Finnish people

This article is about the modern ethnic group. For the citizens or residents of Finland (also called Finns), see Demographics of Finland.

The terms Finns and Finnish people are used both to refer to an ethnic group historically associated with Finland or Fennoscandia and to the present-day citizens or residents of Finland. Both terms may or may not be intended to include either Finland-Swedes (Finnish Swedophones and ethnic Swedes in Finland), or Sweden-Finns (Finnish natives and immigrants in Sweden), or both, depending on context. Kvens (ethnic Finns in Norway), Tornedalians (ethnic Finns indigenous to northernmost Sweden) and evangelic-lutheran Ingrian Finns are considered to belong to the Finnish people.

Terminology

In Finnish linguistic usage and mindset, the Finnish people (Finnish: suomalaiset) are a nation with two languages, Finnish (in Finland circa 92% of the population) and Swedish (in Finland circa 5.5% of the population). The term for the Finnish Swedophones is suomenruotsalaiset in Finnish.

The self-designation of Finland's Swedish-speakers in Swedish is finlandssvenskar ("Finland-Swedes"). In Finland-Swedish linguistic usage and mindset it is possible to make the following specification: The nation consists of Finnish speakers (Finland-Swedish: finnar) and Swedish speakers (Finland-Swedish: finlandssvenskar) who together with lesser minorities constitute the people of Finland (Finland-Swedish: finländare). These distinctions are not always made by Swedish speakers outside of Finland, where the term finländare is less known, and also not by all of the Finland-Swedes, some of whom prefer to designate themselves as finnar.

In English, the terms Swedish-speaking Finns or Finland-Swedes [http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=26471 are used.

Which of the national terms suomalaiset, finländare or finnar best matches the English term and usage of the word Finns, is debatable.

In the past, in some texts, the term "Finns" may have been employed for "Finnic peoples" -- i.e. Balto-Finnic, and sometimes Finno-Volgaic and Finno-Permic, speakers. This usage was usually ment as a linguistic or - at the time - an anthropological one, and the nationality or national identity of the subject(s) as understood today should not be inferred by its use.

As the inherent meaning of these terms have changed in the recent century, they may well be used with other meanings than those given above, particularly in foreign and older works.

Subdivisions

The main division in the population of Finland is the three distinct linguistic groups: the Finnish-speakers (93%), the Swedish-speakers (5%), and the speakers of Sami languages (0.11%).

The Finnish-speakers are divided in dialectal groups, which involve not only a dialect, but also a distinct culture.

West Finnish
- Häme: central Finland, near Tampere and Hämeenlinna. The dialect is very similar to the standard language. The people are known as slow, but determined.
- Pohjanmaa: northwest coast; major cities are Vaasa, Kokkola, Oulu. The dialect is more conservative that the standard language. The people are known for their conservative, but boastful attitude; one has to have a larger house than one's neighbor.
- Varsinais-Suomi
East Finnish
- Savo: eastern Finland, near Kuopio and Mikkeli. The dialect diverges greatly from the standard language, with a different vowel system, e.g. uamu for aamu. The people are known as shrewd, vocal and easygoing, but has a tendency to dither over things. Savonians are known for their humour and puns when it comes to language--even the dialect itself is referred to as "viäntö", "twisting". Whenever a Savonian speaks, the responsibility is shifted to the listener.
- Karelia: far eastern Finland; near Joensuu. The dialect is not as different from the standard language as Savonian, but still distinguishably Eastern Finnish.The Karelians are known for their "outgoing" attitude except the modern Karelians might be bit more quiet.The Karelians also suffered the most in Winter War and in Continuation War

Language distribution

Generally speaking, Finnish language usage is still expanding in relative and absolute terms, both by the slow but steady language exchange, natural population growth, and immigration. The immigrant population grows relatively faster than the general population, both naturally and by immigration, and immigrant minorities will become more significant in the future. Currently, the relative number is one of the smallest in Europe.

Concerning native languages, the Finnophone population has a comparatively high (in EU terms) natural growth rate, while the death rate of the Swedophone population outpaces the birthrate¹. It is predicted that in 2012, this trend evens out, and the absolute Swedophone population will remain constant², while the relative number diminishes as the general population grows. Politically, the result is that local Swedish majorities and dominance are diminishing¹. In 1880, most Swedish speakers lived in monolingually Swedish areas (less than 6% other), but today, (2002), only 14% do¹. Even some communities established by Swedophones, such as Kauniainen, have Finnish majorities.¹

