Meänkieli grammar explained

Meänkieli is a Finnic variant spoken in northern Sweden by around 70,000 people.[1] Although its status as an independent language is disputed by some linguists due to its mutual intelligibility with Finnish, the Swedish state has granted Meänkieli with the status of an official minority language in Sweden and is thus treated as a separate language from standard Finnish by the Swedish authorities. A standardized literary language for Meänkieli has been created that is based around the dialects around Pajala, Övertorneå and Haparanda, which has been used in Meänkieli literature. This article describes the grammar of the written language of Meänkieli.[2] [3] [4] [5]

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns in Meänkieli.[6] [7]

1st person2nd person3rd person
singularpluralsingularpluralsingularplural
Nominativemie("I")met("we")sie("you")tet("you")se/hään("he, she, it")het("they")
Accusativeminunmeänsinunteäthänenheät
Genitiveminunmeänsinunteänhänenheän
Partitiveminuameitäsinuateitähäntäheitä
Illativeminhuunmeihinsinhuunteihinhänheenheihin
Inessiveminussameissäsinussateissähänessäheissä
Elativeminustameistäsinustateistähänestäheistä
Essiveminunameinäsinunateinähänenäheinä
Translativeminuksimeiksisinuksiteiksihäneksiheiksi
Adessivemullameiläsullateilähälläheilä
Allativemullemeilesulleteilehälleheile
Ablativemultameiltäsultateiltähältäheiltä

Nouns

Nominative case

The nominative is the base form of a word and does not have a suffix, however the plural is made by the ending -t. For example, talo 'house' becomes talot 'houses'.

Genitive case

The genitive case is used to express ownership and it is made with the ending -n in the singular. However, the plural genitive has multiple possible endings in Meänkieli, which are -tten, -ten, -jen, -in and -en. For example, kala 'fish' in the genetive becomes kaloitten or kalain, while the word mies 'man' becomes miehitten or miesten. The endings -in and -en are somewhat archaic, but are still sometimes used in modern Meänkieli.

Partitive case

The partitive case is used to express partialness or indefiniteness. It is formed by the suffixes -a, -ta, -tä, -ä. For example, in the sentence "karasissa oon piiliä" 'there are cars in the garage', the word piili 'car' is in the partitive case. The plural is formed by adding either -i(ta/tä) or -j(a/ä), for example talo 'house' become taloja in the plural.

Essive

The essive case is formed by the endings -na or -nä, and describes states of being and time. For example, in the sentence "mie olin kipeännä", the word kipeä 'sick' is in the essive case.

Accusative

The accusative case is used to express a direct object. It's formed by the ending -n in the singular and -t in the plural. For example, the word kirja 'book' in the accusative becomes "kirjan".

Translative

The translative is formed by the ending -ksi, which describes becoming something. For example, in the sentence "ko sie luet tätä kramatiikkia, sie tulet viishaamaksi", the word viisas 'wise' is in the translative.

Inessive

The inessive describes being in or inside something, and it is formed by the ending -ssa or -ssä. For example, the word käsi 'hand' becomes "käessä" in the inessive. The plural is formed by inserting the vowel I before the singular case ending. For example, mettä 'forest' becomes mettässä in the singular inessive, while it becomes mettissä in the plural form. Other examples of the inessive include:

Elative

The elative describes derivation, having the meaning 'of, from, out of' or it can refer to a thing spoken, written or thought about. The elative it is formed by the ending -sta or -stä. Examples of the elative include:

Illative

The illative in Meänkieli describes movement into something. It is formed by lengthening the last vowel with the suffix -n and aspirating the last consonant, while the plural is formed by the ending -in.

Adessive

The adessive describes being at or on something. It can also be used to describe the tool of an action. It is formed by the endings -lla, -la, -llä and -lä. Examples of usage include:

Ablative

The ablative case in formed by the ending -lta or -ltä. The ablative indicates movement from something, for example in the sentence "mie tulen asemalta" (I come from the station), the word asema 'station' is in the ablative case.

Allative

The allative case is formed with the ending -lle or -le. It carries the meaning of "to" or "onto", for example in the sentence "tälle pojale", both the words "tämä" 'this' and poika 'boy' are in the allative case, meaning "to this boy".

Abessive, comitative and the instructive

The abessive, comitative and the instructive have heavily fallen out of use, although still existing within the language. The abessive is formed with the ending -tta or -ttä, and has the meaning of "without" and in some dialects people still use the abessive case after the word "ilman" which means "without", such as in the words "ilman rahatta" 'without money'. The comitative is formed with the ending -ihne + a possessive suffix, while the instructive is formed with the ending -in.

The word "tooli" 'chair' conjugated into all cases.

