View source for Permic languages

{{Short description|Language group}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox language family
| name = Permic
| ethnicity = [[Permians]]
| region = foothills of the [[Ural Mountains]] in [[Russia]]
| familycolor = Uralic
| glotto = perm1256
| glottorefname = Permian
| child1 = Komi{{Indent|1}}{{*}}[[Komi-Permyak language|Permyak]]{{Indent|1}}{{*}}[[Komi-Yazva language|Yazva]]{{Indent|1}}{{*}}[[Komi language|Zyryan]]
| child2 = [[Udmurt language|Udmurt]]
| map = 5-Permic-branch.png
| mapcaption = Distribution of the Permic languages at the beginning of the 20th century<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rantanen |first1=Timo |last2=Tolvanen |first2=Harri |last3=Roose |first3=Meeli |last4=Ylikoski |first4=Jussi |last5=Vesakoski |first5=Outi |date=2022-06-08 |title=Best practices for spatial language data harmonization, sharing and map creation—A case study of Uralic |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=17 |issue=6 |pages=e0269648 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0269648|doi-access=free |pmid=35675367 |pmc=9176854 |bibcode=2022PLoSO..1769648R }}</ref><ref>Rantanen, Timo, Vesakoski, Outi, Ylikoski, Jussi, & Tolvanen, Harri. (2021). ''Geographical database of the Uralic languages'' (v1.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4784188</ref>
}}
The '''Permic''' or '''Permian''' languages are a branch of the [[Uralic languages|Uralic]] language family. They are spoken in several regions to the west of the [[Ural Mountains]] within the [[Russian Federation]]. The total number of speakers is around 950,000, of which around 550,000 speak the most widely spoken language, [[Udmurt language|Udmurt]]. Like other Uralic languages, the Permic languages are primarily agglutinative and have a rich system of grammatical cases. Unlike many other agglutinative languages, they do not have [[vowel harmony]].<ref name="graz">{{cite web | url=http://languageserver.uni-graz.at/ls/desc?id=154&type=r | title=The Permic Languages | publisher=The University of Graz | work=LanguageServer - the Languages of the World | access-date=August 22, 2012 | author=Scheucher, Bernhard | archive-date=March 4, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023117/http://languageserver.uni-graz.at/ls/desc?id=154&type=r | url-status=dead }}</ref>

The earliest Permic language to be preserved in writing was [[Old Permic language|Old Permic]] or Old Zyryan, in the 14th century.<ref name=graz/>

==Classification==
The extant Permic languages are:

* [[Udmurt language|Udmurt (Votyak)]]
* [[Komi-Zyryan language|Komi (Zyryan)]]
* [[Komi-Permyak language|Permyak (Komi-Permyak)]]
* [[Komi-Yazva language|Yazva (Komi-Yazva)]]

The Permic languages have traditionally been classified as [[Finno-Permic languages]], along with the Finnic, Saami, Mordvin, and Mari languages. The Finno-Permic and [[Ugric languages]] together made up the [[Finno-Ugric languages|Finno-Ugric family]]. However, this taxonomy has more recently been called into question, and the relationship of the Permic languages to other Uralic languages remains uncertain.<ref name="case">{{cite book | title=Case, Animacy and Semantic Roles | publisher=John Benjamins Publishing | author=Kittilä, Seppo | year=2011 | pages=354 | isbn=9789027206800 | last2=Västi | first2=Katja | last3=Ylikoski | first3=Jussi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EQMIpcwerrIC |access-date=2012-08-23}}</ref>

==History==
The word ''Permian'' can be traced back philologically to the Russian word ''Perem'' (Перемь) or ''Perm'' (Пермь) which is found in medieval Russian chronicles.{{sfn|Riese2015|page=249}} The word was initially used to designate certain territories, including the lower reaches of the [[Northern Dvina|Dvina River]], as well as the area bounded by the [[Pechora]], [[Vychegda]] and [[Kama (river)|Kama]] rivers in the north, west and south, and the [[Ural Mountains|Urals]] in the east, which was incorporated into the Russian state in the late 15th century.{{sfn|Riese2015|page=249}} The word ''Permian'' was then used to designate the non-Russian peoples who lived in there, which mostly included the [[Komi peoples|Zyrians]], and the Russians later began using the appellation ''Zyrian''.{{sfn|Riese2015|page=249}} From the 19th century, the word ''Permian'' was used in scholarly writing to designate the Zyrians and the [[Udmurts]].{{sfn|Riese2015|page=249}}

