Language Information

Komi is another of the Finno-Ugric languages spoken in north-eastern European Russia. It is closely related to Udmurt (Votvak), spoken to the south, the two constituting the so-called Permian branch of this family.

There are two dialects of Komi. Traditionally they were known as Zyrian and Permyak, but in the Soviet era the former has been designated Komi-Zyrian or simply Komi, the latter Komi-Permyak. Komi-Zyrian is spoken by about 275,000 people in what is now the Komi A.S.S.R. (capital: Syktyvkar), which extends over a large area (the size of California) eastward to the North Ural Mountains and north past the Arctic Circle. Komi-Permyak is spoken by about 275,000 people in what is now the Komi Republic (capital: Syktyvkar), which extends over a large area (the size of California) eastward to the North Ural Mountains and north past the Artic Circle. Komi-Permyak is spoken by about 125,000 people in the much smaller Komi-Permyak National District (capital: Kudymkar), bordering the Komi Republic on the South. Komi.

Komi is written in the Cyrillic alphabet with two non-Russian letters,the i and ö.

Komi Republic (Russia), Russia.

Family: Uralic
Subgroup: Finno-Ugric
Branch: Finnic

Writing Sample

Translation

Once upon a time there lived a man named Önyö-makö. He had five daughters-in-law: one made of clay, another of birch bark, another of hay, another who was a broom, another a bubble. Önyö-makö himself just stood around. The daughter-in-law of clay he sent to fetch water. It began to rain and she was washed away. The daughter-in-law of birch bark he sent to light the fire in the bath. She struck a match, her tail caught fire, and she burned up. The daughter-in-law of hay he sent to feed hay to the cow. The wind began to blow and swept her into the mouth of the cow. The cow ate her up. The daughter-in-law who was a broom he sent to sweep the shed but she got caught between the floorboards. The daughter-in-law who was a bubble laughed and laughed until she burst. And Önyö-makö just stood around.