The influence of Finno-Ugric words on the Russian language. Which peoples belong to the Finno-Ugric group

Section four FINNO-UGRIAN BELIEFS AND MYTHS

All Finno-Ugric languages ​​are represented in the USSR and the absolute majority of peoples who speak these languages ​​live. The exceptions are the Finns, Hungarians and Sami, the bulk of whom are settled outside Soviet Union. Apart from the Khanty and Mansi, who live in Western Siberia, all other Finno-Ugric peoples of the USSR live in the European part of the country. Their languages ​​are divided into the following branches: 1) Baltic-Finnish, consisting of two groups - northern (Finnish, Izhorian, Karelian and Vepsian languages) and southern (Estonian, Votic and Livonian); 2) Sami - Sami language; 3) Mordovian - Erzya and Moksha languages; 4) Mari - Mari language; 5) Perm - Udmurt and Komi languages; 7) Ob-Ugric-Khanty and Mansi languages; 8) Hungarian-Hungarian language. The Ob-Ugric and Hungarian branches are usually combined into the Ugric group, the remaining branches into the Finnish group.

There is a significant difference between the Finno-Ugric languages ​​of different branches, about the same as there is between the languages ​​of individual branches of the Indo-European family of languages ​​- for example, French and German. On the other hand, the proximity of languages ​​belonging to the same branch to each other is approximately the same as what we observe in the languages ​​of the same branch of the Indo-European language family, for example, in Russian and Polish. The Samoyed languages ​​are genetically related to the Finno-Ugric languages, together with which they form the Uralic family of languages.

Finno-Ugric languages ​​have a number of common features in grammar, phonetics and vocabulary, going back to a single source - the Finno-Ugric language-base, which was spoken by the most ancient Finno-Ugric tribes.

Most scientists consider Eastern Europe, the region of the middle reaches of the Volga and Kama, the region lying between the Volga bend and the Ural ridge, to be the original homeland of the Finno-Ugrians.

The people who spoke a Finno-Ugric language lived for thousands of years in this territory in the vicinity of the Indo-Iranian peoples located to the south of the Finno-Ugric peoples. The Indo-Iranians had a significant influence on the Finno-Ugric language. Some borrowings penetrated into the common Finno-Ugric language from the pre-Indo-Iranian language (for example, the name of a pig: Udm. Pars, Finnish. porsas\ honey: Komi Zha, Finnish. mesi), the other* part, of later origin, came from the common Indo-Iranian language (for example, words denoting with a hundred;: udm. syu, mord, syado, Finnish. sata, Hung. szaz etc., with horn) - udm. Sur, Mar. jiur, mord, syuro, Finnish. sarvi, Hung. szarv) etc.

The Finno-Ugric language-base was probably divided into territorial dialects. In the process of settling over the vast territory of Eastern Europe, speakers of individual dialects began to gradually separate from the main mass of Finno-Ugric peoples and lose contact with the latter; as a result, their dialects developed into independent languages.

About 2.5 thousand years BC. e. (and perhaps earlier) the eastern branch of the Finno-Ugric languages ​​separated, which subsequently served as the basis for the formation of peoples speaking Ugric languages, i.e., Hungarian, Khanty and Mansi; the languages ​​of that part of the tribes that remained after the separation of the Ugrians formed a linguistic unity for a long time (the so-called Baltic-Finnish-Permian unity).

In the 1st millennium BC. e. the Permian branch emerged, which included languages common ancestors Komi and Udmurts. Later, probably long before our era, the other two branches emerged: the Baltic-Finnish and the Volga.

Peoples speaking Finno-Ugric languages ​​have had contact with neighboring peoples throughout their history. This is indicated numerous borrowings, as in general throughout language family, and in individual branches and languages. For example, in the Baltic-Finnish language, there are Baltic borrowings that penetrated in the last centuries BC. e.; the second layer consists of ancient Germanic borrowings, which began to penetrate into the Baltic-Finnish languages ​​at the turn of our era, and the third layer is ancient Slavic borrowings (V-VIII centuries AD), which appeared after the collapse of the Baltic-Finnish language. Finnish language-basics.

