Native Language Day at PetrSU

“For several years, the Russian Language Department has been the initiator of Native Language Day at PetrSU, and I am grateful for the honor of taking up this initiative from Dr. Phil. (Philology) Natalia Viktorovna Patroeva and, together with my colleagues, today sharing the story of how Petrozavodsk linguists are preserving and enhancing the linguistic and cultural heritage of the indigenous peoples of Karelia.

-          Tatyana Vladimirovna Pashkova, Dr. Sci. (History) and Head of the Department of Baltic and Finnish Philology at PetrSU, emphasized in opening the seminar.

The seminar participants listened with great interest and attention to the presentations by Dr. Phil. (Philology), Professor N.V. Patroeva, who spoke about the use of certain folklore formulas in Russian poetry; Dr. Phil. (Philology), Professor Z.I. Mineeva spoke about innovations in the field of figurative uses of animal names to evaluate people; Cand. Sc. (Philology), Associate Professor M.V. Kazakova spoke about the cultural code of the Kalevala and the role of the Karelo-Finnish epic in shaping the national identity of the Finnish and Karelian peoples, as well as the development of global musical and artistic culture.

This year, UNESCO dedicated International Native Language Day to the role of youth in developing a multilingual, multicultural space. At the conclusion of the seminar, Ivan Kalmykov, a master's student at the Institute of Physical Culture, Sport, and Tourism at PetrSU, spoke about his small homeland, the village of Kinerma, as one of the cultural heritage sites of our republic, demonstrating how students and young professionals in Karelia actively participate in preserving and enhancing folk traditions and the Karelian language.

During Native Language Day, all participants had the opportunity to explore a book exhibition prepared by the staff of the PetrSU Scientific Library. It featured extensive dictionary materials, including those created with the participation of the Department of Russian Language at Petrozavodsk University: "A Dictionary of Russian Dialects of Karelia and Adjacent Regions" and "A Syntactic Dictionary of 18th-Century Russian Poetry."