The nameUdmurt comes from *odo-mort 'meadow people', from thePermic root *od(o)[8] 'meadow, glade, turf, greenery' andmurt 'person' (cf.Komimort,Marimari,Mordvinmirď-), probably an early borrowing from anIranian language (such asScythian): *mertä or *martiya meaning 'person, man' (cf. Persianmard). This, in turn, is thought to have been borrowed from theIndo-Aryan term *maryá- 'man', literally 'mortal, one who is bound to die' (<PIE*mer- 'to die'), compareOld Indicmárya 'young warrior' and Old Indicmarut 'chariot warrior', both connected specifically with horses and chariots.[9] This is supported by a document dated 1557, in which the Udmurts are referred to aslugovye lyudi 'meadow people', alongside the traditional Russian nameotyaki.[10]
On the other hand, in the Russian tradition, the name 'meadow people' refers to the inhabitants of the left bank of a river in general. Most relevant in this regard is the recent theory proposed byV. V. Napolskikh and S. K. Belykh, who suppose that the ethnonym was borrowed from Proto-Iranian entirely:*anta-marta meaning 'resident of outskirts, border zone' (cf.Antes) → Proto-Permic *odə-mort →Udmurtudmurt.[11]
Under theRussian Empire, Udmurts were mainly called by theexonymsChud Otyatskaya (чудь отяцкая),Otyaks,Wotyaks[12] orVotyaks. Today these names are considered offensive by Udmurts themselves and are mainly used against those who have forgotten the Udmurt language. The Udmurts are closely related toKomis to their north, both linguistically and culturally.[citation needed]
The Udmurt population is shrinking; the Russian Census reported 552,299 in 2010, down from the2002 Russian census figure of 637,000, in turn down from 746,562 in 1989.[citation needed]The2021 census counted fewer Udmurts than had the1926 census.
The Udmurts have a national epic calledDorvyzhy. Their national musical instruments include thekrez zither (similar to the Russiangusli) and a pipe-likewind instrument called thechipchirghan.[13]
A chapter in the 1776 bookDescription de toutes les nations de l'empire de Russie is devoted to the description of the Wotyak people.[12][better source needed]James George Frazer also mentions a rite performed by the people in his bookThe Golden Bough.[14]
Many Udmurt people havered hair,[15][16] and a festival to celebrate the red-haired people has been held annually in Izhevsk since 2004.[17]
The Udmurts used to be semi-nomadic forest dwellers that lived in riverside communities. However, most Udmurts now live in towns. Although the clan-based social structure of the Udmurts no longer exists, its traces are still strong and it continues to shape modern Udmurt culture.[18]
According to the data gathered by Kristiina Tambets and others (2018), the majority (about 70%) of Udmurt men carry thehaplogroup N. The high frequency of this East Eurasian-related haplogroup is a common pattern among Uralic-speaking peoples. Most Udmurt men belong to the subcladeN1c and 16.8 percent of them belong the subcladeN1b-P43. The second most common Y-DNA haplogroup among Udmurts isR1a (19%).[19]
The most common maternal haplogroup for Udmurts isU (23.5%). Most Udmurts who have it belong to its subcladesU2 (10.4%) andU5 (9.3%). Nearly as common isH (22.5%). Other mtDNA haplogroups among Udmurts includeT (16.5%),D (11%) andZ (6%).[19]
Autosomal ancestry proportions of Udmurts and other populations.[20]
When it comes to the autosomal ancestry of Udmurts, around 30 percent of it isNganasan-like.[19][21] ThisSiberian component is typical for Uralic-speaking peoples. The rest can be modelled to be mostlySteppe-like with a smallereastern hunter-gatherer component,[19] orSrubnaya-like.[21] It is common for Northeastern Europeans to have a high level of Steppe-related admixture.[19]
^Christopher I. Beckwith. Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 2009. Page 397.
^abGeorgi, Johann Gottlieb (1776)."Les Wotyaks".Description de toutes les nations de l'empire de Russie (in French). St. Petersburg. p. 65., French translation ofJohann Gottlieb Georgi,Beschreibung aller Nationen des Russischen Reichs, ihrer Lebensart, Religion, Gebräuche, Wohnungen, Kleidung und übrigen Merkwürdigkeiten
Levin, Isidor[in German] (1962). "III. Forschungsberichte: Die Volkserzählungen der Wotjaken (Udmurten) (Mit Beiträgen von Walter Anderson)".Fabula (in German).5:101–155.doi:10.1515/fabl.1962.5.1.101.
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