This paper explores the hypothesis of contact-induced change for the rise of the partitive case in Finnic languages and of the partitive case/determiner in Basque. On the basis of the well-established Indo-European partitive-genitive case and taking into account the lack of such a basis on the Uralic side, we argue that the partitive case in Finnic languages has arisen as a result of Balto-Slavic influence. Concerning the Basque partitive determiner, we likewise suggest a contact scenario (with Romance languages) as being responsible for the development of an entire system of determiners, including the definite and possibly the indefinite article as well as the partitive marker, which originates in an old ablative ending but crucially lacks the morphological properties characteristic of Basque inflectional markers.

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Old Helsinki Slang (OHS) a linguistic variety spoken in the working-class quarters of Helsinki from approx. 1900 to 1945, is marked by the usage of a virtually wholly Swedish vocabulary in a Finnish morphosyntactic framework. It has recently been subject of two interestingly contrasting treatments by Petri Kallio and Vesa Jarva. Kallio argues that the morphosyntactic base of OHS gives cause to analyzing it as unambiguously Finnic, and therefore Uralic, from a genetic perspective, whereas Jarva, drawing attention to the possible origins of OHS in frequent code-switching, believes it deserves consideration as a mixed language alongside such cases as Ma'a and Media Lengua.The contrasting approaches of the two authors involve contrasting presuppositions which deserve to be spelled out: should the genetic origin of a language be based on the pedigree of its structure (with mixed structures pointing to a mixed genetic origin) or on the sociolinguistic history of its speakers? Taking the latter course, I argue that the most valid model for the emergence of genetically mixed languages is the code-switching one proposed by Peter Auer. Measuring OHS against Auer's model, however, it is a marginal case for a mixed language, particularly as Auer's and similar models imply some composition in structural domains, which seems wholly absent in the case of OHS. Thus OHS is not a genetically mixed language, even if it may have developed as one, had early OHS taken a different course as it eventually did.

Tämä artikkelikokoelma on koottu professori Ulla-Maija Forsbergin (s. 2.8.1960) 60-vuotispäivän kunniaksi. Teos sisältää oppilaiden ja kollegoiden tieteellisiä artikkeleita Ulla-Maija Forsbergin uraan ja tuotantoon liittyvistä aiheista. Mukaan mahtuu myös kollegoiden muiste­loita uran varrelta. Tieteellisten artikkeleiden teemat kuvastavat osaltaan Forsbergin oman tuotannon laaja-alaisuutta ja monipuolisuutta: mukana on runsaasti uralilaista etymologiaa ja äännehistoriaa käsitteleviä artikkeleita, samoin muut uralilaisten kielten historia-aiheet ja useimmat uralilaiset kielet ovat edustettuina. Erityisesti Ulla-Maijalle läheisiä obinugrilaisia kieliä käsitellään eri näkökulmista: joukkoon mahtuu mm. mansin kielen äännehistoriaa, hantin murteiden vertailua, mansin uudissananoja ja hantin informaatiorakennetta. Myös Forsbergin pitkäaikainen kiinnostuksen kohde M. A. Castrénin tuotanto esittäytyy hantin kielen näkökulmasta.

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