Bernadett Biró – Katalin Sipőcz
Szeged
Today in Mansi?
Mansi, which belongs to the Ugric branch of Uralic languages, is one of the most endangered languages of the language family. According to the data of the 2002 Russian census, the Mansi population is 11,432. This shows an increase in the population as opposed to the data of the census taken in 1989 (8,474 persons). This does not mean that the Mansi population has increased, but rather that the proportion of those who declare themselves Mansi has changed. The extent of usage and knowledge of the mother tongue is more significant than the total population. Only 23% of the Mansi population speaks Mansi, according to the census data, while in 1989 the same proportion was 37%. On the other hand, practically every Mansi speaks Russian (99.1%).
The well-known Mansi linguist E. I Rombandeyeva stated at the beginning of 1990s that in 15 years the Mansi language would not be spoken any more. We are approaching to the time of predicted death of language. Although there are still some people who are able to use their mother tongue – mostly the oldest generation –, the Mansi language is close to language death. Since we have not had the possibility of field work recently, we focus on the so-called literary Mansi language. In our presentation we show to what extent the impoverishment of vocabulary, the simplification of grammar structure and the thematic schematisation are considerable in some Mansi texts, such as schoolbooks, language books, Mansi prosaic publications, as well as in the Mansi newspaper Lujima Seripos.
Sándor Csúcs
Budapest-Piliscsaba
Die Finnougrier Russlands im 21. Jahrhundert
In meinem Vortrag beschäftige ich mich mit den folgenden Fragen:
1) Wie ist die heutige kulturelle und sprachliche Lage der Finnougrier Russlands?
2) Welche Rolle spielt die Sprache bei der Bewahrung der Identität der uralischen Völker?
3) Was können die verschiedenen Institutionen (offizielle Organe, die uralischen Völker selbst, die wissenschaftliche Einrichtungen, die Forschung) für diese Völker tun?
Mária Czibere
Groningen
How important a factor is language to the forming of identity?
A sense of large-scale group identity often stems from shared historical, cultural, and most importantly – from our point of view – linguistic features.
On the basis of the results of the first online linguistics survey in the Hungarian-speaking regions I will discuss the way in which positive and negative images of the native language (and/or native country) are connected to national identity. The questionnaires were based on studies of attitude towards native language and certain (“prestigious”) foreign languages. The respondents, native speakers of Hungarian, were students at a university or pedagogical academy.
In total, four groups were surveyed:
1. Language students majoring in Hungarian;
2. Other humanities students;
3. Students of the natural sciences, or technical studies;
4. Ethnic Hungarian students majoring in Hungarian at the J. Selye University in Komarno, Slovakia.
I will also give a brief summary of the differences and similarities in the results of the same study in the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland, as compared to the Hungarian study.
Martin Ehala
Tallinn
Sustainability of double ethnic identity in majority-minority settings: The case of Estonian and Võro
The paper analyses the possibility of double (or multiple) ethnic identity for individuals as well as groups. The role of languages in the formation of double identities is discussed. The conditions for a stable and sustainable double identity are outlined on the basis of previous case studies on language maintenance and loss. On the basis of the theoretical overview the sustainability of a Võro-Estonian double identity is considered. The conclusions will be made on the basis of a study of ethnolinguistic vitality of the Võro community conducted in fall 2005 amongst of 9th-graders in the county of Võro.
Tiborc Fazekas
Hamburg
Zwischen Pflege und „Verfall“
Über zeitgenössische Veränderungen in der ungarischen Sprache und in der ungarischen Sprachwissenschaft
Nach den enormen und erfolgreichen Anstrengungen zur Etablierung einer modernen, normierten ungarischen Hochsprache während der als „Spracherneuerung“ bezeichneten Periode Ende des 18., Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts wurden die sprachlichen Grundlagen zum Fortleben der nach Zahl der Sprecher größten finnougrischen Sprache gesichert. Das ganze 19. Jahrhundert hat dementsprechend im Zeichen der „Magyar-Sprachigkeit“ stattgefunden, die Literatur, die gesamte Öffentlichkeit, Theater, Zeitungen/Zeitschriften und die Sprachwissenschaft haben mit ihren Tätigkeiten maßgeblich dazu beigetragen, dass das Ungarische Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts mit seinem Ausdrucksvermögen bei der Benennung der Phänomene der modernen technisch-wissenschaftlichen und sozialen Entwicklung auch in den speziellsten Bereichen hat Schritt halten können.
Die Ereignisse des 20. Jahrhunderts haben diesen Prozess allerdings mehrfach und in mehrerer Hinsicht unterbrochen bzw. geändert. Durch Kriege, durch wiederholte Änderungen der Staatsgrenzen, durch ebenso drastische gesellschaftliche und politische Krisen und Zwänge sind vielerlei Gefahren für die ungarisch-sprechende(n) Gemeinschaft(en) entstanden. Der Zustand des heutigen Ungarischen ist aus diesen Gründen sehr komplex: einerseits verfügt die Sprache über ein normiertes, sicheres Gerüst, das in Grammatiken festgelegt und in der allgemeinen Bildung unterrichtet wird, andererseits können nicht alle Menschen mit ungarischer Muttersprache sich bis in diese Norm hin sprachlich und schriftlich ausbilden (ungarische Minderheiten). Die verschiedenen Live-Berichte der Medien unserer Zeit und das Sprachverhalten einzelner gesellschaftlicher Gruppen (vor allem das der Jugendlichen), die auffällig große Anzahl neuer (meist englischer) Lehn- und Fremdwörter, die häufigen und oft gewollten Verletzungen der festgelegten Normen (insbesondere der Regeln des Stils und des sprachlichen Benehmens) in der mündlichen Kommunikation werden von Fachleuten und Laien kontrovers und leidenschaftlich diskutiert.
