Selected Cognates
The following is a very brief selection of cognates in basic vocabulary across the Uralic family, which may serve to give an idea of the sound changes involved. This is not a list of translations: cognates have a common origin, but their meaning may be shifted and loanwords may have replaced them. In general, Finnic languages, and of them Finnish is considered to be the most conservative of the Uralic languages, especially with regard to vocalism. (An example is porsas ("pig"), loaned from Proto-Indo-European *porḱos or pre-Proto-Indo-Iranian *porśos, unchanged since loaning save for loss of palatalization, *ś → s.)
| English | Proto-Uralic | Finnic | Samic | Mordvinic | Mari | Permic | Ugric | Samoyedic | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finnish | Estonian | North | Inari | Erzya | Komi | Udmurt | Khanty | Mansi | Hungarian | Tundra Nenets | |||
| 'fire' | *tuli | tuli (tule-) | tuli | dolla | tulla | tol | tul | tyl- | tyl | – | – | – | tuu |
| 'water' | *weti | vesi (vete-) | vesi | – | – | ved´ | wüt | va | vu | – | wit | víz | jiʔ |
| 'ice' | *jäŋi | jää | jää | jiekŋa | jieŋa | ej | i | ji | jə | jeŋk | jaaŋk | jég | – |
| 'fish' | *kala | kala | kala | guolli | kyeli | kal | kol | – | – | kul | kul | hal | xalʲa |
| 'nest' | *pesä | pesä | pesa | beassi | peesi | pize | pəžaš | poz | puz | pel | pitʲii | fészek | pʲidʲa |
| 'hand, arm' | *käti | käsi (käte-) | käsi | giehta | kieta | ked´ | kit | ki | ki | köt | kaat | kéz | – |
| 'eye' | *śilmä | silmä | silm | čalbmi | čalme | śeĺme | šinča | śin | śin, śinm- | sem | sam | szem | sæwə |
| 'fathom' | *süli | syli (syle-) | süli | salla | solla | seĺ | šülö | syl | sul | ɬöl | tal | öl | tʲíbʲa |
| 'vein / sinew' | *sï(x)ni | suoni (suone-) | soon | suotna | suona | san | šün | sən | sən | ɬan | taan | ín | teʔ |
| 'bone' | *luwi | luu | luu | – | – | lovaža | lu | ly | ly | loγ | luw | – | le |
| 'liver' | *mïksa | maksa | maks | – | – | makso | mokš | mus | mus | muγəl | maat | máj | mudə |
| 'urine' | *kunśi | kusi (kuse-) | kusi | gožža | kužža | – | kəž | kudź | kyź | kos- | końć- | húgy | – |
| 'to go' | *meni- | mennä (men-) | minema | mannat | moonnađ | – | mija- | mun- | myn- | mən- | men- | megy-/men- | mʲin- |
| 'to live' | *elä- | elää (elä-) | elama | eallit | eelliđ | – | ila- | ol- | ul- | – | – | él- | jilʲe- |
| 'to die' | *ka(x)li- | kuolla (kuol-) | koolema | – | – | kulo- | kola- | kul- | kul- | kol- | kool- | hal- | xa- |
| 'to wash' | *mośki- | – | mõskma1 | – | – | muśke- | muška- | myśky- | myśk- | – | – | mos- | masø- |
1Võro dialect
(Orthographical notes: The hacek denotes postalveolar articulation ('ž', 'š', 'č' ), while the acute denotes a secondary palatal articulation ('ś', 'ć', 'l' ). The Finnish letter 'y' and the letter 'ü' in other languages represent a high close rounded vowel, while 'y' in transcriptions of Permic is a central unrounded vowel . The vowels 'ä' and 'ö' are the fronted and, respectively.
Read more about this topic: Uralic Languages
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