The Karelian language goes online: the diversity of a minority language use on web
Ilia Moshnikov, PhD, Karelian institute, University of Eastern Finland and Finno-Ugrian Department, University of Vienna
Eugenia Rykova, PhD Candidate, University of Eastern Finland, Technical University of Applied Science TH Wildau & Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
Karelian is an endangered minority language spoken in Russia and Finland. According to the latest census and research, there are about 15,000 speakers in Russia and between 5,000 and 10,000 speakers in Finland. In addition, thousands of people understand the language. Karelian has two main dialects - Livvi and Proper Karelian. The latter can be divided into Viena and South Karelian.
In our presentation we will introduce the current situation of the language, the main attempts of language revitalisation and possibilities of studying the language. We also present the visibility of the language online: how the language is used online and in what contexts. Then we present our research on the use of Karelian on Twitter. We show how to collect and process the data collected using a big data approach. We share our experiences and discuss the challenges researchers face when studying a minority language.