The Udmurt, Komi and Mari languages ​​were adopted known number both ancient Chuvash (VII-XIII centuries) and words of the Chuvash language that are more recent in origin.

Influenced the Mari, Udmurt and Mordovian languages strong influence Tatar language, carriers of which appeared in the Volga region in the 13th century. n. e. Mordovians and Mari came into contact with eastern groups ancient Balts.

The Karelians and Vepsians, who once lived in close proximity to the Komi (X-XV centuries AD), had a noticeable influence on the Komi language and, finally, all East Finnish languages ​​were strongly influenced by the Eastern Slavs, especially Russians, with with which they live side by side for a number of centuries. Sometimes there was a change of languages. For example, the Sami originally spoke one of the Samoyed languages. They adopted Finno-Ugric speech from their southern neighbors no later than the common Baltic-Finnish era.

The languages ​​of the Finno-Ugric peoples continued to develop during the period of their isolated life. As a result, they diverged from each other so much that they retained only a small layer in their language from the Finno-Ugric language-base in the form of common grammatical features, words common origin and sound correspondences.

So, for example, the characteristic archaic short consonant affricates s, s’ have been preserved to one degree or another in all Finno-Ugric languages: in some to a greater extent(for example, in Permian), and in others - to a lesser extent (for example, in Baltic-Finnish and Ob-Ugric). At the same time, the palatal consonants s’, V, p’ completely disappeared in the Baltic-Finnish languages ​​and were completely preserved in the Permian languages. Long consonants (kk,tt and pp), which were found in the Finno-Ugric proto-language, in the middle of the word were preserved only in the Baltic-Finnish and Sami languages.

Thanks to numerous changes in consonants that occurred in different Finno-Ugric languages ​​in different directions, the consonant systems of modern languages ​​began to differ significantly from each other. If some consonants have been preserved unchanged (for example, sonorants), then the other part of the sounds in modern Finno-Ugric languages ​​is presented in the form of natural sound correspondences. So, for example, the word 'mouse' sounds in Finnish hiire, Hung. egir, muzzle, sheer (sejer), udm. Shir.

In the area of ​​vowel sounds in Finno-Ugric languages, the situation is even more complicated. Ancient system vowels are best preserved in the Baltic-Finnish and Sami languages, and in other languages ​​great changes have occurred: in the Mordovian, Mari and Permian languages, for example, the distinction between long and short vowels has been lost; middle vowels were formed (Komi $, e, a); in Mari, Moksha-Mordovian and in some dialects Udmurt language there was a reduction of the voice x (d, §, etc.); in the Mordovian dialects and in most dialects of the Permian languages, the labialized front vowel (th) disappeared, etc.

Characteristic limited use Labialized vowels in the non-first syllable are observed not only in modern Baltic-Finnish, but also in some other Finno-Ugric languages ​​(for example, in Udmurt and Komi). Currently, in the Finno-Ugric languages, labialized and long (where available) vowels are also found in the non-first syllable, but in them these categories of vowels appeared later, as a result of independent development sound system these languages.

The vocalism of the first and non-first syllables is directly related to the law of vowel harmony, which is expressed in the agreement of the vowels of suffixal syllables with the vowels of the word base: if the base has a front vowel, then a front vowel appears in the suffixes (Finnish. kddessd with in hand 5); the back vowel of the base corresponds to the back vowel in the suffixal syllable (Finnish. sanassa s in word 5). Vowel harmony is characteristic of all Finno-Ugric languages, with the exception of Udmurt, Komi and Sami languages.

Most modern linguists are inclined to believe that in the proto-language the stress was necessarily on the first syllable and that the previous place of stress was preserved in the Baltic-Finnish languages, Sami, Hungarian and Mansi, excluding the southern dialects; the peculiarities of stress in the remaining Finno-Ugric languages ​​(Perm, Mordovian, Mari and Khanty), where it is not associated with the first syllable, in their opinion, are explained by the separate development of these languages ​​- the influence of Turkic languages ​​(for example, in South Mansi and Udmurt, in which it usually rests on the last syllable), changes in the vowel system, etc. However, it is equally acceptable to assume that in the most ancient base language stress was not lexically fixed, but more or less free.