Etymology

Historical references relating to Europe's north are scarce and the naming of people obscure and so the etymologies remain rather sketchy. Such names as Fenni, Phinnoi, Finnum and Scridefinnum have been used in a few written texts for almost two millennia in association with a people located in a northenly part of Europe but the real meaning of these terms is debatable. The earliest mentiones of this kind are usually interpreted to have meant Fennoscandian hunter-gatherers whose closest successors in modern terms would be the Sami people. It has been suggested that such a non-Uralic ethnonym be of a Germanic language origin and related to such words as finthan (Old High German) 'find', 'notice'; fanthian (Old High German) 'check', 'try'; fendo (Old High German) and vende (Old Middle German): 'pedestrian', 'wanderer' (Eddas and Norse sagas (dating from ca. 11th to 14th centuries), some of the written sources probably originating from the closest proximity, words like finnr and finnas are not used consistently. Most of the time, however, they seem to mean northern dwellers with a mobile life style, i.e. the Sami. Interestingly, an etymological link between the Sami and the Finns exists also in modern Finno-Ugric languages: it has been proposed that e.g. the toponyms Sapmi (Sami for Lapland), Suomi (Finnish for Finland) and Häme (Finnish for Tavastia) be of the same origin ^*," target="_blank" >the source of which might be related to the Baltic word zeme meaning 'land'Finland Proper, Varsinais-Suomi) and later the whole area of modern Finland, is by large unknown. Among the first written documents where possibly western Finland is designated as the land of Finns are two rune stones. There is one in Söderby, Sweden, with the inscription finlont and one in Gotland, a Swedish island in the Baltic Sea, with the inscription finlandi dating from the 11th century [http://vesta.narc.fi/cgi-bin/db2www/fmu/tiedot?b_id=10&language=fin" target="_blank" >^*.

Past

With regard to the ancestry of the Finnish people, the modern view emphasises the overall continuity in Finland's archeological finds and (earlier more obvious) linguistic surroundings. Archeological data suggests the spreading of at least cultural influences from many sources ranging from the south-east to the south-west following the geographical realities with gradual developments rather than clear cut migrations. The closest genetic relatives of Finns are found in Estonia and apart from that, in Flanders and Germany.

The possible mediators and the timelines for the development of the Uralic majority language of the Finns, are equally uncertain. Through comparative linguistics, it has been postulated that the separation of the Baltic-Finnic and the Sami languages took place during the 2nd millennium BC, the proto-Uralic roots of the entire language group dating perhaps from ca. 6-8th millennium BC. As the Finnish language itself reached a written form only in the 16th century, not much primary data remains of early Finnish life and so the origins of such cultural icons as e.g. the sauna (a bath), the kantele (a musical instrument) and the Kalevala (national epic) have remained rather obscure.

Swedish speakers descend mainly from peasants and fishermen who settled coastal Finland ca. 1000-1250AD from the subsequent immigration during Swedish sovereignty over Finland ^*.

For the paternal and maternal genetic lineages of Finnish people and other peoples, see also: and [https://www5.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/atlas.html

Developments

The 19th and 20th century (see history of Finland) saw the crystallising of the Finnish national sentiments with Finland's declaration of independence in 1917 from Russia, whose autonomous Grand Duchy it had been since 1809. The severe divisions between social classes, ethnic and linguistic groups, which characterised Finland in the late 19th to early 20th century and were manifested in Finland's language strife (1860s–1930s) between the Fennomans and Svecomans, and later the Finnish Civil War between the "Reds" and "Whites," were by and large resolved through the external threat from the Soviet Union in the Winter War (1939–1940).

During Finland's early history, many Finns exchanged their native language to Swedish, and after 1808 the movement has been in the other direction. In 200 years, the proportion of Swedish speakers has diminished from close to 20% to below 6%. While this change of mother tongue naturally has had some effects in terms of affiliation with literature, it has had very limited effects on other cultural aspects. The language strife and the decline of the Finland-Swedish minority have been considered effects of this, rather than its cause.

Finns, Finland-Swedes, Sweden-Finns and Swedes

In Finland, after centuries of coexistence and intermarriages, the differences between Finnish and Swedish speakers are typically not seen in terms of ethnicity but in differences of culture, language, and geographical region (habitat). Most Finnish people agree that the cultural differences are rather minute ^*. The Swedish-speakers are found in majority in a few communities in the south-western coast and the rural areas of Ostrobothnia; Finnish speakers form a majority in most of the rest of Finland.

The Finnish relations with the nation of Swedes have chiefly been determined by some 450-650 years — in any case from 1363 up to 1808 — of shared history and by what often is considered as disappointing support by the Swedes in the 18th–20th centuries.

About half a million Finns emigrated from Finland to Sweden between the late 1960s and 1990s within the frame work of the Nordic Economic Treaties. Most of these Sweden-Finns have returned to Finland.^* The remaining people and their children in Sweden are primarily thought as ethnic Finns, regardless of their citizenship. There are also historical Finnish speaking minorities in Sweden, e.g. the 'Tornedalingar' (Torne Valley Finns) and the Finns of Dalecarlia. The state of Sweden does not distinguish between Finnish and Swedish speaking immigrants from Finland nor between these newcomers and the historical Finnish speaking minorities in Sweden.

Reference

Folktinget. http://www.folktinget.fi/pdf/finlandssvenskarna2002.pdf
Åbo Akademi. http://www.abo.fi/instut/fisve-svefi/svenska/hoppe.html

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