Vepsian language
- noun
- She studied the Vepsian language to understand the oral traditions of the Veps people.
Examples
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The Vepsian language is considered endangered, with only a few thousand fluent speakers remaining.
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Many young people are learning the Vepsian language today.
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Linguists have documented ancient songs and stories written in Vepsian language.
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The Vepsian language is a unique Finnic language.
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She studied the Vepsian language to understand the oral traditions of the Veps people.
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Linguists have documented ancient songs and stories written in Vepsian language.
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The Vepsian language is considered endangered, with only a few thousand fluent speakers remaining.
Synonyms
A language spoken by a small group of people in northwest Russia
A language spoken by the Veps people in northwestern Russia
A language spoken by a small native group in northwestern Russia
A language spoken by the Veps people in northwest Russia
The language of the Veps people in northwestern Russia
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines the demonym/adjective 'Vepsian' with the noun 'language', so a learner who knows both constituents will infer it denotes the language spoken by the Veps. This simple demonym+language composition is a common, cross-linguistic pattern and follows standard English noun modification, making the meaning directly derivable.
Etymology
Vepsian language takes its name from the Veps people, a small group who lived for many years by the lakes and forests of northwestern Russia. Their everyday speech, songs and stories were passed down in their villages and became known as the Vepsian language, so today the phrase means the language spoken by the Veps people.