Bei diesen Tendenzen wächst auch in fachlichen Kreisen die seit der Herderschen „Prophezeiung“ bestehende Angst, dass die Sprache der Ungarn im Meer der fremden Sprachen untergehen könnte. Strengere Einhaltung der Normen, weniger Toleranz gegenüber fremden und neuen Erscheinungen, der „Schutz der Sprache“ wird verlangt. Aber kann man die spontanen und aktuellen Veränderungen einer Sprache in einer nicht-diktatorischen Gesellschaft überhaupt lenken?
György Fodor
Debrecen
Über ein Mordwinisches-Sprach-Hilfs-Programm (MoSH-Paket)
Das mordwinische Volk lebt so verstreut wie kein anderes finnisch-ugrisches. Eine natürliche Folge davon ist, dass die Mordwinien, die ihre Muttersprache noch gut beherrschen, so weit voneinander entfernt wohnen, dass das Russische mit Leichtigkeit Oberhand gewinnt. Der Sprachverlust wird von den ethnischen und Identitätsgegensätzen zwischen Erzja und Mokscha beschleunigt werden. Deswegen wird in letzter Zeit offiziell über zwei einheitliche Sprachen geredet: Erzja und Mokscha mit eigene Mundarten. Ist das eigentlich begründet?
Lohnt es sich für uns, die Mordwinisch nicht als Muttersprache benutzen, den Mordwinen eine neue Identität zu geben und eine stabilere Zukunft zu versprechen? Wie können wir es schaffen?
1. Wenn die ausländischen Sprachforscher sich mit dem Mordwinischen nicht als Muttersprache beschäftigen, so können sie das Interesse für die Muttersprache bei den Mordwinien selbst auch hervorrufen.
2. Die Beschäftigung mit berühmten Vorfahren und die Bewahrung unvergänglicher Werte erfordern ebenfalls viel Aufmerksamkeit.
3. MoSH-Paket
Unter 3. verstehe ich eine Rettungsidee unter Verwendung der Technik des 21, Jahrhunderts. In unserer Zeit ist die Benutzung von Übersetzungsprogrammen auf dem Internet eine charakeristische Tätigkeit. Ich würde das Zustandenkommen einer linguistischen Datebase fördern, dessen Forschungssprache Mordwinisch (Erzja und Mokscha ohne Distinktion) wäre. Mit diesem Programm würde das Mordwinisch weltweit in weiteren Kreisen untersucht werden. Die Forscher können das Hilfspaket auf dem Internet einfach erreichen und – was das wichtigste ist – ausbauen. Die Sprachen des Programms wären Ungarisch, Finnisch, Deutsch, English und natürlich Russisch.
Zur Zeit steht ein Korpus aus insgesamt 16 000 mordwinischen Wörtern zur Verfügung (mit ungarischen und finnischen Äquivalente). Meiner Meinung nach ist die Publizierung im Internet realisierbar. Das Ziel wäre eine mordwinische Datebase mit Hilfe der vorhandenen Wörterbücher "ins Leben zu rufen" (z.B. Paasonen–Kahla, Mészáros–Sirmankina, Molnár, Potapkin–Imrekov, Wirmankina, Koljadenkov–Cyganov, Serebrennikov–Buzakov–Mosin, Serebrennikov–Feoktistov–Poljakov, Herrala–Feoktistov, Niemi–Mosin). Es gibt ein Internetwörterbuch in Mokscha-Englisch, aber das ist noch sehr entwicklungsfähig. Das mordwinische Sprach-Hilfs-Paket erhöhte die Nutzbarkeit mit einem universalen Finnisch-Ugrischen Datennetz vollkommen.
Die mordwinische Kollegen können die Verwendung der eigenen Sprache einfacher überblicken. Das MoSH-Paket bildete die Grundlage der morphologischen, phraseologischen, etymologischen und lexikographischen Forschungen. Ich befürworte die elektronische Bearbeitung bei allen gefährderten Sprachen.
Károly Gerstner
Budapest
Über den mutmaßlichen Zusammenhang zwischen Herkunft und lexikologischer Position im ungarischen Wortschatz
Es wird als Gemeinplatz in der Sprachwissenschaft behauptet, dass der Gebrauchswert und die lexikologische Position, beziehungsweise alle Veränderungen von diesen innerhalb des Wortschatzes grundsätzlich durch kommunikative Bedürfnisse der Sprechenden (Schreibenden) bestimmt seien, während die Herkunft oder Entstehungsweise der Wörter in dieser Hinsicht keine Rolle spielen. Diese Behauptung kann natürlich mit tausenden Wörtern unterstützt werden wie z.B.: vám ‘Maut, Zoll, Abgabe’ (iranisch), szőlő ‘Weintraube’ (alttürkisch), kereszt ‘Kreuz’ (slawisch), zsámoly ‘Schemel’ (deutsch), kréta ‘Kreide’ (lateinisch), csőr ‘Schnabel’ (Innovation), pincér ‘Kellner’ (Lehnübersetzung) usw.
