The Finnish Academy of Sciences and the Scientific Research Fund of Hungary, OTKA will finance the work of three Finnish and three Hungarian researchers within a project for studying changes and function of Finno-Ugric languages through the medium of their speakers. The influence of language media on society and culture will be of particular interest. The financing is divided on the basis of a high level of planned scientific work, which will contribute to the development of Hungary-Finland research cooperation, said a source within the M. A. Castrén society (Helsinki).

 So, Helsinki University professor Riho Grünthal together with Loránd Eötvös Budapest University professor Marta Szepreg will study the multilingual practices of Finno-Ugric nations. This joint project is intended to study the situation of minority Finno-Ugric languages and the appearance of polyglotism in everyday life. The study should define, among simple things, the role of languages in community life and how individual preferences influence native speakers in normal life.

Another representative of Helsinki University, Kristina Jokinen will work with Támás Váradin from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences to study the role of languages in social media and the effect thereof on speech practices. Within the project, online resources will be created and made available to all, and web content will be developed using already existing electronic resources in Komi, Mari, Saami, and Udmurt languages. Also, dictionary creation technologies will be developed. Researchers will study the application of languages in social networks, including online chats and blog comments.

Roman Janbarger from HU together with Anna Fenyvesin from the University of Szeged (Hungary) will study the creation of computer programs for use in projects for the revitalization of Finno-Ugric languages. This study is aimed at helping speakers of minority Finno-Ugric languages by giving them helpful internet tools. These tools will help to study languages on the basis of recent achievements in teaching technology, including automatic correction of spelling and grammar.