The Finno-Ugric proto-language was characterized by a two-syllable stem of the word, ending with a short vowel sound e or less often ah. It is well preserved in Finnish. In other languages, large changes have occurred in the basis of the word due to the loss of final vowels and under the influence of other factors (for example, Finnish. vere-, Sami, varra, Mord, Ver, Mar., Vur, Hung. vir, Komi and Udm. vir with blood>).

In modern Finno-Ugric languages, a word begins with one consonant or (less often) with one vowel sound. A cluster of consonants or vowels at the beginning of a word is usually found in borrowed and figurative words.

Ancient case indicators have been preserved in almost all modern Finno-Ugric languages: in some in the form case endings, in others - as part of complex case forms, thirdly - as part of adverbs and postpositions. Most modern Finno-Ugric languages ​​are multi-case (Hungarian has 21 cases, Finnish -15, Komi -16, Udmurt -15, Mordovian -12, etc.). In polycase languages, a number of case endings arose either from postpositions and ancient case endings, or from a combination of different primary case affixes.

The ancient dual number was preserved only in the Mansi, Khanty and Sami languages.

The Finno-Ugric language-base belonged entirely to agglutative languages. Meanwhile in modern languages Along with agglutination, there are already some features of an inflectional nature.

Let us also note the following features of the Finno-Ugric languages. In almost all modern Finno-Ugric languages: a) there is one type of declension and one type of conjugation; only in certain languages ​​(for example, Mari and Udmurt) apparently two types of conjugation were developed later; b) the present and future tenses of the verb do not differ from each other in their form (compare Komi Gizha with writing and writing 5); c) the presence of a special negative verb, which changes in the same way as other verbs (cf. mar. om lud s don’t read 5, from lud s don’t read 5, ogegi lud s doesn’t read 5, etc.); in the Hungarian language the conjugated forms of the negative verb have been lost; d) word formation and inflection are carried out, as a rule, with the help of suffixes; prefixes found in some modern languages ​​are new; e) the adjective-definition precedes the word being defined and does not agree with it (mord, od kudo with new house 5, od kudoso with in new house 5, od kudot with new houses 5, etc.); The exception is the Baltic-Finnish languages, in which there is agreement between the adjective-definition and the word being defined (cf. Finnish. uudessa kirjassa s in the new book 5, uudesta kirjasta c from the new book 5).

Currently, there is writing in Hungarian, Estonian, Mordovian (Erzyan and Moksha), Mari (meadow-eastern and mountain dialects), Udmurt and Komi (Komi-Zyryan and Komi-Permyak dialects).

Estonian colloquial is divided into three dialects: coastal, North Estonian and South Estonian. Coastal dialects are common in coastal strip along the Gulf of Finland, especially in its eastern part.

The largest group of Estonian dialects is the North Estonian dialect. It is distributed in northern and central Estonia, over a vast territory stretching from the Baltic Sea to Lake Peipsi. On the basis of the northern dialect (mainly the Central Northern dialect of this dialect), the modern Estonian literary language developed.

The South Estonian dialect is divided into three dialects: Western, Tartu and Võru.

Writing in Estonian appeared in the 16th century. The first printed book was published in 1535. In the XVI-XVIII centuries. literature was published in two dialects: South Estonian and North Estonian. The literary language was under strong German influence. In the 19th century in the process of forming the Estonian nation, a transition was made from two literary languages ​​to a single one with its simultaneous democratization. Enormous merit in the development of the national literary language belongs to the educational writer F. R. Kreutzwald. Currently, individual dialects of the Estonian language, under the influence of school, print, and radio, have become noticeably closer and are developing under the strong influence of the literary language.

