Suomi kasvitieteen kieleksi : Elias Lönnrot termistön kehittäjänä

The development of botanical Finnish: Elias Lönnrot as the creator of new terminology In the 19th century the Finnish language was intentionally developed to meet the demands of civilised society and Finnish-language science. The development of the language involved several people from different fields of science. This study examines this enormous project in the field of botany. By which methods were scientific terms formed, and for which reasons were those terms used? Why has a certain word been chosen to represent a particular concept? The material of this study is the terminology of plant morphology in Finnish that Elias Lönnrot developed in the middle of the 19th century. The terms of plant morphology denote and describe the parts of the plant and the relationships between those parts. For instance, the terms emi pistill , hede stamen , terälehti petal and verholehti sepal , which are nowadays familiar in the general language, were used for the first time in Lönnrot s texts. The study integrates the methods of lexicology and terminology. In lexicology, the word and its various meanings serve as the focus, whereas the theory of terminology focuses on the concept and concept systems. A new, consciously developed terminology can be understood through the old, familiar vocabulary and structures as well as through the new, logical term system. Lönnrot s botanical terminology can be divided into three groups depending on their origin: 1) 19% of all terms have been accepted from the existing vocabulary and used in their original meanings, 2) 11% of all terms have been chosen from the existing vocabulary and used in the new, specific botanical meanings, and 3) 70% of all terms have been created on the basis of the existing vocabulary and used in the new, specific botanical meanings. Therefore, the study reveals that domestic materials primarily morphosemantic neologisms form the Finnish terminology of plant morphology. Characteristic of Lönnrot s botanical terms is the utilisation of the vocabulary of various Finnish dialects and particular repeating elements. Repeating elements include, for example, the prefixes that come from botanical Latin or Swedish as well as the particular Finnish derivation types. Such structures form term systems that reflect scientific concept systems. Two thirds of the created new words are formed loosely or precisely according to either Latin or Swedish terms; one third is formed completely differently from its equivalents in the foreign languages. Approximately half of the chosen terms are formed differently from the Latin and Swedish terms. It is worth noting that many loan translations use rare vocabulary from Finnish dialects as equivalents to foreign parts of terms. Lönnrot aimed to inspire scientific terminology with Finland s own language, thus making scientific text accessible to the Finnish agricultural population.

Infinitiivi ja sen infiniittisyys : Tutkimus suomen kielen itsenäisistä A-infinitiivikonstruktioista

"Infinitive and its infinity" advocates an approach to infinitives that differs from most previous descriptions in several ways. Infinitives are generally considered to be an illustrative example of an inherently subordinated verb category. This is due to the fact that they are morphologically reduced and are allegedly not able to function as the only predicate of an independent clause. While former descriptions have thus treated infinitives as a linguistic category heavily dependent on the finite verb, my claim is that Finnish A-infinitives (e.g. juosta to run , olla to be ) can be used as independent grammatical units: they need not be either dependent or subordinated, but can have an equal status with finite constructions. In other words, they can be conceptually and interactionally non-dependent. Theoretically, the main objective of the thesis is to discover the nature of non-finite conceptualization and the ways in which it is utilized in everyday interactions. This is accomplished by contrasting finite and non-finite conceptualization with respect to the morphosyntactic marking of person, tense and modality. I argue that the morphologically reduced nature of infinitives can be used as an interactional resource. Independent A-infinitive constructions designate verbal processes that profile no participants, lack any connection with time, and present states of affairs as intensional, structural spaces. Consequently, they provide the interactants with a conceptual alternative in contrast to finite predications that are in Finnish always grammatically anchored to time, modality and person. The deictically unanchored character of A-infinitive constructions makes them highly affective and reflexive in nature. I discuss my findings primarily in the light of Cognitive Grammar. I have drawn insight from various other fields, too: among the theories that are touched upon are interactional linguistics, functional-typological linguistics, and studies on the poetic and metapragmatic use of language. The study is based on empirical data interpreted in qualitative terms. Analyses are based on 980 examples coming mainly from written language. Some 20 examples of spoken data are analyzed as well. In sum, the thesis presents a critical statement towards the finite-verb centred outlook on language and shows that analyzing non-finite elements as such reveals new aspects of grammar and interaction. This is to acknowledge the fact that infinitives, albeit prototypically participating in the coding of dependent events, can also be used outside of the context of the finite verb. Such a view poses several new research questions, as a linguistic category generally seen to code dependent, less prominent states of affairs , now is viewed on as possessing a full cognitive and pragmatic potential.