Aufgrund meiner etymologischen und worthistorischen Untersuchungen scheint es mir aber recht annehmbar zu sein, dass die sprachlich-kulturelle Herkunft gewisser Lehnwörter und die Zeit der Entlehnung die spätere (heutige) lexikologische Position dieser Wörter in bedeutendem Maße bestimmt haben. Es handelt sich hier überwiegend um Lehnwörter aus dem Deutschen, Latein, Französischen und Englischen, die im allgemeinen seit Ende des 17. Jahrhunderts, aber vor allem in der Periode der Spracherneuerung (Ende des 18. Jahrhundert) und danach ins Ungarische gelangt sind.
In meinem Vortrag versuche ich die Hypothese zu beweisen, dass Wörter wie asszentál ‘mustern (militärisch)’, cetli ‘Zettel’, kalendárium ‘Kalender’, major ‘Major’, román ‘Roman’, spórkassza ‘Sparkasse, Sparbüchse’ und noch hunderte (tausende?) andere nicht wegen ihres denotativen Inhaltes sondern wegen ihrer Herkunft und „Alter“ aus dem allgemeinen Sprachgebrauch gekommen sind und/oder einen speziellen Stilwert bekommen haben.
Cornelius Hasselblatt
Groningen
Identity and separatism
The concept of 'identity' generally has a positive connotation, whilst 'separatism' has negative associations. Nevertheless, both notions are used for the same thing, Chechnya being but one (extreme) example. This paper will focus on the problem of the Estonian situation, where a strong regional (Southern) identity has been developing during the last decennia. Although there is no evidence of forms of separatism within Estonia, the following question arises:
Are there any negative aspects and effects of regional identity?
Political correctness usually prevents us from asking this question, but there is no reason to assume that developing regional identity is without exception a positive phenomenon. The existence of negative side effects is not impossible.
If we find them, a second – completely different – question arises: Does it make sense to (try to) prohibit the development of regional identities?
The paper will discuss some aspects of this sociolinguistic and language policy question.
Anu-Reet Hausenberg
Tallinn
How to assess lexical innovations?
This presentation approaches the nature of vocabulary changes that have occurred in the past few decades and aims to determine the role of linguistic and social aspects in the development of a language’s lexical system. The source material originates primarily from Estonian and Komi.
Language is always related to time and place, and thus innovative processes may not take place at the same time in different languages. However, the recent past has seen multitudes of new words being introduced into several languages, whereas the number and nature of innovations has spurred various reactions by those who speak the languages. This inspired the discussion on how to assess innovations.
Changes in vocabulary are mainly brought about by language-external factors: the need to express oneself and influences of other languages. The former compels a person to find means of expression from the mother tongue or outside it, the latter may mean strong foreign impacts or a purist attempt to eliminate foreign influences. Which innovations are welcome in a language and which are not? What are the criteria for assessing the expediency of innovations and predicting whether they become rooted in a language or not?
New vocabulary has to be assessed with regard to various aspects, for example:
- meaning: does the word fill a gap in expressive means or is it superfluous;
- origin: is it a derivation originating from the mother tongue or a loan;
- structure: does the word fit into the system of phonotactics and morphology or remain alien;
- sphere of use: is the word used widely or by a limited group of speakers.
Although theoretically a speaker should value and accept words that are characterised by the abovementioned features, in reality many superfluous loan words with alien structures also become ingrained, if supported by various social factors. To what extent are these innovations hazardous to the lexical system of the language? How much can the renewal of vocabulary be guided or slowed down?
Attila Hegedűs
Piliscsaba
Dialektverlust und Identität in Ungarn am Anfang des 21. Jahrhunderts
In den letzten 15 Jahren haben in den ungarischen Dialekten wesentliche Veränderungen stattgefunden, die im Folgenden zusammengefasst werden können.
1. Die dialektalen Veränderungen bilden einen Teil der Veränderungsreihen, die die ganze Sprache betreffen: die mehr labilen Teilsysteme (Wortschatz, die auffallenden, „primären“ Glieder des Lautsystems) verändern sich deutlich wahrnehmbar, während die grammatischen Veränderungen langsamer ablaufen.
2. Im Veränderungsprozess hat die standardsprachliche Norm die stärkste Wirkung auf die Dialekte.
3. Infolge der Veränderungen werden im lokalen Sprachgebrauch neue(re) Varianten akzeptiert, die dann für die Dialektnorm kennzeichnend werden.
4. Im Veränderungsprozess, während dessen die neuen Formen die archaischen allmählich verdrängen, entstehen Übergangsformen, deren Zahl desto höher ist, je stärker der Dialektverlust ist.
5. Während des Veränderungsprozesses trifft der (Dialekt)Sprecher in zahlreichen Momenten der Kommunikation eine Entscheidung, welche Variante aus dem zur Verfügung stehenden sprachlichen Bestand je nach sprachlicher Situation und Thema aktualisiert werden soll. Wenn infolge derselben Wahl der Sprechenden eine deutliche Verschiebung in eine gegebene Richtung zu beobachten ist und die archaische Variante immer weniger als Norm betrachtet wird, können wir über die Veränderung des gegebenen Dialektes sprechen.
6. Im Prozess der Veränderung löst sich auch der Basisdialekt auf: stets jüngere Generationen geraten in den Zustand der Diglossie und die Sprecher stehen permanent vor der Wahl zwischen den Sprachvarianten. Der ehemalige geschlossene, homogene Dialekt tritt in den familiären Kreis zurück.
Heinike Heinsoo
Tartu
Of a vanishing language and identity: Votic
The Votic people have lived through many different phases of language change.