The Mordovian literary languages, Erzya and Moksha, mainly serve the Mordovian population of the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. They were formed after October revolution. On the territory of the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Moksha dialects are united into three dialect groups: northern, southwestern and southeastern. The northern dialects of the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic are common in the northwestern regions: Temnikovsky, Krasnoslobodsky and some others. The southwestern dialects are in the territory of Zubovo-Polyansky, Shiringushsky, Torbeevsky and some other regions. The southeastern group of dialects (otherwise known as Insar) is distributed on the territory of the Insarsky, Ruzaevsky, and partly Staroshaigovsky districts of the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. One of the northern Moksha dialects is adopted as the basis for the Moksha-Mordovian literary language. The Erzya-Mordovian literary language is based on dialects spoken mainly in the Ardatov region of the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

Mordovian literary languages ​​are close and differ from each other in much the same way as Ukrainian differs from Belarusian. The Moksha literary language is characterized by the presence of a front vowel a and a reduced vowel d, as well as voiceless consonants l x, p x, l X, /?ъ x, y x. These sounds are absent in the Erzya literary language. There is also a well-known difference in vocabulary and grammar.

The Mari language has three dialects: meadow, eastern and mountainous, on the basis of which two literary languages ​​were formed - meadow-eastern and mountainous. The Meadow dialect mainly covers the territory of the Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and adjacent areas of the Kirov region. The southern border runs along the river. Volga, western - along the Bolshaya Kokshaga, Mamoksha and Yaranka rivers, eastern - along the line of the Mariets plant, Mosara, Mari Kitnya, Izi Morko and further to the last Mari settlements.

The eastern dialect is widespread in the territory of the Tatar, Udmurt and Bashkir ASSR, Sverdlovsk and Perm regions, as well as in the southeastern part of the Kirov region. The eastern dialect is quite close to the meadow dialect, so representatives of these dialects use a single literary language.

The mountain dialect exists only in the area of ​​Sanchursk, Yaransk (Kirov region), Kilemar (Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) and nearby territories. In this dialect, two dialects are distinguished: southern (Kozmodemyansky) and northern (Iranian). The literary language is based on the southern dialect. Currently, the Mari are striving to move to a single meadow-eastern literary language, which is used by 80% of the population.

The main difference between the three dialects is expressed mainly in phonetics, for example, in the eastern dialect there is a phoneme a, in the mountain dialect there is a phoneme a and a reduced front vowel y, in the meadow there are no these sounds. The mountain dialect differs from the meadow and eastern dialects much more than the latter from each other. This difference is expressed not only in phonetics, but also in grammar and vocabulary, for example, the plural form in the mountain dialect is formed using a special suffix -ela; There are several hundred words of the main vocabulary that are incomprehensible to representatives of other dialects.

The Mari had a written language even before the revolution, starting from the 18th century, but they did not have a developed literary language: not great literature with predominantly religious content, it was published in different dialects and had different graphics and spelling.

The Udmurt language is divided into three dialects: northern, southern and southwestern.

The dialect of the Besermians, a small group living in the northwestern part of the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic among the Udmurts who speak a northern dialect, is somewhat special. It is noticeably different from other dialects of the Udmurt language. There is reason to believe that the Besermyan dialect is the awakened language of some Turkic people. The majority of Udmurts speak northern and southern dialects.

The difference between the adverbs of the Udmurt language is expressed both in vocabulary and in grammar and phonetics. The following phenomena are characteristic of the northern dialect: the use of many words before a bilabial at the beginning w (vaz instead of az with early 5 other dialects); in many dialects of this dialect there is a middle vowel in instead of ы of other dialects (shvr instead of gayr with mouse 5); special vocabulary: chachcha S forest\ zdk big 5, etc. The southern dialect is characterized by the presence of a special nasal consonant g] (ng): bag], ‘face 5; special vocabulary: nylpi with children\atay with father 5 idr. The southwestern dialect is characterized by the presence of front-middle series b, y, close to German b, y; at the beginning of the word db instead of y in other dialects (dad instead of yb s ice 5); in affricates з, х the plosive element is very weak; specific words: aldar with liar\ tenke with ruble; and etc.

