About the languages we study

The languages studied at the Institute differ from each other both in their status and the number of people who speak them. Finnish and Swedish are established languages spoken widely throughout Finland in all social contexts, whereas Saami, Romany and Finnish Sign Language are used in a narrow range of settings by a small speech community.

We thus give different emphases to the five languages we study. The research we conduct on Finnish and Swedish is designed to produce a comprehensive body of knowledge on their history and modern usage, whereas our primary goal with the three smaller languages is to strengthen their overall status in society.