian language. Western, eastern (main dialects), Kukkusi and Kreevin dialects can be distinguished. (The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire)

ALSO KNOWN AS		Vod, Vot, водский язык, vaďďaa tšeeli, maa tšeeli, vađđa, vadjdjaa, maaceeli, Wotisch, vad'd'alaizet, vod', čudy, Vodian, Votish, Votisch, vodskij jazyk, vadjan keel, vatjan kieli, Vote, Votian,
CLASSIFICATION		Uralic, Finnic
ORTHOGRAPHY		None
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		vot
VARIANTS & DIALECTS		West Vod East Vod
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

Compare Sources (8)

Information from: “Correlation between social and linguistic parameters in modeling language contact: Evidence from endangered Finnic varieties” (53-76) . Elena Markus and Fedor Rozhanskiy (2013) De Gruyter Mouton

Critically endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
<10
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
61

DATE OF INFO: 2011 (speaker numbers); 1991 (ethnic population)

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

"Both Ingrian and Votic populations have decreased drastically from the second half of the 20th-century onwards... In less than a hundred years, the number of Votes decreased almost tenfold while the number of Ingrians did not change significantly."

SPEAKER ATTITUDE

Lower prestige

INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT

Language classes organized by activists, newspaper Maaväči

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Ingrian
Russian

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

"...Votic identity has to some extent been restored in the last ten years, partially due to the national Votic festivals that have been held regularly in Luutsa village."

Scripts (Writing system)

None

More on Orthography

"Votic has never had a written variety."

PLACES: Leningrad oblast, Russia

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Lower Luga area

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
15
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
73

DATE OF INFO: 1997

PLACES: Russia;

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: St. Petersburg, Kingisepp

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
20
Native speakers worldwide

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
25
Native speakers worldwide

Critically endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
<25
Native speakers worldwide
CHILDREN
0
YOUNG ADULTS
0
OLDER ADULTS
0
ELDERS
<25

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

All speakers are elderly, and prefer Russian in daily communication. All
modern idiolects are heavily influenced by Ingrian, Finnish and Russian.

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Russian

PLACES: Northwestern Russia

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Spoken in a few inland villages south of the Gulf of Finland in Kingisepp County in the west of St Petersburg (Leningrad) Province in the Russian Federation. Concentrated in the villages of Krakol’e and Peski-Luzhitsy.

Severely endangered

40 percent certain, based on the evidence available
31
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
62
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
In 1989 50%% of the ethnic population of 62, were considered to be native speakers which is 31.

DATE OF INFO: 1989

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS
OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
Scripts (Writing system): none

PLACES: Russia

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Near St. Petersburg

Critically endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
11-13
Native speakers worldwide
SEMI SPEAKERS
3
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
11 speakers proven, 2 unproken, 3 semispeakers

DATE OF INFO: 2006

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

"At present, Votic is almost never used as a means of communication... On their occasional meetings they speak Russian. Also, none of the Votic speakers today can speak the language inside their families: their parents have died, their spouses are not Votes, and younger generations do not speak Votic."

SPEAKER ATTITUDE

Positive or neutral

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Russian
Ingrian

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

"Only in the last couple of decades Votic identity has risen noticeably, mostly due to permanent interest and attention from linguists and the work of local activists."

PLACES: Ingria, Leningrad oblast, Russia

					2007	Europe and North Asia	Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages	211-282	C. Moseley	London & New York: Routledge					Tapani Salminen	Salminen, Tapani. 2007. "Europe and North Asia." In Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, edited by C. Moseley. 211-282. London & New York: Routledge.	HHOLD	0		0	<25		10-99			<25	daily communication	Russian				All	Critically Endangered (100 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	15	All speakers are elderly, and prefer Russian in daily communication. All modern idiolects are heavily influenced by Ingrian, Finnish and Russian.	15	15	Northwestern Russia	Spoken in a few inland villages south of the Gulf of Finland in Kingisepp County in the west of St Petersburg (Leningrad) Province in the Russian Federation. Concentrated in the villages of Krakol’e and Peski-Luzhitsy.
		May		221	2013	Correlation between social and linguistic parameters in modeling language contact: Evidence from endangered Finnic varieties		53-76		De Gruyter Mouton	International Journal of the Sociology of Language			http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/ijsl.2013.2013.issue-221/ijsl-2013-0023/ijsl-2013-0023.xml?format=INT	Elena Markus and Fedor Rozhanskiy				61		<10	2011 (speaker numbers); 1991 (ethnic population)	1-9					Ingrian, Russian	Lower prestige	"...Votic identity has to some extent been restored in the last ten years, partially due to the national Votic festivals that have been held regularly in Luutsa village."	Language classes organized by activists, newspaper Maaväči	All	Critically Endangered (80 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	15	"Both Ingrian and Votic populations have decreased drastically from the second half of the 20th-century onwards... In less than a hundred years, the number of Votes decreased almost tenfold while the number of Ingrians did not change significantly."		15	Leningrad oblast, Russia	Lower Luga area
0199255911					2005	The World Atlas of Language Structures			Bernard Comrie and David Gil and Martin Haspelmath and Matthew S. Dryer	Oxford University Press		New York				2005. "The World Atlas of Language Structures." edited by Bernard Comrie et al. Oxford University Press.																								59.5,30.0
			16		2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)			M. Paul Lewis	SIL International		Dallas, TX		http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub		73		15	1997	10-99										Severely Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)					Russia;	St. Petersburg, Kingisepp
https://www.academia.edu/8267418/Finnic_minorities_of_Ingria_The_current_sociolinguistic_situation_and_its_background_together_with_E._Markus_and_M._Muslimov_	Multilingual Education 13: Comparative studies on equality and diversity				2015	Finnic minorities of Ingria: The current sociolinguistic situation and its background	Cultural and linguistic minorities in the Russian Federation and the European Union	127-167	H. Marten and M. Riessler and J. Saarikivi and R. Toivanen	Berlin: Springer			6		Natalia Kuznetsova and Elena Markus and Mehmet Muslimov						11-13	2006	10-99	11 speakers proven, 2 unproken, 3 semispeakers	3		All	Russian, Ingrian	Positive or neutral	"Only in the last couple of decades Votic identity has risen noticeably, mostly due to permanent interest and attention from linguists and the work of local activists."		All	Critically Endangered (100 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	15	"At present, Votic is almost never used as a means of communication... On their occasional meetings they speak Russian. Also, none of the Votic speakers today can speak the language inside their families: their parents have died, their spouses are not Votes, and younger generations do not speak Votic."	15	15	Ingria, Leningrad oblast, Russia
			3rd		2010	Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger				UNESCO Publishing		Paris		http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas	Christopher Moseley (ed.)	Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)	ll_pub				20		10-99										Severely Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)							59.5858,28.4518
						World Oral Literature Project								http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.					25		10-99										Severely Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
9985-936922					1993	The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire			Andrew Humphreys and Krista Mits					http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook		"The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire." edited by Andrew Humphreys and Krista Mits. Online: http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook.			62		31	1989	10-99	In 1989 50%% of the ethnic population of 62, were considered to be native speakers which is 31.			schools	Russian					Severely Endangered (40 percent certain, based on the evidence available)				14	Russia	Near St. Petersburg

Votic

Language metadata

Language information by source

Critically endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<10

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

15

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

20

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

25

Critically endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<25

Severely endangered

40 percent certain, based on the evidence available

31

Critically endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

11-13

Discussion

Votic

Language metadata

Language information by source

Critically endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<10

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

15

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

20

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

25

Critically endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<25

Severely endangered

40 percent certain, based on the evidence available

31

Critically endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

11-13

Discussion

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