Finno-Volgaic languages
Finno-Volgaic or Fenno-Volgaic is a hypothetical branch of the Uralic languages that tried to group the Finnic languages, Sami languages, Mordvinic languages and the Mari language. It was hypothesized to have branched from the Finno-Permic languages about 2000 BC.
| Finno-Volgaic | |
|---|---|
| (hypothetical) | |
| Geographic distribution | Northern Fennoscandia, Baltic states, Southwestern and Southeastern Russia |
| Linguistic classification | Uralic
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| Subdivisions |
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| Glottolog | None |
The distribution of Finno-Volgaic languages | |
The Finnic and Sami languages are sometimes grouped together as Finno-Samic languages, while Mordvinic and Mari were formerly grouped together as the obsolete group of the Volga-Finnic languages.
The current stage of research rejects Volga-Finnic, while the validity of Finno-Samic and Finno-Permic remains disputed. In particular the position of Mari within the alleged grouping appears to be marginal, while more evidence can be found uniting specifically Finnic, Samic and Mordvinic.
Only a single uniting phonological feature of the Finno-Volgaic languages has been proposed: the loss of the consonant *w before rounded vowels.
Lexical evidence for a Finno-Volgaic group is weak as well. Less than ten word roots are known that would be shared by all four member groups, while being absent from the other Uralic languages.