Ludic, or Ludian, or Ludic Karelian ( or ), is a Finnic language in the Uralic language family or a Karelian dialect. It is transitional between the Olonets Karelian language and the Veps language. It is spoken by 300 Karelians in the Republic of Karelia in Russia, near the southwestern shore of Lake Onega, including a few children. Classification In the Finnish research tradition, Ludic has been considered a transitional dialect area between Karelian and Veps, while in the Russian research tradition it is, on ethnographic grounds, normally considered a dialect of Karelian. A status as an independent language has been proposed in recent times. Ludic is characterised by a specific mixture of Karelian-like traits (such as the diphthongisation of the Proto-Finnic non-open long vowels: e.g. *pää > piä 'head', *soo > suo 'swamp', contrast Veps pä, so) and Veps-like traits (such as an almost complete loss of consonant gradation). Dialects Ludic comprises three main dialect groups: Northern (Lake) Ludic, at the northwestern shores of Lake Onega Central (River) Ludic, at settlements along river Shuya and near the city of Petrozavodsk Kuďäŕv (Forest) Ludic, in the Mikhaylovskoye rural locality The strongest Karelian resemblance is found in Northern Ludic, while the Kuďäŕv dialect shares the most features with Veps. Phrases ken sina oled = who are you mi tämä on = what is this kudam teiš on onni = which one of you is Onni kuspiä sina astud = where do you live mikš sina nagrad = why are you laughing kudam čuas on = what time is it konz hyö tuldah kodih = when are they coming home häin lähtöu huomei = he/she leaves tomorrow See also Karelian language Notes Literature External links ISO 639 code sets - SIL International Lyydiläinen Seura (The Ludian Society) Finnic languages Languages of Russia Karelian language Republic of Karelia Veps language