!Case!Word!Meaning
Nominativetoolichair
Genitivetoolinchair's
Partitivetooliachair
Essivetoolinaas a chair
Accusativetooli(n)chair
Inessivetoolissain the chair
Elativetoolistafrom the chair
Illativetoohliininto the chair
Adessivetoolilaon the chair
Ablativetooliltafrom the chair
Allativetoolileto the chair
Abessivetoolittawithout a chair
Comitativetoolinheenwith the chair
Instructiveomin toolinby (one's own) chair

Adjectives

In Meänkieli, comparatives are generally formed with an -mpi ending, while superlatives with an -in ending.

!Base form!Comparative!Superlative
iso 'big'isompi 'bigger'issoin 'biggest'
kova 'hard'kovempi 'bigger'koviin 'biggest'
selvä 'clear'selvempi 'clearer'selviin 'clearest'
fiini 'fine'fiinimpi 'finer'fiiniin 'finest'

Verbs

In Meänkieli, verb conjugation depends on the personal pronouns. The word "tulla" 'come' is conjugated thus in the present tense:

!Meänkieli!English
mie tulenI come
sie tuletyou come
se/hään tulleehe/she/it comes
met tulemawe come
tet tulettayou come
net/het tulevathey come
Short verbs such as saa'a 'get', myyä 'sell', jua 'drink' and voija 'to be able to' end in the suffix -pi in the third person singular: saapi 'he gets', myypi 'he sells', juopi 'he drinks', voipi 'he can'.[8]

The imperfect tense (which describes past events) is formed by the suffix -i. The word saa'a 'get/receive' is conjugated into the imperfect thus:

MeänkieliEnglish
mie sainI got
sie saityou got
se/hään saihe/she/it got
met saimawe got
tet saittayou got
net/het saitthey got
The perfect tense in Meänkieli is formed with the ending -nu/ny and the verb olla 'to be' in the present tense. The word ostaa 'buy' is conjugated thus into the perfect tense:
!Meänkieli!English
mie olen ostanuI have bought
sie olet ostanuyou have bought
se/hään oon ostanuhe/she/it has bought
met olema ostanheetwe have bought
tet oletta ostanheetyou have bought
net/het oon ostanheetthey have bought
The Meänkieli word "huomata" 'to notice' is thus conjugated into the present imperative forms:
!Person!Meänkieli!Finnish
2p sg huomaahuomaa
3p sg huomakhoonhuomatkoon
1p pl huomaamahuomatkaamme
2p plhuomakkaahuomatkaa
3p plhuomakhoothuomatkoot
Similarly to Finnish, Meänkieli uses the verb "älä" to form negative imperatives, the word "huomata" is conjugated into the negative present imperative thus:
PersonMeänkieliFinnish
2p sg älä huomaaälä huomaa
3p sg älkhöön huomakkoälköön huomatko
1p pl emmä huomaaälkäämme huomatko
2p plälkää huomakkoälkää huomatko
3p plälkhööt huomakkoälkööt huomatko

Aspiration

Unlike in Finnish, Meänkieli more often aspirates consonants and has specific rules for when consonants become aspirated. Aspiration is written by adding the letter h after or before a consonant. Consonants become aspirated after being followed by two vowels in the passive form of verbs, in the illative case, in the third infinitive, after the genetive forms of words that end with -e and in all perfect and pluperfect forms of verbs. Examples of aspiration include:[9]

A similar system exists in the Kven language.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ett språk under ständig utveckling . 2024-03-10 . Minoritet.se . sv.
  2. Web site: Meänkieli, yksi Ruotsin vähemmistökielistä - Kielikello . 2024-03-11 . www.kielikello.fi . fi-FI.
  3. Web site: admin . 2019-08-16 . Everstinnan kieli, meänkieli . 2024-03-11 . Helsingin Kaupunginteatteri . fi.
  4. Web site: Språket meänkieli . 2024-03-11 . www.isof.se . sv.
  5. Web site: 2003-03-09 . VIERASKYNÄ Oikeus omaan kieleen antoi meänkielisille identiteetin . 2024-03-11 . Helsingin Sanomat . fi.
  6. Book: Kenttä . Matti . Meänkielen kramatiikki . Pohjanen . Bengt . 1996 . Kaamos . 978-91-87410-19-2 . fit.
  7. Web site: Meänkieli – Grammatik, lärobok, historia, texter . 2024-03-10 . www.isof.se . sv.
  8. Kejonen . Olle . 2015 . "Saama nähhä!" Verbböjning i meänkieli i jämförelse med finska och kvänska . Institutionen för moderna språk.
  9. News: Honkanen . Kaarina . 2015-08-11 . Tutkija listaa meänkielen h-kirjaimen paikan vaihtelua . 2024-03-11 . Sveriges Radio . fi.