Fenno-Ugric speakers convene in Finland

Representatives of the Fenno-Ugric language speakers started a world congress on Wednesday in Lahti, central southern Finland.

There are only 23 million users of the language family these days. Three independent nations have a Fenno-Ugric language as their national tongue, Finland, Estonia and Hungary.

A total of 22 groups took part in the convention in Lahti. Attending the opening ceremony at the Lahti Sibelius House were Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Hungarian President Janos Ader.

Fenno-Ugric is an ancient language family. The people using a Fenno-Ugric language nowadays are not racially related and their cultural backgrounds have changed over the thousands of years.

While the Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian languages are in no danger of extinction, the survival of small Fenno-Ugric language groups is under threat.

The main organizer of the Lahti congress is the Finland-Russia Society. Merja Hannus, secretary general of the society, told Finnish national broadcaster Yle that she hoped "honest and good discussions about the situation of the Fenno-Ugric peoples". Hannus said the smallest have the most problems.

Within Finland, the language of the Samis is a Fenno-Ugric language. Some of its forms are also on the brink of demise. Endit