Naiset rajalla : Kyöpeli, Nainen, Naara(s), Neitsyt, Morsian, Akka ja Ämmä Suomen paikannimissä

Women at the boundary. Kyöpeli ( ghost, devil, elf, fairy, enchantress, witch ), Nainen ( woman ), Naara(s) ( female animal, derogatory term for a woman ), Neitsyt ( young, [virgin] woman ), Morsian ( bride ), Akka ( old woman, wife, grandmother ) and Ämmä ( [old] woman, wife, grandmother ) in Finnish place names This study examines a total of about 4,000 Finnish place names which include a specific that refers to a woman: Kyöpeli, Nainen, Naara(s), Neitsyt, Morsian, Akka or Ämmä. The study has two main objectives. First, to interpret the place names in the data, that is, to examine the words included in the data and establish their background and to differentiate names of different ages. In establishing the background of a name, the type of place (e.g. lake, hill or marsh) and its location, as well as the semantics of the feminine specific, are taken into account. The connotations of words referring to a woman are also studied. Words that refer to a woman are often affective and susceptible to changes in meaning, which is reflected in the history of place names. The second main objective is to recognise and highlight mythological place names. Mythology is pivotal for the interpretation of many place names with a feminine specific. The criteria for mythological names have not been explicitly discussed in Finnish onomastics until now, and I seek to determine such criteria in this study with the help of the data. Mythological place names often refer to large and significant natural localities, which are in many cases important boundaries for the community. Names for smaller localities may also be mythological if they refer to a place with a key location or a special topography (e.g. steep or rocky places). I also discuss the stories involved with specific places in the data, such as stories about supernatural beings. Each of the name groups discussed in the study has its own profile. For example, Naara(s) names are so old that naara is no longer understood to refer to a woman. These names have thus often been misinterpreted in onomastics. Names beginning with Morsian, on the other hand, appear to be of fairly recent origin and may be attributed to an international cautionary tale. Names beginning with Nais, Neitsyt, Akka and Ämmä highlight the duality of the data. They include both old names for important natural localities or boundaries and more recent names for modest dwellings, small cultivated areas and useless marshy ponds. This distribution of place names may reflect a cultural shift that changed the status of women in the community.

Tekstit viraston työssä : Tutkimus etuuspäätösten kielestä ja konteksteista

Texts in the work of a city department: A study of the language and context of benefit decisions This dissertation examines documents granting or denying the access to municipal services. The data consist of decisions on transport services made by the Social Services Department of the City of Helsinki. The circumstances surrounding official texts and their language and production are studied through textual analysis and interviews. The dissertation describes the textual features of the above decisions, and seeks to explain such features. Also explored are the topics and methods of genre studies, especially the relationship between text and context. Although the approach is linguistic, the dissertation also touches on research in social work and administrative decision making, and contributes to more general discussion on the language and duties of public administration. My key premise is that a text is more than a mere psycholinguistic phenomenon. Rather, a text is also a physical object and the result of certain production processes. This dissertation thus not only describes genre-specific features, but also sheds light on the work that generates the texts examined. Textual analysis and analyses of discursive practices are linked through an analysis of intertextuality: written decisions are compared with other application documents, such as expert statements and the applications themselves. The study shows that decisions are texts governed by strict rules and written with modest resources. Textwork is organised as hierarchical mass production. The officials who write decisions rely on standard phrases extracted from a computer system. This allows them to produce texts of uniform quality which have been approved by the department s legal experts. Using a computer system in text production does not, however, serve all the needs of the writers. This leads to many problems in the texts themselves. Intertextual analysis indicates that medical argumentation weighs most heavily in an application process, although a social appraisal should be carried out when deciding on applications for transport services. The texts reflect a hierarchy in which a physician ranks above the applicant, and the department s own expert physician ranks above the applicant s physician. My analysis also highlights good, but less obvious practices. The social workers and secretaries who write decisions must balance conflicting demands. They use delicate linguistic means to adjust the standard phrases to suit individual cases, and employ subtle strategies of politeness. The dissertation suggests that the customer contact staff who write official texts should be allowed to make better use of their professional competence. A more general concern is that legislation and new management strategies require more and more documentation. Yet, textwork is only rarely taken into account in the allocation of resources. Keywords: (Critical) text analysis, genre analysis, administration, social work, administrative language, texts, genres, context, intertextuality, discursive practices

