The Estonian Language Past, Present, and Future Perspectives Delaney Michael Skerrett d.skerrett@uq.edu.au Map of the presentation Socio-Historical Perspective Introduction to Estonia(n) Estonia(n) & the Soviet occupation Present & Future Perspectives Overview of policy & usage by domain Ethnicity of Estonian population Identity features of non-ethnic Estonians Language use Future perspectives ESTONIAN IN THE SOCIOHISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Introduction To Estonia(n) Estonia One of three “Baltic states” North-East Europe on Baltic Sea Capital: Tallinn (Taani + Linn = Danish Castle/City) 1.3m inhabitants Approx. size of Denmark, Netherlands (but bigger ) Independent 1918-1939, 1991 Occupied by Soviet Union 1939 Member of EU & NATO since 2004 Estonian Approx. 1.1m native speakers Estonia (950,000), border regions, & immigrants in Russia, USA, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Finland Finno-Ugric language in the Uralic family Not genetically related to the Indo-European languages (e.g. Russian, Latvian, English) One of the three national FU languages of Europe (Finnish & Hungarian) History of Estonian -19thc. only texts were religious All official documents in German plus briefly Russian at end of 19thc. 1857 weekly newspaper Perno Postimees 1st mention of Eesti rahvas (Estonian people): previously only maarahvas (people of the land; also maakeel: language of the language) used Eesti either a German or Swedish borrowing 1861 epic Kalevipoeg complied/composed 1906 language of education Standardised Estonian National harmonisation 1914 Based on Tallinn dialect Translation of whole Bible 1739: Tartu (southern) dialect had been used first but only for the New Testament During 1st independence (1920’s, 30’s): Standardisation, modernisation Replacement of German orthography with one similar to Finnish Replacement of much German vocab with international, Finnish, and new (ex nihilo) terms Features of Estonian Agglutinative (like Finnish, other FU languages) Vowel-rich (V:C = 45:55) Täppi-de-ga lipsu-d sobi-vad esinduslike-le teatri-juhti-de-le-gi Baltic Sprachbund: Estonian & Latvian (German & Livonian) Kuuuurijate töööö jäääärel Täppidega lipsud sobivad esinduslikele teatrijuhtidelegi Although moving towards inflectional 14 grammatical cases e.g. “I have” = “to/on me [there] is” = mul on (Est.); man ir (Lat.) Approx. 50% of Estonian vocab of non-FU origin (mostly from German); 1/3 if international terms (Greek & Latin origin) not included Nuestro ruiseñor ha ido a otra parte este año Võro Kiil Estonian Võro Finnish English Castellano koer lind saba kask oder loom pini tsirk hand kõiv kesv elläi koira lintu häntä koivu ohra eläin dog bird tail birch barley animal perro ave cola abedul cebada animal Me ei saanud onu talus teed juua. (Est.) Saaq õs miq lellä eloh tsäid juvvaq. (Võro) We could not have a tea at the uncle's farm. (English) No pudimos tomar un té en la granja del tío. (Cast.) http://www.wi.ee/?id=64 Estonia(n) & the Soviet occupation Estonian & Soviet Ideology Language in every public situation acquired a symbolic meaning in relation to communist ideology: “[t]he media were used for creating an alternative reality, ‘an ideologically correct symbolic environment, filled with content designed to socialize the audience to the ideas and values of Communism” Estonian continued to be used in parallel to Russian but significant prestige given to Russian: “[t]he Russian language seems to me like a huge bridge of sunbeams [o]ver which the Latvian heart will climb to high horizons” (Latvian poet) Myths created regarding past friendships between Estonians & Russians/other Slavs Language myths to promote Russian: “the language of international communication,” “Russian as second national language,” “voluntarily adopted,” “common lexical fund,” “mutual enrichment of languages,” “convergence and fusion of peoples” Linguistic Manipulation: Estonia 10-20m publications destroyed 86% of books & all periodicals from the independence period banned Ideological renaming of streets, publications (Rahva Hääl, Edasi, etc) New connotations: Positive: dictatorship (of the proletariat), revolution, communism, socialism, party, apolitical, plan Negative: nationalist, nation, capitalist, bourgeois Direct borrowing or translating from Russian, especially for Soviet phenomena (kolhoos, kosmonaut, etc) No official linguistic Russification until 1978: “recommendations” sent to each Republic on promoting Russian as the “new native language”: Russian to increase in the media, cultural groups, education Russian the default language of administration