In the beginning of 20th century they relatively easily adopted the Izhorian language. As a result of this language change even in the middle of the 20th century children of one family may have become speakers of different languages: the one married to an Izhorian started to speak Izhorian, the one married to a Vote retained the Votic language.
If the Votes had not been russified they would have become Izhorians. Living in the same area and mixed marriages turned the scales towards the Izhorian language. The Izhorian language has dominated due to sheer numbers.
In the beginning of the 19th century Old Church Slavonic was understood by 10% and Russian by 50% of the people. In 1925 everybody could speak Russian, except the very oldest people. Now the situation is that the descendants of the ca. 20 speakers of Votic – who are over 70 years of age – do not speak Votic at all because their parents, even though they are both Votic, have spoken only Russian with their children. The offspring of Izhorian-Votic mixed families also speak Russian at home.
The speaking of the Votic language ended very abruptly, during the course of only one generation.
The language change among the last speakers of the Votic language is characterised by the same traits:
1. When – very rarely – the last remaining speakers speak Votic among themselves they change to Izhorian when someone speaking Izhorian joins the group, even if the speaker of Izhorian understands Votic.
2. The speakers of Votic change – when discussing certain topics, e.g. medicine, daily politics – to Russian. This change of language is different depending on the informants.
Use of the own ethnonym has been inconsistent even when the Votic language was still alive. Belonging to language of their own was expressed by using verb pajatan ´I speak Votic´ or by place of origin: olen kunikvallass ´I am from the Votic language area of the Jõgõperä village´.
The ten present-day speakers of Votic language lack an identity of their own. At the same time the Votic language starts to interest more and more people who have a Russian cultural and linguistic background – people who are becoming to be more interested in the cultural, material and linguistic past of the Votic people. Votic is taught in the local Russian school. There is a Votic language ensemble in St. Petersburg. A Votic spelling book is being completed. Apparently the target group comprises the descendants of the speakers of the disappearing language, but even more the enthusiasts of the language. The living language is disappearing.
Adriaan van der Hoeven
Groningen
A Dutch Mirror of Finnish Identity
"The Kalevala was a major tool in the construction of a new nation”, said Lauri Honko. He went even further by stating that “an epic created a nation”. Therefore, if anywhere, we should find the core of Finnish identity in the Kalevala (1835, 1849). The artists who visualized the epic tried in their turn to grasp and represent the essential character of it and, thus, of Finnishness. The one who, to judge by the popularity of his art, succeeded best in this, was Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931). Identity was supposedly also to be found in Finnish history, landscape and people, although there was disagreement on what the typical Finn looked like and where he lived. As the Kalevala was generally interpreted in a historical way, the artists using themes from the epic could even combine these elements – as for instance Gallen-Kallela did in his famous Aino-triptych (1891). His major Kalevala-works – and basically also those of other artists – translated Finnish identity, so to say, in concrete images and helped it construct. When the Kalevala was translated into Dutch (1928, 1938, 1939), the publishing houses made use of illustrations to illuminate the stories and to make the epic more accessible to the Dutch readers. I will try to show to what extent these Dutch visualizations mirror the Finnishness of the Kalevala and where ideology, fantasy, prejudice and ignorance come into play
Paula Jääsalmi-Krüger
Hamburg
„Komm in mein Haus zum Teekochen!“ oder wie chantisch ist die heutige Umgangssprache noch?
In dem Beitrag wird exemplarisch der Frage nachgegangen, inwieweit die heutige Umgangssprache noch Kulturtraditionen widerspiegelt, die für die chantische Identität von Bedeutung sind. Als Beispiel hierfür wurden umgangssprachliche Ausdrucksweisen für ‚heiraten’ gewählt.
Das Untersuchungsmaterial beschränkt sich auf das Nordchantische. Es wurde während einer Feldforschungsreise im Jahre 2004 aufgezeichnet.
Die folgenden zwei Beispiele illustrieren die Fragestellung:
1. Kaz. Ма хотэма шай каварты юва! ‚Ich möchte dich heiraten’; wörtl. ‚Komm in mein Haus zum Teekochen!’ 2. Ber. Ма икия мантсум ‚Ich habe geheiratet’; wörtl. ‚Ich bin zu einem Mann gegangen’.
In beiden Ausdrucksweisen ist ein althergebrachter, inzwischen im Verschwinden begriffener Ehe- bzw. Heiratsbrauch bewahrt. Beispiel (1) spiegelt jene Tradition wider, derzufolge das Teekochen ausschließlich eine Aufgabe der Ehefrau ist. Beispiel (2) hingegen weist auf die traditionelle patrilokale Heiratsregelung hin. Auch in dem Falle, wo der Ehemann nach der Heirat zu seiner Frau hinzieht, wird nicht gesagt *Ber. Ма имия мантсум ‚Ich habe geheiratet’; wörtl. ‚Ich bin zu einer Frau gegangen’.
Nikolai Jacsev
Budapest
Identity research in the Finno-Ugric linguistics
Traditionally we consider Finno-Ugric linguistics the science dealing with Finno-Ugric languages. In my presentation I plan to show that beside scientific interest, the search of own ethnic roots and identity drove the first researchers in the early stages of the development of Finno-Ugric linguistics.
Furthermore, I intend to show that Finno-Ugric linguistics has become a complex, comprehensive science by now, where identity research has a specific and important role. Let us think only to the language loss situation in the eastern Finno-Ugric areas, which can be interpreted as a failure of the traditional methods and theories in the Finno-Ugric linguistics, and raises the question of strengthening or renewal of national/ethnic identity.