Inarinsaamen käsitemetaforat

This study discusses the conceptual metaphors of Inari Saami, an endangered, indigenous, Finno-Ugrian language spoken in northern Finland. The research focuses on systematical mappings between source and target domains in conventional Inari Saami metaphors and metonymies. The research material consists of the Inarinsaamen idiomisanakirja [Inari Saami idiom dictionary] which has been compiled by the author in collaboration with an Inari Saami co-author; the Inarilappisches Wörterbuch; Inarinsaamelaista kansantietoutta [Inari Saami folk knowledge]; and Aanaarkiela čájttuzeh [Inari Saami sample texts]. The metaphors and metonymies found in these literary sources are divided into categories on the basis of the target domains and according to the classic model of Lakoff ja Johnson (1980). This method reveals the systematical recurrence of source domains inside each category and thus discovers the systematical patterns of metaphoric mapping, the conceptual metaphors . As a result 44 conceptual metaphors and 16 conceptual metonymies are presented through approximately 500 glossed examples. These findings are discussed against the background of what is known about the cognitive and neural processing of metaphors on the one hand, and what is known about Inari Saami culture on the other. This theoretical framework highlights culture as the underlying force behind conceptual metaphors. The recurring metonymies seem to follow a culturally salient indexicality. For example, the Inari Saami conceptual metonymy TIME IS NATURE reflects the seasonal changes in the year s cycle, which was the salient index of time in traditional Inari Saami culture. The recurring metaphors, for their part, follow a culturally salient iconicity. The conceptual metaphor PRIDE IS ANTLERS is based on an iconicity which is experienced and interpreted by the Inari Saami. A proud person is associated with a reindeer who shows off his impressive antlers. The conceptual metaphor/metonymy seems to be a reflection of culture rather than a cognitive means of understanding an abstract domain in terms of a concrete domain, as hypothesized by certain theoreticians. Repeating this study with other languages may lead to the possibility of typologizing the metaphorical systems of the world s languages and understanding the diversity of metaphor systems in the endangered languages of the world.

Oireista puhuminen lääkärin vastaanotolla : Keskustelunanalyyttinen tutkimus lääkärin kysymyksistä

Talking about symptoms during medical consultation. A conversation analytical study of doctors questions This linguistically oriented conversation analytic study investigates doctors questions and patients answers during medical consultation. The focus is on 1) the syntactic constructions of the doctors questions concerning the patients symptoms, 2) the function of different types of syntactic constructions, and 3) the sequential placement of the questions. The data used in the study consist of 57 videotaped doctor patient encounters in Finnish primary health care. The study shows that the traditional division between open and closed questions is vague and needs to be examined further. Open wh-questions and closed yes/no questions form heterogeneous classes: some of the closed questions can be treated as open and vice versa. Wh-questions which occur during the physical examination are often constructed to elicit short answers. These questions can consist of one word (e.g. milloin when ) which does not move to a new topic but supports the unfinished activity of palpation. During the verbal examination, wh-questions are formulated to elicit long descriptions as answers. For example, by asking mites + X ( what about + X), the doctor can open up a new topic and simultaneously give the patient the opportunity to discuss the topic from his/her perspective. Almost half of the yes/no questions project longer than just a minimal answer (e.g. a short confirmation or rejection). In these questions, the doctors use verbal elements which show that more than just a minimal answer is required. They can, for example, add an indefinite element (joku some or mitään any ) to a yes/no question, add a conjunctive vai ( or ) to the end of the question and thus open a space for various types of answers, or add a suggested answer to the question. In addition, the results show that declarative questions not only check understanding, but display the doctor s diagnosing process, check whether the doctor can move on to the next topic or action, and display implicitly the doctor s idea of what is connected and what is relevant. One aim of the study is to describe how different syntactic structures work together. A typical question chain consists of two or three questions. The first question is an open wh-question that elicits a new topic and creates different types of presuppositions. Contingent questions are constructed as yes/no questions that seek an affirmative answer or as declarative sentences that seek confirmation. Contingent questions can function as repair initiators and thus support achieving mutual understanding. Therefore, they are tools for the doctor to construct a description of the medical problem collaboratively with the patient. The results add to the results of previous studies on questions in medical consultation, but also suggest some corrections. They provide additional evidence for the idea that different types of syntactic constructions are useful in different types of settings. However, they also show that the variety of questions that doctors use is more manifold and diverse than the variety introduced in earlier studies and textbooks.

