ON THE DIALECTAL BASIS OF THE OLD PERMIAN LITERARY LANGUAGE

The development of their own literary language among the medieval Permians - the ancestors of the modern Komi - appears to be a unique phenomenon in the eastern part of the Finno-Ugric world. The question of the dialectal basis on which this literary language was formed was previously dealt with according to historical considerations almost without taking into account its proper linguistic features. The study of these features undertaken in the present article has demonstrated that no one of the modern Komi dialects can directly go back to the medieval dialect that formed the basis of the Old Permian literary language. Hence it follows that this medieval dialect existed in the territory where the Komi language is now lost. Taking into account the history of the Christianization of the Permians, with which the development of their own literary language was associated, it is most likely that this dialect was spoken downstream the river Vychegda to the west of the modern Komi language area.