==Phonology==
[[Proto-Uralic language|Proto-Uralic]] word roots have been subject to particularly heavy reduction in the Permic languages.
* Original geminates *pp, *tt, *kk were reduced to single voiceless stops *p, *t, *k.
* Between vowels, original single *p, *t, *k as well as *w and *x were lost entirely.
* Second-syllable vowels were lost entirely. This was obscured in Udmurt by adding ''-ы'' to certain words. (PU *lumi "snow" → Udm ''лымы'' {{IPA|/lɯˈmɯ/}} vs PU *lämi "broth" → Udm ''лым'' {{IPA|/lɯm/}}).
* The sibilants *s, *ś, *š have remained distinct from each other in all positions, but were voiced to *z, *ž, *ź {{IPA|[z ʒ ʑ]}} between voiced sounds.
* Consonant clusters were largely simplified: in particular nasal + stop/affricate clusters yield voiced stops/affricates, and stop + sibilant clusters yield voiceless sibilants.

A peculiarity of Permic is the occurrence of the voiced consonants such as *b, *g word-initially even in inherited vocabulary, apparently a development from original PU voiceless consonants.

The Proto-Permic consonant inventory is reconstructed as:{{sfn|Bartens|2000|p=33}}{{sfn|Csúcs|2005|pp=101–102}}{{sfn|Lytkin|1970|pp=10-21}}

{|class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|-
! colspan="2"|
! | [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! | [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! | [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
|-
! colspan="2"| [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
| {{IPA link|ɲ}}
| {{IPA link|ŋ}}
|-
! rowspan="2"| [[Plosive]]
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
| {{IPA link|c}}
| {{IPA link|k}}
|-
! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| {{IPA link|b}}
| {{IPA link|d}}
| {{IPA link|ɟ}}
| {{IPA link|ɡ}}
|-
! rowspan="2"| [[Affricate]]
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
|
| {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}}
| {{IPA link|t͡ɕ}}
|
|-
! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
|
| {{IPA link|d͡ʒ}}
| {{IPA link|d͡ʑ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2"| [[Fricative]]
! {{small|[[voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
|
| {{IPA link|s}}, {{IPA link|ʃ}}
| {{IPA link|ɕ}}
|
|-
! {{small|[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
|
| {{IPA link|z}}, {{IPA link|ʒ}}
| {{IPA link|ʑ}}
|
|-
! colspan="2"| [[Approximant]]
| {{IPA link|w}}, {{IPA link|ʋ}}
| {{IPA link|l}}
| {{IPA link|j}}, {{IPA link|ʎ}}
|
|-
! colspan="2"| [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
| {{IPA link|r}}
|
|
|}

This inventory is retained nearly unchanged in the modern-day Permic languages.

Komi has merged original {{IPA|*w}} into {{IPA|/ʋ/}} and undergone a word-final a change {{IPA|*l}} → {{IPA|/ʋ/ ~ /w/}} in many dialects, while Udmurt has changed word-initially {{IPA|*r}} → {{IPA|/d͡ʒ/}} or {{IPA|/d͡ʑ/}}. {{IPA|*ŋ}} is retained only in some Udmurt dialects; in other Permic varieties it has become {{IPA|/m/}} next to [[back vowel]]s, {{IPA|/n/}} next to central vowels, {{IPA|/ɲ/}} next to [[front vowel]]s.

In later Russian loanwords, the consonants {{IPA|/f x t͡s/}} may occur.

The consonant {{IPA|*w}} was marginal and occurred only word-initially or after a word-initial {{IPA|*k}}, generally traceable to diphthongization of the close back vowel of the 2nd series.{{Clarify|date=November 2023|reason=Which Proto-Permic vowel is this referring to?}} An exceptional{{Clarify|date=November 2023|reason=How is this exceptional, other than the Komi reflex?}} word is the numeral "six", {{IPA|*kwatʲ}}, which in Komi is the only native word root with an initial cluster.<ref>Bartens 2000, p. 51-52</ref>

