European parliament working paper
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- The use of the language in various fields
- Conclusion
- References
SwedishIntroductionSpoken Finland Swedish has some archaic features, and phonological and lexical influence from Finnish. There are virtually no problems of intelligibility between Sweden Swedish- and Finland Swedish-speakers. There are about 297,000 Finland Swedes (mother tongue census data). The proportion has fallen from 17% to 5·7% (2000) in 100 years. Finland Swedish has been spoken along the southern and western coasts since the 11th century, and is the language of the Åland Isles (pop. 24,000). Helsinki (Helsingfors), and the cities of Turku (Åbo) and Vaasa (Vasa) are officially bilingual. About half of the Finland Swedes live in areas where they form the majority, about a quarter in bilingual areas, and a quarter in minority conditions. About 50,000 Finland Swedes have migrated to Sweden. Fishing, agriculture, shipping/trade and later, blue-collar professions have been sources of income for Swedish-speakers in Finland. Swedish-speakers were also dominant in the nobility, among officials and merchants, until the early 20th century. The autonomy period (1809-1917) left the impression among the majority that Finland Swedes constituted an ‘elite’. Today, Finland Swedes have somewhat longer education, and belong more often to white-collar professions. Swedish-speakers have become Presidents of Finland and ministers in most governments since independence. The Swedish Liberal Party regularly wins 5-7% of the votes and has 10-15 of the 200 MPs. Many Swedish-speaking writers, musicians, painters, artists etc. were Finnish national figureheads in the 19th and 20th centuries. The 1919 Constitution states that Finnish and Swedish are the national languages of Finland. Finland Swedish is not called a minority language, but is termed the lesser-used national language; it has equal legal status with Finnish. 389 municipalities are officially Finnish-speaking, 42 are bilingual (in 20 Finnish is the dominant language and in 22, Swedish is dominant), and 21 (16 in Åland) are Swedish-speaking. The 75-strong Svenska Finlands Folkting (Swedish Assembly), representing bilingual and Swedish-speaking political parties, monitors the status of the Swedish language and its speakers. It informs about, supervises and gathers data on the protection of the Swedish language and culture, and has a special language ombudsman. The use of the language in various fieldsEducation: Swedish-speaking and bilingual municipalities have Swedish education from pre-school to secondary school. There are about 330 Swedish-speaking comprehensive schools in Finland (with c. 34,200 pupils and 2,370 teachers in 1997), and 35 upper secondary schools. Immersion schools for Finnish-speaking pupils are spreading. Four polytechnics (2 in Nyland, Southwest Turku region, the Åland Isles) are Swedish-speaking, and 4 are bilingual (Helsinki, Turku, 2 in Ostrobothnia/Vasa). There is a full university system in the Swedish-speaking Åbo Akademi University (7 faculties, 3 campuses, and 7,000 students). Teachers are trained in Vasa. Helsinki has a Swedish business school and a Swedish school for Social Sciences (attached to Helsinki University). Helsinki University (where there shall be at least 27 Swedish-speaking professors), Helsinki University of Technology and the Theatre Academy are bilingual; most departments offer exams and instruction in Swedish. The Sibelius Academy and the University of Arts and Design in Helsinki hold exams in the student’s mother tongue. In law and medicine, a quota system ensures that those educated in Swedish will cover national needs. 17 colleges of further education and 20 open colleges offer adult and continuing education in Swedish. Swedish or Scandinavian languages can be studied at most universities. All Finnish citizens learn their second national language at school, though about 60-75% of the Finnish-speaking majority now objects to this policy. The courts, public authorities and services: There is a right to use and be heard in Swedish in courts. This right is also given to municipalities, public institutions, and educational authorities before state authorities. Parliament Acts, Decrees and Government decisions are published in Finnish and Swedish. All have the constitutional right to obtain documents in either national language, but monolingual districts issue documents in their language. If a defendant does not use the language of the court in a bilingual district, interpretation shall be arranged. However, higher court officials do not always have the language skills required in that district. People employed in public services (state officials, and officials in bilingual municipalities) need to know both languages, for a citizen may always use Swedish before a State authority. In bilingual districts, official notifications, road/street signs, etc. are in both languages. The Names Act does not prevent family or first names in the minority language. The right to receive treatment in Swedish in medical services (private and public) has been amended: people who cannot receive treatment in their own language in their health care district can be transferred to another district. In accordance with the Constitution Act, Swedish-speakers do their military service in a special Army brigade. Mass media and information and communication technology: The Finnish Broadcasting Company is legally committed to treat Finnish- and Swedish-speaking citizens equally. Programmes by Finland’s Svenska Television programmes in Swedish occupy 9% of the two state-owned channels. A regional channel and a local cable TV channel broadcast in Swedish. Swedish TV programmes and news are broadcast daily; parts of some other programmes are subtitled. Two nation-wide radio channels and regional radio stations broadcast in Swedish. The national Swedish-language channels total c. 290 h, and the regional radio 70-h, per week. Finally, in 1999 there were 14 Swedish-speaking newspapers (5·1% of all papers), and about 150 specialised magazines. The Arts: Swedish-speaking theatres, choirs, amateur theatres, literature and writers’ guilds operate. Six Swedish theatres are active in Helsinki/Espoo (Esbo), Turku and Vaasa; they can apply for government subsidies. Since 1999, the needs of Finnish and Swedish in bilingual municipalities have to be met on an equal basis. 470 books were published in Swedish (3·6% of all books in Finland) in 1999, and 86 were translated into Swedish. Special funding supports culture, e.g. the Swedish Society for Literature, the Swedish Foundation for Culture and the Swedish Art Society. The business world: Collective labour agreements are translated into Swedish. The Ministry of Labour has translated most important laws, regulations and provisions. Bills of exchange and cheques may be drafted in Swedish. There are Swedish-speaking union branches, agricultural corporations, commercial businesses and banks. Competence in Swedish is a merit, especially for higher public or industrial posts. Family and social use of the language: Since 1923 one national Swedish-speaking bishopric is in charge of the Swedish-speaking Evangelical-Lutheran parishes. There are also Swedish-speaking Greek Orthodox parishes. Trans-national exchanges: Contacts between Finland and Sweden are plentiful. The Nordic countries have agreed on co-operation in the fields of culture (1971), between local authorities, on educational aspects, for language boards, and on the right to use the own language in other Nordic countries (1982). Free movement and extensive labour market co-operation between the countries make Swedish an asset. ConclusionSwedish in Finland is a good example of a protected language in an officially bilingual state. In mono- and bilingual municipalities Swedish has extensive legal support and is used in many professional, economic, educational, social and judicial, as well as private, domains. But language shift continues among Finland Swedes in some areas. Interest among majority speakers to invest in Swedish is decreasing. This affects public posts, but also health care and commercial services. The status of Swedish partly depends on the majority population being fluent in it, and this is being hit by the spread of English in Nordic co-operation. Other signs are positive: the successful immersion programmes may improve Swedish proficiency in some groups of majority Finnish-speakers. Since the 1990s, most bilingual families opt for Swedish-medium schooling and report their children as Swedish-speakers. ReferencesBarddal, Jóhanna, Jörgensen, Nils, Larsen, Gorm & Martinussen, Bente 1997. Nordiska – Våra språk förr och nu. Lund: Studentlitteratur. Directory: RegData -> etudes -> document travail document travail -> Working paper a single market in financial services RegData -> European commission brussels, XXX RegData -> The european commission RegData -> Provisional agreement resulting from interinstitutional negotiations Download 1.21 Mb. Share with your friends:
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