| Meänkieli | |
|---|---|
| Tornedalian | |
| meänkieli | |
| Native to | Sweden |
| Region | Meänmaa,Kalix,Luleå,Umeå,Stockholm |
| Ethnicity | Tornedalians |
Native speakers | 20,000 to 75,000[1][2] |
Uralic
| |
| Dialects | |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | fit |
| Glottolog | torn1244 |
 Map of the area where Meänkieli has an official status. | |
 Meänkieli is classified as Critically Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Meänkieli (literally 'our language'), orTornedalian[3] is aFinnic language or a group of distinctFinnish dialects spoken in the northernmost part of Sweden, particularly along theTorne River Valley. It is officially recognized in Sweden as one of thecountry's five minority languages and is treated as a separate language from Finnish. According to the National Association of Swedish Tornedalians, 70,000 individuals understand Meänkieli, at least to some level.[4]
Meänkieli is particularly similar to theKven language and thePeräpohjola dialects of Finnish spoken in Finland, and it is strongly mutually intelligible with them. Its status as an independent language is sometimes disputed due to this high degree of mutual intelligibility.[5] However, Meänkieli contains strong influences from Swedish and has preserved some archaic features that even the Northern Finnish dialects have lost.[6][7] It also differs from Standard Finnish because it does not include the language changes and new words that were introduced in the 19th and 20th centuries.[8] As a result, while Meänkieli is often intelligible to speakers of Finnish, Standard Finnish is often very difficult for speakers of Meänkieli to understand.[9]
A written Meänkieli language has been developed since the 1970s.
Before 1809, all of what is today Finland was an integral part of Sweden. The language border went west of the Torne Valley area, so the upper section of today's Sweden (about 10% by area), was historicallyFinnish speaking (just like most areas along the eastern coast of the southern part ofGulf of Bothnia, areas that wereceded to Russia and are part of modern Finland, were historicallySwedish speaking, and to a large extent still are). The area where Meänkieli is spoken that is now northern Sweden (apart from the linguisticallySami andSwedish parts of this geographical area), formed adialect continuum within theRealm of Sweden. Since the area east of Torne River was ceded toRussia in 1809, the language spoken on the western side of it developed in partial isolation fromstandard Finnish. In 1826, the stateChurch of Sweden appointed the priest and amateur botanistLars Levi Laestadius to be theVicar over theKaresuando parish, which is situated along theMuonio River north of theArctic Circle on the border of Finland inSwedish Lapland.
In the 1880s, the Swedish state decided that all citizens of the country should speak Swedish. Part of the reason was military; people close to the border speaking the language of the neighbouring country rather than the major language in their own country might not be trusted in case of war. Another reason was that Finns were sometimes regarded as being of another "race." An opinion of that period, as reflected in contemporary fiction, was that the Sami and the Finnish populations belonged "more closely to Russia than to Scandinavia".[10] Beginning around this time, the schools in the area only taught in Swedish, and children were forbidden under penalty of physical punishment from speaking their own language at school even during class breaks. Native Finnish speakers were prevented by the authorities from learning Standard Finnish as a school subject for decades, which resulted in the survival of the language only in oral form.
When minority languages first became taught in Swedish schools, Meänkieli was still classified by Sweden as a form of Finnish and children who spoke it natively were taught the standard Finnish literary language in school instead of their more native Tornedalian variant, causing the students to become demotivated. However, in 1977 some schools began to make materials specifically designed for speakers of Meänkieli which did not use standard Finnish. This was also the first time the term "Meänkieli" was applied to the form of speech, which was called "Tornedalian Finnish" before.[11]
On April 1, 2000, Meänkieli became one of the now five nationally recognizedminority languages of Sweden, which means it can be used for some communication with local and regional authorities in the communities along the Finnish border. Its minority language status applies in designated local communities and areas, not throughout Sweden.
Few people today speak Meänkieli as their only language, with speakers usually knowing Swedish and often standard Finnish as well. Estimates of how many people speak Meänkieli vary from 30,000 to 70,000, of whom most live inNorrbotten. Many people in the northern parts of Sweden understand some Meänkieli, but fewer people speak it regularly. People with Meänkieli roots are often referred to asTornedalians although the Finnish-speaking part of Norrbotten is a far larger area than theTorne River Valley; the Meänkieli-speaking part of Norrbotten stretches as far west asGällivare municipality.[12]
Today Meänkieli is declining. Few young people speak Meänkieli as part of daily life though many have passive knowledge of the language from family use, and it is not uncommon for younger people from Meänkieli-speaking families to be more familiar with standard Finnish, for which literature and courses are much more readily available. The language is taught atStockholm University,Luleå University of Technology,Umeå University, andBabeș-Boylai University in Romania.[13] In 2020,Oulu University began teaching translators in Meänkieli and Kven.[14]Bengt Pohjanen is a trilingual author from the Torne Valley. In 1985 he wrote the first Meänkieli novel,Lyykeri. He has also written several novels, dramas, grammar books, songs and films in Meänkieli.
