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The project “From East to West: Typological shift in Estonian and the Southern Finnic languages against the background of Uralic” (PRG2184) is a multi-year project (2024-2028) funded by the Estonian Research Council. Estonian and other Southern Finnic languages differ structurally in many ways from their more distant relatives. Contact with the Baltic and other neighbouring languages located along the Baltic Sea has led to the development of special features which often differ from Northern Finnic languages. This project systematically studies typological shift in Estonian, several South Estonian varieties including the language islands varieties historically spoken outside of Estonia (Lutsi, Leivu, Kraasna), Livonian, Votic, and the areally closest Northern Finnic language – Ingrian by using the capabilities offered by new databases. Their interrelationships are examined as well as the role of language contact in the development of structural changes and the mechanisms leading to the innovations. The effect of conscious language planning on language structure is also observed. The results of the comparative study make a significant contribution to areal linguistics by providing a better understanding of these changes and trends in the Southern Finnic area and its immediate neighbourhood.

Our project partners include the University of Tartu Centre of Excellence for Transdisciplinary Studies on Ethnogenesis and Cultural Diversity; the University of Tartu Collegium for Transdisciplinary Studies in Archaeology, Genetics and Linguistics; the University of Tartu Phonetics Lab; the University of Latvia Livonian Institute; Vilnius University; the University of Turku; BEDLAN (Biological Evolution and Diversification of LANguages); Uppsala University; the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology; UraTyp.

Our community partners include the Mulgi Institute, Seto Institute, Võro Institute, and the Ludza Regional History Museum.

Header image: Mērdzene Lutsi language glossary recorded by Oskar Kallas in Mērdzene, Latvia, 1893. (Original stored at the Estonian Literary Museum, photo: Uldis Balodis)