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Current Issues In Language Planning
Polity Editors: Robert B. Kaplan (University of Southern California), Richard B. Baldauf Jr. (University of Queensland) and Nkonko Kamwangamalu (Howard University)Bob and Dick are also editors of the book series Language Policy and Planning
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Volume: 3 Number: 2 Page: 95–202
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The Language Situation in Finland
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Sirkku Latomaa and Pirkko Nuolijärvi
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This monograph provides an overview of the language situation in Finland, an officially bilingual country in northern Europe. The national languages, Finnish and Swedish, have equal status, guaranteed in
language legislation since 1922. During the 19th century, however, Swedish was still the language of the élite, while Finnish was the language of the common people. Therefore, the main accomplishment
during the 19th century was the rapid development of the Finnish language into a language of education and administration, after Finnish was accorded official status in 1863. The beginning of independence
(1917–) witnessed a number of language conflicts that gradually subsided and led to a long stable period between the languages. In the 1980s, the linguistic situation changed again in many ways. The
former emigrant country became an immigrant country. Even though immigrant minorities in Finland are still small compared with, for example, other Nordic countries, immigration has created a situation where
there are several established linguistic minorities. In the 1990s, the status of linguistic minorities was improved through a number of legislative and educational reforms, and in 2001, proposals for the
new Language Act and the Saami Language Act were written. Simultaneously, the status of Finnish has changed somewhat. In 1995, Finland joined the European Union. Internationalisation and globalisation have
become a part of Finnish society, and the role of English in business, education, media and science has become more accentuated than ever before. In this new situation, the future of Finnish as well as
the other national language, Swedish, is discussed from the viewpoint of less widely used languages in a globalising world.
© Multilingual Matters 2002
Full text PDF
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ISSN: 1466-4208
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ISSN: 1466-4208
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