Abstract
In this paper, I discuss the role of online communication technologies for
the maintenance of minority languages, focusing on language choice in
technology-mediated interaction. Despite a broad agreement on the impor-
tance of online language use and active research in this area, current macro-
sociolinguistic approaches describing minority language use online seem to be
uninformed about observations accumulating from micro-sociolinguistic work
demonstrating the variety of technology-mediated interaction. By analysing
online language choices in a composite narrative based on interviews with
Saami speakers in Finland, I illustrate that online communication technologies
mediate a range of interactional situations and that their material conditions
and characteristic interaction of written and spoken language modalities have
an intertwined impact on language choices in a minority language context.
Based on these observations, I propose that macro-sociolinguistic descriptions
of online language use should not consider “the online” as a single domain of
language use. Rather, online communication technologies should be seen as
intersecting potentially all domains and thereby shaping patterns of language
use within and across domains. This view suggests the impact of new commu-
nication technologies on language use to be much broader than that of simply
introducing a new domain. I conclude that future research should strengthen
theorising of how the interplay between spoken and written modalities shapes
language choices in technology-mediated interaction across domains.
the maintenance of minority languages, focusing on language choice in
technology-mediated interaction. Despite a broad agreement on the impor-
tance of online language use and active research in this area, current macro-
sociolinguistic approaches describing minority language use online seem to be
uninformed about observations accumulating from micro-sociolinguistic work
demonstrating the variety of technology-mediated interaction. By analysing
online language choices in a composite narrative based on interviews with
Saami speakers in Finland, I illustrate that online communication technologies
mediate a range of interactional situations and that their material conditions
and characteristic interaction of written and spoken language modalities have
an intertwined impact on language choices in a minority language context.
Based on these observations, I propose that macro-sociolinguistic descriptions
of online language use should not consider “the online” as a single domain of
language use. Rather, online communication technologies should be seen as
intersecting potentially all domains and thereby shaping patterns of language
use within and across domains. This view suggests the impact of new commu-
nication technologies on language use to be much broader than that of simply
introducing a new domain. I conclude that future research should strengthen
theorising of how the interplay between spoken and written modalities shapes
language choices in technology-mediated interaction across domains.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | N’yng-dyuumgu, n’yng-ngafq : Festschrift for Ekaterina Gruzdeva |
| Editors | Jenna Sorjonen, Riho Grünthal, Sami Honkasalo, Kaisla Kaheinen, Seppo Kittilä, Riikka Länsisalmi, Matti Miestamo, Erika Sandman, Saana Santalahti, Chingduang Yurayong |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Place of Publication | Helsinki |
| Publisher | Finnish Oriental Society |
| Publication date | 2025 |
| Pages | 473–492 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-952-7538-04-3 |
| Publication status | Published - 2025 |
| MoE publication type | A3 Book chapter |
Publication series
| Name | Studia Orientalia |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Suomen itämainen seura |
| Number | 126 |
| ISSN (Print) | 0039-3282 |
Fields of Science
- 6121 Languages
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