Finno-Ugric

The Finno-Ugric (sometimes Finno-Ugrian) group of languages form a branch of the Uralic family, a sub-family of Indo-European. The family is widely dispersed: the two main branches in western Europe (west of the Ural Mountains) are first,

• the Finnic languages,
  • Finnish, the language of Finland, though spoken by minorities in such neighbouring countries as Sweden and Russia;
  • Estonian, the language of Estonia, spoken also in Russia and around the eastern Baltic;
  • Lappish or Lapp, spoken largely within the Arctic Circle.
• Further south in Europe (and clearly distinct, geographically speaking, from the Finnic languages, are the Ugric or Ugrian, which take their name from one used by Russian writers for a tribe of people:
  • the most important is Hungarian, known to its speakers as Magyar. (Their word for their country is Magyarország.) Everett-Heath notes: "The present name is derived from On Ogur ‘Ten Arrows’, the name of a group of tribes (seven Magyar and three Kavar) living along the north shore of the Black Sea before they moved to modern Hungary during the 9th century."
    • The eastern group of Finno-Ugric languages are spoken mostly within the former Soviet Union. The group includes
      • A sub-group found near the River Ob, including Ostyak (or Khanty) and Vogul (or Mansi)
      • A sub-group found in and around the Kola Peninsula, including Karelian, Veps, Ingrian and Votic
      • A sub-group around the River Volga, including Mordvin, Mari (or Cheremis), Udmurt (or Votyak) and Komi (or Zyryan).