Murteet kielellisessä elämäkerrassa
Authors: Hippi Kaarina 
Published: December 2023

Artikkeli tarkastelee monikulttuuristen suomenpuhujien käsityksiä itsestään suomen murteiden käyttäjinä. Aineisto koostuu 25 yksilön suomenkielisestä haastattelusta, jossa käsitellään heidän kielellistä elämäkertaansa. Tutkittavien joukko on heterogeeninen, sillä osa on syntynyt Suomessa, osa muuttanut maahan lapsena, nuorena tai aikuisena ja osalla on monikielinen perhetausta. Heidän suomen kielen taitonsa vaihtelee, mutta kaikilta on kysytty tavasta puhua suomea ja siitä, millaisia kokemuksia ja havaintoja heillä on suomen kielen alueellisesta ja sosiaalisesta variaatiosta. Tarkasteltavana ovat murrekokemukset osana kielielämäkertaa. Tutkimus valottaa haastateltujen kokemuksia murteiden ymmärtämisestä, omaksumisesta ja puhumisesta. Nämä näkökulmat limittyvät ja vaihtelevat ja saavat uusia merkityksiä kielitaidon muuttuessa. Erityisesti muutot paikkakunnalta toiselle sekä kielenoppimisen vaihe näyttävät merkityksellisiltä tekijöiltä siinä, miten tutkittavat kuvaavat murteita osana omaa repertoaaria. Murteiden tuntemus lisääntyy vähitellen, ja yksilöiden kuvaamat tilanteet valottavat heidän kokemuksiaan ja murteiden asemaa heidän arjessaan. Nämä nousevat esiin kun haastatellut pohtivat murteiden vaikeutta, omaksumista ja luonnollisuutta. Suomen kielen variaation eri puolet suodattuvat yksilön kokemusten kautta. Tutkimus syventää käsitystä monikielisistä suomen puhujista ja heidän osallistumisestaan suomenkieliseen yhteiskuntaan.

Dialects as part of a linguistic life story: How multicultural Finnish speakers see themselves as users of Finnish dialectsThis article discusses how Finnish speakers with a multicultural background describe their use of dialects in a language biographical interview. The analysis shows how interviewees construct their linguistic identity while talking about their perceptions on and experiences with dialects. Dialects are part of their linguistic repertoire that is anchored in their life story. The study is connected to sociolinguistic research on language perceptions, language biographies, folk linguistics and language ideologies. The data come from the project One hundred linguistic life stories and consist of 23 interviews. The group of interviewees is heterogenous: There are 11 informants who immigrated to Finland as adults, eight who came to the country as children or adolescents, and four who are first-generation Finns in a multilingual family.
The informats’ individual linguistic background and Finnish language skills are taken into account in the analysis; its main focus is how the interviewees construct their relationship with dialects as part of their linguistic repertoire. Growing linguistic awareness increases along with language resources, and the interviewees also negotiate the social meanings of linguistic variation in Finland. First, the study shows how the interviewees describe their understanding of dialects. When Finnish-language skills are weak, dialects are not even recognised, and they can be seen as an additional challenge for learners. Even later on, with a high command of the language, Finnish dialects can be described as somehow difficult. Secondly, the study discusses how the informants acquired dialects, especially when they have moved within Finland. Dialects are connected to different places during the interviewees’ life story; these places have had an impact on their awareness of linguistic variation. Some informants describe that they have givenup on dialectical features, and this shows their personal choices and a new understanding of certain ways of speaking. Lastly, the study discusses how the interviewees describe their dialect use. Those who have lived in certain areas describe their use of the local dialect, even if their Finnish skills are not very strong. The interviewees have also received comments about their dialect use from various people, and the interviewees have referred to these comments in their interviews, which may show uncertainty about their use of dialects; however, these views can be seen as strong evidence of their use of a local dialect.
Multicultural speakers’ contacts with regional dialects is a relevant topic that also concerns questions of integration into society. There is a gradual growth of linguistic variation awareness, but dialects can be part of a linguistic repertoire and identity in the different phases of a multicultural speaker’s linguistic journey. The descriptions constructed in the interviews also provide new perceptions on dialect speakers in Finland.