Finnic peoples
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The term Finnic peoples (Fennic, sometimes Baltic-Finnic) refers to peoples speaking the closely related Finnic languages (also known as Balto-Finnic languages). A Finnic language is the largest language in Finland (Finnish) and Estonia (Estonian). Most other Finnic languages are spoken in northwestern Russia, especially in areas close to Finland and Estonia. In parts of northern Sweden, Finnish has a considerable presence while more marginal Finnic minorities are found in Norway and Latvia. Whether the Finnic peoples also are more closely genetically related to each other than to their non-Finnic speaking neighbours is questionable. Like most other regions of continental Europe, the areas populated by Finnic peoples have seen a considerable mixing of peoples and language swifts. During the last millennium, Swedish language used to be more widespread in Finland and Estonia than it is today, Finnish used to be spoken over larger parts of Sweden than today and much of contemporary Latvia was inhabited by speakers of Finnic languages. This alone makes claims to a distinct Finnic genetic group dubious.
The term "Finnic" is also used sometimes to describe speakers of the Finno-Permic and Finno-Volgaic languages of the Uralic language family.
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[edit] History
There exist different theories on the pre-history of the farming Finnic peoples. According to earlier established theories, agricultural Finnic peoples were believed to have inhabited parts of what are now the Baltic countries several millennia BCE. They were thought to have migrated over the Karelian isthmus into the inland of present-day Finland and Karelia in the first millennium, perhaps due to the Germanic and Slavic migration period, or for other reasons. Since the 1970s, this theory has been considered obsolete: serious indications of any major migration do not exist. Archaeological record suggests instead a continuity of settlement from the Stone Age to the first millennium, and a continuous current of immigrants — and modern linguists agree[1].
The largest Finnic immigrant wave swept through northern Scandinavia in the 16th–18th centuries, stretching from Lake Vänern in the south to the Arctic Sea in the north.
[edit] Modern Finnic nations
The Finnic peoples and their subgroups are:
- Livonians [1]
- Estonians [2]
- Votians [3]
- Ingrians proper [4]
- Vepsians [5]
- Karelians [7]
- Finns proper [9]
The Ingrians, Tornedalians and Kvens are considered their own separate Finnic ethnic groups. The Forest Finns are an extinct ethnic group whose culture is undergoing a cultural revival by assimilated descendants. The Karelians, on the other hand, are occasionally seen as an eastern branch of the Finns proper. Some of the Finnic peoples are only linguisticly related to each other.
It is debated[12] whether the Chudes (mentioned by Jordanes 550 A.D.) were an unidentified Finnic tribe or whether a Finnic group might be considered to be the original Chudes. It has also been considered whether Russian chud (чудь) is borrowed from Sami or vice versa.
[edit] References
- ^ Christian Carpelan: On Archaeological Aspects of Uralic, Finno-Ugric and Finnic Societies before AD 800. The Slavicization of the Russian North. Edited by Jorma Koivulehto. Slavica helsingiensia 27. Helsinki 2006, pages 78 - 92
