The correlation of the Komi-Permian and Komi-Zyryan elements in the vocabulary of the Upper-Kama idiom

Abstract

Introduction. The Upper-Kama dialect is one of the varieties of the Komi language, which is rather common in the Afanasyevsky area of the Kirov region. The dialect is an intermediate idiom between the Komi-Permian and Komi-Zyryan languages. The purpose of the paper is to analyze the Komi-Permian and Komi-Zyryan components in the lexical system of the dialect. Materials and Methods. The material for the study was collected during dialectological expeditions to the area of residence of the Kirov Permians in 2002–2012. It was collected from native speakers with a high level of language competence. The research was carried out using descriptive, comparative and statistical methods. Results and Discussion. The vocabulary of the Upper-Kama dialect is heterogeneous. The most numerous group of words common for the Komi-Permian and Komi-Zyryan dialects is distinguished. Lexemes in the Upper Kama dialects and at a larger territory in the Komi-Zyryan language, but are absent in the Komi-Permian one. There is also a group of words which correspondences are recorded in the southern Komi-Zyryan dialects: Mid-Sysola, Luza-Letka and mainly in the Upper-Sysola one. On the territory of the Upper-Kama idiom there are the lexemes, which isoglosses cover the Upper-Kama and Komi-Permian dialects. However, there are not so many similar Komi-Permian-Upper-Kama isoglosses; most of them can be found in the Zyryan dialects. As a result of the analysis of the texts in the Upper-Kama dialect, it turned out that the overwhelming majority of lexemes are found in all varieties of Komi languages. Conclusion. The analysis of the lexical composition of the Upper-Kama dialect has shown that the specified idiom cannot be unconditionally attributed to the Komi-Permian language, since the correlation of the Komi-Zyryan and Komi-Permian lexical features in it is approximately the same.