Kven language
Kven | |
---|---|
kvääni, kainu | |
Native to | Norway |
Native speakers | 2,000–8,000 (2005?)[1] |
Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
Regulated by | Kven language board |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | fkv |
Glottolog | kven1236 |
ELP | Kven Finnish |
The Kven language (kvääni or kväänin kieli; kainu or kainun kieli;
There are about 1,500 to 10,000 known native speakers of this language, most of whom are over the age of 60. Middle-aged speakers tend to have a passing knowledge of the language. They use it occasionally, but not frequently enough to keep it off the endangered list. People under the age of 30 rarely speak or know the language. However, children in the community of Børselv can learn Kven in their primary schools.[4]
History
Because of fears of
The Kven Assembly was formed in 2007 and plans to standardize a Kven written language. The term Kven first appeared in
Organizations
The Norwegian Kven Organization was established in 1987. The organization currently[as of?] has about 700 members and about eight local branches.[9] The members report to the government about the history and rights of the Kven people. The members also try and highlight Kven news by advancing Kven media coverage. The organization has also been pushing the Norwegian government to establish a state secretary for Kven issues. Moving the language of Kven into kindergarten classrooms, as well as all other education levels is also a forefront issue that the organization is aiming to tackle.[9]
Official status
Since 2006, it has been possible to study the Kven culture and language at the University of Tromsø,[10] and in 2007 the Kven language board was formed at the Kven institute, a national centre for Kven language and culture in Børselv, Norway. The council developed a written standard Kven language, using Finnish orthography to maintain inter-Finnish language understanding.[11] The grammar, written in Kven, was published in 2014.[12] A Norwegian translation published in 2017 is freely available.[13]
Geographic distribution
Today, most speakers of Kven are found in two Norwegian communities,
In northeastern Norway, mainly around
In government report from 2005, the number of people speaking Kven in Norway is estimated to be between 2,000 and 8,000, depending on the criteria used, though few young people speak it, which is a major obstacle to its survival.[1]
Phonology
The phonology of Kven is similar to that of Finnish. However, Kven and Finnish diverge in the phonemic realization of some words. While Standard Finnish has been replacing /ð/ with /d/, it is retained in Kven. For instance, the word syöđä ('to eat') in Kven is syödä in Finnish. In addition, due to loanwords, the sound /ʃ/ is much more common in Kven than in Finnish: for example, Kven prošekti ('project'), compared to Finnish projekti.[14]
Vowels
Kven has 16 vowels, if one includes vowel length:
Front | Back | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Unrounded | Rounded | Unrounded | Rounded | |
Close | i iː | y yː | u uː | |
Mid | e eː | ø øː | o oː | |
Open | æ æː | ɑ ɑː |
In writing, the vowel length is indicated by doubling the letter; e.g., ⟨yy⟩ /yː/ and ⟨öö⟩ /øː/.
The graphemes representing /ø/, /æ/ and /ɑ/ are ⟨ö⟩, ⟨ä⟩ and ⟨a⟩, respectively.
Consonants
Kven has 14 consonants found in native vocabulary, and 4 consonants found in loanwords:
Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n
|
ŋ | |||||
Plosive | voiceless | p | t
|
k | ||||
voiced | (b) | ( d )
|
(ɡ) | |||||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s | (ʃ ⟨š⟩) | h | |||
voiced | ð ⟨đ⟩ | |||||||
Trill | r
|
|||||||
Approximant | ʋ ⟨v⟩ | l
|
j |
/b, d, ɡ, ʃ/ are only found in loanwords.
/ŋ/ is represented in writing by ⟨n⟩ if followed by /k/, and ⟨ng⟩ if geminated; i.e., ⟨nk⟩ /ŋk/ and ⟨ng⟩ /ŋː/.
Gemination is indicated in writing by doubling the letter; e.g., ⟨mm⟩ for /mː/ and ⟨ll⟩ for /lː/.
