Permic Languages - Phonology

Phonology

The Proto-Permic consonant inventory is reconstructed as:

Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar
Palatal Velar
Plosives and
affricates
p t t͡ʃ t͡ɕ k
b d d͡ʒ d͡ʑ ɡ
Fricatives s ʃ
v z ʒ
Nasals m n ŋ
Approximants w l j
Trill r

This inventory is retained nearly unchanged in the modern-day Permic languages. Komi has merged original *w into /v/ and undergone a change *l → /v/ or /w/ in many dialects, while Udmurt has changed word-initially *r → /d͡ʒ/. *ŋ is retained only in some Udmurt dialects; in other Permic varieties it has become /m/ next to back vowels, /n/ next to central vowels, /nʲ/ next to front vowels.

In later Russian loanwords, the consonants /f x t͡s/ can occur.

The consonant *w was marginal and occurred only word-initially or after a word-initial *k, generally traceable to diphthongization of the close back vowel of the 2nd series. An exceptional word is the numeral "six", *kwatʲ, which in Komi is the only native word root with an initial cluster.

Literary Komi and literary Udmurt both possess a seven-vowel system /i ɨ u e ə o a/. These are however not related straightforwardly, and numerous additional vowels are required for Proto-Permic, perhaps as many as 15 altogether. The reconstruction of Proto-Permic vocalism and its development from Proto-Uralic has always been a puzzling topic, for which there are several models. There is general agreement on the existence of two series of close vowels, one of which results in modern /i ɨ u/ in literary Udmurt and literary Komi-Zyrian, the other in correspondences of Udmurt /e ɨ u/ to Komi /e ə o/ (but long /iː ʉː uː/ in the Komi-Yodzyak language). Proposed distinguishing factors for these include length (*u, *uː), tenseness (*ʊ, *u) and height (*u, *o).

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