The Uralic languages PIRKKO SUIHKONEN Suihkonen, Pirkko (2002). The Uralic languages. Fennia 180: 1–2, pp. 165– 176. Helsinki. ISSN 0015-0010. This paper deals with the Uralic languages, their regional distribution and re- lationship with one another. The Uralic languages are spoken in a large area in North and Central Eurasia. Most of the Uralic languages are seriously en- dangered minority languages – only Finnish, Hungarian, and Estonian are prin- cipal national languages spoken in independent countries. Despite being rel- atives, the Uralic languages differ remarkably from one another. In the west, the Uralic languages have had most intensive relationships with Indo-Europe- an languages, and in the east, with Turkic languages. The differences within the language group carry information regarding these contacts. In the research of the Uralic languages, the proto-languages and the original home of the peo- ples speaking these languages have attracted particular interest. Comparative and historical methods and archaeology have been important in the research of the history of the Uralic languages. Pirkko Suihkonen, Department of General Linguistics, P. O. Box 9, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland. E-mail: [email protected] Introduction guages) based on the information available from the daughter languages. The so-called Proto-Ural- The Uralic languages, their regional distribution, ic dates back at least 5,000–4,000 years before and relationship with one another are examined contemporary era (B.C.E.) (cf. Koivulehto 1999a). in this article. In the first section, the Uralic lan- Excluding Hungarian, Estonian, Finnish, Livo- guages and peoples belonging to the ethnic group nian, and most of the Saami languages, the main identified by the name of the language are pre- areas where the Uralic languages are spoken are sented within the framework of statistical infor- located in Russia (Fig. 1). The North-Samoyedic mation. The section also contains a short overview languages are spoken in Eurasia’s northernmost of the investigations on the origin and the history areas: the Nenets live in the Nenets, Yamalo of the Uralic languages and their contemporary Nenets, and Taymyr Autonomous Areas, the Enets situation. In the second section of the article, the in the Taymyr Autonomous Area, and the Ngana- Uralic languages are described within the frame- sans in the Taymyr Autonomous Area and the work of language typology. In the last section, Krasnoyarsk Territory. The Nenets can also be some focal points in the study of the Uralic lan- found in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Area. guages will be summarized. The Selkup dialects are spoken in the Khanty- Mansiysk Autonomous Area and in the Tomsk Re- gion. In addition to their national areas, speakers The regional distribution of the of Mari, Udmurt, Komi, and especially Mordvin Uralic languages are scattered across Russia. As a consequence of the relocation of peoples during the Soviet peri- The concept Uralic languages is defined on the od in Russia, Estonian is also spoken, e.g., in the basis of their genetic classification, which is car- Krasnoyarsk Territory in Central Siberia. The Kare- ried out according to the historical and compara- lian Republic, the Tver, Murmansk and Leningrad tive methods used in historical linguistics. These Regions, and St. Petersburg are the principal are- methods are used to reconstruct a common pro- as where Karelians live. The Veps live in the Kare- to-language (the parent of the contemporary lan- lian Republic and in the Vologda and Leningrad 166Pirkko Suihkonen FENNIA 180: 1–2 (2002) Fig. 1. Peoples and groups of people belonging to the Uralic language family (Rikkinen et al. 1999: 49; Nacionalnyj… 1990; Census of Finland 1999; information on the speakers of the Saami languages is given by Ellen Näkkäläjärvi. Note that linguistic or ethnic data are usually not included in the census information in western European countries. Information on the Hungarian people in the Czech Republic was given by Michaela Kholova (Information Services Unit, CSO), and in Austria, by Ruth Hügelsberger, Statistics Austria, Bundesanstalt Statistik, Österreich). FENNIA 180: 1–2 (2002)The Uralic languages 167 Regions, and the Ingrians and the Vods are found The degree of endangerment in the Leningrad Region. The few remaining Livo- nian-speakers live in northern Latvia. Most of the The contemporary Uralic languages can be divid- people belonging to Khanty and Mansi ethnic ed into four main groups on the basis of the de- groups live in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous gree of their endangerment. The status of Hungar- Area. Khantys also live in the Tomsk Region and ian, Finnish, and Estonian, which all are princi- the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area. pal national languages in independent countries, The indigenous Saami people live in four coun- is protected by law in these countries. The legal- tries: in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia administrative and cultural activities in these (Fig. 1). Many speakers of Finnish, Hungarian, and countries support and maintain the position of the Estonian also live in other European countries as languages. The languages have the status of ma- well as in the United States, Canada, and Austral- jority languages, and their future depends first and ia. This migration of the peoples speaking the foremost on the speakers of these languages. Uralic languages, particularly those languages The position of the second group is less stable. with a large number of speakers, is a consequence The languages such as Udmurt, Mordvin, Mari, of numerous factors. The economic factors have and Komi, which have a relatively high number been among the most crucial ones. Extensive mi- of speakers, belong to this group. There are vari- gration from Finland to the USA, Canada and Aus- ous activities within these groups that support tralia at the turn and the first half of the twentieth their continuing existence. These languages have century, and to Sweden in the 1960s and 1970s, an official status in the national administrative re- are examples of migration caused, to a great ex- gions, and they are taught in school at various lev- tent, by periods of structural transformations and els. They are also taught at the universities, in even depression in Finland’s economy. Employ- which they are languages of instruction at the de- ment opportunities in the fishing industry in north- partments where the education of teachers and ern Norway have been important particularly for researchers of these languages is arranged. These people in northern Finland. languages are used in literature, newspapers, and Economic reasons caused migration also in the in productions of modern art and popular tradi- former Soviet Union: the Trans-Baikal railroad and tion, and research of these languages is active. numerous mines in Siberia were built by people That these languages are minority languages in the who moved to the east and to the north in order administrative regions where they are spoken to build a brave new world. In the Soviet period, causes serious problems. The number of people forced transfers of population concerned particu- belonging to the ethnic groups is usually notice- larly national minorities and ethnic groups. Mi- ably higher than that of the native speakers of gration of Russians to the areas originally popu- these languages. In several ways, the position of lated by minority groups changed permanently Karelian, North Saami, and Nenets falls between the structure of population in these areas. For ex- this second and the third, weaker group. Majori- ample, the Estonian and Finnish settlements in Si- ty languages have a strong position in everyday beria have their roots in this era. life, and, when excluding North Saami, they are, Wars have always caused migration, and a war e.g., the languages used in all higher education. often reorganizes the distribution of people and Majority languages also have the most important languages. Political, economic, and social reasons function in administration, and usually all the in- are also most crucial for a language’s death. For novations are learnt through the majority languag- example, Livonian can nowadays be considered es spoken in the area. In particular, assimilation to be a dead language, but at the beginning of of Karelians, Mordvins, and Komi-Permyaks into the last millennium Livonians formed a significant the main ethnic groups (that usually is Russian) minority group in Latvia. Little by little Livonians has been most extensive in the twentieth century assimilated to Latvians. Also the fightings that took (Suihkonen 1987; Lallukka 1995). The number of place in Courland during World War II were dis- North Saami speakers is much smaller than that astrous for Livonians. The Livonian fishermen in of the Volgaic and Permic languages, but the ac- Courland on the coast of the Baltic Sea were eco- tivities supporting North Saami are even more vi- nomically less dependent on the Latvian commu- tal than those in the Mari, Mordvin, Udmurt, and nity and thus survived the longest (e.g., Laakso Komi Republics. The fact that the speakers of 1991: 116–118). North Saami live in three countries (Norway, Swe- 168Pirkko Suihkonen FENNIA 180: 1–2 (2002) den, and Finland) complicates cooperation in guages, circa 1,000 B.C.E. (Korhonen 1981: 27; economic and cultural life. The same kind of sit- Rédei 2000). According to the most recent stud- uation applies to the Nenets and the Karelians ies, the proto-languages in the Uralic branch have who live in a large area in North Siberia and West a longer history. For example, the break-up of Pro- Russia, respectively. to-Finno-Saami is now dated to circa 2,500 B.C.E. The position of the third group is more difficult. (Sammallahti 1998: 33; cf. Koivulehto 1999b). The group consists of Veps, and the Ob-Ugric lan- The structure of the family tree is the outcome of guages Khanty and Mansi (cf.