Editing Votic language (section)

== Dialects ==
Three definite dialect groups of Votic are known:

{{tree list}}
*'''Votic'''
**Western, the areas around the mouth of the [[Luga River]]
**Eastern, in villages around [[Koporye]]
**[[Krevinian dialect|Krevinian]], areas around the city of [[Bauska]], [[Latvia]]
{{tree list/end}}

The Western dialect area can be further divided into the Central dialects (spoken around the village of [[Kotly, Leningrad Oblast (village)|Kattila]]) and the Lower Luga dialects.<ref name="Minorities">{{Citation |last1=Kuznetsova |first1=Natalia |title=Cultural and Linguistic Minorities in the Russian Federation and the European Union |volume=13 |pages=150–151 |year=2015 |editor-last=Marten |editor-first=H. |series=Multilingual Education |chapter=Finnic Minorities of Ingria: The Current Sociolinguistic Situation and Its Background |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/8267418 |place=Berlin |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-10454-6 |access-date=25 March 2015 |last2=Markus |first2=Elena |last3=Muslimov |first3=Mehmed |editor-first2=M. |editor-last2=Rießler |editor-first3=J. |editor-last3=Saarikivi |editor-first4=R. |editor-last4=Toivanen |display-editors=3}}</ref>

Of these, only the Lower Luga dialect is still spoken.

In 1848 it was estimated that of a total of 5,298 speakers of Votic, 3,453 (65%) spoke the western dialect, 1,695 (35%) spoke the eastern and 150 (3%) spoke the dialect of Kukkuzi. Kreevin had 12–15 speakers in 1810,{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} the last records of Kreevin speakers are from 1846. The Kreevin dialect was spoken in an enclave in [[Latvia]] by descendants of Votic [[prisoners of war]] who were brought to the [[Bauska]] area of Latvia in the 15th century by the [[State of the Teutonic Order|Teutonic order]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0YMU5azMAV0C&dq=krevin+votic&pg=PA98 |title=The Uralic Languages |date=1998 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-08198-X |editor-last=Abondolo |editor-first=Daniel |location=London |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref> The last known speaker of the eastern dialect died in 1960, in the village of ''Icäpäivä'' ([[Itsipino]]).<ref name="Heinsoo Kuusk">{{Cite journal |last1=Heinsoo |first1=Heinike |last2=Kuusk |first2=Margit |date=2011 |title=Neo-Renaissance and Revitalization of Votic – Who Cares? |url=https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/jeful/article/view/jeful.2011.2.1.11 |journal=Eesti ja Soome-Ugri Keeleteaduse Ajakiri |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=171–184 |doi=10.12697/jeful.2011.2.1.11 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
A fourth dialect of Votic has often been claimed as well: the traditional language variety of the village of Kukkuzi. It shows a mix of features of Votic and neighboring [[Ingrian language|Ingrian]], and some linguists, e.g. Arvo Laanest have claimed that it is actually rather a dialect of Ingrian.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jokipii |first=Mauno |title=Itämerensuomalaiset: Heimokansojen historiaa ja kohtaloita |date=1995 |publisher=Atena kustannus Oy |isbn=951-9362-80-0 |location=Jyväskylä |language=fi}}</ref> The vocabulary and phonology of the dialect are largely Ingrian-based, but it shares some grammatical features with the main Votic dialects, probably representing a former Votic [[stratum (linguistics)|substratum]].<ref name="Minorities" /> In particular, all phonological features that Votic shares specifically with Estonian (e.g. the presence of the vowel ''õ'') are absent from the dialect.<ref name="Kallio14">{{Citation |last=Kallio |first=Petri |title=Fibula, Fabula, Fact. The Viking Age in Finland |volume=18 |year=2014 |editor-last=Frog |series=Studia Fennica Historica |contribution=The Diversification of Proto-Finnic |place=Helsinki |publisher=[[Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura]] |isbn=978-952-222-603-7 |editor2-last=Ahola |editor2-first=Joonas |editor3-last=Tolley |editor3-first=Clive}}</ref> The Kukkuzi dialect has been declared to be dead since the 1970s,<ref name="Heinsoo Kuusk" /> although three speakers have still been located in 2006.<ref name="Minorities" />