Permic

The Permic languages are a branch of Uralic languages spoken in west-central Russia. The family consists of Udmurt and Komi; the Permyak dialect of Komi is sometimes also included as a separate language.

Vowels

A schematic reconstruction of the proto-Permic vowel system:

• Stable vowels: *i *ɯ *uu *e *ɤ *a
  • Length in *uu is purely hypothetical; this is to mark that unlike the vowel denoted *u (perhaps [ʊ]?), it is not subject to unrounding in Udmurt.
• Derounding (short?) vowels: *ö *o *u → Udmurt /o o ɯ/ ~ Komi /e ɤ u/
  • (There does not seem to be an *ü → **/i/ ~ **/ü/.)
• A series of (long?) vowels close in Udmurt but mid in Komi: *oo *ɤɤ → U. /u ɯ/ ~ K. /o ɤ/
  • In Komi, initial cases acquire a preceding /v/.
  • Expected *oo becomes /a/ in Komi, when an older (non-surviving) intervocalic *t follos. This is written as *oo^ð.
• A series of (long?) vowels open in Udmurt but mid in Komi: *åå *aa → U. /a a/ ~ K. /o ɤ/
• The vowels reconstructed as "long" seem to result mostly from PU *open vowels, those reonstructed as "short" mostly from PU *close vowels.
• Awaiting explanation
  • /e/ ~ /ɤ/ (sporadic from *ä_a: *pära, *säppa, *kärta, *läśa, *käna, *käća)
  • /i/ ~ /ɯ/ (*ńëxli, *künči, *jürä)
  • /ɯ/ ~ /e/ (sporadic from *ä: *wäśka, *läxmi, *mäćV - might be a split from *ɯ)
  • /wi/ ~ /uji/ (*kôlmi - from *uujV?)
  • /i/ ~ /e/ (sporadic from *ä: *śäŋki, *läppa, *wü/äðim) (*ee? "marrow" also U. /-ijɯ-/)
  • /ɯ/ ~ /i/ (*ćara)
  • /ɯ/ ~ /o/ (sporadic from *ä: *läkti-, *mäjaka)
  • /u/ ~ /ɯ/ (*to, *süli, *käpsa, *jewa)
  • /u/ ~ /e/ (*satVr, *ponti)
  • /u/ ~ /ɤ/ (*śüćV, *süD´än)
  • /u/ ~ /a/ (*wanša)
  • /ɤ/ ~ /ɯ/ (*nôla)
  • /ɤ/ ~ /e/ (*pÄĺka)
  • /ɤ/ ~ /o/ (*kAl-)
  • /o/ ~ /a/ (*čokV-)
  • /a/ ~ /u/ (*vooti) - reverse of expected outcome, may be data mixup? Álgu has /vo/ for Komi
  • /a/ ~ /e/ (*käliw) (*ää?)
  • /ä/ ~ /o/ (*täji) (does /ä/ even exist in Udmurt??)
  • Note the popularity of Udmurt high vowels

Consonants

Permic is notorious within Uralic for contrasting voicing in obstruents even initially. There is no accepted explanation for the origin of this contrast, and some words even alternate (eg. )

A distinctiv later development is initial *r → ? *dr → /dʐ/ in Udmurt.