Appendix:Cognate sets for Uralic languages
Uralic 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, Baltic-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 | Finnish | Estonian | North Sami | Inari Sami | Erzya | Mari | Komi | Khanty | Mansi | Hungarian | Nenets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 'fire' | *tuli | tuli (tule-) | tuli | dolla | tulla | tol | tul | tyl- | - | - | - | tu |
| 'fish' | *kala | kala | kala | guolli | kyeli | kal | kol | - | kul | kul | hal | xalʲa |
| 'nest' | *pesä | pesä | pesa | beassi | peesi | pize | pəžaš | poz | pel | pitʲii | fészek | pʲidʲa |
| 'hand, arm' | *käti | käsi (käte-) | käsi | giehta | kieta | ked´ | kit | ki | köt | kaat | kéz | - |
| 'eye' | *śilmä | silmä | silm | čalbmi | čalme | śel´me | šinča | śin | sem | sam | szem | sæw° |
| 'fathom' | *süli | syli | süli | salla | solla | sel´ | šülö | syl | ɬöl | täl | öl | tʲíbʲa |
| 'vein / sinew' | *sïxni | suoni (suone-) | soon | suotna | suona | san | šün | sën | ɬan | taan | ín | te' |
| 'bone' | *luwi | luu | luu | - | - | lovaža | lu | ly | loγ | luw | - | le |
| 'liver' | *mïksa | maksa | maks | - | - | makso | mokš | mus | muγəl | maat | máj | mud° |
| 'urine' | *kunśi | kusi (kuse-) | kusi | gožža | kužža | - | kəž | kudź | kos- | końć- | húgy | - |
| 'to go' | *meni- | mennä (men-) | minema | mannat | moonnađ | - | mija- | mun- | mən- | men- | megy-/men- | mʲin- |
| 'to live' | *elä- | elää (elä-) | elama | eallit | eelliđ | - | ila- | ol- | - | - | él- | jilʲe- |
| 'to die' | *kaxli- | kuolla (kuol-) | koolema | - | - | kulo- | kola- | kul- | kol- | kool- | hal- | xa- |
| 'to wash' | *mośki- | - | mõskma1 | - | - | muśke- | muška- | myśky- | - | - | mos- | masø- |
1Võro dialect
(Orthographical notes: The hacek denotes postalveolar articulation ('ž' IPA: [ʒ], 'š' IPA: [ʃ], 'č' IPA: [t͡ʃ]), while the acute denotes a secondary palatal articulation ('ś' IPA: [sʲ]). The Finnish letter 'y' and the letter 'ü' in other languages represent a high close rounded vowel IPA: [y]. The letter 'đ' in the Sami languages represents a voiced dental fricative IPA: [ð].
Finno-Ugric cognates
This is a sample of cognates in basic vocabulary across Uralic, illustrating the sound laws (based on the Encyclopædia Britannica and Hakkinen 1979). In general two cognates do not have the same meaning; they merely have the same origin. Thus, the English word in each row should be regarded as an approximation of the original meaning, not a translation of the other words. According to Estonian philologist Mall Hellam, the only entire sentence that is mutually intelligible is, "The living fish swims in water" (although it is not in fact mutually intelligible) [1] [2].
