Bjarmian languages

Last updated

Bjarmian languages
(geographic)
Geographic
distribution
Bjarmia
Extinct early 2nd millenium
Linguistic classification Uralic
Map of Biarmia.jpg
Map of Bjarmia, where the Bjarmian languages were spoken

The Bjarmian languages are a group of extinct Finnic languages once spoken in Bjarmia, or the northern part of the Dvina basin. [1] Vocabulary of the languages in Bjarmia can be reconstructed from toponyms in the Arkhangelsk region, and a few words are documented by Norse travelers. Also some Saamic toponyms can be found in the Dvina basin. [2] [3]

Contents

Affinities

There were likely many Finnic languages spoken in Bjarmia. The first one was an archaic Finnic language with the diphthong *ai instead of Finnic ei, lack of consonant gradation and the vowel /ɤ/. However, toponymic and historical data also suggest that later Karelian speakers also later migrated to the Dvina basin in the 15th and 16th centuries, just before the Slavic tribes had arrived. [2]

Some toponyms in Bjarmia also have the sound /ʃ/ instead of /s/.

Janne Saarikivi suggests that some Sámi languages were spoken in Bjarmia alongside Finnic languages. [2]

Reconstructions

Many toponyms in the Arkhangelsk oblast are of Finno–Ugric origin, together with the Vologda oblast. According to Aleksandr Matveyev, there are up to 100,000 such toponyms. [2]

BjarmianEnglish
*kaskiburnt-over clearing
*hattarabush
*lautaboard
*palttVslope
*limaslime
*keltayellow
*petrawild reindeer
*pimedark
*hainahay
*leettekfine sand
*varkasthief
*kiccanarrow
*ruskered
*kylmäcold

Legacy

Some Finnic substrate words can be found in Northern Russian dialects, for example the words: лахта (lahta) 'marsh, moist place, meadow', луда (luda) 'rocky islet', каска (kaska) 'young woods' and щелья (schelja) 'hill or steep bank by a river'. Such words can be found in the Russian dialects around Pinega. [2]

Gandvík is a name associated with Bjarmia that appears in Norse poems. The word could have been a Norse translation of a Finnic word, which is "Kantalahti" in Finnish. The word Vína appears in many Norse sagas that refer to Bjarmia; it is likely related to the Finnish word "Vienanmeri" (White Sea). Norse sagas also documented a Bjarmian word "Jómali", which is likely related to Finnish "Jumala" 'God'. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finno-Ugric languages</span> Subdivision of the Uralic languages

Finno-Ugric is a traditional grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except the Samoyedic languages. Its formerly commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is based on criteria formulated in the 19th century and is criticized by some contemporary linguists such as Tapani Salminen and Ante Aikio. The three most spoken Uralic languages, Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian, are all included in Finno-Ugric.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uralic languages</span> Language family of Northern Eurasia

The Uralic languages, sometimes called the Uralian languages, form a language family of 42 languages spoken predominantly in Europe and North Asia. The Uralic languages with the most native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian. Other languages with speakers above 100,000 are Erzya, Moksha, Mari, Udmurt and Komi spoken in the European parts of the Russian Federation. Still smaller minority languages are Sámi languages of the northern Fennoscandia; other members of the Finnic languages, ranging from Livonian in northern Latvia to Karelian in northwesternmost Russia; and the Samoyedic languages, Mansi and Khanty spoken in Western Siberia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karelian language</span> Finnic language of Karelia, in Russia and Finland

Karelian is a Finnic language spoken mainly in the Russian Republic of Karelia. Linguistically, Karelian is closely related to the Finnish dialects spoken in eastern Finland, and some Finnish linguists have even classified Karelian as a dialect of Finnish, though in the modern day it is widely considered a separate language. Karelian is not to be confused with the Southeastern dialects of Finnish, sometimes referred to as karjalaismurteet in Finland. In the Russian 2020–2021 census, around 9,000 people spoke Karelian natively, but around 14,000 said to be able to speak the language. There are around 11,000 speakers of Karelian in Finland.

Finns or Finnish people are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bjarmaland</span> Territory mentioned in Norse sagas

Bjarmaland was a territory mentioned in Norse sagas since the Viking Age and in geographical accounts until the 16th century. The term is usually seen to have referred to the southern shores of the White Sea and the basin of the Northern Dvina River as well as, presumably, some of the surrounding areas. Today, those territories comprise a part of the Arkhangelsk Oblast of Russia, as well as the Kola Peninsula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jumala</span> Finnish religious term

Jumala, Jumal or Jumo (Mari) means "god" in the Finnic languages and those of the Volga Finns, both the Christian God and any other deity of any religion. The word is thought to have been the name of a sky god of the ancient Finnic-speaking peoples. Jumala as a god of the sky is associated with the related Estonian Jumal, Mari Jumo and is thought to stem from an ancient tradition of the Finno-Ugric peoples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chud</span> Loose term for Finnic peoples in Old Russian chronicles

