Finnic

Finnic (Fennic, sometimes Baltic-Finnic) may refer to Finnish-similar languages spoken close to the Gulf of Finland, i.e., the Balto-Finnic subgroup of the Finno-Ugric languages or, alternatively, a larger subgroup that also includes the Sami languages.

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In modern Finnish and Estonian usage, the term 'Finnic' may also refer to what are perceived as culturally related ethnic groups, i.e., the settled peoples speaking Balto-Finnic languages, traditionally living in Karelia, Ingria, Estonia, Finland, northernmost Norway and northern Sweden, and their farmer-hunter culture. The term 'Finnic peoples' can be used in this way to establish a contrast to the 'Slavic peoples' ('Slavs'), the 'Baltic peoples' ('Balts'), and the 'Germanic peoples' (including 'Scandinavians'), but also to the more distantly akin, and historically nomadic, Sami people.

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According to the Estonian Fenno-Ugria Foundationhttp://www.suri.ee/r/index.html, the areas of historical settlement by indigenous Finnic peoples include (from South to North):

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• Livonians (coastal areas of the Gulf of Riga)
• Estonians (south of Gulf of Finland)
• Votians (near River Narva and River Inger)
• Ingrians (south-east of Gulf of Finland – River Narva – River Neva – Lake Ladoga)
• Vepsians (south-west of Lake Onega)
• Karelians (north-east of Gulf of Finland – Lake Ladoga – Lake Onega)
• Finns (north of Gulf of Finland)

It is debatedhttp://www.sgr.fi/ct/ct51.html whether or not 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 or not Russian chud (чудь) is borrowed from Sami or vice versa.

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Finnic: History ►



 

Finnish: Finnish may refer to:...

Gulf of Finland: The Gulf of Finland is an arm of the Baltic Sea that extends between Finland (to the north) and Estonia (to the south) all the way to the city of Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn....

Balto-Finnic: REDIRECT Baltic-Finnic languages...