| English | Finnish | Estonian | Northern Sami | Inari Sami | Mari | Komi | Khanty | Hungarian | Finno-Ugric reconstruction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| heart | sydän, sydäm- | süda, südam- | - | - | šüm | śələm | səm | szív | *śüδä(-mɜ) (*śiδä(-mɜ)) |
| lap | syli | süli | salla, sala | solla | šəl | syl | jöl | öl | *süle (*sile) |
| vein | suoni | soon | suotna, suona | suona | šön | sən | jan | ín 'sinew' | *se̮e̮ne |
| go | mennä, men- | minna, min- | mannat | moonnađ | mije- | mun- | mən- | menni, megy | *mene- |
| fish | kala | kala | guolli, guoli | kyeli | kol | kul | hal | hal | *kala |
| hand | käsi, käte- gen. käden, part. kättä |
käsi, kät- gen. käe, part. kätt |
giehta, gieđa | kieta | kit | ki | köt | kéz | *käte |
| eye | silmä | silm | čalbmi, čalmmi | čalme | šinča | śin | sem | szem | *śilmä |
| ice | jää | jää | jiekŋa, jieŋa | jiena | ij | ji | jöŋk | jég | *jäŋe |
| louse | täi | täi | dihkki | tikke | tij | toj | tögtəm | tetű | *täje |
(Orthographical notes: The hacek denotes postalveolar articulation ('š' IPA: [ʃ]), while the acute denotes a secondary palatal articulation ('ś' IPA: [sʲ]). The Finnish letter 'y' and the letter 'ü' in other languages represent a high close rounded vowel IPA: [y]. The letter 'đ' in the Sami languages and 'δ' in reconstructions represent a voiced dental fricative IPA: [ð]. The Sami 'č' is a voiceless postalveolar affricate IPA: [t͡ʃ].)
Numbers
The numbers from 1 to 10 in several Finno-Ugric languages. Forms in italic do not descend from the reconstructed forms.
| Number | Baltic Finnic | Samic | Mordvinic | Mari | Permic | Ugric | Proto- Finno- Ugric |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finnish | Estonian | Võro | Livonian | Northern Sami | Inari Sami | Erzya | Moksha | Meadow Mari | Komi | Mansi | Khanty | Hungarian | ||
| 1 | yksi gen. yhden, part. yhtä |
üks gen. ühe, part. üht(e) |
ütś | ikš | okta | ohta | vejke | fkä | ikte | ətik | äkwa | ĭt | egy | *ükte |
| 2 | kaksi gen. kahden, part. kahta |
kaks gen. kahe, part. kaht(e) |
katś | kakš | guokte | kyeh´ti | kavto | kaftə | kokət | kɨk | kityg | kät | kettő/két | *kakta |
| 3 | kolme | kolm | kolm | kuolm | golbma | kulma | kolmo | kolmə | kumət | kuim | hurum | koləm | három, harm- | *kolme |
| 4 | neljä | neli | nelli | nēļa | njeallje | nelji | ńiľe | nilä | nələt | nəľ | nila | ńelä | négy | *neljä |
| 5 | viisi | viis | viiś | vīž | vihtta | vitta | veƭe | vetä | wizət | vit | ät | wet | öt | *viite |
| 6 | kuusi | kuus | kuuś | kūž | guhtta | kutta | koto | kotə | kuðət | kvajt | hot | kut | hat | *kuute |
| 7 | seitsemän | seitse | säidse | seis | čieža | čiččam | śiśem | sisäm | šəmət | sizim | sat | hét | N/A | |
| 8 | kahdeksan | kaheksa | katõsa | kōdõks | gávcci | käävci | kavkso | kafksə | kandaš(e) | kəkjamɨs | ńololow | nyolc | N/A | |
| 9 | yhdeksän | üheksa | ütesä | īdõks | ovcci | oovce | vejkse | veçksə | indeš(e) | əkmɨs | ontolow | kilenc | N/A | |
| 10 | kymmenen | kümme | kümme | kim | logi | love< | kemeń | keməń | lu | das | low | loŋət | tíz | *luke |
The number '2' descends in Ugric from a front-vocalic variant *kektä.
The numbers '9' and '8' in Finnic thru Mari are considered to be derived from the numbers '1' and '2' as '10–1' and '10–2'. One reconstruction is *yk+teksa and *kak+teksa respectively, where *teksa cf. deka is an Indo-European loan; notice that the difference between /t/ and /d/ is not phonemic, unlike in Indo-European. Another analysis is *ykt-e-ksa, *kakt-e-ksa, with *e being the negative verb.