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Concept
Udmurts
Summary
The Udmurts (Удмуртъёс, ) are a Permian (Finnic) ethnic group in Eastern Europe, who speak the Udmurt language. In the course of history, Russian-speakers have referred to them as (чудь отяцкая), Otyaks, Wotyaks or Votyaks.
The name Udmurt comes from *odo-mort 'meadow people,' where the first part represents the Permic root *od(o) 'meadow, glade, turf, greenery', and the second part, murt means 'person' (cf. Komi mort, Mari mari), probably an early borrowing from an Iranian language (such as Scythian): *mertä or *martiya 'person, man' (cf. Persian mard), which is thought to have been borrowed from the Indo-Aryan term *maryá- 'man', literally 'mortal, one who is bound to die' (< PIE mer- 'to die'), compare Old Indic márya 'young warrior' and Old Indic marut 'chariot warrior', both connected specifically with horses and chariots. This is supported by a document dated 1557, in which the Udmurts are referred to as lugovye lyudi 'meadow people', alongside the traditional Russian name otyaki.
On the other hand, in the Russian tradition, the name 'meadow people' refers to the inhabitants of the left bank of river in general. Recently, the most relevant is the version of V. V. Napolskikh and S. K. Belykh. They suppose that ethnonym was borrowed from the Iranian entirely: anta-marta 'resident of outskirts, border zone' (cf. Antes) → Proto-Permic *odə-mort → Udmurt udmurt.
Most Udmurt people live in Udmurtia. Small groups live in the neighboring areas of Kirov Oblast and Perm Krai, Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, and Mari El.
The Udmurt population is shrinking; the Russian Census reported 552,299 in 2010, down from the 2002 Russian census figure of 637,000, in turn down from 746,562 in 1989.
The 2021 census counted fewer Udmurts than had the 1926 census.
Udmurt cuisine
The Udmurt language belongs to the Uralic family.
The Udmurts have a national epic called Dorvyzhy. Their national musical instruments include the krez zither (similar to the Russian gusli) and a pipe-like wind instrument called the chipchirghan.
Official source
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