in larger cities/North East Sociocultural Repression Over half of writers lost (fled, deported), others stopped writing: Cultural organisations closed, local branches of All-Union organisations opened Cultural publications included political material Only standardised, politicised forms of expression allowed (nationalist, abstract forms banned) “the end of the 1950s was, as we all remember, a time where artists and poets no longer found themselves jobs in secondhand shops, and nightwatchmen or stoker poets were not yet in fashion” (Kross) Dull, vague, militaristic use of language in the press Less than 22% of Tartu Uni faculty remained Censorship: Estonia Prohibited: non-Soviet versions of history, national traditions, religion, presence of Soviet military, explicit discussion of sex, homosexuality, prostitution, various diseases, the exact populations of towns of less than 10,000 people, the migratory routes of birds Books in exotic languages Permitted: harmonious, happy, cohesive, progressive portrayal of the Soviet Union All publications censored at some level (but more local levels less controlled) Cultural & Linguistic Maintenance Creativity what & where to write Cultural forms of opposition Maintenance of language itself as a form of cultural/political opposition Census 1970 29% said could speak Rus; 1979 decreased to 24% Loosening of censorship Private national world vs. public ideology Planned Migration Large numbers of immigrants Industrialisation but most likely also ethnolinguistic manipulation Estonian-speakers: 88.2% in 1934 (close to 100% just before occupation) 61.6% in 1989 Ethnodemographic changes (Baltic states) % of population Titular Proportion of Population 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Estonia Latvia Lithuania Pre-Soviet 1959 1989 Ethnodemographic changes (Baltic states) % of population Slavic Proportion of Population 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Estonia Slavic Latvia Slavic Lithuania Slavic PreSoviet 1959 1989 Titular language proficiency in Baltic states Non-titular population speaking titular language 70 60 Percent 50 40 1989 30 2000 20 10 0 Estonia Latvia Lithuania Diglossia “relationship in which a low variety (B) finds itself subordinated to a high variety (A) […] [T]he high variety is used in formal situations and activities considered to be of high prestige, as in parliamentary debates, court proceedings, government business, and activities of high culture including education, high literature [and] periodical publications of high circulation” Not fully diglossic (esp. in regional areas) Now somewhat reversed BUT Rus as a big language, spoken in many countries Results of the Regime Replacement of Estonian with Russian in most public spheres & in interethnic communication Privileged social status of Russian(-speakers) in Estonia & USSR in general: Russian required for government, military, transport, industry, higher education Non-Estonians (inc. Ukrainians & Belarusians) schooled in Russian Full set of social institutions in Russian; partial set in Estonian Asymmetric bilingualism where Estonian as the (local) majority language was the less prestigious “Minority complex” of Estonian-speakers Minorised local language; majorised immigrant language High level of “linguistic tolerance” of speakers of other languages, esp. Russian (but also Finnish) Expectation of Rus. speakers to be able to be monolingual PRESENT & FUTURE PERSPECTIVES Overview of language usage & policy by domain State language Est only State institutions Est only: except where a minority is a majority (e.g. Narva); interpreters provided in court Naturalisation requirement for citizenship for Soviet-era immigrants It may not be the case in practice however e.g. tram drivers, corrections system. Also many public servants in Ida Virumaa Education: Rus provided at primary & 2ndary levels (chaning); universities Est only (extra Est courses provided) Service sector Est always available (in theory & mostly in practice except e.g. Narva) Industry often Rus Agriculture Est Ethnicity of Estonian population Ethnic composition 2008 Just over half of non-ethnic Estonians (16.3% of total population) are not citizens (mostly Russian citizens or stateless, approx. 