Writing in the Udmurt language appeared in the 18th century, but before the revolution, unified norms of the literary language did not take shape.

The dialectal basis of the Udmurt literary language, which developed over a number of decades in various dialect environments, is currently not entirely clear. In its own way grammatical structure and phonetics, it is closer to the dialects of central Udmurtia and contains elements of other dialects both in vocabulary and in grammar (for example, along with valyosta, the form of southern dialects valyesyz ‘horses 5’ is allowed).

The Komi language is divided into three dialects: Komi-Zyryan, Komi-Permyak and Komi-Yazva. On the basis of the first two of them, after the October Revolution, special literary languages ​​were formed, and the Komi-Yazvins do not have their own written language. The Komi-Zyryan dialect is divided into dialects: Nizhnevychegodsky, Prisyktyvkarsky, Verkhnevychegodsky, Srednesysolsky, Verkhnesysolsky, Luzsko-Letsky, Udora (Vashko-Mezensky), Izhemsky and Pechora. The Komi-Zyrian literary language is based on the Prisyktyvkar dialect.

The Komi-Permyak dialect consists of three main dialects: Kosinsky-Kama (northern), Invensky (southern) and Zyuzdinsky (in the upper reaches of the Kama, Kirov region). The first two dialects are common in Komi- Permyak district Perm region The northern dialect is characterized by the presence of the sound l, which is absent in the southern dialect (northern vol, southern vdv with horse 5, northern lok, southern vok^idi 5); The exception is the Nerdvinsky and Onkovsky dialects, which are geographically adjacent to the southern dialect, but have the sound l. Komi-Permyak literary language serving national population Komi-Permyak district, is based on the Kudymkar-Inven dialect, but with the use of the sound l in the form in which it is used in the Komi-Zyryan literary language. Such moderate use of the consonant l was introduced into the literary language in order to bring together the two main Komi-Permyak dialects.

The difference between the Komi-Zyryan and Komi-Permyak languages ​​is insignificant; it is expressed in some phonetic differences.

The Komi-Yazva dialect is noticeably different from other dialects in its phonetics: there are front-mid vowels o, u, wide vowel back row e, a special accent system and a whole series special words: mountain with voice 5, kesek with meat 5, code with well 5, vepnv with say 5, etc.

In the XIV century. missionary Stefan created writing in the ancient Komi language based on Greek and Slavic letters and translated some church books. Ancient Komi writing by the 17th century. was forgotten, replaced by Russian-based graphics. In the XVII-XX centuries. Before the October Revolution, there was some literature in the Komi language, but it was published in different dialects and did not have uniform spelling standards.

Thus, the Mordovians, Mari, Udmurts and Komi are infantile peoples; their literary languages ​​took shape only after the October Revolution. During the years of Soviet power, quite a large literature was created in these languages ​​and a tremendous amount of work was done to standardize the language and scientific study his. Currently, newspapers and magazines, textbooks for primary schools are published in these languages, and fiction of all genres is being developed: poems, plays, novels, etc.

The Karelians, Vepsians, Vods, Livs, and Izhorians currently do not have a written language in their native language. Experiments to create writing in these languages ​​were carried out several times, but historically they were not consolidated. These were mainly translations of religious books and individual examples of literary creativity.

In the 30s, an attempt was made to create writing, textbooks and schools in the Karelian, Vepsian and Izhorian languages. This attempt played some role in the process of eradicating illiteracy. Karelians currently use Russian or Finnish (mainly Northern part Karelia) literary languages, Vepsians - Russian, Vods - Russian or Estonian, Livonians-Latvian, Izhorians-Russian or Finnish.

The Karelian language, widespread in the Karelian ASSR, as well as in the Kalinin and Novgorod regions (where Karelians moved from the north in the 17th century), is divided into dialects: Karelian proper (northern part of the Karelian ASSR, Kalinin and Novgorod regions), Lyudikovsky (south -east Karelian ASSR) and Livvikovsky (southwest of the Karelian ASSR).

The Izhorian language is genetically closest to Karelian language and to the eastern dialects of Finnish. The main dialects are Soykinsky, Kheva, Lower Luga and Upper Luga.