Konstruktioiden dynamiikkaa

Dynamic constructions Dynamic constructions is a study of the dynamism of Finnish grammar. Dynamism as a linguistic phenomenon is studied on both the diachronic and synchronic level. The study therefore focuses not only on the temporal changes of grammar but also on the conventionality of grammatical structures and on the interplay between closely related constructions. Dynamism is also treated as a phenomenon occurring between different varieties of Finnish. All in all, dynamism is shown to be a key feature of the nature of grammar. The study is set within the framework of cognitive linguistics and construction grammar. Both theories emphasise the role of constructions pairings of form with semantic or discourse function in the composition and development of grammar. The grammar of a language is understood to be a structured inventory of such constructions. I argue that the constructions are best studied in their original contexts of use. Thus, the study is usage-based in a strict sense. The data is compiled from various corpora consisting of both written and spoken as well as standard and non-standard Finnish. The dissertation consists of an introduction and four empirical studies. The four papers examine various Finnish constructions and thereby shed light on different aspects of the dynamism of a grammar. The first paper focuses on the diachronic development of the Finnish temporal converb essa. The second paper discusses a specific construction which includes the essa converb, that is, the mikäs on ollessa construction. Some closely related constructions and their semantic interplay are also examined. The third paper extensively studies what is generally regarded as an ellipsis of the negation verb in Finnish. By using present day Finnish data, I show that the omission of the negation verb is not an instance of mere ellipsis but rather a construction. The final paper combines the themes of the second and the third paper by focusing on closely related constructions of the negative ellipsis construction.

Kuvan ja tekstin välissä : Kuvateksti uutiskuvan ja lehtijutun elementtinä

The study focuses on picture captions: their grammar and interplay with photographs and their position as semi-independent elements of the news stories. The research was conducted in the framework of critical discourse analysis, social semiotic visual theory and fennistic syntactical research. The data consist of 441 press photographs, 1,815 captions and a number of news items from Finnish dailies. The generic structure potential of the caption includes the caption headline, the caption proper, i.e. the verbalization of the picture content, and the frame. In the data, 41 per cent of the captions have a headline, and 44 per cent contain a caption proper. Characteristic of the caption proper is omission of the finite verb and the use of the present tense, both of which have decreased in Finnish papers during the 20th century. The caption proper is typically a main clause, and both subordinate clauses and participal phrases occur mostly in the frame. While comparing caption variants attached to the same pictures, the processes and their participants proved to be identified considerably identically, following the news agency captions. Instead, the reader?s interpretations of a picture could be directed by framing it in different ways. For example, the caption may focus on the only person depicted, deal with a whole group, or give an abstract account of the situation. The caption is a paratext, a typographically marked, semi-independent element of a news story. Between the headline and the caption, four semantic relations have been identified. The caption may be a paraphrase of the headline, or a close-up illustrating an abstract headline with a concrete example. If the name of the person depicted is their only common factor, the relation between the caption and the headline is additive. A specifying caption will give more details than the headline. The caption may complete, repeat, or summarize the body copy. Naturally, most captions completing the story verbalize the content of the picture. As the caption is often based on the story, it may even repeat the body copy verbatim. The summarizing function is probably becoming increasingly important, as most Finnish newspapers have abandoned the use of a separate standfirst.

