Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate
Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate refers to substratum loanwords from unidentified non-Indo-European and non-Uralic languages that are found in various Finno-Ugric languages, most notably Sami. The presence of Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate in Sami languages was demonstrated by Ante Aikio.[1] Janne Saarikivi points out that similar substrate words are present in Finnic languages as well, but in much smaller numbers.[2]
| Languages of Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate | |
|---|---|
| Region | Northern Europe |
| Extinct | 1st millennium AD |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
 Languages in the early iron age | |
The number of substrate words in Sámi likely exceeds one thousand words.[3]
Borrowing to Saami from Paleo-Laplandic probably still took place after the completion of the Great Saami Vowel Shift. Paleo-Laplandic likely became extinct about 1500 years ago.[4]
The Nganasan language also has many substrate words from unknown extinct languages in the Taimyr peninsula.[5]
Theories
Some theories about the origin of the substrate in Sami languages link it to the unattested languages of post-Ahrensburgian cultures (Komsa & Fosna-Hensbacka cultures).[6] According to Aikio, the speakers of the Proto-Samic language arrived in Lapland around 650 BC and fully assimilated the local Paleo-European populations by the middle of 1st millennium AD. In his opinion, the detailed reconstruction of these languages is impossible.[1]
The languages of more eastern post-Swiderian cultures might have influenced Finno-Ugric languages as well. According to Peter Schrijver, some of these substrate languages probably had many geminated consonants.[7][8] Vladimir Napolskikh has attempted to link them to the hypothetical Dené–Caucasian language family, but later had to admit that these substrate words have no apparent parallels in any known language on Earth.[9]
Yuri Kuzmenko tried to compare them to the hypothetical Pre-Germanic substrate words, but found no similarities apart from the distinction between central and peripheral accentuation.[10]
Some examples of Kildin Sami words and corresponding Northern Sami cognates without convincing Uralic/Finno-Ugric (or any other) etymologies:[11]
| Kildin Sami | Northern Sami | English |
|---|---|---|
| kut’t’k | heart | |
| vuntas | sand | |
| poav’n | hummock | |
| k’ed’d’k | geađgi | stone |
| piŋŋk | biegga | wind |
| ket’t’k’ | geatki | wolverine |
| nigkeš | pike (fish) | |
| murr | muorra | tree |
| cigk | mist | |
| mun | frost | |
| pin’ne | to herd, to look after | |
| čujke | čuoigat | to ski |
| luhpel’ | 1 y.o. reindeer | |
| kipp’tε | to cook | |
| kuras | guoros | empty |
| modžes | beautiful | |
| n’učke | njuiket | to jump |
| čacke | čiekčat | to throw |
| tuллtε | duoldit | to boil |
| kuarktε | to boast | |
| лujx’ke | to cry | |
| nissε | to kiss | |
| madt | trouble |
| North Saami | English |
|---|---|
| beahcet | fish tail |
| cuohppa | fish meat |
| šákša | capelin |
| ája | spring |
| skuoggir | ethmoid bone |
| šuorja | giant shark |
| buovjag | beluga |
| ruomas | wolf |
| bákti | cliff, rock |
| gieva | boghole |
| váiši | wild animal |
| itku | shady place |
| roggi | hole |
| sátku | landing place |
| skuolfi | owl |
| čuovga | light |
| soavli | slush |
| gákšu | she wolf |
Aikio (2021) lists some other substrate vocabulary as:[12]
| Proto-form | Gloss |
|---|---|
| *wakštVrV | maple |
| *wešnä | wheat / spelt |
| *päkšnä | lime tree |
| ?*riŋiši | drying kiln |
| ?*räppä(-nä) | smoke hole |
| *tammi | oak |
| *särńä | ash |
| *ša/u(w)p(k)a | aspen |
| *le/i(j)p(p)ä | alder |
| *pVškV(nä) | hazel |
Irregular correspondences among Uralic languages are frequent among some words, such as 'to milk' and 'hazelnut'. These are presumed to be non-native loanwords by Aikio (2021):
| Language | Form | Gloss | Etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finnish | lypsää | to milk | < *lüpsä- or *lüpćä- |
| Mordvin | lovso, lofca | milk | < *lupsV or *lipsa |
| Mari | lüštem, dial. lüśtem, lǝštem | to milk | < *lüstä- ? < *lüps-tä- |
| Komi | li̮śt̮i- | to milk | < PNo *lüćtV- or *lućtV- (? < *lü/upć-tA-) |
| Language | Form | Gloss | Etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finnish | pähkinä, pähkenä | (hazel)nut | < *päškinä (?) |
| Mordvin | päšťä, päščä (etc.) | (hazel)nut | < *päš? |
| Mari | pükš | hazelnut | < ?*pekši |
| Udmurt | paš-, puš- | hazel(nut) | < *pVškV or *pVkšV |
Most of these words have cognates in all Sami languages. A more extensive list of such words can be found in G.M. Kert's 2009 work on Sami toponymics.[13] Semantically, pre-Sami substrate consists mostly of basic vocabulary terms (i.e. human body parts) and nature/animal names, and lacks terms of kinship and societal organization, which suggests a rather low level of socioeconomic development in pre-Sami cultures.[14]
Some possible substrate words can also be found in Finnish.[15]
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| saari | island |
| niemi | cape |
| oja | ditch |
| nummi | moor |
| ilves | lynx |
| koipi | leg |
| nenä | nose |
| jänis | hare |
| salakka | bleak |
| liha | meat |
Finno-Volgaic substrate
There are also some examples of possible substrate words in Finno-Volgaic languages that differ from the Pre-Sami substrate, i.e. Proto-Finno-Volgaic *täštä "star", or *kümmin "ten".[16][17]
Some words in Finno-Volgaic languages contain rare consonant clusters, which suggests loanwords from unknown languages.