Vepsians live surrounded by the Russian population in the Leningrad and Vologda regions and in Karelia on the shore of Lake Onega. The Onega group is territorially separated from the rest of the Vepsians. The following dialects of the Vepsian language are distinguished: South Vepsian, Middle Vepsian and Onega.

The Votic language is currently spoken by several dozen people, mainly old people, living in the Leningrad region, not far from the northern border with Estonia.

The Livonian language serves as a means of communication at home for only 400-500 people who are bilingual; Their second language is Latvian, which they use outside the home.

The Sami (Lapp) language is divided into three dialects that are quite distant from each other (western, southern and eastern). In the Soviet Union, on the Kola Peninsula, there lives a small group of Sami who speak an eastern dialect (Lovozersky, Notozero and other dialects). Among the foreign Sami in Finland, Sweden and Norway (there are more than 30 thousand of them) since the 17th century. There is a written language, but it is of very limited use, and a small number of books and newspapers are currently published. In the 30s, an attempt was made to create a written language for the Sami of the USSR based on Latin alphabet. Currently, the Sami of the Kola Peninsula use the Russian literary language.

Among those living on the planet today there are many unique, original and even somewhat mysterious peoples and nationalities. These, undoubtedly, include the Finno-Ugric peoples, who are considered the largest ethno-linguistic community in Europe. It includes 24 nations. 17 of them live in the Russian Federation.

Composition of the ethnic group

All the numerous Finno-Ugric peoples are divided by researchers into several groups:

• Baltic-Finnish, the backbone of which consists of quite numerous Finns and Estonians, who formed own states. This also includes the Setos, Ingrians, Kvens, Vyrs, Karelians, Izhorians, Vepsians, Vods and Livs.
• Sami (Lapp), which includes residents of Scandinavia and the Kola Peninsula.
• Volga-Finnish, which includes the Mari and Mordovians. The latter, in turn, are divided into Moksha and Erzya.
• Perm, which includes Komi, Komi-Permyaks, Komi-Zyryans, Komi-Izhemtsy, Komi-Yazvintsy, Besermyans and Udmurts.
• Ugorskaya. It includes the Hungarians, Khanty and Mansi, separated from each other by hundreds of kilometers.

Vanished Tribes

Among the modern Finno-Ugric peoples there are also numerous nations, and very small groups - less than 100 people. There are also those whose memory is preserved only in ancient chronicle sources. The disappeared, for example, include Merya, Chud and Muroma.

The Meryans built their settlements between the Volga and Oka several hundred years BC. According to some historians, these people subsequently assimilated with East Slavic tribes and became the progenitor of the Mari people.

An even more ancient people were the Muroma, who lived in the Oka basin.

As for the Chud, this people lived along the Onega and Northern Dvina. There is an assumption that these were ancient Finnish tribes from which modern Estonians descended.

Regions of settlement

The Finno-Ugric group of peoples today is concentrated in northwestern Europe: from Scandinavia to the Urals, Volga-Kama, West Siberian Plain in the lower and middle reaches of the Tobol.

The only people who formed their own state at a considerable distance from their brethren are the Hungarians living in the Danube basin in the Carpathian Mountains region.

The most numerous Finno-Ugric people in Russia are the Karelians. In addition to the Republic of Karelia, many of them live in the Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Tver and Leningrad regions of the country.

Most of the Mordovians live in the Republic of Mordva, but many of them also settled in neighboring republics and regions of the country.

In these same regions, as well as in Udmurtia, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm and other regions, you can also meet Finno-Ugric peoples, especially many Mari here. Although their main backbone lives in the Republic of Mari El.

Komi Republic, as well as nearby regions and autonomous okrugs- place of permanent residence of the Komi people, and in the Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug and Perm region They live from their closest “relatives” - Komi-Permyaks.

More than a third of the population Udmurt Republic are ethnic Udmurts. In addition, there are small communities in many nearby regions.

As for the Khanty and Mansi, the bulk of them live in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. In addition, large Khanty communities live in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Tomsk region.