Toiminta ja tarkoite : Tutkimus suomen pronominista

The study describes the use and meaning of the Finnish demonstrative pronouns, focus being on the pronoun "tämä" (roughly 'this'). The Finnish demonstrative system is a three way one, the other two demonstratives are "tuo" ('that') and "se" ('it'). The data consisted of 12 half hours of video- and tape-recorded face-to-face and telephone conversations. The method for the study was ethnomethodological conversation analysis (CA); in addition to CA, the theoretical framework consisted of functional linguistics and linguistic anthropology. First, the study dealt with the syntactic distribution of the three demonstratives. The pronouns were analysed according to whether they are before or after the verb, and whether they compose an NP on their own or are determinants of a lexical NP. The study suggested that the form and the placement of the NP presents the referent as continuous/discontinuous or given/new. Givenness of a referent was defined as "identified adequately for the purposes of the on-going action". The so-called dislocated utterances were considered separately. It was found that left-dislocations are used for inserting referents in a particular relation to the on-going activity. Right-dislocations offer a solution for the sometimes competing motivations of newness and continuity: they are used for securing the identifiability of a referent that is implied to be continuous. Second, the study focussed on analysing the meaning of the pronouns according to three dimensions of reference: referential, indexical and relational. It was found that the demonstratives can organize interactional or spatial context. When organizing interactional context, the demonstrative pronouns express the role of identifying the referent in relation to the on-going activity. The pronoun "tämä" expresses that the referent is referentially open and the characterization of the referent is given in the on-going turn. Furthermore, it expresses asymmetry of the indexical ground: it expresses that the participants of a conversation do not share a mutual understanding of the activity at that particular time. In addition, the referent of the pronoun "tämä" is central for understanding the on-going action. Centrality could be understood as the relational feature of the pronoun. However, it is a consequence of the referential and indexical features of "tämä". The pronoun "tuo" also expresses referential openness, but it implies indexical symmetry. The pronoun "se" implies that the referent is known enough, and implies indexical symmetry. When used spatially, the pronouns may refer to a physical space or to a situation. They express or imply that the speaker is inside or outside the referent. The pronoun "tämä" implies inclusion, and the pronoun "tuo" expresses exclusion.

Meän tapa puhua : Tornionlaakso pellolaisnuorten subjektiivisena paikkana ja murrealueena

This folk linguistic and human geographic study deals with dialect awareness, dialect use and place attachment. The study discusses theoretical and methodological issues current in sociolinguistics suggesting that the study of attitudes should be regarded as a core area in the study of variation and change. Furthermore, it is suggested that instead of putting effort into improving mental mapping methodology (adopted into folk linguistics from behavioural geography of the 1960 s), the more up-to-date thinking of space in geography should be adopted. The region and the dialect are treated as perceptual constructs in the study. The dialect perceptions of high school seniors in the Finnish Tornio Valley are examined trough a triangulation method involving a questionnaire, interviews and dialect recognition test as the research methods. The h in non-initial syllables (e.g. lähethä(ä)n, saunhaan ~ sauhnaan let s go into sauna ) turns out, expectedly, as the most salient feature in the dialect awareness of the locals and in terms of local identity construction. This feature is no longer heard in most of the present dialects of Finnish but is still thriving in the Tornio Valley in the cross-border dialect area. The metathetic variant (saunhaan > sauhnaan into sauna , käymhään > käyhmään to go ) is a characteristic feature of the Tornio Valley dialect. However, individual differences have long been found in the use of the h. This study challenges the essentialist variationist view of social categories (gender) by analysing variation from a quantitative but emic and human geographic point of view. The study shows that the variation of the h is statistically significantly patterned in terms of the degree of feeling of insideness vs. outsideness. New light is shed on the gender differences found in earlier sociolinguistic studies: differences in dialect use between and inside gender groups are illuminated by the fact that, in this case, it is young women who are generally less attached to the local community than young men, but this does not hold for all the individuals. The ideological motivation for preservation of the h seems to be based on the imagined community of Tornio Valley covering both the Swedish and the Finnish valley area. The general image of the dialect area and it s speakers, the shared cognitive dialect boundaries of the locals and the particularly deep level of awaress of the linguistic variation of the h are notable resources of the Tornio valley identity. Hyperdialectic forms analogical to the most frequently attested metathetic forms are found in the interview data, predicting that in this dialect the h will be maintained also in the future.

On Toponymic Constructions as an Alternative to Naming Patterns in Describing Finnish Lake Names

This thesis combines a computational analysis of a comprehensive corpus of Finnish lake names with a theoretical background in cognitive linguistics. The combination results on the one hand in a description of the toponymic system and the processes involved in analogy-based naming and on the other hand some adjustments to Construction Grammar. Finnish lake names are suitable for this kind of study, as they are to a large extent semantically transparent even when relatively old. There is also a large number of them, and they are comprehensively collected in a computer database. The current work starts with an exploratory computational analysis of co-location patterns between different lake names. Such an analysis makes it possible to assess the importance of analogy and patterns in naming. Prior research has suggested that analogy plays an important role, often also in cases where there are other motivations for the name, and the current study confirms this. However, it also appears that naming patterns are very fuzzy and that their nature is somewhat hard to define in an essentially structuralist tradition. In describing toponymic structure and the processes involved in naming, cognitive linguistics presents itself as a promising theoretical basis. The descriptive formalism of Construction Grammar seems especially well suited for the task. However, now productivity becomes a problem: it is not nearly as clear-cut as the latter theory often assumes, and this is even more apparent in names than in more traditional linguistic material. The varying degree of productivity is most naturally described by a prototype-based theory. Such an approach, however, requires some adjustments to onstruction Grammar. Based on all this, the thesis proposes a descriptive model where a new name -- or more generally, a new linguistic expression -- can be formed by conceptual integration from either a single prior example or a construction generalised from a number of different prior ones. The new model accounts nicely for various aspects of naming that are problematic for the traditional description based on analogy and patterns.