Finally I intend to give a short outline about the modern identity research in the Finno-Ugric World, beginning with the Anglo-Saxon influence in Norway (Harald Eidheim and the Sami people) in the first half of the 60s, and in Finland from the second half of the 60s (Erkki Asp, Pertti Pelto, etc.), not forgetting the activity of Hungarian scientists from the 80s (Csepeli György and others).
I will also speak briefly about the ethnic revival among the Sami people (Erkki Pääkkönen, Veli-Pekka Lehtola, Elina Helander, etc.), the Kvens (Lassi Saaressalo, Olav Bedari) and the meänkieliset (Matti Kenttä).
I intend also to point to the outcomes of some international and/or institutional projects (Oulu University, Võru Institute, Minority Research Institute beside the Hungarian Academy of Science).
I intend to develop further the work of Seppo Lallukka and Ksenofont Sanukov with the aim to give positive examples for the eastern Finno-Ugric people and nations and also for modern Finno-Ugric linguistics.
Nikolai Jacsev
Budapest
Elements of Seto identity and research
The Seto people have been official members of the Finno-Ugric World Congress since 2004. Are they a new nation or what are the criteria of acknowledgement in the Finno-Ugric World? There are linguistic, historic and ethnologic approaches that face political purposes. But the area’s status and the people’s identity are in transition. Who is stronger?
After some introductory words about the situation in Setomaa I intend to offer a survey of the premodern (Kreutzwald, Willem Buk, etc.), the Soviet type (Elisaveta Richter, 1975; Ivanov, 1999) and the modern (Indrek Jääts, Võru Institute, Laura Assmuth) Seto identity researches and their outcomes, including my own results concerning elements of Seto identity, compared to elements of Estonian national identity.
I will also give a comparison of the Seto–Võru–Livonian movement and situation.
Jolanta Jastrzębska
Groningen
Archaic Expressions in Modern Hungarian Literature
The aim of my paper is to show the implementation of archaic expressions in modern Hungarian poetry and prose as an enrichment of the language with its own elements. In this sense it is an opposite tendency to the use of loanwords, especially those that are adopted in Hungarian only phonetically, but remain strange from the etymological and morphological point of view (for example: pamflet, szerviz, komputer, etc.).
The use of archaic language, or archaization, is an old tradition in literature; the use of archaic expressions is in the first place an individual decision of a writer, but other reasons can also be mentioned. In my opinion the evocation of old and forgotten words is one of the characteristics of Hungarian émigré poetry, and can be explained as a result of a singular attention for their mother tongue, when surrounded by and being involved in a different linguistic community.
Archaization is also a legitimate stylistic device in historical novels, although it is not absolutely necessary to resort the technique in this category. Two recently published novels, whose action is situated in the 16th and 17th centuries, respectively: Hollóidő [The time of the raven] (2001) by István Szilágyi and A kigyó árnyéka [The shadow of the snake] (2002) by Zsuzsa Rakovszky, however, furnish a large amount of archaic words, especially ones which can not be recognized without the context. The enthusiastic reaction of both the public and literary critics has nonetheless proved that the “experiment” has been successful.
Dezső Juhász
Budapest
Nationaler Charakter, Identität und Namensänderung in Ungarn im 19. Jahrhundert
Namensänderungen, das heißt überwiegend das Ersetzen von Familiennamen fremden Ursprungs oder fremd klingender Familiennamen und zu einem kleineren Teil das Ersetzen ungarischer Namen durch schönere oder vorteilhaftere, betrafen in Ungarn im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert mehrere Hunderttausend Menschen. Für die komplexe Untersuchung der außerordentlich vielfältigen sprachlichen und gesellschaftsgeschichtlichen Zusammenhänge und Bewegungen wurde am Seminar für Ungarische Sprachgeschichte, Soziolinguistik und Dialektologie der Budapester Eötvös-Loránd-Universität eine aus Sprachwissenschaftlern und Historikern bestehende Forschungsgruppe eingerichtet. Der Referent untersucht als Mitglied dieser Forschungsgruppe anhand von historischen Quellen und Hinweisen in der Fachliteratur, wie sich in den neu gewählten Familiennamen und in den Begründungen für die Namensänderungen die nationale Ideologie und der idealisierte Nationalcharakter niederschlagen, weiterhin durch welche Merkmale ein neu gewählter Familienname ungarischer klingt, und welcher Zusammenhang zwischen der Hungarisierung der Namen und der Änderungen im Bereich der Identität im 19. Jahrhundert besteht.
Kristel Kaljund
München
Identitätsressourcen der Udmurten und die Rolle der Sprache
Die Sprache spielt bei der Konstruktion einer nationalen Identität eine Sonderrolle, die im Bewusstsein der Menschen seit Herder fest verankert ist. Die Mitglieder einer Minderheit innerhalb eines Nationalstaates haben immer eine widersprüchliche kulturelle Identität bzw. Identitäten. Die Homogenität, die eine Nation anstrebt, ist Minderheiten gegenüber immer diskriminierend.
Russland ist theoretisch ein Föderalstaat, in Wirklichkeit handelt es sich um einen Nationalstaat mit einer langen Tradition. Viele Völker Russlands befinden sich sprachlich und identitätstechnisch in einer komplizierten Lage, darunter die Udmurten. Jede Identität bedarf Ressourcen, die diese Identität unterstützen. Im Falle einer ethnischen Minderheit sind die Ressourcen meistens begrenzt.
