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<P align="justify">The North Saami w … <P align="justify">The North Saami word <i>guovža</i> bear has exact counterparts in Inari, Skolt and Ter Saami. Despite its restricted distribution, it can well be regarded as a Proto-Saami word (assumed proto-form: <i>*kuom</i>): pronouncing the real name for a bear was a taboo among the Saami, and therefore the word has been replaced by euphemisms and in some Saami languages has disappeared altogether. In many western Saami languages and in some eastern ones the word <i>bierdna</i> is used to refer to the bear. It is a Scandinavian loan word (cf. Swedish björn bear ). In Kildin Saami the normal The North Saami word <i>guovža</i> bear has exact counterparts in Inari, Skolt and Ter word for a bear is <i>tāll</i>, which corresponds to the North Saami <i>[[Stállu (the origin of the word)|stállu]]</i>.</p>
<P align="justify"> Previously the word <i>guov a</i> was commonly related to the Finnish word <i>kontio</i> bear , but they do not make a perfect match phonetically: the Finnish word would come from an original form <i>*komt( )i- </i>and the Saami word from <i>*kom(tŽ)śi</i>. The Finnish word (together with its Karelian and Veps counterparts) would appear the have an original form <i>(*)kontija</i>, which make it a euphemism derived from the same base as the verbs <i>kontia</i> and <i>kontata</i> to crawl . If the original root of the Finnish verbs is <i>*komt-</i>, the <i>kom</i> element is perhaps the same as that which appears in the words <i>kompia</i> to crawl (and <i>kompuroida</i> to stumble ). It is also not impossible that the first part of the Saami word <i>*kuom- < *kom-</i> is likewise related, in which case the sense of crawling would also lie behind the Saami word. Again, it is also possible that both the Baltic-Finnic word and the Saami word have a (so far unelucidated) common ancestor, the phonetic form of which has been affected by the verb <i>kontia</i> in Baltic-Finnic.</p>ntia</i> in Baltic-Finnic.</p> +
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