Volga Bulgarian-Permic linguistic contact: Mutual influences on morphology

Abstract

In this paper, I argue that three morphological (morphosyntactic) features in Udmurt, Komi, Volga Bulgarian and Chuvash show mutual influence between the Proto-Permic and Volga Bulgarian languages in the Volga-Kama area in the late first millennium CE: First, the formal identity of the Permic accusative and 3sg possessive suffixes which does not have parallels in Uralic but in Turkic. Second, the Volga Bulgarian and Chuvash plural marker -sem, which is unknown from other Turkic languages. Third, the prohibitive particle an in Chuvash, which does not have cognates in Turkic and is loaned from Proto-Permic.