Komi-Yazva language

The Komi-Yazva language is a Permic language closely related to Komi-Zyrian and Permyak, native to and spoken mostly in Krasnovishersky District of Perm Krai in Russia, in the basin of the Yazva River. It has no official status. It is the most divergent of all the Komi varieties. About two thousand speakers densely live in Krasnovishersky District.

Studies

Availability of the particular vowels together with features of phonetics and stress system led Finnish linguist Arvid Genetz in 1889 to consider Komi-Yazva as a separate dialect. Later, this decision was confirmed by the famous Finno-Ugricist Vasily Lytkin, who studied the Komi-Yazva idiom in depth from 1949 until 1953. Some researchers consider it to be a dialect of the Komi-Permyak language.

Geographical distribution

In the early 1960s, about 2,000 speakers lived compactly on the territory of Krasnovishersky District of Perm Krai. In total, there were about 3,000 language-speakers.

Alphabet

The first Komi-Yazva primer was printed in 2003. Its author was the teacher of the Parshavskaya school A. L. Parshakova. This book also became the first one ever printed in Komi-Yazva language.