Technolinguistic suspension and the digital futures of minority languages

AI and Meänkieli in Sweden

Bibliographic Data

ID12655393
AuthorsMoa Eriksson Krutrök (0000-0003-3665-2476, Umeå University, corresponding author), Pär Poromaa Isling (0009-0007-3528-2641, Umeå University)
Year2025
Publication date2025-11-14
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Media & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1461-4448 • E-ISSN: 1461-7315
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14614448251385920
OpenAlexW4416222301
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited29

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

Dynamics (music · Futures contract · Language industry · Minority language · Neglect · State (computer science · Suspension (topology · Linguistics, Language Diversity, and Identity · Multilingual Education and Policy · Populism, Right-Wing Movements

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access