Stoure, great, stourapo, greater, stouramus, greatest.
Enach, much, enapo, more, enamus, most.
Utze, little, utzapo, less, utzamus, least.
The comparative for the most part ends in po, the Superlative in mus. They have also their Articles, but seldom use them before Nouns, as it also in other Tongues.
In the Masc. and the Fem. Gender the Article hath the same termination, but differs in the Neuter; for tott signifies hic & hæc, towt, hoc.
Their Pronouns are mun, I, tun, thou, sun, he, mii, we, sii, you, tack, they. The Verbs also are conjugated in their Tenses, and Persons, as in the Indicative mood thus, Sing. Mun pworastan I love, tum pworastack thou lovest, sun pworasta. Plur. Mii pworastop we love, sii pworost you love, tack pwrost. And after this manner do they decline their other Verbs.
Sing. mun læm I am, tun læck, thou art, suu lia he is.
Plur. mii læp we are, sii læ you are, tack læ they are.
These will serve to give us some light into the nature of this Language, at least as much as is to our purpose, who did not undertake to write a Grammar, but only give some small description.
Now the Laplanders have a peculiar way of pronouncing words, according to which it is impossible to express them in letters, for they do mouth out all their words, so that the vowels might be heard loud enough, but the other letters come very softly out; they do also quite cut off and drown the last syllables, especially of Nouns. Letters they neither have, nor ever had any, and in this they agree with their ancestors the Finlander: the Calendar which they use, is no other but the Swedish in Runick letters. And this also, before they came to have commerce with the Swedes, and had learned of them the observation of Holy-daies, was never in use among them. Johannes Buræus tells us that he heard from persons of good credit, of certain grave-stones and monuments, which had sometimes bin found in Lapland (more whereof perhaps might be found) on which were engraved Runick Characters. But suppose we this true, it is not, I hope, therefore necessary that we should conclude that these were formerly the letters of the Laplanders, to which indeed, as well themselves as their forefathers the Finlanders are equally Strangers. But we have more reason to think that the Swedes coming thither in ancient times, either by force of arms, or otherwise, inhabited there abouts, and left those stones. To this day both the Laplander and Finlander use the Latine letters; in the same Character the Swedes and Germans make them, altho the number of them that can read among them is but very small, and of them that can write, a great deal less, and are only such as they call great Scholars.
Now this Speech being only used among the Laplanders, and there being none that desire to learn it but themselves, in all negotiations with others, they are forced to use the help of Interpreters, of whom upon this account there are great numbers, as I have formerly said: tho these Interpreters speak all Languages, but the Finnonick, very barbarously, which is also the fault of all Laplanders, who are very hardly brought to learn or pronounce any other Tongue, and much given to confound one with another. So that they which traffic in Norway, and border upon that Country, do in their speaking mingle together the Speech of the Norwegians and Swedes, as for instance, jeghkiæmi, for jag kom, jag gaong, for jag goar. So for hustro, they say koona, for min myssa, mitt hofwud, &c. But of the Language of the Laplanders let this suffice.