Folkmålsstudier – on the forefront of the study of Nordic languages

The linguistic association Föreningen för nordisk filologi has published an academic journal named Folkmålsstudier in Finland since 1933. Originally the journal’s articles focused on the description of Swedish dialects, but now the journal is full of the study of Nordic languages.

I have been an editor of the journal since 2001, working first with Peter Slotte, the editor-in-chief of the Swedish dialect dictionary, and later with Professor Gunilla Harling-Kranck. Now there are three editors: in addition to myself, academy research fellow Camilla Lindholm and the dialect dictionary’s editor-in-chief Caroline Sandström are responsible for publishing the journal. Working at the journal is a window into the current state of affairs in the study of Nordic languages for me. Even though the work is difficult, cooperating with colleagues is rewarding.

By Written by Hanna Lehti-Eklund. Edited by Kaija Hartikainen. Translated by Joe McVeigh.

Hanna Lehti-Eklund

Hanna Maria Lehti-Eklund
Born October 18, 1957, Helsinki

BA 1981, PhD 1990 (Scandinavian Languages), University of Helsinki
Professor of Scandinavian Languages, 2005–
Head of the University of Helsinki’s Department of Finnish, Finno-Ugrian and Scandinavian Studies, 2014–

Research themes:
Swedish as a second and foreign language (especially in spoken interactions and classroom discussions), as well as the history of Swedish and language change in terms of grammaticalization and the functions of discourse particles (nu ‘now’, nå ‘so’, alltså ‘then’).

Publications, research projects and other scientific activities

Photo: Sasa Tkalcan
Written by Hanna Lehti-Eklund and Kaija Hartikainen (ed.)
Translated by Joe McVeigh