“We have been given an official Swedish name for Norway, Norja, and we also need an official Swedish name for the capital Oslo.” This is what the Kven youth organization Kvenungdommen – Kvääninuoret writes in an e-mail it sent to the Language Council last year. On 4 May 2021, the Storting established an official name for the Kingdom of Norway for Sami languages and for Kven, but the youth organization also believes that the country’s capital must be given a publicly adopted Kven name. It is about our dignity, the opportunity to participate in the state as equal citizens and the revitalization of the Kven language, the email says. – It should just be missing, says Emelie Nilsen (29). She is a young woman from Nesseby in Eastern Finnmark who has lived in Oslo since 2013. For her, a fixed Swedish name for her second hometown meant a lot. – It would have made the capital more inclusive for us Kvens, she says. – I would have felt even more at home. Nilsen thinks it is only natural that the capital of Norway gets a Swedish place name. Kvener is one of the national minorities in Norway, and therefore Oslo is also our capital, she says. – Although it is far from home, Oslo is the hometown of many of us. Emelie Nilsen is known from the group The BlackSheeps, who won the Melodi Grand Prix for juniors in 2008. Photo: Simen Felix Omland According to Nilsen, many young people from Kven’s core area, Troms and Finnmark, have to move to the capital to study and work. This is how Oslo has become a natural and large gathering place especially for young people. – In the same way that Oslo is today the country’s largest Sami city, it is also the country’s largest women’s city. Nilsen is one of the many who did not learn the language as a child. Although she is not a Swedish speaker, the name had meant a lot to her on paper. – If Oslo gets a public Swedish place name, I will feel even more at home here, says Nilsen. The Language Council is working on the case Pål Kristian Eriksen, senior adviser for the Kven place-name service in the Language Council, can confirm that they have had a dialogue with the Kvenungdommen about the name issue. – We were initially a little unsure of where we stand legally when they contacted us, he says. Pål Kristian Eriksen, senior advisor at the Language Council, is responsible for Kven place names. Photo: Ram Gupta The Kven place name service basically works with place names within the Kven core area. Therefore, they were unsure whether a Swedish place name in Oslo was within the mandate they are working with. – But it looks promising, he can now say. Since the Language Council was also involved in the work to get an official Swedish name adopted for the kingdom, Eriksen believes that they can also be involved in the process to adopt an official Swedish name for the capital. – We haven’t gotten very far with the matter yet, but it is being worked on. According to Eriksen, the place name service will next contact the Sami Parliament. Oslo does not have an official Sami place name either, and the Sami organizations and Oslo city council have worked for a long time to get it in place. – We are interested in collaborating with the Sami Parliament and seeing what has happened in their process and learning about it. It would have been nice to have both official Swedish and Sami place names in our capital, says Eriksen. Among other things, these places have a publicly adopted name in Kven and/or Finnish Tromsø Tromssa Vadsø Vesisaari Kirkenes Kirkkoniemi Tana Teno Alta Alattio Børselv Pyssyjoki Lakselv Lemmijoki You will find more place names in Kven on the Kvensk place name database. Want to be part of the process It is not just the younger generation that wants to have an official Swedish name adopted for Oslo. Nils-Einar Ørnebakk, leader of one of the local women’s associations in Southern Norway, is happy to hear that the process is underway. – The place name is part of our identity. It is fine to use the name of the place of origin in your own language. Nils-Einar Ørnebakk has lived in Oslo for many decades. In the picture he is wearing a woman’s suit. Photo: Truls Alnes Antonsen / news Ørnebakk is originally from Skibotn in Storfjord and is one of the few who can speak Swedish. He has lived in Oslo for many decades and hopes that all Norwegians who live in Eastern Norway can take part in the naming process. – The Language Council is welcome to contact us and the other Kven organizations in the area. Although the case is still in the start-up phase, Ørnebakk is hopeful. According to him, an incredible amount has happened on the Kven front in Oslo. His women’s association, Kven Østlandet, has long organized Kven language cafes in Oslo S, at the end of June the Kvenungdommen took over the National Museum, and since 2020 the women’s flag has been raised in front of the town hall on Kvenfolket’s Day, 16 March. – The initiative to raise the women’s flag came from the mayor’s office. She is passionate about minorities, so I think it is possible to get a Swedish name in Oslo, says Ørnebakk. news Kvensk has contacted the city council in Oslo to find out what the mayor thinks about getting a publicly adopted Kven name for the capital. Culture City Councilor Omar Samy Gamal replies that it is not something they have considered as of now. City council for culture, sports and volunteering in Oslo, Omar Samy Gamal. Photo: Sturlason – The city council platform that we govern according to says that we want to get a Sami place name approved for Oslo. I’m happy about that, and that’s what I’m working on getting space for now. The matter of getting an official Sami name recognized in Oslo has been pending for many years, but gained extra speed after the city council in its political platform, the city council collaboration 2019-2023, stated that they want to highlight Oslo as a diverse capital through a Sami place name. Gamal cannot answer whether the city council will also put in place a Swedish place name, but he wants Oslo to be a good place to live for everyone. – Norway has an indigenous people and five national minorities. In addition, the capital is home to a hundred different minority groups. We want to be a good city for everyone, says the Culture City Council. Oslo, Uslu or Ušlu If Oslo gets a Swedish place name, what will it be? Eriksen from the Language Council cannot answer that. – As far as we know, Oslo has not had any traditional Kven names. Instead, it has been the Norwegian name that has been used in Swedish, he says. According to the Language Council, “Oslo” had been an alternative. The place name service has, however, previously also come up with another informal recommendation, “Ušlu”. According to the Language Council, that would be the correct way in Swedish orthography to reproduce the most common Norwegian pronunciation of Oslo. In Swedish, the letter “u” is pronounced as “o”, and “o” as “å”. If you keep the Norwegian spelling Oslo, it will not quite fit with the Swedish spelling, because that would mean that the name would be pronounced as “åslå”. They mostly use the spelling Oslo in Finnish, but the Finns also pronounce the name as “åslå”, while we expect that most Kvens will pronounce the name of the city with a Norwegian pronunciation, says the informal proposal the Language Council gave to the Kvenungdommen. The name can therefore also become Ušlu, or simply Uslu. Will Oslo also get an official Swedish place name like Tromsø? Photo: Knut Magne Stormo Emelie Nilsen likes the proposals Ušlu and Uslu. They had made the most sense to her. Nils-Einar Ørnebakk prefers the Norwegian spelling, i.e. Oslo. However, Eriksen will stress that the Language Council does not have a public opinion on the name. – It is completely impossible to say right now what name it will eventually be. It must go through several rounds of consultation, and we must also discuss it professionally, says Eriksen. Should Oslo get an official Swedish place name?
ttn-69
Oslo can become Uslu – young Kvens want an official Kven name for Oslo – news Kveeni