50/50) Immigrants by region 2008 •Immigrant in these statistics refers to foreign-born & those with 1 foreign-born parent •Distribution in Est different to Latvia: each case has its own particular difficulties Immigrant Estonian ability by region •Refers to % of immigrants in each region that can speak Est •Figures are high in most areas Changing ethnic composition of population •Among school-aged children (7-16 years old) Estonians now make up 77-78% of the population (versus 68% overall) Identity features of nonethnic Estonians In-group identification •“Russian” = “Russian-speaker” (conceptually & %) •Identification with “Estonian” low but category is quite exclusive •Identification with physical Estonian space more so that national identity Homeland affiliation •Identification with Russia as homeland is quite low: identity is “Russian” but not with Russia Homeland by generation •Figures significantly higher in the 2nd generation Naturalisation 2007: 8.5% stateless Most social & legal rights same (inc. voting in local elections) but Cannot vote in national elections Cannot stand for election Geographical and linguistic separation Social exclusion Rate of naturalisation slowed EU saw increase; Schengen decrease Approx. 4000 children under 15 years are stateless despite simplified procedures Most stateless residents wish to become citizens but only around 20% feel they have the language skills Feeling part of the nation 2005-2007 Non-ethnic Estonians’ “yes”: 80% with citizenship, 59% noncitizens, 54% other citizenship Legal belonging does not equal social belonging Distrust on part of ethnic Estonians Increased after April 2007 34% -ve/28% +ve increased participation of non-ethnic Estonian in politics Russia’s compatriot policy: ethnic Russians are part of Russia’s sphere of interest Increases fear of Estonians Identification with Est. society •Figures are quite high: potential for integration is high Feeling of being welcome •2nd generation feels less welcome (versus more “Soviet”style belonging of 1st generation) Discrimination •Quite high but reasonably moderate Politics Estonians uniformly critical of Soviet period Non-ethnic Estonians tend to be for higher levels of income Majority of Russian-speakers support (Estonian) Centre Party Also supported by ethnic Estonians with feelings of (economic) exclusion 2005 24/63 members elected in Tallinn were Russian-speaking “Their desire to distance themselves from ethnic party politics gives us reason to believe that the potential for the development of multiethnic worldviewbased parties and a corresponding electorate in Estonia is high [which] is clearly more beneficial to [...] separation along ethnic lines” (Lauristin et al 2008) Language use Language skills 1987-2007 Passive knowledge (fluent) Estonians: English 39-73% Finnish 32-62% Russian 88(23)-91(22)% Both higher in younger grps Significantly lower in younger grps: more than half youngest group cannot understand Russian Russian-speakers: Estonian 42-83% English 20-53% Both higher in younger grps Interethnic language choices Most use mixing strategy BUT 30% Est only Est; 40% others only Rus Overall Rus still more the lingua franca than Est Half Rus over 45yrs use only Rus (continued Soviet mentality) 49% Rus say they have no problems communicating only in Rus Max. Est only using Rus 8% (in oldest grp): decline of Soviet mentality Growing shift towards Est, however: 45% of youngest Est grp uses only Est Use of Estonian in public Use in last month General increase esp. so in informal areas but also some decline in more formal domains Proficiency & acquisition behaviour Name Gender Age Estonian citizen Russian-speaking sub-sample Mia Female 22 Yes Score /10 Gaps in Proficiency Acquistion Behaviour 7 or 8 *None reported (states that not even native-speakers should received a perfect score of ten) Jill Female 26 Yes 8 *Vocabulary Emily Female 22 Yes 9.5 *Accent *Decided to attend an Estonian language high school *Attended Estonianlanguage university *Has Estonian friends *Consumes Estonian media *Attended Estonianlanguage kindergarten *Studied (Finnish) at Estonian-language university *Has Estonian relatives *Consumes Estonian media *Went to Estonian kindergarten *Able to consume Estonian media but generally does not *Has Estonian friends Public language choice Name Languages spoken Initial code choice when interlocutor's language is: Unknown Known Russian-speaking sub-sample Mia RU, ET, EN Estonian/ Estonian/ Russian Russian Comments Jill RU, ET, FI, EN Checks name for ethnicity in public places; will generally choose Russian in areas such as Lasnamäe and Ida-Virumaa even for “unknown” Checks name for ethnicity in public places; occasionally uses Finnish with colleagues Emily RU, ET, EN, Estonian/ Russian DE, (FR), (ES) Estonian Estonian/ Russian/ Finnish Estonian/ Russian Check name for ethnicity in public places; occasionally insists on service in Russian, especially in expensive locations Normalised public usage? “sometimes