Runska language project

The Runska Language Project focuses on the documentation and promotion of the Ruhnu Swedish dialect, also known as Runska. Ruhnu Swedish is one of the Estonian Swedish dialects. It was spoken on the island of Ruhnu for several centuries until 1944, when nearly the entire island population fled to Sweden. Today, only a few speakers of Ruhnu Swedish remain.

As part of the documentation process, information from archives is collected and analyzed, including texts written in the Ruhnu Swedish dialect and older audio recordings in the language. In addition, the remaining speakers of Ruhnu Swedish are being recorded.

For the purpose of popularization, seminars are organized and various informational materials introducing the Ruhnu Swedish dialect, as well as educational materials for Ruhnu School, are prepared.

The project brings together linguists from the Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics at the University of Tartu, the University of Gothenburg, and the Livonian Institute at the University of Latvia, as well as representatives of the Ruhnu Cultural Space and the association of Ruhnu Swedes living in Sweden (Runöbornas förening).

The project began in the summer of 2024 and will last for two years. The final seminar will take place on Ruhnu Island on May 13–15, 2026.