| Bjarmian languages | |
| Extinct: | early 2nd millenium |
| Familycolor: | Uralic |
| Fam2: | Finnic |
| Map: | Map of Biarmia.jpg |
| Region: | Bjarmia |
| Acceptance: | geographic |
| Mapcaption: | 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]
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 pronounced as /link/. 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.
Some toponyms in Bjarmia also have the sound pronounced as /link/ instead of pronounced as /link/.
Janne Saarikivi suggests that some Sámi languages were spoken in Bjarmia alongside Finnic languages.
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.
| burnt-over clearing | |
| bush | |
| board | |
| slope | |
| slime | |
| yellow | |
| wild reindeer | |
| dark | |
| hay | |
| fine sand | |
| thief | |
| narrow | |
| red | |
| cold |
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.
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'.