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Surveillance of the Balto-Finnic Speakers: a Geolinguistic Inquiry

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Surveillance of the Balto-Finnic Speakers: a Geolinguistic Inquiry Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Honors Theses Lee Honors College 3-2004 Surveillance of the Balto-Finnic Speakers: A Geolinguistic Inquiry Lindsay E. Gwyther Western Michigan University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/honors_theses Part of the Geography Commons Recommended Citation Gwyther, Lindsay E., "Surveillance of the Balto-Finnic Speakers: A Geolinguistic Inquiry" (2004). Honors Theses. 1974. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/honors_theses/1974 This Honors Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Lee Honors College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY Lee Honors College & College ofArts and Sciences Department ofGeography Honors Thesis Surveillance ofthe Balto-Finnic Speakers: A Geolinguistic Inquiry Author: Lindsay E. Gwyther Advisors: Dr. Dave Lemberg Dr. Eldor Quandt Mr. Robert Dlouhy Date: 15 March 2004 Western Michigan University The Carl and Winifred Lee Honors College .entennial 1903-2003 Celebration THE CARL AND WINIFRED LEE HONORS COLLEGE CERTIFICATE OF ORAL EXAMINATION Lindsay E. Gwyther, having been admitted to the Carl and Winifred Lee Honors College in Fall 2000 successfullypresented the Lee Honors College Thesis on March 12, 2004. The title ofthe paper is: Surveillance ofthe Balto-Finnic Speakers: A Geolinguistic Inquiry Dr. David Lemberg, Geography ca/y~ Dr. Eldor Quandt, Geography Robert Dlouhy, CELSIS Kalamazoo, Ml 49008-5244 PHONE: (269) 387-3230 FAX: (269) 387-3903 11 Abstract Lindsay Gwyther, Department of Geography, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5424, lindsav.gwvther(g>wmich.edu SURVEILLANCE OF THE BALTO-FINNIC SPEAKERS: A GEOLINGUISTIC INQUIRY The Balto-Finnic languages of northeast Europe are part of the larger Uralic language family. Today, there are seven Balto-Finnic speaking nations, two of which govern their own independent sovereignties (Finland and Estonia). The other five nations lie precariously within the territorial borders of Russia and Latvia for the most part. This paper examinesthe geographic expanse and status ofthese languages over time and through space and develops a series ofmaps to better illustrate these patterns. Historical research demonstrates that their distribution has decreased in area, but strengthened and centralized in certain regions, enabling their presence in a predominantly Indo-European Europe. Contact and conflict with neighboring languages have had reciprocating effects on one another over time, although the present individual linguistic conditions vary, naturally, from language to language. Keywords: Balto-Finnic languages, geolinguistics, settlement patterns Ill Tiivistelma Lindsay Gwyther, Maantieteen Laitos, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5424, lindsav.gwyther(g>wmich.edu KATSAUS ITAMERENSUOMALAISISTA KIELISTA: GEOLINGVISTINEN TUTKIMUS Koiliseuroopan itamerensuomalaiset kielet kuuluvat uraliseen kieliperheeseen. Nykyaan maailmaassa on seitseman itamerensuomenkielista kansaa, joista vain kaksi, Suomi ja Viro, ovat itsenaisia kansallisvaltioita. Loput viisi kansaa asuvat suurimmaksi osaksi Venajan ja Ruotsin alueella. Tama tutkimus tarkastelee itamerensuomalaisten kielien maantieteellista levinneisyytta eri aikoina havainnollistaen aihetta kattavalla karttasarjalla. Historiallinen tutkimus osoittaa kielten maantieteellisen levinnaisyyden yleensa pienentyneen. Toisaalta tietyilla alueilla kielten asema on jopa parantanut, vahvistaen kielten tulevaisuutta indoeurooppalaisessa kieliymparistossa. Yleisesti voidaan sanoa, etta yhteydet ja konfliktit ymparoivien kielien kanssa ovat muokanneet seka itamerensuomalaisia etta ymparoivia kielia. Kuitenkin jokaisella itamerensuomalaisella kielella on oma erityinen lingvistinen tilanteensa. Avainsanat: Itamerensuomalaiset kielet, geolingvistiikka, asutustavat IV Preface Esipuhe At this time, I would like to express my appreciation to the Lee Honors College for fostering undergraduate research at the honors level at Western Michigan University and to their umbrella programs and scholarships, the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Award and the Seibert Travel Award, which helped to fund my investigative excursion to Finland and Estonia. Also, I would like to extend my warmest gratitude to the Geography department at the University for their academic support, as well as their financial backing, through the Lucia Harrison Geography grant. The aforementioned grant enabled me to plunge into the field of geolinguistics, traveling to Riga, Latvia to attend the Fourth International Congress