Päivä päivältä enemmän ja enemmän : Suomen toistokonstruktioita

Day by day more and more. Repetitive constructions in Finnish The study describes syntactic repetition in Finnish. Under investigation are short repetitive constructions in which the construction is connected by a morpheme, for example, päivä päivältä day by day , uudelleen ja uudelleen again and again . The study is a qualitative corpus-based study. It has three study questions. First, the study analyses the grammatical structure of repetitive constructions. Secondly, repetition is an iconic phenomenon, and the study investigates the motivation for repetition. Why and where is repetition used? Thirdly, the study will tentatively explain the syntactic productivity of the constructions. Syntactic repetition has semantic and pragmatic functions of which three are the most interesting. Firstly, it changes the aspectual interpretation of utterances. Durative situations become continuative, and semelfactive iterative. Secondly, repetition is also used to intensify expressions. Thirdly, repetition can be used to express superlative meanings. Repetition has many pragmatic functions. For example, it carries affective meanings in conversation. Repetition can also be used as an expressive tool in narrative contexts.

Exciting Moments - Reval Hotels ja mainonnan merkitykset

Pro gradu työni käsittelee virolaisia mainoksia ja niiden kohderyhmiä. Tutkimusaihe on erityisen mielenkiintoinen, sillä virolaisesta mainonnasta on tehty kansainvälisellä tasolla varsin vähän tutkimuksia. Halusin pro gradu -työssäni selvittää, mitä analysoimillani mainoksilla halutaan viestiä, kenelle ne suunnataan sekä millaisin kielellisin ja kuvallisin keinoin niitä tuotetaan. Käytin tutkimuksen materiaalina kuutta Reval Hotels ketjun mainosta, jotka ovat ilmestyneet viron- ja/tai englanninkielisinä viimeisen kahden vuoden aikana lehdissä, esitteissä tai hotellissa pöytä- tai seinämainoksina. Tutkimukseni teoreettinen viitekehys perustui kolmeen erilaiseen näkökulmaan: mainostekstien tutkimukseen, semiotiikkaan sekä Pierre Bourdieun teoriaan symbolisesta pääomasta ja sosiaalisten luokkien eroista. Sosiologisen näkökulman käyttö oli perusteltua erityisesti sen uutuusarvon vuoksi, sillä Bourdieun teoriaa ei ole aikaisemmin hyödynnetty virolaisten mainosten tutkimuksessa. Mainosten kuvien ja tekstien analyysi osoitti, että mainokset olivat rakenteellisesti oikeaoppisesti laadittuja. Mainoksista löytyi lukuisia symbolisen pääoman elementtejä, kuten englannin kieli, raha, aika, tehokkuus ja eurooppalaisuus. Mainokset olivat samalla varsin konservatiivisia ja yllätyksettömiä. Materiaalin joukosta erottui kuitenkin yksi mainos, jolla rikottiin perinteisen mainostamisen kaavaa ja josta avautui paljon erilaisia merkityksiä. Johtopäätöksenä voitiin muun muassa todeta, että Reval Hotels voi markkinointistrategiaansa kehittämällä hankkia itselleen uusia tuottavia kohderyhmiä. Pro gradu työtäni voi myöhemmin laajentaa esimerkiksi vertailevaksi jatkotutkimukseksi, jossa tarkastellaan useampien Virossa toimivien hotellien mainontaa.

