Ecology of Finnic minority languages

• Published in: Slovo
• Main Authors: Danto, Anatole, Pertel, Léa
• Other Authors: Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - UFR Géographie (UP1 UFR08), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1), Ministère de la Mer
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: French
• Published: HAL CCSD 2022
• Subjects: Finnic languages; changes; public policy; post-communism; language ecology; langues fenniques; changements; politique publique; post-communisme; écologie des langues; фенические языки; изменения; государственная политика; посткоммунизм; языковая экология; [SHS.LANGUE]Humanities and Social Sciences/Linguistics; [SHS.ANTHRO-SE]Humanities and Social Sciences/Social Anthropology and ethnology; [SHS.MUSEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Cultural heritage and museology; [SHS.SOCIO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Sociology; karelian; Republic of Karelia; vepsian; votic
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03686198; https://hal.science/hal-03686198/document; https://hal.science/hal-03686198/file/Slovo52_11_Anataole_Danto_Lea_Pertel.pdf; https://doi.org/10.46298/slovo.2022.9678

Épisciences - Slovo International audience This article aims to compare the trajectories of Finnic minority or dialect languages within the post-communist area of Latvia, Estonia, the Leningrad oblast and the Republic of Karelia. It is based on an interdisciplinary work in social sciences. This study analyzes materials kept in museums or research institutions, but also uses ethnographic survey in the field, in medium-term immersion within communities (native speakers, researchers, NGOs). It focuses on Livonian, Votic, Ingrian, Kihnu and Manilaid, Karelian and Vepsian communities. This study seeks to compare the post-communist evolution of these languages, by examining their vitalities, in both quantitative and qualitative evolutions of speakers, but also in terms of areal evolution, or linguistic policies (such as imposed uniformization and standardization, etc.). Thus, the public policies put in place, and the major changes taking place within them, are exposed, as well as the actions of actors who are invested in defending those languages and dialects. It raises the question of the legitimization of knowledge, with the perspective of the knowledge of these NGOs (and their networking) and the knowledge produced by scientists studying these communities. At the end, a typology of the ecology of these languages is drawn up, making it possible to categorize them and compare them according to different types of trajectories. Cet article analyse comparativement les trajectoires de langues fenniques minoritaires ou dialectales au sein de l’espace postcommuniste constitué de la Lettonie, de l’Estonie, de l’oblast de Leningrad et de la république de Carélie. Il s’appuie sur un travail interdisciplinaire en sciences sociales. Cette étude analyse à la fois des matériaux conservés au sein de musées ou d’institutions de recherche, mais emploie également l’enquête ethnographique de terrain, en immersion de moyenne durée au sein des communautés (locuteurs, chercheurs, ONG). Elle s’intéresse aux communautés lives, votes, ...