Literary [[Komi-Zyryan language|Komi]] and literary [[Udmurt language|Udmurt]] both possess a seven-vowel system {{IPA|/i ɯ u e ə o a/}}. These are however not related straightforwardly, and numerous additional vowels are required for Proto-Permic, perhaps as many as 15 altogether. The reconstruction of Proto-Permic vocalism and its development from [[Proto-Uralic]] has always been a puzzling topic, for which there are several models. There is general agreement on the existence of two series of [[close vowel]]s, one of which results in modern {{IPA|/i ɯ u/}} in literary Udmurt and literary Komi-Zyryan, the other in correspondences of Udmurt {{IPA|/e ɯ u/}} to Komi {{IPA|/e ə o/}} (but {{IPA|/i ʉ u/}} in the [[Komi-Yazva language]]). Proposed distinguishing factors for these include length ({{IPA|*u, *uː}}), [[tenseness]] ({{IPA|*ʊ, *u}}) and [[Vowel height|height]] ({{IPA|*u, *o}}).<ref>Bartens 2000, p. 55-56</ref>

Here is the vowel table used in Wiktionary:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Proto-Permic vowels
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" |Front
! colspan="2" |Central
! colspan="2" |Back
|-
!<small>unrounded</small>
!<small>rounded</small>
!<small>unrounded</small>
!<small>rounded</small>
!<small>unrounded</small>
!<small>rounded</small>
|-
!Close
|i
|ü
|
|u̇
|
|u
|-
!Close-Mid
|e
|ö
|
|ȯ
|
|o
|-
!Mid
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
!Open-Mid
|ɛ
|ɔ̈
|
|ɔ̇
|
|ɔ
|-
!Open
|ä
|
|
|
|a
|å
|}
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
! colspan="8" |Vowel correspondences in Permic languages (word-initial syllable)
|-
!Proto-Permic
!Old Komi
!Komi-Zyrian
!Komi-Permyak
!Komi-Yazva
!Udmurt
!Finnic
!notes
|-
|*a
|𐍐
|а
|а
|a
|а
|*a, *ä
|-
|*å
|𐍐
|а
|а
|a
|у
|*a
|-
|*ä
|𐍩
|ӧ
|ӧ
|ӧ
|е
|*ä, *e, *i
|Dialectally, Udmurt *ä > ӧ
|-
|*ɔ
|𐍩
|о
|о
|о
|у
|*ä, *e, *i, *ö, *ü
|-
|*o
|𐍞
|о
|о
|у
|у
|*a, *ë, *i, *o, *u
|Udmurt *wo- > ва-
Beserman *wo- > ўа-
Irregularly, Udmurt *o > ы/и
Irregularly, Beserman *o > ө
|-
|*ɛ
|𐍔
|е
|е
|е
|о
|*ä, *e, *i (*ö, *ü)
|Next to palatals, Udmurt *ɛ > е
Irregularly, Udmurt *ɛ > e
|-
|*e
|𐍱
|е
|е
|и
|о
|*ä, *e, *i (*ö, *ü)
|Next to palatals, Udmurt *e > е
Irregularly, Udmurt *e > e
|-
|*ɔ̇
|𐍩
|ӧ
|ӧ
|ӧ
|о
|*ä mainly
|Before *l, Udmurt *ɔ̇ > а
Irregularly, Udmurt *ɔ̇ > а
|-
|*ȯ
|𐍩
|ӧ
|ӧ
|ӱ
|ӧ
|*o, *u mainly
|Udmurt unstressed *ȯ > ы
Beserman unstressed *ȯ > ө
|-
|*ɔ̈
|𐍩
|ӧ
|ӧ
|ӧ
|ӧ
|*ö, *ü
|Udmurt unstressed *ɔ̈ > у
Irregularly, Komi *ɔ̈ > е
|-
|*ö
|𐍞
|о
|о
|у
|у
|*ä, e, i, ö, ü
|Beserman *ö > ө
|-
|*u̇
|𐍨
|ы
|ы
|ө
|ы
|*u, *ü mainly
|Beserman *u̇ > ө
|-
|*i
|𐍙
|и
|и
|и
|и
|*i, *e mainly
|
|-
|*u
|𐍣
|у
|у
|у
|у
|*a, *o mainly
|Irregularly, Udmurt *u > ы/и
Irregularly, Beserman *u > ө
|-
|*ü
|𐍣
|у
|у
|у
|у
|*ä, *e *i, *ö, *ü
|Beserman *ü > ө
Irregularly, Udmurt *u > ы/и
|}
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
! colspan="7" |Vowel correspondences in Permic languages (non-initial syllable)
|-
!Proto-Permic
!Old Komi
!Komi-Zyrian
!Komi-Permyak
!Komi-Yazva
!Udmurt
!notes
|-
|*a
|𐍐
|а
|а
|a
|а / о
|
|-
|*ä
|𐍩
|ӧ
|ӧ
|ө
|е
|
|-
|*i
|𐍙 / 𐍨
|и / ы
|и / ы
|и / ө
|и / ы / у
|different realisations in
dialectal Udmurt
|}

