Editing Veps language (section)

{{Short description|Finnic language south of Lake Onega, Russia}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Veps
| nativename       = {{lang|vep|vepsän kelʹ}}
| states           = [[Russia]]
| region           = [[Republic of Karelia|Karelia]] ([[Veps National Volost]])<br/>[[Leningrad Oblast]]<br/>[[Vologda Oblast]]
| ethnicity        = {{sigfig|5,940|2}} [[Vepsians|Veps]] (2010 census)
| speakers         = {{sigfig|1276|2}}
| date             = 2020 census<ref>{{Cite web |title=Росстат — Всероссийская перепись населения 2020 |url=https://rosstat.gov.ru/vpn_popul |access-date=2023-01-03 |website=rosstat.gov.ru}}</ref>
| ref              = e18
| script           = [[Latin script|Latin]] (Vepsian alphabet)
| familycolor      = Uralic
| fam2             = [[Finnic languages|Finnic]]
| fam3             = Northern Finnic
| iso3             = vep
| glotto           = veps1250
| glottorefname    = Veps
| minority         = [[Russia]]
*[[Republic of Karelia|Karelia]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=O gosudarstvennoy podderzhke karelskogo, vepsskogo i finskogo yazykov v Respublike Kareliya |script-title=ru:О государственной поддержке карельского, вепсского и финского языков в Республике Карелия |url=http://gov.karelia.ru/Legislation/lawbase.html?lid=1751 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225234807/http://gov.karelia.ru/Legislation/lawbase.html?lid=1751%20 |archive-date=2018-12-25 |access-date=2011-01-08 |website=Kareliya ofitsialnaya |language=ru |script-website=ru:Карелия официальная}}</ref>
| map              = 2.3-Veps.png
| mapcaption       = Distribution of Veps at the beginning of the 20th and 21st centuries<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rantanen |first1=Timo |last2=Tolvanen |first2=Harri |last3=Roose |first3=Meeli |last4=Ylikoski |first4=Jussi |last5=Vesakoski |first5=Outi |date=2022-06-08 |title=Best practices for spatial language data harmonization, sharing and map creation—A case study of Uralic |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=17 |issue=6 |pages=e0269648 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0269648|doi-access=free |pmid=35675367 |pmc=9176854 |bibcode=2022PLoSO..1769648R }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Rantanen |first=Timo |title=Geographical database of the Uralic languages |date=2021-05-25 |url=https://zenodo.org/records/4784188 |access-date=2025-04-14 |publisher=Zenodo |doi=10.5281/zenodo.4784188 |last2=Vesakoski |first2=Outi |last3=Ylikoski |first3=Jussi |last4=Tolvanen |first4=Harri}}</ref>
| map2             = Lang Status 40-SE.svg
| mapcaption2      = {{center|Veps is classified as Severely Endangered by the [[UNESCO]] ''[[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]'' (2010).<ref>{{cite web|title=UNESCO ''Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger''|url=http://www.unesco.org/tools/fileretrieve/43fdd320.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531155026/http://www.unesco.org/tools/fileretrieve/43fdd320.pdf|archive-date=2022-05-31|language=English|publisher=UNESCO|page=36|year=2010|accessdate=2022-05-31}}</ref>}}
}}

'''Veps''', also known as '''Vepsian''' ({{langx|vep|link=no|vepsän kelʹ, vepsän keli}}, or {{lang|vep|vepsä}}), is an endangered [[Finnic languages|Finnic]] language from the [[Uralic languages|Uralic]] language family, that is spoken by [[Vepsians]]. The language is written in the [[Latin script]], and is closely related to [[Finnish language|Finnish]] and [[Karelian language|Karelian]].

According to [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] statistics, 12,500 people were self-designated ethnic Veps at the end of 1989. There were 5,900 self-designated ethnic Veps in 2010,<ref name=e18/> and around 3,600 native speakers.

According to the location of the people, the language is divided into three main [[dialect]]s: '''Northern Veps''' (at [[Lake Onega]] to the south of [[Petrozavodsk]], to the north of the river [[Svir River|Svir]], including the former [[Veps National Volost]]), '''Central Veps''' (in the east of the [[Leningrad Oblast]] and northwest of the [[Vologda Oblast]]), and '''Southern Veps''' (in the [[Leningrad Oblast]]). The Northern dialect seems the most distinct of the three; however, it is still mutually intelligible for speakers of the other two dialects. Speakers of the Northern dialect call themselves "Ludi" ({{lang|vep|lüdikad}}), or {{lang|vep|lüdilaižed}}.

In [[Russia]], more than 350 children learn the Veps language in a total of five national schools.<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 December 2004 |title=The Vepsian Culture Society in Karelia Celebrates its 15th Anniversary |url=http://gov.karelia.ru/News/2004/12/1209_03_e.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180901114231/http://gov.karelia.ru/News/2004/12/1209_03_e.html |archive-date=2018-09-01 |access-date=2012-08-03 |publisher=The Official Karelia}}</ref>