Grammar
Just like in Finnish, Kven has many noun cases. In Kven, the third person plural verb ending uses the passive form.
case | singular | plural |
---|---|---|
nom. | ruoka | ruovat |
gen. | ruovan | ruokkiin |
par. | ruokkaa | ruokkii |
ine. | ruovassa | ruokissa |
ill. | ruokhaan | ruokhiin |
ela. | ruovasta | ruokista |
ade. | ruovala | ruokila |
abe. | ruovatta | ruokitta |
all. | ruovale | ruokile |
abl. | ruovalta | ruokilta |
ess. | ruokana | ruokina |
tra. | ruovaksi | ruokiksi |
com. | ruokine | ruokine |
The letter h is also very common in Kven; there are rules on where it is used.
- Passives – praatathaan
- Illative cases – suomheen
- Third infinites – praatamhaan
- Possessive forms of words that end with s – kirvheen
- Genitive forms of words that end with e – satheen
- Plural past perfect and perfect – net oon ostanheet
- Third plural ending – het syöđhään[16]
Comparison to Standard Finnish
According to Katriina Pedersen, most differences with Kven and Standard Finnish are in vocabulary, for example Finnish auto 'car', in Kven is piili (from Norwegian bil).[5]
Sample text
Kven | Finnish | English |
---|---|---|
Tromssan fylkinkomuuni oon saanu valmhiiksi mailman ensimäisen kainun kielen ja kulttuurin plaanan. Se oon seppä tekemhään plaanoi. Heilä oon esimerkiksi biblioteekkiplaana, transporttiplaana ja fyysisen aktiviteetin plaana. |
Tromssan läänikunta on saanut valmiiksi maailman ensimmäisen kveenin kielen ja kulttuurin suunnitelman. Se on taitava tekemään suunnitelmia. Heillä on esimerkiksi kirjastosuunnitelma, liikennesuunnitelma ja fyysisten aktiviteettien suunnitelma. |
Tromsø's county municipality has
prepared the first Kven language and culture plan. They are skilled at making plans. For example, they have a library plan, transport plan and physical activity plan. |
In the above sample, some Kven terms are shared with not only Norwegian, but also Swedish (e.g. biblioteek (bibliotek), transport, kommuun (kommun), and plaan (plan, alternate term for planering/planera)), giving Finns who learned Swedish at school a slight advantage in understanding Kven speakers, as opposed to the other way around.
References
- ^ a b "Kainun Institutti". Archived from the original on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
- ISBN 9788202569655.
- ^ Söderholm, Eira. "Kainulaiset eli kväänit". Kainun Institutti – Kvensk Institutt (in Kven). Retrieved 15 September 2020.
- ^ "Did you know Kven Finnish is severely endangered?". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- ^ a b Muilu, Hannele (25 November 2017). "Tiedätkö, mitä ovat kläppi, maapruuki ja fiskus? Suomesta Norjaan muuttaneiden kveenien kieli sinnittelee parin tuhannen puhujan voimin". Yle Uutiset (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ Sundelin, Rune. "Kven language and culture (En)". Norwegian Kven Organization. Archived from the original on 18 March 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- ^ "The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is the European convention for the protection and promotion of languages used by traditional minorities". European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. 1992. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- ^ "FNs rasediskrimineringskomités 97. sesjon". Norske kveners forbund (in Norwegian Bokmål). 17 December 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
- ^ S2CID 53645570.
- ^ "Kvensk og finsk - bachelor: Kvensk ved UiT". University of Tromsø (in Norwegian Bokmål). 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
- ^ Andreassen, Irene. "Et nytt skriftspråk blir til". Kainun Institutti – Kvensk Institutt (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 1 November 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-317-29886-1. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
- ISBN 9788202569655. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
- ^ "Nettidigisanat | Neahttadigisánit". Nettidigisanat. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
- ^ "Nettidigisanat | Neahttadigisánit". Nettidigisanat. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
- ^ "Kainun kielen grammatikki".
- ^ "Kvääni näkymhään arkipäivässä". Ruijan Kaiku. 7 March 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
External links
- Kven country names (ISO 3166) – Page with translations of all country names to Kven, Finnish, Norwegian and English.
- Söderholm, Eira (2007). "Kainun kielen grammatiikki".
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- Söderholm, Eira (2007). "Kainun kielen grammatiikki".
- This grammar can be found in the Kven language here.
- The grammar above can be found in the Norwegian language here.