The Languages of Smaller Populations: Risks and Possibilities. Lectures from the Tallinn Conference, 16–17 March 2012
in Estonian would soon become extinct. Estonia ensures general education, including pre-school education, to all children whose mother tongue is Estonian. As regards higher education, the situation is more complicated. We have to find a reasonable compromise between the international level of science and studying and conducting research in Estonian. It is the duty of the State to ensure that Estonian terminology is developed in all fields of science and that learning materials containing the basic terminology in Estonian are developed, published and used at universities. Using Estonian should be acknowledged at competitions, in the evaluation process, etc.
For that purpose, we have national programmes for the development of terminology and university textbooks in Estonian (follow-up programmes are being developed) and 51 terminology commissions. The latest examples of university textbooks in Estonian include textbooks on chemistry, engineering mechanics, pathoanatomy, soil science, metrology, genetics, etc. I would like to emphasise that we need to be aware of and keep pace with technical progress: a couple of days ago, it was announced that Encyclopaedia Britannica, published for 244 years, would end publication of its printed editions and continue with digital versions available online. We need to develop a network of e-books in Estonian; otherwise, the achievements of world science will reach us through foreign languages. The follow-up programme of university textbooks in Estonian will take that aspect into account.
We must pursue the goal of maintaining higher education in Estonian at both the bachelor’s and master’s degree levels; at doctoral level, the parallel usage of both Estonian and English should be ensured. A pilot support programme, financed by the government, was recently launched to support the translation of summaries of doctoral theses (written in foreign languages) into Estonian. A relevant recommendation has been in force for some time. The first five beneficiaries of the grant have been already selected. The aim of the system is to ensure the development of terminology and that public discussions concerning scientific research that has been carried out and reported on in a foreign language are conducted in a language understandable to Estonian taxpayers.
What has been said does not mean that we do not have any problems. It was pointed out during a recent discussion concerning the 2012 research grants that virtually all documents were in English. An often used and especially dangerous justification for the situation is that it is more difficult or even impossible to express certain content in Estonian. No, it’s not! Such practice will result in dividing people into a foreign-speaking elite and Estonian-speaking commoners, which is contrary to the principles of democracy.
This takes us to attitudes and to cultivating an attitude. It goes without saying that in the case of a language of a small nation, the state’s responsibilities are greater than in the case of a language that has a vast number of speakers; in the latter’s case, it is the market that does most of the work. The state is responsible for distributing information about language-related achievements (demonstrating that our language has functional capability), supporting the development of such achievements (speech recognition applications, translation literature, etc.), recognising the work of noted linguists (The Wiedemann language award has evolved from a private initiative to a national award and, as such, created new opportunities for private initiatives (the Wiedemann Fund for support of Estonian language learning and national education)), involving people (public voting to select a language act of the year; the e-dictation competition on Estonian Language Day with 3,700 participants); the national values programme focuses on the appreciation of Estonian, on the one hand, and on promoting linguistic tolerance (the principle that placing a high value on our mother tongue may not lead to looking down upon other languages and dialects (keelepesä)), on the other hand.
It is also very important to be internationally visible (either individually or within the framework of international cooperation). Being just a beneficiary will not do; those who offer ideas to the international community that are worth implementing also receive support more easily (and we have the possibility to do that because the overwhelming majority of languages are ‘lesser used languages’ compared to the major languages). Large projects, such as a report prepared by Katrin Saks on the situation of Finno-Ugric peoples, are very important. The Estonian language profile, prepared in cooperation between specialists from Estonia and from the Council of Europe, is a similar project.
There are other examples of cooperation: both the first and second Estonian language development plan were prepared in collaboration with international specialists, in particular those from Finland; translations into English, Russian, Finnish and Hungarian provide an opportunity to use the principles of the development plan when ensuring the preservation of other languages (“The Estonian language development plan 2011–2017” was translated into Russian at the request of the international Finno-Ugric conference; recently, our Kazakh counterparts expressed their interest in the plan). Estonia takes part in the work of EFNIL and several other international language organisations (in the fields of terminology, language technology, language teaching). Diplomatic activities focus on promoting the use of Estonian in EU discussions whenever possible; it involves introducing our language-related measures and activities and defending our positions, as well as responding to criticism, if necessary.
It is important that small nations, whether they have a nation state or not, solve their language issues together. Moreover, small-nation states benefit from supporting stateless small nations. Good examples are world congresses of Finno-Ugric peoples and the exchange of information about kindred languages (Estonia is in the process of compiling a textbook on kindred nations and languages for upper secondary schools). The Estonian language development plan includes, inter alia, a recommendation for international cooperation in the field of native language terminology.
Language learning activities outside Estonia can only be developed with support from the state budget. In Estonia, such activities are twofold: 1) supporting Estonian cultural societies, Sunday schools and other schools as well as the Estonian-language press in other countries; 2) promoting Estonian language-learning and Estonian culture in other countries, thereby creating an international context favourable for the Estonian language and its usage.
The state’s role in preventing language-related risks and creating opportunities for language usage is not limited to purely linguistic activities. Losing a million speakers of a big language will go unnoticed but for a small language it would mean extinction. A large number of speakers do not, however, guarantee the preservation of a language, and vice versa. There are many other factors. Nevertheless, a certain minimum number of speakers is required to ensure the survival and development of a language. Therefore, all measures to increase the birth rate (e.g. the so-called ‘mother’s salary’ in Estonia), to support young families and to improve the living environment and public health are aimed at preserving language (the world congresses of Finno-Ugric peoples have had discussion panels on health and nature preservation).
It is within the state’s power to improve economic conditions or, for example, traffic safety; a well-developed language and favourable conditions for its usage are not enough if a considerable number of the population (in particular, young people) leave the country to pursue a better life, or perish in traffic or other accidents (all measures from childbirth allowance to the requirements to fasten seatbelts and have a smoke detector installed can be looked at as countermeasures). Losing a million speakers of a big language will go unnoticed but for us it would mean the extinction of the Estonian language.
Beside materialistic considerations, the general cultural environment and patriotism are very important factors. The state has a very important role here and can do a lot through the education system, including the above-mentioned values programme.
Although the same measures are essentially required to preserve both big and small languages (ensuring language development, conditions for and uniformity of usage), small languages are disadvantaged in comparison to big languages:
A small ‘revenue base’ (population), which makes preserving a language more expensive (for example, the translation of one document is 100 times more expensive for a nation that has one million taxpayers than for a nation with 100 million taxpayers).
Lack of competitiveness arising from the limited scope of usage of a language, which in turn reduces the incentive to learn the language. It is for the state to create such conditions that people have an incentive to learn and use a language. Proficiency in Estonian must be economically