Kirjoitus on Helsingin Sanomien lukijan mielipide.
Karjalan kielen säilyminen ei voi olla vain puhujien vastuulla
Kieltä on vaikea siirtää lapsille, jos sitä ei voi käyttää päiväkodissa, koulussa, mediassa tai juuri missään kodin ulkopuolella
Kati Kallio kirjoitti (HS Vieraskynä 28.7.) tärkeästä asiasta: karjalan kielen tulevaisuus on nyt suurelta osin Suomen käsissä. Hänen kirjoituksensa yhteydessä HS:n verkkosivujen kommenttikentässä esitettiin kuitenkin väitteitä, jotka on syytä oikaista.
Yksi väitteistä oli, että kielen säilyminen kuuluu vain sen puhujille. Vanhempien pitäisi puhua lapsilleen karjalaa, ja jos he eivät niin tee, kieli kuolee. Juuri tästä syystä vastuu ei voi olla vain perheillä. Kieltä on vaikea siirtää lapsille, jos sitä ei voi käyttää päiväkodissa, koulussa, mediassa tai juuri missään kodin ulkopuolella.
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https://www.hs.fi/mielipide/art-2000012171549.html
Karelian language
The preservation of the Karelian language cannot be the sole responsibility of the speakers
It is difficult to pass on a language to children if it cannot be used in daycare, school, the media or anywhere outside the home.
The article is the opinion of a Helsingin Sanomat reader.
Kati Kallio wrote (HS Vieraskynä 28.7.) about an important issue: the future of the Karelian language is now largely in the hands of Finland. However, in connection with her article, arguments were made in the comments field of the HS website that should be corrected.
One of the arguments was that the preservation of the language belongs only to its speakers. Parents should speak Karelian to their children, and if they do not, the language will die. This is precisely why the responsibility cannot lie solely with families. It is difficult to pass on a language to children if it cannot be used in daycare, school, the media or anywhere outside the home.
Those who claim that Karelian speakers themselves do not care about their language or do anything for it are also wrong. The Karelian-speaking community has organized education, founded clubs, published books, made music and news, and built new uses for the language. Much of this work has been done by volunteers or on short-term project funding. The problem is not a lack of will, but a lack of permanent structures.
In many families, the language was not passed on because it had been learned to be ashamed of it. Karelian-speaking and Orthodox people were russified, their background was belittled, and their names were Finnishized. Not everyone was officially ordered to change their name, but discrimination and environmental pressure could make it practically necessary to get a job or be accepted. Such renunciation cannot be used as evidence that the language was not needed or valued.
The preservation of the Karelian language is a matter of the heart of its speakers.
The claim that Karelian is a dialect of Finnish invented by Russians is also false. Karelian is the closest relative of Finnish, not a form of Finnish comparable to the Savo or Rauma dialects. Finnish Karelian dialects and the Karelian language are different things.
It is true that Karelians and the Karelian language have been brutally persecuted in Russia. However, this does not exempt Finland from examining its own history. The fact that Karelians were not killed in camps in Finland does not mean that assimilation, discrimination and belittling of the language have not been practiced here. Karelia has been subjugated on both sides of the border, although the means and scale have been different.
Karelian is the indigenous language of Finland, which has been spoken in this region for as long as Finnish. The right to maintain one’s own language remains an empty phrase unless there are real opportunities for it. Language centers, school education, teacher training and permanent revitalization work are not unreasonable special benefits, but ways to correct a situation that Finnish society has also contributed to.
Karelian speakers have not come up with their demands during the elections. Recognition of the status of the language and permanent structures have been demanded for a long time. The revival program now prepared offers a ready direction.
The preservation of the Karelian language is a matter of the heart of its speakers. However, the responsibility for the real survival of the language lies with the whole of Finland.
Ari Burtsoff
ICT expert, Karelian-speaking Finn, Helsinki
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