Linguae Europaeae

by Lindsay Nottingham Lindsay Nottingham is a recent University of Illinois graduate with a BS in Geology and minors in French and Anthropology. She now attends Fort Hays State University where she is pursuing a Master's Degree in Paleontology and Museum studies. In the future, she hopes to work in museum paleontological collections. This blog entry draws on her love of ice hockey and all things Finland. She wrote this blog post for 418 “Languages and Minorities in Europe” in Spring 2023. Figure 1: (L-R)Pekka Rinne, Mikko Rantanen, Miro Heiskanen, and Sebastian Aho posing at the 2019 NHL All Star Game Source: Getty Images The National Hockey League(NHL) is a professional ice hockey league with 32 teams across North America—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. Figure 2: Map of the 32 NHL teams' locations across North America. Colors refer to divisions- pink for Pacific, yellow for Central, blue for Atlantic, and green for Metropolitan Source: Wikimedia Commons(backdrop) and ...

 by Walther  Glodstaf Walther Glodstaf  is a PhD student in Linguistics at the University of Illinois. Walther's future plans include modeling language change in bilingual contexts and using our knowledge of language both at a mental and societal level to develop better policy specifically for minority language protection. He wrote this blog post in 418 'Language and Minorities in Europe' in Fall 2021. ‘Everyone in Karelia has to respect history and know that we are living in an area which has always belonged to these nations…’ (Andrej Nelidov, November 2010; Helsingin Sanomat, 2010) (Scott, 2012). Though Nelidov – the president of the Russian Republic of Karelia – refers to the Finnish ethnicities in his speech, it is noteworthy that his use of the demonstrative ‘these’ can not only be applied to distance Karelia from Finland but also from Russia. Since it is these nations who have often disputed over the territory and have thus made Karelia a pawn in their international...

by Lilia Motley Lilia Motley is a senior in Computer Science at the University of Illinois.  Lilia's future plans include taking a job at Microsoft in Seattle.  Lilia wrote this blog post in the 418 "Language and Minorities in Europe" course in Spring 2019. Image Credit: Arnold Platon, via Wikimedia Commons . License available here . Out of all the minority languages in Europe, few are in a situation as unique and contradictory as Romani's: the language boasts an estimated 3.5 million speakers--possibly making it the largest minorized language in the European Union--yet it is only recognized as an official language in one region [i].  It is ratified under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 16 states--more than any other language--yet its promotion by these countries is often lackluster compared to others.  Romani speakers live in almost every country in Europe, and yet nowhere do they make up more than 10% of the population [ii]....

Saami flag (7) By Emily Cheng Emily Cheng is an undergraduate student in linguistics. She is also very interested in film production and pursuing a Masters in Leadership for Creative Enterprises. She wrote this text as a senior enrolled in 418 ‘Language and Minorities in Europe’. Inari Saami, also known as Aanaar Saami, is one of the three Saami languages spoken in Finland. All nine of the current Saami languages are considered endangered; with about 350 speakers, Inari Saami is considered seriously endangered (6). Inari Saami (IS) is spoken by the Inari Saami people, who reside in the municipality of Inari; most speakers are middle-aged or older. IS is the only Saami language spoken exclusively in Finland (1). Location of Inari in Finland (8) Problems with Inari Saami in Finland The Saami people in Northern Europe suffer discrimination against their people, language, and culture. The clothing is considered strange, they often are not wealthy and therefore are considere...