The authorMikael Niemi's novels and a film based on one of his books in Swedish have improved awareness of this minority among Swedes. Since the 1980s, people who speak Meänkieli have become more aware of the importance of the language as a marker of identity.[citation needed] Today there are grammar books, a Bible translation, drama performances, and there are some TV programmes in Meänkieli.
On radio, programmes in Meänkieli are broadcast regularly from regional stationP4 Norrbotten (as well as local station P6 in Stockholm) on Mondays to Thursdays between 17:10 and 18:00, while on Sundays further programmes are carried by P6 between 8:34 and 10:00 (also onP2 nationwide from 8:34 to 9:00). All of these programmes are also available via the Internet.
Individuals who support the classification of Meänkieli as a separate language generally do so for historical, political and sociological reasons. They often point to its separate history, cultural significance, official status, and its standardised written language which differs from Standard Finnish. According to Harri Mantila, a professor at theUniversity of Oulu, the recognition as an independent language is important to many of the speakers. It has increased thelinguistic prestige of Meänkieli which has been historically very low due to the process ofSwedification, thus helping to strengthen the cultural identity for theTornedalians.[15]
On linguistic grounds, Meänkieli may be classified as a group of NorthernPeräpohjola dialects of Finnish, traditionally spoken on the Finnish side of theTorne River. The establishment of the 1809 border led Meänkieli to evolve separately, resulting in increased Swedish influence and the preservation of some archaic features. Swedish has influenced the syntax and the phonetics of Meänkieli, andcode-switching between Meänkieli and Swedish is common among its speakers. The language also includes many Swedish loan words.[16] Despite these differences, Meänkieli remains largely intelligible to Finnish speakers, partially due to the fact thatSwedish is a mandatory subject in Finnish schools, making the heavy Swedish elements in Meänkieli less of a barrier for comprehension.[15]
One key distinction between Meänkieli speakers and native Finnish speakers is their use oflinguistic registers. Native Finns typically alternate between aspoken dialect and the standardised written form of Finnish, which is taught in schools.[17] In contrast, during the period of minority language suppression in Swedish schools, Meänkieli was confined in private use, and its speakers did not learn Standard Finnish.[15] In addition, Standard Finnish hasdeveloped thousands of neologisms to replace foreign words—many of which are unintelligible to Meänkieli speakers.[16] When Finnish-language education resumed in the early 1970s, it became clear that students struggled with materials written in Standard Finnish. Learning outcomes began to improve only when after instruction began to be delivered in local dialects and efforts to develop a written language were initiated.[15] As of 2010, the written standard was still under development and had not yet gained widespread recognition.[16]
In Sweden, Meänkieli consists of three dialect subgroups, theTorne Valley dialects (spoken inPajala,Övertorneå,Haparanda and parts ofKiruna),Lannankieli (spoken inKiruna municipality) and theGällivare dialects (spoken inGällivare municipality), which all descend from the largerPeräpohjola dialect group.[18][19] The Torne Valley dialects are the most major variant group of Meänkieli, and the written standard language of Meänkieli is primarily derived from the Torne Valley dialects spoken in Pajala and Övertorneå.[20] However, the Lannankieli and Gällivare variants are more severely endangered.[21] All three dialect groups are mutually intelligible with each other, however they contain some lexical differences.[22]
Meänkieli has an official status in:Pajala,Övertorneå,Haparanda,Gällivare,Luleå,Kalix,Kiruna,Umeå andStockholm.[23][24] Meänkieli has also been historically spoken inPiteå,Boden,Älvsbyn and northeasternJokkmokk municipality.[25]
The grammar of Meänkieli is very similar to Finnish, with some variations such as the aspiration of consonants before long vowels. Meänkieli is an agglutinative language with fifteen noun cases. It contains consonant gradation and vowel harmony, just like Finnish. It contains four verb tenses, which are the present, imperfect, perfect and the pluperfect. It does not have a separate tense for future events.[26][27]
Vowel and consonant length is indicated by doubling the letter, e.g. ⟨öö⟩ /ø:/ and ⟨hh⟩ /h:/.[28]
| Front | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrounded | Rounded | Unrounded | Rounded | |
| Close | iiː | yyː | uuː | |
| Mid | eeː | øøː | ooː | |
| Open | ææː | ɑɑː | ||
| Labial | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
| Plosive | p~b | t~d | k~g | |||
| Fricative | f | s | ʃ⟨š⟩ | h | ||
| Trill | r | |||||
| Approximant | ʋ⟨v⟩ | l | j |
B, C, D, G, Q, W, X, Z, and Å are only used in foreign words and names.[29]
in 2016 a letter Š/ʃ/ was added into Meänkieli, instead of theSwedish letters sj.[30]
1) There exists often either the omission of thed sound (in native words) or its replacement witht (in loanwords):[31][32]
2) In certain environments, gemination (doubling of consonants) occurs, which differs from standard Finnish:[33]
Instead ofts clusters, there istt (similar to western Finnish dialects):
Some consonant clusters have assimilated into geminates:
jokka 'who' (standard Finnish: jotka, spoken Finnish: jokka/jotka)
Meänkieli often has the geminatevv:
3) Verb conjugation endings: -mma ~ -mmä, -tta ~ -ttä, -pi[34]
4) Past participle:[35]
The standard Finnishsyönyt (pronounced,syöny orsyönny) form corresponds tosyönny in Meänkieli (not present in all dialects).