I want to be served in Russian [….] If I go to a place where I know it’s a very… you know, high quality” (Emily) “Really I don’t understand that […] if I know that my friends know Estonian but choose Russian […] it’s not normal” (Mia) “Ah, sometimes I don’t know is [the person] Russian or Estonian so I start with Estonian of course […] Because it is [the] state language” (Jill) Integrative value of Estonian “I know what is happening around me. Others, they live like in their own small communities, like a small environment. They don’t know language, they don’t care about the country […] But they live poor lives, they have miserable lives” (Emily) “because if a Russian person doesn’t know Estonian here, a young person, it’s not normal, because all his life depends on Estonian here…” (Mia) National paradigm “If we go to live in another country we definitely learn the language […] I think [Estonians] are right. I mean, if some Russian people in Estonia or wherever go to France […] how would they live without French?” (Emily) “Because it’s very funny, you try to go to Russia [and say] you know now I think that the Arabian language is better, let’s [make] this the state language. What [would] Russians say? You know?” (Jill) “because if you for example, you go to America […] and you go to the shop and speak for example Chinese…” (Jill) Usefulness of Estonian Knowledge of Est increases job opportunities but 53% (& increasing) Rus say it’s possible to get a good job without it Est useful but not necessary Estonians aware of this High (& increasing) % Est believe that increase in Est skills will solve ethnic problems Increasing tendency to believe so for Russian-speakers too Threat of English Under the age of 30: Russian-speakers can speak Estonian & English Estonians can speak English Lingua franca is either thus Estonian or English The increase has been the same since independence (approx. 100% for both) For all age groups: 10% Est & 5% Rus say they sometimes use a 3rd language (mostly Eng) 43% Rus say it’s “normal” to speak English to Estonians Overall Est still stronger than Eng among Russianspeakers Even in Ida-Virumaa, according to 2000 census in no city was the ability to speak Eng higher than Est: closest was 56% in Sillamäe Use of English “I rang about a work issue and asked to be put through to the accountant. The person who answered the phone couldn’t speak a word of Estonian and as my Russian is poor we couldn’t get by and after a few minutes she just hung up without knowing what I wanted. As it was a hospital I find this completely unacceptable. An hour later I rang back and spoke English. The same woman said in Estonian in a strong accent “oodake-oodake” [wait, wait] and gave the phone to a man who could speak English who gave me the accountant’s number. The accountant was also a monolingual Russian so in the end I got help from a Russianspeaking colleague of mine” Particular attention needs to be paid to Estonian acquisition efforts in Ida-Virumaa Changes in Estonian Russian Post-independence changes in Rus spoken in Estonia suggest integrative tendencies Lexical & morphosyntactic changes specific to Estonia (from Estonian) e.g. stavit’ v golovu from pähe panema (put to the head) “impossible in monolingual Russian”: “[f]or a monolingual speaker of Standard Russian […] the meaning […] remains opaque” (Verschik, 2007, p. 91). Use of Estonian in IT While IT products are available in Estonian they are not necessarily used Est usage is high in searches, using online services & online communication Use of Estonian in IT Estonians are more bothered by having to use IT products/services in English than Russians but younger age groups much less so i.e. young Estonians are willing to use English Education reform From 2007/8 school year, at least one subject must be taught in Estonian Original plan to transfer all 2ndary schooling to Estonian in 2003 More cautious approach Aim now to teach 60% of subjects in years 10-12 from 2011 Changing schooling tendencies 1999-2006 Est. 72%-78% Rus. 28%-20% 2 tendencies supporting Est: Decreasing % of Russian-speakers Increasing preference for Estonian-medium schools 1/6 students in Est schools Media 1/5 reg follow Est media Local Rus lang press & radio popular But no TV: Baltic version of Russian national channel based in Riga: 20min Est. news per day New state-funded cable channel with more Rus programming Otherwise TV programming from Russia Need for local Rus TV channel 60% Rus trust Est produced media vs 38% produced in Moscow Võro Kiil Although Võro language is taught & spoken in SE Estonia… “regional identity is