Technolinguistic suspension and the digital futures of minority languages: AI and Meänkieli in Sweden

As AI-driven language models transform communication, minority languages like Meänkieli—a national minority language in northern Sweden—face new forms of digital marginalization. Historically suppressed by the Swedish state, Meänkieli now risks exclusion from rapidly evolving AI ecosystems. This art...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:New media & society
Main Authors: Eriksson Krutrök, Moa, Poromaa Isling, Pär
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: 14.11.2025
Subjects:
government policy
language death
language technology
minority language
sociologi
Sociology
ISSN:1461-4448, 1461-7315, 1461-7315
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:As AI-driven language models transform communication, minority languages like Meänkieli—a national minority language in northern Sweden—face new forms of digital marginalization. Historically suppressed by the Swedish state, Meänkieli now risks exclusion from rapidly evolving AI ecosystems. This article examines how current AI platforms shape language inclusion, combining semi-structured interviews with language technologists, conservators, and promoters, and a platform analysis of AI translation and language tools. Drawing on these materials, we develop the concept of “technolinguistic suspension” to describe the state in which Meänkieli currently exists: symbolically recognized yet excluded from the technological infrastructures that increasingly define linguistic legitimacy. We identify four interrelated aspects—two conditions (non-representative technologies and low-resource status) and two responses (active work-arounds and AI skepticism)—that illuminate how institutional neglect and platform-level dynamics jointly constrain digital revitalization. The study argues that overcoming technolinguistic suspension requires both structural reforms in platform design and sustained institutional commitment to minority language futures.
ISSN:1461-4448
1461-7315
1461-7315
DOI:10.1177/14614448251385920