5) In certain loanwords, Meänkieli has the soundy under the influence of Swedish, while Finnish uses the soundu:[36]
6) In loanwords, Meänkieli has preserved thef sound, whereas in Finnish it has often becomev:[37]
7) In recent loanwords, Meänkieli often uses the soundu under the influence of Swedish, while Finnish uses the soundo:[38]
8) The verbolla (to be) is sometimes combined with personal pronouns in the spoken form of Meänkieli:[39]
9) Meänkieli often uses the ending-tten in plural genitives:[40]
10) Personal pronouns.[40]
Personal pronouns in Meänkieli somewhat differ from those used in standard Finnish:
| Meänkieli | Finnish | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person singular | mie | minä |
| 2nd person singular | sie | sinä |
| 3rd person singular | hään/se | hän |
| 1st person plural | met | me |
| 2nd person plural | tet | te |
| 3rd person plural | het | he |
11) Meänkieli often uses the "š" sound in loanwords due to Swedish influence.[40]
TheSwedish language words are in parentheses in case of borrowed cognates. With Swedish being the dominant everyday language in the region, the language has impacted modern Meänkieli in some ways. Meänkieli also contains many words which have different meanings in Finnish and Meänkieli, yet sound similar. An example is the word "pyörtyä", which means 'to get lost' in Meänkieli, but it refers to fainting in standard Finnish.[41] It should, however, be noted that most of the word listed below are found in Finnish dialects.[42]
This example is taken from theSwedish Institute for Language and Folklore:[44]
| Meänkieli | Finnish | Swedish | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Olipa kerran pikkupiika joka oli saanufiinin punasenlyyvan hänensiivolta mummulta. Siksipiikaa kututhiinRödlyyvaksi. Yhtenä päivänäRödlyyvan äiti käski hänen mennä mummuntykö,ko mummu makasi saihraana hänen pienessä mökissä pimeässä synkässä mettässä.Rödlyyva sai ruokakorin ja lääkheet matkhaan ja äiti muistutti tyärtä ettemarsia suoraa tietä mummuntykö eikätopata väliläpraatimhaan kenenkhän kans. | Olipa kerran pienityttö joka oli saanuthienon punaisenhilkankiltiltä mummoltaan. Siksityttöä kutsuttiinPunahilkaksi. Yhtenä päivänäPunahilkan äiti käski hänen mennä mummonluokse,koska mummo makasi sairaana pienessä mökissään pimeässä synkässä metsässä.Punahilkka sai ruokakorin ja lääkkeet mukaansa ja äiti muistutti tytärtä, ettäkulkee suoraa tietä mummonluokse eikäpysähdy välilläpuhumaan kenenkään kanssa. | Det var en gång en liten flicka, som hade fått en fin röd huva av sin snälla mormor. Därför kallades flickan Rödluvan. En dag bad mamman att flickan skulle gå till mormor, som låg sjuk i sin stuga djupt inne i skogen. Flickan fick en korg med mat och medicin att ta med. Mamma förmanade flickan att gå raka vägen till mormor och inte stanna och prata med någon på vägen. | Once upon a time, there was a little girl who had received a beautiful red hood from her kind grandmother. That’s why the girl was called Little Red Riding Hood. One day, the girl's mother asked her to go to her grandmother, who was sick in her cottage deep in the forest. Little Red Riding Hood was given a basket with food and medicine to take with her. Mother warned the girl to go straight to grandmother's and not stop to talk to anyone along the way. |
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