Chud or Chude is a term historically applied in the early East Slavic annals to several Baltic Finnic peoples in the area of what is now Estonia, Karelia and Northwestern Russia. It has also been used to refer to other Finno-Ugric peoples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merya language</span> Extinct Finno-Ugric language

Merya or Meryanic is an extinct Finno-Ugric language, which was spoken by the Meryans. Merya began to be assimilated by East Slavs when their territory became incorporated into Kievan Rus' in the 10th century. However some Merya speakers might have even lived in the 18th century. There is also a theory that the word for "Moscow" originates from the Merya language. The Meryan language stretched to the western parts of Vologda Oblast and Moscow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finno-Samic languages</span> Subdivision of the Uralic languages

The Finno-Samic languages are a hypothetical subgroup of the Uralic family, and are made up of 22 languages classified into either the Sami languages, which are spoken by the Sami people who inhabit the Sápmi region of northern Fennoscandia, or Finnic languages, which include the major languages Finnish and Estonian. The grouping is not universally recognized as valid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indo-Uralic languages</span> Controversial hypothetical language family consisting of Indo-European and Uralic

Indo-Uralic is a highly controversial linguistic hypothesis proposing a genealogical family consisting of Indo-European and Uralic.

Proto-Uralic is the unattested reconstructed language ancestral to the modern Uralic language family. The reconstructed language is thought to have been originally spoken in a small area in about 7000–2000 BCE, and then expanded across northern Eurasia, gradually diverging into a dialect continuum and then a language family in the process. The location of the area or Urheimat is not known, and various strongly differing proposals have been advocated, but the vicinity of the Ural Mountains is generally accepted as the most likely.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finnic languages</span> Language family of Northeastern Europe

The Finnic or Baltic Finnic languages constitute a branch of the Uralic language family spoken around the Baltic Sea by the Baltic Finnic peoples. There are around 7 million speakers, who live mainly in Finland and Estonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ob-Ugric languages</span> Group of Western Siberian languages

The Ob-Ugric languages are a commonly proposed branch of the Uralic languages, grouping together the Khanty (Ostyak) and Mansi (Vogul) languages. Both languages are split in numerous and highly divergent dialects. The Ob-Ugric languages and Hungarian comprise the proposed Ugric branch of the Uralic language family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volga Finns</span> Historical group of Uralic peoples in Russia

The Volga Finns are a historical group of peoples living in the vicinity of the Volga, who speak Uralic languages. Their modern representatives are the Mari people, the Erzya and the Moksha Mordvins, as well as speakers of the extinct Merya, Muromian and Meshchera languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Permians</span> Peoples who speak Permic languages

The Permians are the peoples who speak the Permic languages, a branch of the Uralic language family, and include Komis, Udmurts, and Besermyans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finnish language</span> Finnic language mostly spoken in Finland

Finnish is a Finnic language of the Uralic language family, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland, alongside Swedish. In Sweden, both Finnish and Meänkieli are official minority languages. Kven, which like Meänkieli is mutually intelligible with Finnish, is spoken in the Norwegian counties of Troms and Finnmark by a minority of Finnish descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proto-Uralic homeland</span> Hypothesized location where the Proto-Uralic language originated

The Proto-Uralic homeland is the hypothetical place where speakers of the Proto-Uralic language lived in a single linguistic community, or complex of communities, before this original language dispersed geographically and divided into separate distinct languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate</span> Category of words in some Uralic languages

Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate refers to substratum loanwords from unidentified non-Indo-European and non-Uralic languages that are found in various Finno-Ugric languages, most notably Sami. The presence of Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate in Sami languages was demonstrated by Ante Aikio. Janne Saarikivi points out that similar substrate words are present in Finnic languages as well, but in much smaller numbers.

Kukkuzi dialect or Kukkusi dialect is a dialect of Votic spoken in Kukkuzi the Kukkuzi dialect has been heavily influenced by Ingrian.

References

  1. Hauge, Arne (22 November 2018). "Kadonnut, Mystinen Bjarmia". Ruijan Kaiku (in Finnish). Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Saarikivi, Janne. Substrata Uralica: Studies on Finno-Ugrian Substrate in Northern Russian Dialects (PhD). Helsinki, Finland: University of Helsinki. ISBN   978-952-10-4519-6.
  3. 1 2 Koskela Vasaru, Mervi (2016). Bjarmaland (PhD). Acta Universitatis Ouluensis B Humaniora 145. Oulu, Finland: University of Oulu. ISBN   978-952-62-1396-5.

Further reading