Monikielisyys helsinkiläistyttöjen vuorovaikutuksen resurssina

Tutkimus tarkastelee monikielisyyttä teini-ikäisten helsinkiläistyttöjen vuorovaikutuksessa. Työ kuuluu vuorovaikutuksellisen sosiolingvistiikan alaan ja keskittyy kielen leksikaaliseen tasoon. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää, millaisia monikielisiä resursseja monietnisessä nuorten tyttöjen ystäväpiirissä hyödynnetään ja millaisia funktioita niillä ryhmänsisäisessä vuorovaikutuksessa on. Tutkielman aineisto on kerätty etnografista tutkimusotetta ja osallistuvaa havainnointia hyödyntäen eräällä itähelsinkiläisellä nuorisotalolla ja koululla alkuvuodesta 2009. Aineisto koostuu vapaamuotoisissa tilanteissa tehdyistä nauhoituksista, haastatteluista ja kenttämuistiinpanoista. Tutkimuksen kohteena on kuuden yhdeksäsluokkalaisen tytön kiinteä ystäväpiiri, jonka jäsenistä neljällä on maahanmuuttajatausta, kaksi on etniseltä taustaltaan suomalaisia. Työn aluksi esittelen tutkimuksen kannalta keskeisiä tieteellisiä viitekehyksiä ja termejä. Työ asettuu sosiolingvistiikan ja keskustelunanalyysin risteyskohtaan sekä kaksi- ja monikielisyystutkimuksen läheisyyteen. Lyhyesti käsittelen myös Helsingin puhekielen tutkimusta sekä tyylin ja identiteetin kysymyksiä. Tutkimuksessa tarkastelen aineistossa esiintyvää monenlaista monikielisyyttä ryhmänsisäisessä vuorovaikutuksessa. Näistä keskeisimpinä käsittelen maahanmuuttajien äidinkielisiä sanoja ja ilmauksia, afroamerikkalaiseen nuorisokulttuuriin ja erityisesti hip hopiin viittaavaa englannin kielen käyttöä sekä muslimityttöjen jakamana uskonnon kielenä toimivaa arabian kieltä. Kysyn myös, tulisiko tutkittavia nimittää natiivi- vai toisen kielen puhujiksi, ja miksi. Valotan väitteitäni esimerkeillä tutkittavien erilaisista suomen kielen käyttötilanteista ja rekistereistä. Työ perehtyy myös siihen, miksi monikielisiä resursseja ylipäänsä käytetään. Keskeinen monikielisiä valintoja selittävä syy on sosiaalinen orientaatio. Erityisesti nuorisokulttuurit kuten hip hop tuntuvat vaikuttavan nuorten tekemiin kielellisiin valintoihin. Ne rakentavat ja tuovat ilmi puhujan identiteettiä samaan tapaan kuin se, kuinka pukeudutaan, millaista musiikkia kuunnellaan ja kuinka aikaa vietetään. Monikieliset ainekset toimivat myös tutkitun ryhmän sisäistä kiinteyttä rakentavana keinona: ystävän äidinkielisiä ilmauksia käytetään ryhmässä taajaan. Vieraalla kielellä kiroilu toimii paitsi me-koodina keskustelussa myös tarjoaa mahdollisuuden kiltin tytön roolin rajojen koetteluun. Tyypillisesti monikielisiä resursseja hyödynnetään aineistossa silloin, kun tutkittavat viettävät aikaansa isolla porukalla musiikkia kuunnellen, vitsaillen ja tanssien. Usein näissä tilanteissa on läsnä muitakin kuin ryhmään kuuluvia nuoria; erityisesti tyttöjen ja poikien välinen vuorovaikutus kutsuu puheeseen monikielisiä aineksia. Tällaisissa tilanteissa huumorilla on taipumus ketjuuntua liioittelujaksoiksi, joissa hyödynnetään ahkeraan myös muiden kuin suomen kielen varantoja. Tutkimus osoittaa, että kielen vaihtaminen yhden tai useamman vuoron mittaiseksi ajaksi liittyy usein keskustelun osallistumiskehikon rakentamiseen ja muokkaamiseen. Selkeimpänä esimerkkinä tästä on koodinvaihto kahden kielen välillä silloin, kun vain puhuja ja puhuteltavat puhuvat molempia kieliä. Tutkitut nuoret suhtautuvat uusien kielten oppimiseen ja niiden puhumiseen mutkattomasti ja hyväksyvästi. Jo muutaman sanan kokoisella kielitaidolla voidaan rakentaa yhteistä maaperää ja ilmaista solidaarisuutta muita kohtaan. Tutkimassani monietnisessä ja -kielisessä ystäväporukassa vallitseekin selkeä sosiaalinen orientaatio monikielisyyteen.

