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Sociolinguistics Symposium 19: Language and the City

Sociolinguistics Symposium 19

Freie Universität Berlin | August 21-24, 2012

Programme: accepted abstracts

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Abstract ID: 1099

Part of Session 181: Folk linguistics and society (Other abstracts in this session)

Pure Finnish or our Ingrian language? Finnish-speaking Ingrian Finns’ ideas about language use in St. Petersburg and its surroundings

Authors: Mononen, Kaarina
Submitted by: Mononen, Kaarina Lea Hannele (University of Helsinki, Finland)

This paper discusses linguistic views and beliefs of  Finnish-speaking Ingrian Finns in the St. Petersburg area in Russia. Detailed investigation of spoken discourse will show how different perceptions are created and expressed in conversations with aged participants. Comparisons between the younger and older generation are made as well.

The data for the study have been collected through ethnographic fieldwork in St. Petersburg and its surroundings in Russia, especially among elderly people in a retirement home. The focus of the study is on qualitative analysis of the interaction; the data consists of conversations and interviews. In addition to actual language use, I have studied the participants’ personal history and how it affects their linguistic perceptions and choices of language use. I will illustrate how sociohistorical background can be seen as relevant for the understanding of language views today.

Ingrian Finns constitute an old migrant group from Finland in the area around the contemporary St. Petersburg. They started moving to the area from 1617 onward. In the area, Ingrian Finnish dialects were used in social interaction but the standard Finnish was the language of public life. The area was under Finnish cultural influence and had close connections to Finland until the 1930s’. The Stalinist era changed the situation. Ingrian Finns were deported to other parts of the Soviet Union and were able to return home after Stalin’s death. However, in the Soviet Union their connections with Finland were diminished, and many lost their contact to Finnish language due to mixed marriages and strict minority politics. During the past two decades the contacts with Finland and Finland Finns have been active and a large group of people consisting of descendants of Ingrian Finns have moved to Finland.

I will discuss the multifaceted concepts of languages and ways of speaking in conversations with Ingrian Finns. One question to be discussed is how the value of Finnish has varied in the course of the time and how it becomes visible in the data. Which categories do the speakers make relevant in certain situations?

References:

Garrett, Peter 2010: Attitudes to language. Key topics in sociolinguistics. Cambridge University Press, New York.

Pavlenko, Anna & Blackledge, Adrian 2004 (toim.): Negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts. Multilingual Matters Clevedon.

Preston, Dennis 2002: Language with an attitude. – J. K. Chambers, Peter Trudgill & Natalie Schilling-Estes (toim.), The handbook of language variation and change s. 40–66. Oxford: Blackwell.

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