“Diversity in Saami Terminology for Reindeer, Snow, and Ice”, 2006-12-20 (; backlinks):
The physical environment leaves its mark on cultures. Knowledge of snow and ice conditions has been a necessity for subsistence and survival in the Arctic and sub-Arctic areas. Snow and ice terminology in the North Saami language, which is spoken in the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland, is based on the physical condition of different kinds of layers of ice and snow.
In addition, the relation to changes of weather and temperature conditions is often integrated in the terminology. Very basic in the meanings is also the quality and quantity of snow, judged according to the practical needs of people and animals. The author demonstrates this by explaining the terminology for conditions and layers of snow, terms based on the transportation and pasture needs of reindeer and those based on different kinds of tracks in the snow. These are all nouns.
With different kinds of derivations, the number of nouns, verbs and adjectives denoting snow, ice, freezing, and melting may easily amount to 1,000 lexemes [cf. Eskimo words for snow]. By analysing this kind of terminology, we can learn much about snow and ice conditions in the Arctic and living conditions for animals and human beings.
…The need to identify individual animals also derives from the fact that herds often get mixed together and the herders need information about which reindeer may have gone into neighbouring herds. Terminology on reindeer is based on sex, age, and appearance: the body, the head, the antlers, and the feet [and earmarking].
…Combining the terms: As can be understood from this, identifying and describing reindeer is a cultural skill that takes years of training. Not all the potential is usually used. There is a redundancy in the system depending on the circumstances. If there are only a few animals in a herd, you may use only a few references to identify or describe each individual. A description may be formulated like this: mu eamida-skivdnje-mearkkat-leanze-mu-zet-ga´lbbenjun-beavrrihis-lojes-a´ldo-biellu meaning, word-for-word “my wife’s—with an oblique cut-marked—with antlers which stick out sloping very much to the side, brownish-black-white on the nose and (or) forehead—with longer legs and a slimmer build than usual, good-tempered—female reindeer—with a bell”. In daily conversation the reference may be just muzet-a´ldo-biellu or even only biellu, if there is only one animal with a bell in a particular herd. In the study by 1984 [Boazobargi giella. Diedut 1–1984], he reported over 1000 individual terms regarding reindeer, the ear marks not included. I think this number may be increased considerably by more detailed studies. And by combining these terms, the potential for description is enormous. All in all, the terminology on reindeer found in the Saami languages is probably one of the most advanced terminology systems found in natural languages.