Appearance type

Among the ancestors of the Finno-Ugrians there were both ancient European and ancient Asian tribal communities, so in the appearance of modern representatives one can observe features inherent in both the Mongoloid and Caucasian races.

General features to distinctive features representatives of this ethnic group include average height, very light hair, wide cheekbones with an upturned nose.

Moreover, each nationality has its own “variations”. For example, the Erzya Mordvins are much taller than average, but at the same time have pronounced blue-eyed blond hair. But the Moksha Mordvins, on the contrary, are short, and their hair color is darker.

The Udmurts and Maris have “Mongolian type” eyes, which makes them similar to the Mongoloid race. But at the same time, the vast majority of representatives of the nationality are fair-haired and light-eyed. Similar facial features are also found among many Izhorians, Karelians, Vodians, and Estonians.

But Komi can be like dark-haired owners slanted eyes, and fair-haired with pronounced Caucasian features.

Quantitative composition

In total, there are about 25 million Finno-Ugric people living in the world. The most numerous of them are Hungarians, who number more than 15 million. Finns are almost three times less - about 6 million, and the number of Estonians is a little more than a million.

The number of other nationalities does not exceed a million: Mordovians - 843 thousand; Udmurts - 637 thousand; Mari - 614 thousand; Ingrians - just over 30 thousand; Kvens - about 60 thousand; Võru - 74 thousand; setu - about 10 thousand, etc.

The most small peoples are the Livs, whose number does not exceed 400 people, and the Vods, whose community consists of 100 representatives.

An excursion into the history of the Finno-Ugric peoples

About the origin and ancient history There are several versions of Finno-Ugric peoples. The most popular of them is the one that assumes the existence of a group of people who spoke the so-called Finno-Ugric proto-language, and maintained their unity until approximately the 3rd millennium BC. This Finno-Ugric group of peoples lived in the Urals and western Urals region. In those days, the ancestors of the Finno-Ugrians maintained contact with the Indo-Iranians, as evidenced by all kinds of myths and languages.

Later, the single community split into Ugric and Finno-Perm. From the second they subsequently separated Baltic-Finnish, Volga-Finnish and Permian language subgroups. Separation and isolation continued until the first centuries of our era.

Scientists consider the homeland of the ancestors of the Finno-Ugrians to be the region located on the border of Europe with Asia in the interfluve of the Volga and Kama, the Urals. At the same time, the settlements were located at a considerable distance from each other, which may have been the reason that they did not create their own unified state.

The main occupations of the tribes were agriculture, hunting and fishing. The earliest mentions of them are found in documents from the times of the Khazar Kaganate.

For many years, Finno-Ugric tribes paid tribute to the Bulgar khans and were part of the Kazan Khanate and Rus'.

In the 16th-18th centuries, the territory of Finno-Ugric tribes began to be settled by thousands of immigrants from various regions of Rus'. The owners often resisted such an invasion and did not want to recognize the power of the Russian rulers. The Mari resisted especially fiercely.

However, despite the resistance, gradually the traditions, customs and language of the “newcomers” began to supplant local speech and beliefs. Assimilation intensified during subsequent migration, when Finno-Ugrians began to move to various regions of Russia.

Finno-Ugric languages

Initially, there was a single Finno-Ugric language. As the group divided and different tribes settled further and further from each other, it changed, breaking up into separate dialects and independent languages.

Until now, Finno-Ugric languages ​​have been preserved by both large nations (Finns, Hungarians, Estonians) and small ones. ethnic groups(Khanty, Mansi, Udmurts, etc.). So, in the primary grades of a number Russian schools, where representatives of the Finno-Ugric peoples study, learn the Sami, Khanty and Mansi languages.

Komi, Mari, Udmurts, and Mordovians can also study the languages ​​of their ancestors, starting from middle school.

Other peoples speaking Finno-Ugric languages, may also speak dialects similar to the main languages ​​of the group they belong to. For example, the Besermen speak one of the dialects of the Udmurt language, the Ingrians speak the eastern dialect of Finnish, the Kvens speak Finnish, Norwegian or Sami.