Vokaalien keston variaatio virolaismuuttajien puhesuomessa

Tutkimuksen aiheena on Suomessa asuvien virolaisten puhuman suomen kielen vokaalien keston variaatio. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää, miten viron kieli vaikuttaa suomen kielen vokaalien keston ääntymiseen ja miten keston edustuminen varioi informanteilla. Tutkimuksen teoreettiset lähtökohdat ovat kontrastiivisessa kielentutkimuksessa ja sen siirtovaikutuksena (transfer) tunnetussa käsitteessä sekä toisen kielen variaation tutkimuksessa ja sosiolingvistiikassa. Kestoa tutkitaan tarkastelmalla kahden virossa ja suomessa kestoltaan toisistaan poikkeavasti ääntyvän piirteen edustumista virolaisten suomenkielisessä puheessa. Tutkittavat piirteet ovat diftongien jälkikomponentin ja jälkitavun pitkien vokaaliainesten pituus. Työssä tarkastellaan myös A-loppuisten vokaaliyhtymien edustumista jälkitavujen pitkän vokaaliaineksen edustumisen näkökulmasta. Tutkimusaineistona on yhdeksän Virosta Suomeen muuttaneen aikuisen kanssa käydyt keskustelut. Informantit on pyritty valitsemaan siten, että aineistossa olisi esimerkkejä kummankin sukupuolen edustajien sekä eripituisia aikoja Suomessa asuneiden, koulutustaustaltaan erilaisten ja eri puolilla Suomea asuvien muuttajien kielenkäytöstä. Työn voi jakaa kahteen osaan. Ensimmäisessä osassa selvitetään, miten ja missä määrin viron kieli vaikuttaa virolaisten suomen kielen diftongien jälkikomponentin pidentymiseen ja jälkitavujen pitkien vokaaliainesten lyhentymiseen. Tarkastelun fokuksessa on siirtovaikutus, jonka esiintymistä ja esiintymisen ehtoja selvitetään tutkimalla kielenpiirteiden edustumisessa esiintyvää variaatiota erilaisissa äänne- ja leksikaalisissa ympäristöissä. Tarkastelu on pääasiassa kvantitatiivista, mutta kvantitatiivisen tarkastelun tuloksia täydennetään kvalitatiivisilla havainnoilla. Tutkimuksen tulokset osoittavat, että viron kielen siirtovaikutus on melko yleinen vokaalien keston ääntämiseen vaikuttava ilmiö. Tutkimuksen keskeisin tulos on se, että fonologisen tason siirtovaikutus kytkeytyy leksikaalisen tason ilmiöihin siten, että siirtovaikutuksen esiintyminen on todennäköisintä silloin, kun virossa ja suomessa kestoltaan eri tavoin ääntyvä vokaaliaines esiintyy viron sanamuotoa muistuttavassa sanamuodossa. Työn toisessa osassa tarkastellaan viron- ja suomenmukaisen edustuksen variaatiota taustoiltaan erilaisilla informanteilla. Tarkastelun näkökulma on sosiolingvistinen, ja tarkoituksena on selvittää, miten muun muassa Suomessa asutun ajan pituus, informanttien sukupuoli ja koulutustausta vaikuttavat informanttien välillä esiintyvään variaatioon vokaalien keston edustumisessa. Variaation rakennetta verrataan suomea äidinkielenään puhuvien tuottamaan variaatioon silloin, kun se on mahdollista. Tutkimuksen tulosten mukaan informanttien väliseen variaatioon vaikuttaa ennen kaikkea Suomessa asutun ajan pituus siten, että eniten suomen kielen mukaisesta edustuksesta poikkeavia variantteja esiintyy lyhimmän aikaa Suomessa asuneilla informanteilla. Virolaisilla esiintyvän variaation rakenne myös poikkeaa suomea äidinkielenään puhuvien variaation rakenteesta. Tutkimuksessa todetaan, että puhesuomen virotaustainen variantti on oma erityinen suomen kielen muotonsa, joka varioi sille ominaisella tavallaan ja jonka muotoutumiseen vaikuttavat suomen yleiskielen lisäksi niin viron kieli kuin erilaiset puhesuomen muodotkin. Kiinnostavaksi jatkotutkimuskohteeksi todetaan tarkempi perehtyminen virolaisilla esiintyvän (äänne)variaation vertaamiseen suomea äidinkielenään puhuvilla esiintyvään variaatioon.