==Morphophonology==
Noun [[Word root|roots]] in the Permic languages are predominantly monosyllabic and invariable with the canonical shape (C)VC. CV roots, such as Udmurt ву /ʋu/, Komi and Permyak ва /ʋa/ 'water', and (C)VCC roots, such as Udmurt урт /urt/, Komi орт /ort/ 'soul', exist as well. In Udmurt, there are furthermore a number of bisyllabic roots, mostly of the shape (C)VCɯ.<ref>Bartens 2000, p. 66</ref>

In noun roots with certain final clusters, the second consonant surfaces only when followed with a vowel in inflected or derived forms :

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Full cluster !! Shortens to !! Example
|-
| -nm- || -n || син {{IPA|/ɕin/}} 'eye'
|-
| -pt- || -p || шеп {{IPA|/ʃep/}} 'ear of corn'
|-
| -kt- || -k || кык {{IPA|/kɯk/}} '2'
|-
| -sk- || -s || мус {{IPA|/mus/}} 'liver'
|-
| -ʃk- || -ʃ || мыш {{IPA|/mɯʃ/}} 'back'
|-
| -ɕk- || -ɕ || юсь {{IPA|/juɕ/}} 'swan'
|}

Udmurt has similar alternation for a number of other clusters of the shape ''voiced consonant''+/m/, while Komi-Zyryan adds a number of clusters of the shape ''voiced consonant''+/j/.<ref>Bartens 2000, p. 69-71</ref>

The verb root for 'to come': Udmurt лыкты- {{IPA|/lɯktɯ-/}}, Komi локты- {{IPA|/loktɯ-/}} also shows alternation to plain /k/ in e.g. the imperative (in Udmurt only dialectally).<ref>Bartens 2000, p. 178</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|title=Историческая грамматика коми языка|last=Lytkin|first=Vasily|year=1957|publisher=Коми книжное издательство|location=Syktyvkar|language=ru}}
* {{cite book|title=Исторический вокализм пермских языков|last=Lytkin|first=Vasily|year=1964|publisher=Наука|location=Moscow|language=ru}}
* {{cite book|title=Краткий этимологический словарь коми языка|last=Lytkin|first=Vasily|year=1970|publisher=Наука|location=Moscow|language=ru}}
* {{cite book|title=Permiläisten kielten rakenne ja kehitys|last=Bartens|first=Raija|year=2000|publisher=Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura|location=Helsinki|language=fi|isbn=952-5150-55-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Csúcs|first=Sándor|title=Die Rekonstruktion der permischen Grundsprache|year=2005|series=Bibliotheca Uralica|volume=13|language=de|publisher=Akadémiai Kiadó|location=Budapest|isbn=963-05-8184-1}}
*{{cite book |last1=Riese |first1=Timothy |editor1-last=Abondolo |editor1-first=Daniel |title=The Uralic Languages |date=8 April 2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-13500-2 |pages=249–275 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VWDxBwAAQBAJ |language=en}}

==Further reading==
* [[Ante Aikio|Ante, Aikio]]. "Studies in Uralic Etymology V: Permic Etymologies". In: ''Linguistica Uralica'' LVII, nr. 3 (2021): 161–179. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.3176/lu.2021.3.01
* Fedjunjova, Galina. "Etnitsheskije kontakty i divergentsija permskich jazykov" [Ethnic Contacts and the Divergence of the Permic Languages]. In: ''Linguistica Uralica'' 50, nr. 2 (2014). pp.&nbsp;109–121. DOI: 10.3176/lu.2014.2.03

==External links==
* ''S. K. Belykh.'' [http://www.udmurt.info/library/belykh/swadesh.htm Swadesh list for Permic languages]
* [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Permic-languages#ref258838 Permic languages]

{{Uralic languages}}

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[[Category:Permic languages| ]]
[[Category:Languages of Russia]]