The trip was coordinated by two organisers, Sami Honkasalo and Ekaterina Gruzdeva, who were responsible for overall planning, logistics, and research coordination. The field trip was funded by the UH Future Fund, the LingDig MA programme and Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS).
The student group consisted of five master’s students – Réka Dávid, Fionn Ó Dubhairle, Alicja Kieɫpińska, Milan Shilov, and Penbenur Yücel – and one PhD researcher, Mithun Banerjee. In addition, Juha Janhunen and Yurayong Chingduang joined the trip as self-funded researchers.
The group was divided into smaller teams according to their research interests. These teams focused on a range of languages relevant to the Azerbaijani context, including Azerbaijani, Russian, Turkish, Tat, and two diasporic languages – Polish and German. All participants had proficiency in at least one of the key languages of the region ensuring effective communication with consultants and institutional partners.
Prior to departure, participants engaged in extensive preparation to ensure that the fieldwork would be both systematic and ethically grounded. This preparation included:
We are very grateful to Leyla Abbaslı and Jaakko Helke for their kind assistance at the preparation stage of the trip. The preparatory phase enabled the group to arrive with a solid understanding of the broader sociolinguistic context and with clearly formulated research questions and methodologies.
The group was based mainly in Baku. The trip was organised in close collaboration with local partners, including the Azerbaijan University of Languages and the Baku International Multiculturalism Centre, which helped connect the group with communities, consultants, and colleagues on the ground.
From their base in Baku, a smaller team travelled to Quba province and nearby areas, including Red Village (Qırmızı Qəsəbə), Khinalug (Xınalıq), and Qusar. These visits focused on communities where minority and endangered languages are still actively spoken, including Lezgi, Judeo-Tat (spoken by the Mountain Jewish community), and Khinalug (isolate within a Lezgian group). The fieldwork focused particularly on Lezgi and Judeo-Tat, with additional work conducted on Khinalug, a heavily endangered language.
The field trip concentrated on sociolinguistic dynamics and multilingualism in Azerbaijan. Researchers examined language-based identities; the use of majority, minority and diasporic languages; language contact; and the impact of national language policy on everyday linguistic practices. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used, including sociolinguistic questionnaires (also available via QR codes), interviews, and observations. The research activities were further supported by flyers and a WhatsApp group used for communication with participants.
In addition to language-focused activities, the group also took time to experience Azerbaijan’s broader cultural and historical context by visiting sites such as the Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape, mud volcanoes, and Fire Mountain. The local community was exceptionally welcoming and enthusiastic about contributing to the research, and their hospitality greatly enriched the experience.
The field trip not only generated new data on linguistic diversity and language contact in Azerbaijan but also strengthened cooperation between Finnish and Azerbaijani researchers and institutions. Initial results were presented by the students at the HALS fieldwork seminar on 15 December 2025, which also featured a talk by Prof. Jala Garibova from the Azerbaijan University of Languages on language policy, language planning, and linguistic practices in Azerbaijan. Together, the trip and the seminar laid important groundwork for future collaboration and follow-up research on language and diversity in the region.
Text and pictures by Mithun Banerjee.