View source for Social:Bjarmian languages

{{Short description|Extinct Finnic language of Europe}}

{{Infobox language
| name       = Bjarmian languages
| speakers     = 
| extinct     = ?
| familycolor   = Uralic
| fam2       = Finno-Permic?
| fam3       = Finnic
| map       = Map of Biarmia.jpg
}}

'''Bjarmian languages''' are a group of extinct Finnic languages once spoken in [[History:Bjarmaland|Bjarmia]], or the northern part of the Dvina basin.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hauge|first=Arne|date=2018-11-22|title=Kadonnut, Mystinen Bjarmia|url=https://www.ruijan-kaiku.no/kadonnut-mystinen-bjarmia/|access-date=2021-10-01|website=Ruijan Kaiku|language=fi}}</ref> 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 also be found in the Dvina basin.<ref name=":0">{{Cite thesis|last=Saarikivi|first=Janne|title=Substrata Uralica: Studies on Finno-Ugrian Substrate in Northern Russian Dialects|type=PhD|publisher=University of Helsinki|location=Helsinki, Finland|url=https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/19635|isbn=978-952-10-4519-6}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite thesis|last=Koskela Vasaru|first=Mervi|title=Bjarmaland|publisher=University of Oulu|location=Oulu, Finland|type=PhD|series=''Acta Universitatis Ouluensis'' B Humaniora 145|year=2016|isbn=978-952-62-1396-5|url=https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:9789526213965}}</ref>

== 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/.

Later a [[Social:Karelian language|Karelian]]-like language started to be spoken in Bjarmia, which did not have the Karelian sound shift of /aa/ into /ua/. Some toponyms in Bjarmia also have the sound /ʃ/ instead of /s/.

Janne Saarikivi suggests that some [[Social:Sámi languages|Sámi languages]] were spoken in Bjarmia alongside Finnic languages.<ref name=":0" />

== 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 toponyms of Finno–Ugric origin.<ref name=":0" />
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Bjarmian
!English
|-
|*kaski
|burnt-over clearing
|-
|*hattara
|bush
|-
|*lauta
|board
|-
|*palttV
|slope
|-
|*lima
|slime
|-
|*kelta
|yellow
|-
|*petra
|wild reindeer
|-
|*pime
|dark
|-
|*haina
|hay
|-
|*leettek
|fine sand
|-
|*varkas
|thief
|-
|*kicca
|narrow
|-
|*ruske
|red
|-
|*kylmä
|cold
|}

== 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. Their source is Finnic languages.<ref name=":0" />

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 "<u>Viena</u>nmeri" (White Sea). Norse sagas also documented a Bjarmian word "Jómali", which is likely related to Finnish "Jumala" 'God'.<ref name=":1" />

== See also ==
*Pomor dialects
*[[Social:Karelian language|Karelian language]]

== References ==
<references />

==Further reading==
* Helimski, Eugene, "The "Northwestern" Group of Finno-Ugric Languages and its Heritage in the Place Names and Substratum Vocabulary of the Russian North", in Juhani Nuorluoto (ed.), ''Slavica Helsingiensia 27: The Slavicization of the Russian North. Mechanisms and Chronology''. Helsinki. 2006.
* Jackson, Tatjana N., "Bjarmaland Revisited", in ''Acta Borealia 00-2002''. 2002. A survey of Western and Russian Literature on Bjarmaland. 
* Ross, Alan S. C., ''Terfinnas and Beormas''. London: Viking Society for Northern Research. 1981. Reprint of 1940 Edition.
* Saarikivi, Janne, "The Divergence of Proto-Uralic and its Offspring: A Descendent Reconstruction", in (eds.) Bakro-Nagy et al., ''The Oxford Guide to the Uralic Languages''. OUP. 2022.

{{Uralic languages}}

[[Category:Extinct languages of Europe]]

{{Sourceattribution|Bjarmian languages}}