Meänkieli (literally 'our language'), or Tornedalian[1] is a Finnic language or a group of distinct Finnish dialects spoken in the northernmost part of Sweden along the valley of the Torne River. Meänkieli is recognized in Sweden as one of the country's five minority languages and is treated as a distinct language from Finnish, however its status as an independent Finnic language is sometimes disputed due to its mutual intelligibility with Finnish.[2] According to the National Association of Swedish Tornedalians, 70,000 individuals are able to understand Meänkieli, at least to some level.[3]
Meänkieli is especially similar to the Kven language and the Finnish dialects spoken on the Finnish side of the border and is strongly mutually intelligible with them, although Meänkieli contains strong influences from Swedish and has conserved some archaic features which even the Northern Finnish dialects have lost.[4][5]
Meänkieli is distinguished from Standard Finnish by the absence of 19th- and 20th-century developments in Finnish.[6]
History
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 historically Finnish speaking (just like most areas along the eastern coast of the southern part of Gulf of Bothnia, areas that were ceded to Russia and are part of modern Finland, were historically Swedish speaking, and to a large extent still are). The area where Meänkieli is spoken that is now northern Sweden (apart from the linguistically Sami and Swedish parts of this geographical area), formed a dialect continuum within the Realm of Sweden. Since the area east of Torne River was ceded to Russia in 1809, the language spoken on the western side of it developed in partial isolation from standard Finnish. In 1826, the state Church of Sweden appointed the priest and amateur botanist Lars Levi Laestadius to be the Vicar over the Karesuando parish, which is situated along the Muonio River north of the Arctic Circle on the border of Finland in Swedish 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 (primarily eastern 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".[7] 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.[8]
Meänkieli today
On April 1, 2000, Meänkieli became one of the now five nationally recognized minority 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 in Norrbotten. 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 as Tornedalians although the Finnish-speaking part of Norrbotten is a far larger area than the Torne River Valley; judging by the names of towns and places, the Finnish-speaking part of Norrbotten stretches as far west as the town of Gällivare.
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 at Stockholm University, Luleå University of Technology, Umeå University, and Babeș-Boylai University in Romania.[9] In 2020, Oulu University began teaching translators in Meänkieli and Kven.[10]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 author Mikael 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 station P4 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 on P2 nationwide from 8:34 to 9:00). All of these programmes are also available via the Internet.
Status as a language
Individuals who agree with the classification of Meänkieli as a separate language generally do so for historical, political and sociological reasons, usually pointing to its separate history, cultural meaning, official status, and its standardised written language that is distinct from standard Finnish. However, on pure linguistic grounds, Meänkieli may be classified as a group of Northern Peräpohjola dialects of Finnish. Although the creation of the 1809 border has moved Meänkieli into its own direction by increasing Swedish influences and keeping some archaic features, Meänkieli is still very comprehensible for speakers of Finnish, especially due to the fact that Swedish is taught as a mandatory subject in Finland, causing the heavy Swedish influence in Meänkieli to not cause as many problems for comprehension. However, according to Harri Mantila (a professor at the University of Oulu), the independent status of Meänkieli is important to many of its speakers as it has increased its linguistic prestige which has been historically very low due to the process of Swedification, thus helping to create a stronger cultural identity for the Tornedalians.[11]
Dialects
Traditional spread of the Meänkieli variants
In Sweden, Meänkieli consists of three dialect subgroups, the Torne Valley dialects (spoken in Pajala, Övertorneå, Haparanda and parts of Kiruna), Lannankieli (spoken in Kiruna and Jukkasjärvi) and the Gällivare dialects (spoken around Gällivare), which all descend from the larger Peräpohjola dialect group.[12] 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.[13] However, the Lannankieli and Gällivare variants are more severely endangered.[14] All three dialectgroups are mutually intelligible with each other, however they contain some lexical differences.[15]
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.[19][20]
Alphabet
A – aa – [ɑ]
B – bee – [b]
C – see – [k/s]
D – dee – [d]
E – ee – [e]
F – äf – [f]
G – gee – [ɡ]
H – hoo – [h]
I – ii – [i]
J – jii – [j]
K – koo – [k]
L – äl – [l]
M – äm – [m]
N – än – [n]
O – oo – [o]
P – pee – [p]
Q – kuu – [k]
R – är – [r]
S – äs – [s]
T – tee – [t]
U – uu – [u]
V – vee – [ʋ]
W – kaksois-vee/tupla-vee – [ʋ]
X – äks – [ks]
Y – yy – [y]
Z – tset(a) – [s]
Å – ruotti oo – [o/oː]
Ä – ää – [æ]
Ö – öö – [ø]
B, C, D, G, W, X, Z, and Å are only used in foreign words and names.[21]
in 2016 a letter š /ʃ/ was added into Meänkieli, instead of the Swedish letters sj.[22]
Differences between standard Finnish and Meänkieli
1) There exists often either the omission of the d sound (in native words) or its replacement with t (in loanwords):[23][24]
tehä 'to do' (Finnish: tehdä)
tynamiitti 'dynamite' (Finnish: dynamiitti)
syyä 'to eat' (Finnish: syödä)
meän 'our' (Finnish: meidän)
heän 'their' (Finnish: heidän)
teän 'your' (Finnish: teidän)
soan 'of the war (Finnish: sodan)
2) In certain environments, gemination (doubling of consonants) occurs, which differs from standard Finnish:[25]
Instead of ts clusters, there is tt (similar to western Finnish dialects):
mettä 'forest' (Finnish: metsä)
kattoa 'to look' (Finnish: katsoa)
Some consonant clusters have assimilated into geminates:
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.[32]
šinkka = ham
informašuuni = information
lekitimašuuni = personal identification
Some Meänkieli words not used in standard Finnish
The Swedish 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 Finnish.[33]
Olipa kerran pikku piika joka oli saanu fiinin punasen lyyvan hänen siivolta mummulta. Siksi piikaa kututhiin Rödlyyvaksi. Yhtenä päivänä Rödlyyvan äiti käski hänen mennä mummun tykö, ko mummu makasi saihraana hänen pienessä mökissä pimeässä synkässä mettässä. Rödlyyva sai ruokakorin ja lääkheet matkhaan ja äiti muistutti tyärtä ette marsia suoraa tietä mummun tykö eikä topata välilä praatimhaan kenenkhän kans.
Olipa kerran pieni tyttö joka oli saanut hienon punaisen hilkan kiltiltä mummoltaan. Siksi tyttöä kutsuttiin Punahilkaksi. Yhtenä päivänä Punahilkan äiti käski hänen mennä mummon luokse, koska mummo makasi sairaana pienessä mökissään pimeässä synkässä metsässä. Punahilkka sai ruokakorin ja lääkkeet mukaansa ja äiti muistutti tytärtä, että kulkee suoraa tietä mummon luokse eikä pysähdy välillä puhumaan 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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