The indigenous languages of the world face an imminent crisis. It is widely recognized that almost half of the world’s languages are in danger of disappearing, and that most of these languages are spoken by indigenous peoples. To shed light on this threat to our common cultural heritage, the United Nations has proclaimed the period between 2022 and 2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (IDIL 2022–2032). With this background, the second issue of volume 50 (2027) of the Nordic Journal of Linguistics will be a special issue dedicated to the past, present, and future of the Saami languages. The issue will be edited by Olle Kejonen, Taarna Valtonen, and Jussi Ylikoski.

The Saami varieties are in a unique position among the world’s indigenous languages, meeting both severe challenges and extraordinary opportunities. Compared to minoritized and endangered languages in many other parts of the world, the Saami varieties have strong legal support in the Nordic countries. Children may receive education in Saami, and there is literature, broadcast media and even advanced language technology available for several Saami languages. At the same time, a number of Saami varieties have ceased to be transmitted to younger generations, and are spoken as a native language only by a handful of elders.

From the point of view of linguistic research, the Saami languages similarly present exceptional conditions. While many Saami varieties are still insufficiently described, there is a long tradition of research on the Saami languages, dating back to missionary grammars and dictionaries compiled centuries ago. Archives in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia host vast amounts of data on Saami lexicon, grammar, and place names, as well as written texts and audio recordings, much of which is yet to be published and utilized for linguistic research. Belonging to the well-studied Uralic language family, the Saami languages can also provide important insights on language history, including contacts with Nordic, Finnic, and Slavic languages.

In this NJL special issue, we invite contributions on Saami languages and Saami linguistics. We welcome studies with varied linguistic methodologies and topics including, but not limited to, language documentation and description, historical linguistics, language contact, education, and revitalization. In addition to full-length research articles, we also welcome short communications, review articles, and book reviews within the scope of the special issue.

The deadline for submissions is 1 October 2026 and peer review will take place during late 2026 and early 2027. All submissions should be made through NJL’s ScholarOne/Manuscript Central site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/njl. Prior to submission, authors should consult the Journal’s Instructions for Contributors, at https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/nordic-journal-of-linguistics/information/instructions-contributors, and follow those guidelines for manuscript formatting. Manuscripts and abstracts should be in English, but authors are encouraged to also include Saami abstracts of their papers; an additional abstract in Saami does not count in the maximum length of the submitted manuscript.

Please contact any of the guest editors (olle.kejonen@moderna.uu.se, taarna.valtonen@oulu.fi, jussi.ylikoski@utu.fi) if you have any questions about this special issue.