Currently common words in all the languages ​​of the peoples belonging to the Finno-Ugrians, there are barely about a thousand. So, a “family” connection various peoples can be traced in the word “house”, which among the Finns sounds like koti, among the Estonians - kodu. Similar sound in “kudu” ​​(Mor.) and “kudo” (Mari).

Living next to other tribes and peoples, the Finno-Ugric peoples adopted culture and language from them, but also generously shared their own. For example, “rich and powerful” includes Finno-Ugric words such as “tundra”, “sprat”, “herring” and even “dumplings”.

Finno-Ugric culture

Archaeologists find cultural monuments of the Finno-Ugric peoples in the form of settlements, burials, household items and jewelry throughout the entire territory inhabited by the ethnic group. Most of the monuments date back to the beginning of our era and early Middle Ages. Many peoples have managed to preserve their culture, traditions and customs until today.

Most often they manifest themselves in various rituals (weddings, folk holidays etc.), dancing, clothing and living arrangements.

Literature

Finno-Ugric literature is conventionally divided by historians and researchers into three groups:

• Western, which includes works of Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian writers and poets. This literature was influenced by literature European peoples, has the richest history.
• Russian, the formation of which begins in the 18th century. It includes works by authors of the Komi, Mari, Mordovians, and Udmurts.
• Northern. The youngest group, developed only about a century ago. It includes works by Mansi, Nenets, and Khanty authors.

At the same time, all representatives of the ethnic group have a rich heritage folklore. Every nationality has numerous epics and legends about heroes of the past. One of the most famous works folk epic is the Kalevala, which tells about the life, beliefs and customs of our ancestors.

Religious preferences

Most of the peoples belonging to the Finno-Ugrians profess Orthodoxy. Finns, Estonians and Western Sami adhere to the Lutheran faith, while Hungarians adhere to the Catholic faith. At the same time, ancient traditions are preserved in rituals, mostly wedding ones.

But the Udmurts and Mari in some places still retain their ancient religion, just like the Samoyeds and some peoples of Siberia, they worship their gods and practice shamanism.

Features of national cuisine

In ancient times, the main food product of the Finno-Ugric tribes was fish, which was fried, boiled, dried and even eaten raw. Moreover, each type of fish had its own own way preparations.

The meat of forest birds and small animals caught in snares was also used as food. The most popular vegetables were turnips and radishes. The food was richly seasoned with spices such as horseradish, onions, hogweed, etc.

The Finno-Ugric peoples prepared porridges and jelly from barley and wheat. They were also used to fill homemade sausages.

Modern Finno-Ugric cuisine, which has been strongly influenced by neighboring peoples, has almost no special traditional features. But almost every nation has at least one traditional or ritual dish, the recipe for which has been handed down to the present day almost unchanged.

A distinctive feature of the cuisine of the Finno-Ugric peoples is that in food preparation preference is given to products grown in the place where the people live. But imported ingredients are used only in the smallest quantities.

Save and increase

In order to preserve the cultural heritage of the Finno-Ugric peoples and pass on the traditions and customs of their ancestors to future generations, all kinds of centers and organizations are being created everywhere.

Much attention is paid to this in the Russian Federation. One of such organizations is the non-profit association Volga Center of Finno-Ugric Peoples, created 11 years ago (April 28, 2006).

As part of its work, the center not only helps large and small Finno-Ugric peoples not to lose their history, but also introduces other peoples of Russia to it, helping to strengthen mutual understanding and friendship between them.

Famous representatives

Like every nation, the Finno-Ugric peoples have their own heroes. Famous representative Finno-Ugric people - the nanny of the great Russian poet - Arina Rodionovna, who was from the Ingrian village of Lampovo.

Also Finno-Ugrians are such historical and modern personalities, like Patriarch Nikon and Archpriest Avvakum (both were Mordvins), physiologist V. M. Bekhterev (Udmurt), composer A. Ya. Eshpai (Mari), athlete R. Smetanina (Komi) and many others.