Dynamics of Language Situation in the Karelian Borderlands in the Modern Period

In the last few years, the issue of the impact of borderland on languages and their social functioning has become relevant. Scholars have investigated the influence of historical border changes on language varieties in Karelia, and also noted the peculiarity of the language situation in the Karelian borderland. This study attempts to analyse the linguistic situation in the parts of Karelia bordering Finland in the Modern Period. Over the past five years, this borderland has undergone dramatic changes due to periodical closure of border-crossing points. This directly affects cross-border contacts, the possibility of cross-border projects (including cultural ones), and the attitude of residents of the neighbouring countries towards each other. Besides, these transformations can also be reflected in the linguistic situation of these places. The aim of the work is to describe which idioms are used and how they are used in the Karelian borderland, analyse their internal development and mutual influence on each other considering the changing socio-economic context. The study is based on data gathered in four sociolinguistic trips from 2022 to 2024 in Kostomuksha urban district and Pitkyarantsky, Lakhdenpokhsky, Sortavalsky districts of the Republic of Karelia. The use of idioms from the neighboring country has turned out to be directly dependent on cross-border practices, a significant decrease in the intensity of which has reduced language exchange. Besides, the border region appears to be a place where contact linguistic phenomena continue to exist even after border checkpoints closure as imprints of recent active cross-border interactions. Language situations in different parts of the Karelian borderland differ in the use of Karelian, the greater representation of which has created conditions for a sociocultural bridge between Russia and Finland.