Die wichtigste Identitätsressource der Udmurten ist die Sprache. Die Lage der Sprache hängt mit den Möglichkeiten, mit dem Prestige, mit der Modernisierung und mit den finanziellen Mitteln zusammen. Die anderen Identitätsressourcen (Territorium, Traditionen, Religion, nationale Elite u.a.) können als abhängigen Variablen betrachtet werden, weil sie ohne Sprache nicht existieren können. Die Lage der Sprache in Udmurtien heute unterstützt die udmurtische ethnische Identität eher wenig.
Wenn eine Sprache verloren geht, sinkt die Wahrscheinlichkeit, dass es das Ethnos nicht mehr geben wird, drastisch, obwohl die ethnische Identität theoretisch auch andere Grundlagen finden kann. Der Erhalt der Sprache dient zum Erhalt der ethnischen Identität und umgekehrt: Wenn seitens Sprecher genügend Wille vorhanden ist, die Ressourcen auszuschöpfen, bleibt die Sprache lebendig. Im Falle Udmurtiens ist es nicht sicher, ob die ethnische Identität noch stark genug ist, um genügend Ressourcen zum Erhalt der Sprache einzusetzen.
Petri Kallio
Helsinki
How "Uralic" is Stadin slangi?
The invitation to our symposium "Language and Identity in the Finno-Ugric World" asked us a question how many loanwords a language can stand and remain itself. In this respect, an extreme example is Stadin slangi (i.e. the Helsinki dialect of Finnish), whose basic vocabulary almost completely consists of (mainly Swedish and Russian) borrowings, although its grammar differs very little from that of standard Finnish. The present case study will discuss Stadin slangi from a genetic, areal and typological point of view in order to answer the question above how "Uralic" Stadin slangi is.
Leelo Keevallik
Uppsala
Interference of pragmatic patterns in spoken Swedish Estonian
Estonians who fled to Sweden during World War II and their descendants have by now adopted numerous Swedish loanwords. This is no surprise, as the refugees have led their lives in a foreign country during a period of dramatic technical and social development. Furthermore, their high proficiency in Swedish sometimes results in the feeling that a certain concept simply lacks a precise counterpart in Estonian. At least at the beginning, the speakers are certainly aware of these expressive, technical, and societal loans. It is much harder to be conscious about, and therefore to resist, the pragmatic patterns that imbue one’s mother tongue under the everyday pressure of a majority language.
Pragmatic patterns account for a wide variety of interferences in Swedish Estonian. Specific Swedish politeness patterns may be observed, such as expressing gratefulness to the former host at the next encounter, or the conventionalised sending of regards to relevant others. Some of the activities may be carried out in pure Swedish, such as hälsa hem ‘send my regards to your family’.
Most strikingly, a number of pragmatic particles have made their way into Swedish Estonian. Some resemble Estonian ones, such as the response particles jasså and jaha (Est. ah soo and ahah), others are specific, such as alltså, jo, and usch. There is thus a considerable difference in the everyday behavioural patterns of Estonians living on the opposite sides of the Baltic Sea, although Swedish Estonians have otherwise consciously preserved their ethnic identity.
Elena Markus, Fedor Rozhanskiy
Moscow
Between two neighbours (common and different features of Votic and Besermyan)
This presentation is dedicated to two idioms: Votic (a nearly extinct Finnic language) and Besermyan (traditionally considered a dialect of Udmurt). The genetic and typological differences between them are great; however, they have some common features from the sociolinguistic point of view. Both of them exist on the territory of Russia, are of low prestige and are not written. All the native speakers are bilingual (they can also speak Russian). Votes and Besermyan have a permanent contact with related languages of higher prestige: Votic with Ingrian and Besermyan with standard Udmurt. Naturally, both Votic and Besermyan idioms should protect themselves from their more prestigious neighbours. The problem under discussion is the following: which of the neighbours seems to be more dangerous for the language identity: Russian or the related Finno-Ugric language? Both idioms have developed linguistic mechanisms that help to protect them from their "main enemy" (i.e. from the language, which they do not like to be mixed with). As appears from the resulting language material (for example from the mechanism of loan words adaptation), Votic considers the Russian influence more dangerous that the Ingrian, while Besermyan prefers to adopt Russian words in order not to be mixed with the related Udmurt. The difference between the two situations can probably be explained by the sociolinguistic background. For example, Votes often call themselves "Ingrians", while Besermyans are sure they are not Udmurts; Votic is recognized as an independent language, while Besermyan is considered an Udmurt dialect; in the mixed Votic-Ingrian families the language of communication is always Ingrian, while in the Besermyan-Udmurt families Besermyan often prevails.
Sofia Onina
Budapest
Die sprachliche und kulturelle Identiät der Synja-Chanten
Kurze inhaltliche Zusammenfassung:
Die Synja-Chanten lassen sich in drei Gruppen einteilen:
1. die Bewohner der traditionell strukturierten Dörfer entlang der Synja
2. die Bewohner von Ovgort, dem zentralen Dorf der Synja-Chanten
3. ehemals an der Synja wohnhafte Chanten mit höherer Bildung
Am stärksten ist das sprachliche und kulturelle Identitätsbewusstsein bei den Rentierhaltern ausgeprägt, die zur ersten Gruppe zählen. Sie bilden die Elite der Volksgruppe. Jede generation spricht Chantisch, die materielle und geistige Kultur wird bei ihnen aktiv gepflegt.
Die anderen Bewohner entlang der Synja leben vom Fischfang und von der Jagd. Sie kennen zwar ihre Sprache und Traditionen, pflegen sie aber nicht.
