Linguistic change in the language biographies of Meadow Mari People
Keywords:
niittymarit, kieli, kielielämäkertaAbstract
This article analyses language biographies of Meadow Mari informants who reside in the Eastern
parts of the Mari El Republic. By language biography we mean an account in which an individual
makes different languages, their acquisition and actual use a part of his or her own history. The data
were collected during a fieldtrip in the Mari El Republic in June 2015. The data consist of 12
interviews, which were conducted in Mari villages and in Mari-Turek, which is an urban-type
settlement. In this article, the biographies are analysed in order to compile a broader picture, which
pays attention to historical aspects as well as perspectives for further development. With respect to
the collected biographies, multilingualism, i.e. knowledge of Meadow Mari, Russian and Tatar
languages, was typical of the older generations. The middle-aged informants are bilingual in Mari
and Russian. The younger generation may use Meadow Mari with their parents and other relatives
but use Russian with their friends and peers.