effectively marginalized in Estonian education” (Brown, 2005, p.79) because of a focus on (1) national and (2) European identities “schools today utilize physical and social space to glorify Europeanness and qualities of Estonian nationalism” (p. 82) European identity as an expression of national identity: “it unites us all as Europeans, as Estonians” (Maahla teacher, p. 83) “the vitality of the nation is expressed through the vitality of the national language. In this ideology there is little room for the study of regional languages” (p. 84) Võro relegated to “dialect” status in school textbook: “The Estonian people can be considered lucky that one standard language manage to be developed. If the small nation had been fragmented on the basis of two standard languages, this could have presented a danger to both languages and the vitality of the nation” (Õunpuu & Õunpuu in Brown, p. 84) Future perspectives Proposed new language law Emphasis on purism, correctness of usage including fines for incorrect use in the media (now dropped) Business names would need to include Estonian e.g. Pank Swedbank “the cornerstone of everything is the status of the Estonian language, that’s why I can’t be satisfied with the new draft policy” (Mart Rannut) Purist discourse “Here we’ve got, for example, Russians, Ukrainians who speak Estonian their own way. The mistakes will spread and get stronger. As result of our country’s integration policy, the language will become unrecognisable. From a language protection perspective, the best thing would not to have integration—Russians would speak their own language and Estonians would speak Estonian amongst themselves, without dealing with each other” (Urmas Sutrop, Director, Estonian Language Institute, 2008) BUT impossible not to deal with each other: interaction will occur; the question is will it be in Estonian or English Analytical Framework Historical-Structural Approach (Tollefson, 1991) “Neo-Classical” vs. “Historical-Structural” Focus on individual (as autonomous) vs. focus on discursive environment “[i]n contrast to the neoclassical model [it] assumes that the primary goal of research and analysis is to discover the historical and structural pressures that lead to particular policies and plans and that constrain individual choice” (p. 32) Behaviour is produced and constrained within a network of social relations (discourse), but not predetermined by it Cf. Foucault (1978): Power is not possessed “or appropriated as a commodity or a piece of wealth [but rather] is exercised through a net-like organisation […] [I]ndividuals circulate between its threads [and] are always in the position of simultaneously undergoing and exercising this power” (1980, p. 98). Critical LP & Estonia Understanding present (attitudes towards) language use in Estonia: Estonians operating within nation-state discursive framework Annexation was always occupation; Soviet identity was myth (Esp. older) Russian-speakers operating within Soviet discursive framework Estonia was part of Soviet state; not immigrants; Soviet identity had meaning Rather than seeing Rus. as “lazy” or “unmotivated” need to understand why they behave the way they do to be able to promote integration & acquisition of Estonian Where does this leave us? (Partial) ecological approach: Knowledge within language is valuable (e.g. Nettle and Romaine [2000]) Need to maintain diversity Doing different languages e.g. “Estonian”, “Võro”, “Estonian Russian” is worthy of promotion, protection Queer Theory/Poststructuralism Need to make Estonianness a queerer, more inclusive identity (i.e. poststructuralist approach) to achieve more equitable outcomes for a wider proportion of Estonian society Summary of future perspectives Growing proportion of ethnic Estonians hopefully offset postcolonial fears & defensive attitude Still need for more inclusive concept of Estonianness, acceptance of diversity Need for removal of barriers to social & economic advancement esp. in Ida-Virumaa, fostering a discourse of mutual trust & respect Bronze Soldier events externalised: caused by Russian policies & actors Positive potential for political integration Estonian Language Development Plan 2011-2017 Changing ethnodemographics mean greater usefulness of Estonian in society (plus increased status: education & national paradigm) but Ida Virumaa will remain largely monolingual for the foreseeable future and needs closer attention to the specific needs of the region Great potential for integration on the basis of the Estonian language but problems of exclusion & isolation remain Gràcies Aitäh Thanks d.skerrett@uq.edu.au