Finland-Swedish

Finland-Swedish is a general term for the closely related cluster of dialects of Swedish spoken in Finland by Finland-Swedes as a first language. For the most part, these dialects are mutually intelligible with Standard Swedish or can even be considered varieties of it. A common mistake made by many Swedes is to mistake Finland-Swedish for Swedish with a Finnish accent, something that can be a considerable source of frustration to most Finland-Swedes. Curiously enough, the percentually most Swedish speaking municipality in the world, Korsnäs, resides in Finland.

History

From the 16th century Swedish, rather than Finnish, was the main language of jurisdiction, administration and higher education in Finland. In 1892 Finnish and Swedish became official languages with equal status, and by the time of Finland's independence in 1917 Finnish clearly dominated in government and society.

Related Topics:
Finnish - Finland - 1892 - Official language - Finland's independence - 1917

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Finland has since then been a bilingual country with a Swedish-speaking minority (5.08% of Mainland Finland's population in 2003), speaking Finland-Swedish, living mostly in the coastal areas of southern, south-western, and western Finland. During the 20th century, the urbanization following the Industrial Revolution has led to large majorities of Finnish speakers in all major cities. The capital Helsingfors became the predominantly Finnish-speaking city Helsinki as early as around year 1900. A large and important part of the Finland-Swedes nevertheless live in the capital.

Related Topics:
Bilingual - Minority - Mainland Finland - Urbanization - Industrial Revolution - Helsinki

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The autonomous island-province of Åland is an exception, being monolingually Swedish-speaking according to international treaties. It is a matter of definition whether the Swedish dialects spoken on Åland are to be considered Finland-Swedish or not. Most Swedish-speaking Finns consider them to be closer to some of the dialects spoken in nearby parts of Sweden.

Related Topics:
Åland - Dialect

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