Die Bevölkerung von Ovgort ist gemischt, weshalb auch innerhalb chantischer Familien Russisch die Alltagssprache darstellt. Sogar jene, die ansonsten ihre Traditionen pflegen (z.B. das Tragen chantischer Tracht) wechseln ihre Sprache.
Das Identitätsbewusstsein der Chanten, die in Städten leben, ist kaum ausgeprägt: nicht nur, dass sie sich ihrer Muttersprache nicht mehr bedienen, sie schämen sich sogar, Chanten zu sein.
Zur Stärkung das Identitätsbewusstseins trägt das Schulsystem bei: nach meiner Erfahrung bekennen sich jene chantischen Fachhochschulstudenten sehr viel mutiger zu ihrer Nationalität, die einen ethnographischen Kurs besucht haben und sich so das Werter ihrer Kultur bewusst geworden sind.
Karl Pajusalu
Tartu
Is there a South Estonian identity?
In recent years Estonia has faced emancipation of South Estonian dialects. The linguistic movement of the Seto, Võro, and Mulgi people constitutes a part of their broader socio-regional activities. The Võro Institute has been in the centre of the language revitalization process by creating a new Võro-Seto language standard. Now this South Estonian language form is broadly used in local media and literature, and taught in schools. A question about the development of the new South Estonian linguistic identity is raised. However, it is unclear could we speak about the making of a united South Estonian identity. In this paper I will focus on the new results of sociolinguistic studies which show diverse trends in the social dynamics of South Estonian.
Remco van Pareren
Amsterdam
The Mordvin, two people divided by one ethnonym
Ever since the ethnonym Mordvin was mentioned in the 6th century AD in Jordanes' chronicle 'Getica', which described the history of the Gothic people, the name Mordvin has been applied to a group of people who today live scattered over a wide area in the central-eastern part of European Russia. Since the very first linguistic information was gathered from these people directly, it appeared that they much rather regard themselves as two separate ethnic entities, Erza and Moksha.
This paper tries to give an insight into the background of this cultural split, and indicate how feasible, if indeed useful, the creation of a single standard Mordvin language would be.
The Mordvin republic was founded in 1928, and in 1957 a university was founded in its capital Saransk. Since then Erza and Moksha have been subjects at this university. This has however not helped the language situation of the Erza and Moksha.
Raimo Raag
Uppsala
Words as a markers of group affiliation: the case of Swedish Estonian
Estonians who fled to Sweden during World War II had an obvious need to dissociate themselves from Soviet-occupied Estonia at the same time as they wanted to emphasise their Estonianness in the new country, both internally, within the group, and externally, vis-à-vis Swedish society. The linguistic means to further these ends were to maintain their Estonian as “pure” and “uncorrupted” as possible, or more precisely speaking, to preserve pre-war lexemes (e.g. kord pro korrus ‘storey, floor’), and to avoid neologisms of the Soviet era (e.g. ekskavaator ‘excavator’), especially if the neologisms had ideological overtones (e.g. natsionalism ‘bourgeois (i.e. anti-Soviet) nationalism’) or supposed to be of Russian origin (raal ‘computer’). Even the use of Swedicisms (end klaarima ‘to manage, get on, make out’) might be interpreted as a means of marking affiliation with the Estonian sub-society in Sweden, even if the view generally held by Swedish Estonians was that Swedicisms should be avoided. Thus, the use of pre-war lexemes and Swedicisms combined with an ambition to avoid using alleged or real Soviet Estonian neologisms became linguistic markers of group affiliation.
Virve Raag
Uppsala
Incipient language death or return to traditional patterns: the case of passive voice forms in spoken Swedish Estonian
During World War II, tens of thousands of Estonians fled to the West. Being political refugees, they cherished the hope of returning to free and independent Estonia. Thus, the Estonian language became a strong marker of Estonian identity that should be passed on to rising generations. My presentation focuses on a certain aspect of Estonian as spoken by Estonians living in present-day Sweden and is part of a study currently carried out at Uppsala university in the project “Estonian in Sweden: grammar and lexicon of a language variety under changing circumstances”, funded by the Swedish Research Council.
Generally speaking, spoken Swedish Estonian is characterised by foreign influences (mainly from Swedish), preservation of certain words or linguistic forms that have become obsolete in Estonia, and grammatical regularization. Regarding inflectional morphology, the last mentioned tendency manifests itself in reduction of the number of allomorphs and elimination of exceptions of rules. Another characteristic feature of spoken Swedish Estonian is a tendency to avoid impersonal, or passive, voice forms in favour of other forms, notably the 3rd person singular of the indicative mood.
Zsuzsa Salánki – Galina Lesnikova
Budapest
The future perspective of the Udmurt language: the language usage and the speakers’ attitudes to it
We discuss in our paper the present stage of the Udmurt language. The results are based on linguistic material, collected among native Udmurt speakers-bilinguals. In the questionnaire the respondents were asked about their language use, the level of their Udmurt and Russian language skills, the attitudes towards using code-switching and also loanwords.
Our results show that the Udmurt is becoming a more and more a lesser-used language. It is now used mainly for certain areas of life among its speakers. There are many reasons for this, but the main one is the low prestige of the language. Therefore a tendency of the number of speakers to decrease in comparison with the total number in the ethnic group is observed. It can be critical, because the Udmurts are also seem to agree with the opinion that the language, as their own, expresses their identity.
There are some changes in officials attitudes, recently it even seems to be supportive, but not enough. Within the framework of language planning program some action plans try to preserve Udmurt culture and revive the language usage through traditional cultural activities. It can be useful by increasing the positive attitude towards the Udmurt culture and also the language, but it does not seem to increase the language usage among the young generation.
