VIRON KIELEN OPETUKSEN JA TUTKIMUKSEN ALKUVAIHEITA SUOMESSA
BEGINNING PHASES OF ESTONIAN LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH IN FINLAND

Summary/Abstract: Estonian language instruction and research in Finland began in the 1800s, although comparative studies of Finnish and Estonian date back as far as 1650. C. N. Keckman, the university's first lecturer of Finnish after its move to Helsinki in 1828 as a result of the Great Fire of Turku, was also responsible for the teaching of Estonian. In his courses during the 1830s he discussed Estonian and other related languages in comparison with Finnish. This period also saw the beginning of research on Estonian, the first major achievement of which was M. A. Castrén’s dissertation comparing the declension of nominals in Finnish, Estonian and Sami. Elias Lönnrot, the author of the Kalevala, made a half-year research trip to Estonia in 1844 and became well acquainted with the Estonian language.

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