Meanings
alternative Mean Kieli
- A language spoken by some 40,000–70,000 people mainly in Northern Sweden. It is a variant of Finnish with a structure and grammar similar to Finnish, but the vocabulary considerably influenced by Swedish.
The County Board of Education worked out simple textbooks in Meänkieli and started to promote the vernacular in mother tongue instruction (henceforth MTI). Meänkieli was perceived as a bridge between Swedish and St Fi.
2006, Robert B. Kaplan, Richard B. Baldauf, Language Planning and Policy in Europe, →ISBN, page 2421 more example
The Tornedalians call their speech meän kieli ("our language"). Meänkieli was banned from schools until 1992 (see Huss 1999, 80ff. for an historical outline). Since then, the Tornedalians' mother tongue has been taught alongside Swedish. The Meänkieli, however, is not often used in writing outside the schools.
2005, Ulrich Ammon, Sociolinguistics: An International Handbook of the Science of Language and Society, Language Arts & Disciplines, →ISBN, page 1547Synonyms: North Finnish, Torne Valley Finnish, Tornedalen, Tornedalen Finnish, Tornedalsfinska
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounA language spoken by some 40,000–70,000 people mainly in Northern Sweden. It is a variant of Finnish with a structure and grammar similar to Finnish, but the vocabulary considerably influenced by Swedish.
Origin
- Proto-Finnic*mek
- Finnishme
- Finnishmeidän
- Meänkielimeän
- Proto-Finnic*keeli
- Finnishkieli
- Meänkielikieli
- Meänkielimeänkieli
- EnglishMeänkieli
From the native Meänkieli term meänkieli, from meän kieli (“our language”).
More words from Meänkieli
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 托爾訥河谷芬蘭語 /托尔讷河谷芬兰语
- 托爾訥河谷芬蘭語 /托尔讷河谷芬兰语 (Tuō'ěrnè Hégǔ Fēnlányǔ)Finnic language spoken in northern Sweden
Czech tornedalská finština, meänkieli
- tornedalská finštinaFinnic language spoken in northern Sweden
- meänkieliFinnic language spoken in northern Sweden
Finnish meänkieli, meän kieli
- meänkieliFinnic language spoken in northern Sweden
- meän kieliFinnic language spoken in northern Sweden
- tornionlaaksonsuomiFinnic language spoken in northern Sweden
French finnois tornédalien, meänkieli
- finnois tornédalienFinnic language spoken in northern Sweden
- meänkieliFinnic language spoken in northern Sweden
German Meänkieli, Tornedalfinnisch
- MeänkieliFinnic language spoken in northern Sweden
- TornedalfinnischFinnic language spoken in northern Sweden
Icelandic tornedalsfinnska, meänkieli
- tornedalsfinnskaFinnic language spoken in northern Sweden
- meänkieliFinnic language spoken in northern Sweden
Italian meänkieli
- meänkieliFinnic language spoken in northern Sweden
Japanese メアンキエリ
- メアンキエリ (meankieri)Finnic language spoken in northern Sweden
Korean 메앤키엘리
- 메앤키엘리 (meaenkielli)Finnic language spoken in northern Sweden
Norwegian tornedalsfinsk, meänkieli
- tornedalsfinskFinnic language spoken in northern Sweden
- meänkieliFinnic language spoken in northern Sweden
Polish język meänkieli
- język meänkieliFinnic language spoken in northern Sweden
Russian ме́янкиели
- ме́янкиели (méjankijeli)Finnic language spoken in northern Sweden
Swedish tornedalsfinska, meänkieli
- tornedalsfinskaFinnic language spoken in northern Sweden
- meänkieliFinnic language spoken in northern Sweden
Ukrainian мя́нкіелі
- мя́нкіелі (mjánkieli)Finnic language spoken in northern Sweden
Cite this entry
Meänkieli. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Me%C3%A4nkieli
“Meänkieli.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Me%C3%A4nkieli. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Meänkieli,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Me%C3%A4nkieli.
Source: Meänkieli on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.