Meänkieli

Common card · No. 219271

Meänkieli (lit. 'our language'), also known as Tornedalian, is a Finnic language or a group of distinct Finnish dialects spoken in the northernmost part of Sweden, particularly along the Torne River Valley (Meänmaa). It is officially recognized in Sweden as one of the country's five minority languages and is treated as a separate language from Finnish. According to the National Association of Swedish Tornedalians, 70,000 individuals understand Meänkieli, at least to some level. While most fluent speakers are aged 65 or older, there has been a significant increase in the last decade of pupils in Sweden learning Meänkieli. Meänkieli is spoken by the Tornedalians in Sweden, who are descended from a mixture of old Tavastian and Old Karelian speakers who began settling formerly Sámi speaking regions in the Torne Valley region. Meänkieli is particularly similar to the Kven language in Norway and the Peräpohjola dialects of Finnish spoken in Finland, and it is strongly mutually intelligible...

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