Infinitives in transit

The spreading of shortened infinitive forms from Finland Finnish to Finnish spoken in Sweden

Authors

• Lasse Vuorsola Stockholm University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.61197/fjl.124673

Keywords:

non-finites, minority language, Finnish, spoken language, Finnish in Sweden

Abstract

The study examines the use of two spoken Finnish features among Sweden Finnish adolescents in a formal education setting. The features in question are the colloquial versions of the A-infinitive lative (e.g., mä saan pelaa ‘I’m allowed to play’) and the MA-infinitive illative (e.g., mä meen pelaa ‘I’ll go and play’) forms when used with contracting verbs (e.g., pelata ‘to play’). These features are most prominent in the spoken Finnish in Helsinki, but the data shows it is also present in the speech of bilingual children in Sweden.