Finnish words such as jauho (eng. flour), lehmä (cow), tähti (star), tammi (oak) and ihminen (human) could be substrate words.[16]
Toponyms
Some toponyms in Finland appear to be of non-Uralic origin; for example, a word "koita" regularly appears in hydronyms for long and narrow bodies of water and is thus probably the continuation of the native word for "long, narrow".[18]
Many other toponyms in Finland seem to come from a substrate language or from many substrate languages: among these are Saimaa, Imatra, Päijänne and Inari.[19]
There are also toponyms from a substrate language in Sápmi; for example, an ending -ir (< *-ērē) is commonly found in names of mountains and is probably the continuation of the substrate word for mountain.
Other such toponymic words are *skiečč 'watershed', *čār- ‘uppermost (lake)’, *jeak(k)- ‘isolated mountain’, *nus- ‘mountain top on the edge of a mountain area’, *sāl- ‘large island in the sea’, *čiest- ‘seashore cliff’, and *inč- ‘outermost island’.[4][1]
Languages
Because there are irregularities in Sami substrate words, they might have been borrowed from distinct, but related languages. In the west, the substrate languages probably had an s-type sibilant which corresponds to an š-type sibilant in the east.[4]
Because we only have fragments of Lakelandic Sami which were preserved in Finnish placenames and dialectal vocabulary, the features of the Paleo-Lakelandic substrate in Lakelandic Sami cannot be studied. Many placenames in Finland come from Sami words of unknown origin which are likely substrate words, such as jokuu from Proto-Sami *čuokōs ‘track, way’.
The Sami substrate in Finnish dialects also reveals that Lakelandic Sami languages had a high number of words with an obscure origin, likely deriving from old languages of the region.[4]
In terms of ancient population genetics, people preceding the speakers of Sami languages correlate with the spread of Y-DNA haplogroup I1 and mtDNA haplogroups H1 and U5b1b.[6] However, it is possible that the presence of Y-DNA haplogroup I1a* (a subclade of I1) among the Sami can be explained by migration during the last seven centuries.[20]
See also
References
- Ante Aikio (2004). "An Essay on Substrate Studies and the Origin of Saami". Irma Hyvärinen / Petri Kallio / Jarmo Korhonen (Eds.) 2004: Etymologie, Entlehnungen und Entwicklungen: Festschrift für Jorma Koivulehto zum 70. Geburtstag, Pp. 5–34. Mémoires de la Société Néophilologique de Helsinki 63. Helsinki.
- Janne Saarikivi «Studies on Finno-Ugrian substrate in Northern Russian dialects Archived 2017-08-30 at the Wayback Machine». Tartu University Press, 2006; pp. 257—279.
- Aikio, Ante. 2012. An essay on Saami ethnolinguistic prehistory. In: A Linguistic Map of Prehistoric Northern Europe, 63–11. Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran Toimituksia = Mémoires de la Société Finno-Ougrienne 266. Helsinki.
- https://www.sgr.fi/sust/sust266/sust266_aikio.pdf
- Juha, Janhunen. "Nganasan —a fresh focus on a little known Arctic language" (PDF).
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - K. Tambets et al. «The Western and Eastern Roots of the Saami—the Story of Genetic „Outliers“ Told by Mitochondrial DNA and Y Chromosomes». American Journal of Human Genetics, Volume 74, Issue 4, April 2004, cnh/ 661—682.
- Напольских В. В. К реконструкции лингвистической карты Центра Европейской России в раннем железном веке Archived 2017-09-27 at the Wayback Machine // Журнал «Арт» № 4, 2007 (in Russian)
- «Palaeo-European substratum in Lappish: looking for links to Celtic?» // Celto-Slavica-2. Second international colloquium of Societas Celto-Slavica. Moscow, 2006; pp. 66-67
- "Вопросы Владимиру Напольских-2. Uralistica".
- Кузьменко Ю. К. «Ранние германцы и их соседи: Лингвистика, археология, генетика.» СПб.: Нестор-История, 2011., стр. 181 (in Russian)
- Керт Г. М. (G. M. Kert), 2003. Этногенез саамов // Прибалтийско-финские народы России. Москва. С. 43-48. (in Russian)
- Luobbal Sámmol Sámmol Ánte (Ante Aikio); Sámi Allaskuvla, Guovdageaidnu. 2021. The layers of substrate vocabulary in Western Uralic. Sub-Indo-European Europe: Problems, Methods and Evidence (Leiden, Aug 30, 2021 presentation).
- Г. М. Керт «Саамская топонимная лексика» (in Russian; see pp. 140-154)
- Г. М. Керт «Саамский язык (кильдинский диалект): фонетика, морфология, синтаксис». «Наука», Л., 1971 (in Russian; see p. 9)
- Saarikivi, Janne (2 December 2006). "Substrata Uralica : Studies on Finno-Ugrian Substrate in Northern Russian Dialects".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - Неиндоевропейский субстрат в финно-волжских языках | Mikhail Zhivlov (in Russian)
- Kantauralin ajoitus ja paikannus: perustelut puntarissa | Jaakko Häkkinen (in Finnish)
- https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/38908/southeas.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
- "Saimaa".
- Andreas O Karlsson, Thomas Wallerström, Anders Götherström and Gunilla Holmlund (2006). "Y-chromosome diversity in Sweden – A long-time perspective". European Journal of Human Genetics. 14 (8): 963–970. doi:10.1038/sj.ejhg.5201651. PMID 16724001.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)