Finnish Leid Strauchle

The Finnish Leid Strauchle (Finnish: Suomen kielitaistelu) wis a 19t Century cultural muivement in Finland.  It wis ane o the muckle stishies that led that the upbiggin  o the Finnish naitional identity an in the end tae Finnish unthirldom frae Roushie.

Backgrund
Frae the 13t Century onwarts, the airts nou cried Finland wis  taen intae Swaden, tait bi tait.  As this teuk place, the local leids (Finnish, the Sami leids an ither leids an byleids) fell tae an unco law status, bein replaced bi Swadish an Laitin as the leids o government, eddication, the kirk, an social oncome.  E'en as late as 1815, anerly aboot 15% o fowk in whit wad become Finland uised Swadish as their mither leid, but syne awmaist aw the influential upper an waldin clessit wis in this 15%, their leid aye haed the heicher status. 

Syne it cam aboot that haein the richt leid-skeels (i.e. kennin Swadish) becam needfu for the guid eddication an wark chances that fowk aye socht.  Forby, it cam tae be popular tae knap Laitin wi surnames an aw (exemplars includes Adolpaeus, Chydenius, Hackzelius an a wheen later, o course, there wis the clessical componer Sibelius).  Later on Swadish names becam fashionable an aw.  Finnish names teukna back their poplarity till the the upshuit o Finnish naitionalism in the 19t Century, pairt o whit wis tae assuir the new Roushian heidfowk that the Finns wisna like tae speir for Swadish hulp an become unthirlt frae Roushie.  It wis this naitonalist muivment that cast the shuits o the Leid Strauchle. 

The Strauchle
Tho nae muivements sic as the Leid Strauchle can be datit exactly, mony fowk sees the settin furth o Kalevala, the Finnish naitional epic, as giein the Leid Strauchle its stairt, at least in seembolic terms.  Naitionalism an the naitional awaukenin that follaed the settin furth o Kalevala led tae members o the upper cless fowk that spak Finland-Swadish (or Finlandsvenska) walin tae promote the Finnish cultur an leid.  Mony o thaim chynged their names tae their Finnish equeevalents, laired the leid an waled tae mak o pynt o uisin it at hame an in society - forby giein their bairns Finnish as the mither leid they ne'er haed.  Set agin thir, some o the Swadish elite didna ettle tae forleit Swadish, syne they jaloused it wad be uissfu, an it wad hulp thaim tae bide still in Wastron Europe's cultural sphere.

Forby walin tae uise Finnish, the upper clesses tried tae win it heicher status an aw, an campaigned for it tae be gien offeecial status alang wi Swadish.  Eikit til that, they promotit the upbiggin  o Finnish leeteratur, muisic an cultur an aw.

Offeecial Status an the end o the Strauchle
As o 1892, Finnish won the legal status o offeecial leid alang wi Swadish, an it wis anerly twinty year or sae afore Finnish wis the heidmaist leid in government an society (cultural as weel as poleetical).  This led tae conflict atween spaekers o the twa leids, at firt maistlins in the upper clesses, but later ither fowk forby.  The last stent o the Leid Strauchle cam in the 1920s, efter unthirldom frae Roushie wis won in 1917.  Unthirldom meant that certain speirs anent mairches haed tae be re-reddit, an the Åland crisis hulpitna ava.  In the end Åland wisna unthirled an cam tae be pairt o Finland, but the fowk there still spaeks Swadish as their heidmaist leid, an weis hechtit that their cultur wad be respectit.  Whan the Finnish Constitution wis drawn up in 1919, Swadish wis gien muckle richts as a minority leid thatit aye haes the day (mony fowk jalouses that Swadish haes the mucklest richts o ony minority leid in realtion tae nummers - anerly 5.5% o fowk in Finland haes it as their mither leid) an thir days collogues anent the status o the leids in Finland is for ordinar anent the role o Swadish in varsities.

See Forby
Finland
Finnish leid

Category:Finland