for Geolinguists and Dialectologists and expose myself to the most current geolinguistic research from around the world. Special thanks are in order for my thesis advisors on the WMU campus Dr. Dave Lemberg, chair of the thesis committee, and Dr. Eldor Quandt, both ofthe Geography department, and Mr. Robert Dlouhy, a language specialist. I also must thank Tuomas Poyry for his assistance with editing the Finnish language portions ofthis endeavor. Kalamazoo, 15 March 2004 Lindsay"indsav E. Gwyth*Gwvthe* 0 Table ofContents Sisallysluettelo Abstract Tiivistelma Preface Table ofContents 1. Introduction 1 2. The Uralic Language Family 3 2.1 Finno-Ugric Languages 6 2.2 Samoyed Languages 11 3. The Nature ofBalto-Finnic Languages 13 4. Survey ofTerritorial Expanses 15 4.1 Theory of Origins 15 4.1.1 Uralist Theory 16 4.1.2 Challengingthe Uralist Theory 17 4.1.3 Other Theories 20 4.2 Formation ofPolitical Boundaries and Policy . 21 4.3 ContemporaryBalto-Finnic Society 23 4.3.1 Present Expanse 23 4.3.2 Past and Present Languages and Dialects 24 4.3.3 Language Statuses 27 5. Spatial Diffusion and Consolidation 29 5.1 Contact with Indo-European Languages 29 5.2 Conflict 32 6. Mappingof Balto-FinnicLanguages 35 6.1 Techniques 35 6.2 Analysis ofSpatial Patterns 39 7. Legacy 43 8. Conclusion 46 Appendix 48 References 49 VI Index of Figures Kuva Indeksi Figure 1 Geolinguistics as an interdisciplinary field 3 Figure 2 The Uralic languages 4 Figure 3 Present-day distribution ofthe Uralic languages 5 Figure 4 Demographic distribution ofBalto-Finnic speakers 10 Figure 5 Stammbaum Model 17 Figure 6 Taagepera Sprachbund Model 19 Figure 7 Pusztay Sprachbund Model 19 Figure 8 Theories on Origin ofFinns 21 Figure 9 Map ofthe Balto-Finnic territory today 24 Figure 10 Examples ofmaps utilized to create the Balto-Finnic settlement map series 37 Figure 11 Theoretic expanse ofproto-Balto-Finnic tribes 38 Figure 12 Vepsan Ma 45 1. Introduction Geolinguistics is an interdisciplinary field that uniquely bridges geography, linguistics and data from other related fields in striving to answer essential queries about which languages are spoken by whom, where they are spoken and sincewhen, as well as how and why they are spoken (Breton 1993:47-49). Figure 1 illustrates the union of several disciplines, which, whenmixedtogether, yieldgeolinguistics. The marriage of these subjects with geography "relates language to its widest possible context, including the physical and environmental influences," (Williams and Ambrose 1993:8) and renders necessary the employmentof cartographyto best represent the results ofstudies. The seven Balto-Finnic languages, widely considered to be members of the Uralic language family, are spoken by a relatively small number people inhabiting the northeastern corner of Europe in what is today Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia and Latvia. This region of the world has been considered their homeland for thousands of years and they the autochthonous inhabitants, despite never having maintained political power in this area. Throughout history, contact and conflict with neighbors speaking linguistically dissimilar tongues have helped to shape the contemporary territorial expanses held by the Balto-Finnic speakers today and to define their national character as distinct from those non-Balto-Finnic speakers. The purpose of the following geolinguistic investigation is to demonstrate this centralizing tendency exhibited by the Balto-Finns via linguistic contact and conflict. History demonstrates that the territorial expanses of this group of people has decreased; however, the territory that remains today remains as the center of the Balto-Finnic civilizations, with spatial implications in the territorial sense, as well as in the cultural sense. Outside factors and forces from neighboring non-Balto-Finnic speakers have aided in forming the strong Balto-Finnic identity as wholly separate from that of their neighbors'. This sense ofidentity, in turn, has allowed for the continuance oftheir cultural and linguistic existence, evading ethnic consumption of their tiny populations by larger and threatening Indo-European speaking neighbors and escaping assimilation into these bigger, dominating groups. In order to better facilitate a demonstration of the Balto-Finnic settlement patterns over time and space, a map series shall be constructed using the ESRI ArcMap computer program. It is anticipated that a visual construction will assist the argument that these languages have undertaken a centralizing path to realize their present territorial expanses in the twenty-first century. Naturally, the linguistic situation of each language varies considerably, but it is the intention ofthis paper to examine the Balto-Finnic languages as a
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