The development of Finnish into a national language
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Mirja Saari
Abstract
Finnish was developed into a literary language in connection with the Lutheran Reformation in the 16th century. The first texts in Finnish were translations of the New Testament and other religious literature. Having been a part of the Kingdom of Sweden for six centuries, Finland came under Russian rule in 1809 with considerable autonomy. The new political situation, in combination with the national and liberal movements in Europe, encouraged further development of Finnish, which acquired a central position in the nation-building process, and it was developed into a language for all domains towards the end of the century. In 2011, it has more than 4.8 million mother-tongue speakers in Finland.
Abstract
Finnish was developed into a literary language in connection with the Lutheran Reformation in the 16th century. The first texts in Finnish were translations of the New Testament and other religious literature. Having been a part of the Kingdom of Sweden for six centuries, Finland came under Russian rule in 1809 with considerable autonomy. The new political situation, in combination with the national and liberal movements in Europe, encouraged further development of Finnish, which acquired a central position in the nation-building process, and it was developed into a language for all domains towards the end of the century. In 2011, it has more than 4.8 million mother-tongue speakers in Finland.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Multilingualism in a standard language culture 1
-
I. Theoretical considerations and historical background
- Myths we live and speak by 45
- Marching forward into the past 71
- Language and ethnicity in a European context 97
-
II. Case-studies
- Multilingual speakers in a monolingual society 127
- Multilingualism and standardization in Greece 153
- The development of Finnish into a national language 179
- Traces of monolingual and plurilingual ideologies in the history of language policies in France 205
- Centripetal and centrifugal forces in the sociolinguistic configuration of the Iberian Peninsula 231
- Dutch in Belgium 259
- The Caucasus 283
- Multilingualism and the disputed standardizations of Macedonian and Moldovan 309
- Name index 329
- Language index 331
- Index of geographical names 333
- Subject index 335
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Multilingualism in a standard language culture 1
-
I. Theoretical considerations and historical background
- Myths we live and speak by 45
- Marching forward into the past 71
- Language and ethnicity in a European context 97
-
II. Case-studies
- Multilingual speakers in a monolingual society 127
- Multilingualism and standardization in Greece 153
- The development of Finnish into a national language 179
- Traces of monolingual and plurilingual ideologies in the history of language policies in France 205
- Centripetal and centrifugal forces in the sociolinguistic configuration of the Iberian Peninsula 231
- Dutch in Belgium 259
- The Caucasus 283
- Multilingualism and the disputed standardizations of Macedonian and Moldovan 309
- Name index 329
- Language index 331
- Index of geographical names 333
- Subject index 335
