In message <[email protected][193.120.28.106]> Michael Everson
wrote via [log in to unmask]:

> Experts and institutions in Finland, Sweden, and Norway change their
> minds all the time. Indeed, I have argued with them about it on
> numerous occasions. In ENGLISH, we have an accepted orthographic
> tradition -- Sami. Please stick to it.
>
> Oxford usage is recommended by ISO, and as Sami appears in the
> Concise Oxford that should be good enough for all.

Experts in England also change their minds. Previously I was also
wedded to Sami.

I was merely quoting what the Saami Councils in Scandinavia were
saying officially.

Two further points:

(a) SIL also gives the name as Saami, not Sami.

(b) The Oxford dictionaries are not language sources, but general
    sources.

(c) Following usages in Belarus, the name of their national language
    is now widely accepted as Belarusian, and is now so called in
    ISO 639-1 and ISO 639-2.

Before we rush to state "it's always been thus" (to those of us
outside the country concerned), it would be well to remember that
usages change.

Given the use over several years of "Saami" in the representative
bodies for that language in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and in Russian
publications, and in the Ethnologue, we risk the possiblility of
being out of step if we go for the simple "it's always been thus"
approach without further checking.

If Haavard's checking further, le me know if you want more detail in
addition to that which I provided in the bibliographic citations in
my previous email.

Best regards

John

--
John Clews,
Keytempo Limited (Information Management),
8 Avenue Rd, Harrogate, HG2 7PG
Email: [log in to unmask]
tel: +44 1423 888 432;

Committee Member of ISO/IEC/JTC1/SC22/WG20: Internationalization;
Committee Member of ISO/TC37: Terminology