Merlijn de Smit
Stockholm
Epistemology, language and national identity
In this presentation, I will explore the interaction between language history as an important component of national identity, and questions about the epistemological status of linguistic reconstruction - notably, the “realness” of reconstructed linguistic relationships. The first issue has been an important one in Finno-Ugric studies the last ten years - though much more in the popular reception of them through the mainstream press than in the scientific community itself.
Without intending to address the specific content of the controversy, which has been done enough, I will seek to pinpoint how a more or less postmodernist view on epistemology - regarding linguistic reconstructions and reconstructed relationships as a necessarily value-loaded construct rather than relating to a series of real events in the past - has played a role in the emergence of a view on Finno-Ugric prehistory which is at variance with the results of linguistic research. Particularly, I intend to draw attention to strikingly analogous situations in contemporary historical linguistics elsewhere in the world.
The relevance of historical linguistics to national identity is not new, and, in as far as it has driven historical linguistics through its golden age in the 19th and early 20th centuries, a good thing. The question lies in the epistemological commitments (which, I believe, have not received the attention that they should have) that distinguished the early Finno-Ugrists from the Wettenhoven-Aspas of their day.
Alan Swanson
Groningen
The Language of Music and the Language of Identity: Bernhard Henrik Crusell (1775-1838)
“Identity” is a modern problem, which does not mean that people never used to know who they were. “Who they were” meant, for most people, “where they were from.” But even that topographical label was inadequate when a person was stateless or when the state itself was merely topographical. Even definitions derived from “verbal language” or something called “ethnicity” have proven to be unstable. The case of the composer and clarinet virtuoso, Bernhard Henrik Crusell, may prove useful as a way of posing issues of “identity.”
Kees Teszelszky
Groningen
Description of Hungarian Identity in a Humanist: Johann Jessenius van Jessen (1609)
One of the most intriguing figures at the court of Rudolf and Matthias van Habsburg (1572-1618) in Prague and Vienna was Johannes Jessenius from Jessen (1566-1621). He was born in Breslau, Silesia, presented himself as a Hungarian knight, and was, during his lifetime, a doctor, academic, historian, and politician, in Hungary and Bohemia.
Jessenius also wrote several books, in which he displayed his knowledge of his various areas of interest. One of his most important and widely published works describes the crowning in 1609 of Matthias van Habsburg as king of Hungary. In this account, published in 1609 in Vienna and Hamburg (and even in a Dutch translation in 1619), Jessenius justifies Matthias' ascension to the throne by giving a “diagnostic” analysis of the history of Hungary. Because of the political, intellectual and personal background of this “Hungarian” knight, this work is particularly interesting from the point of view of national identity. How does Jessenius represent himself, in this work, as a Hungarian? Which medical, historical, and philosophical elements does he use to shape this image, and in which intellectual context should it be viewed?
In this paper I will try and provide answers to these questions.
Sirpa Timonen
Helsinki
Literature translated into dialect
To some degree dialects have always been part of written Finnish. In the 1540s translations of religious literature based on spoken language and its south-western dialects. In the literature of the 17th century dialects were used to convey the genuine character of a certain region. Novelists have used dialects to enrich dialogue and literary cast (especially Väinö Linna in Tuntematon sotilas). In magazines and newspapers dialects have been and are used especially in humorous texts.
From the end of 1990s we can see something new happening in the literary use of dialects in Finland. The beginning of so called dialect boom (murrebuumi) is said to be in a cartoon published in savo dialect at 1997 (Supposedly the idea of a cartoon translated into dialect was imported from a literary fair held in France). It was to be a huge success, and more literature in various dialects soon followed. In these publications dialect is not an enriching element, but the texts have been completely translated into dialect.
My research on the reception of a catechism translated into the savo dialect sheds light on the phenomena and its reasons. Three groups of informants with different lingual and regional background answered to a questionnaire concerning the reception and language of the catechism. The outcome gives some support to the assumptions of the role of globalisation and urbanization as elements that create need to enhance ones regional identity (via, in this context, literary usage of a dialect).
In texts translated into dialect the language form is often very ”pure” and ”original” (even hypercorrect). Both on the level of language and one’s (former) social and regional context, texts translated into dialect bring up something that is already partly lost, distant and therefore nostalgic – and affective. In my research especially urbanized, former Savo residents enhanced their interest and positive attitude towards the catechism translated into dialect; they also expressed the most affective arguments of the catechism (in good and bad). Especially in this group of informants the text brought up ponders of one’s idiolect (vs. the dialect presented in catechism) and (social and spatial) identity. In comparison to catechism written in standard Finnish informant’s regional background was more discerning feature of reception than for example age, sex or informant’s religiousness.
Anna Widmer
Hamburg
Alte Konzepte in neuem Gewand in der chantischen Mythologie
Eine der bekannteren Episoden der obugrischen Mythologie ist die Jagd des Moś-Mannes auf den sechsbeinigen Elch und deren Folgen: zum einen die reelle Chance für die Menschen, den Elch zu erlegen, zum anderen die Spuren der Jagd am Firmament: die Skispur des Moś Mannes als Milchstraße und der sechsbeinig erhaltene Elch als Siebengestirn. Auch heute noch sind diese mythologischen Zusammenhänge im Bewußtsein der Chanten vorhanden, doch teilweise in gründlich veränderter Form. Diesen Veränderungen soll nachgegangen werden.
