The article aims to demonstrate the gradualness of grammaticalization of (what are traditionally regarded as) desinential case exponents in selected Finno-Ugric languages: Hungarian, Finnish and Estonian. Taking into consideration the specificity of the Finno-Ugric desinential case markers, the author develops a list of parameters which make it possible to fix the relative grade of grammaticalization of the analyzed linguistic entities. The computations show the heterogeneous and simultaneously dynamic nature of the desinential case category in each investigated language; one can trace in them the presence of more and less grammaticalized case endings which build up a kind of semi-continuum, i.e. there are no large gaps between different stages of grammaticalization. The diagram depicting the number of desinential cases occupying respective positions on the grammaticalization scale resembles the Gaussian distribution; i.e. the extrema are occupied by a relatively small number of cases, the majority of them being grouped in the middle of the scale.
The Eastern Udmurt are a peripheral Udmurt ethnographic group whose members live mostly in Bashkortostan. This article introduces the reader to the migrations that led to the formation of this group, and to the main cultural characteristics that determine the originality of the Eastern Udmurt. Their settling in the Bashkir lands took place due to the penetration of the Russian power in the Volga region, which happened in the sixteenth century through warfare that damaged the local population. They started to settle in more peaceful regions, and the migration was continued in the subsequent centuries, reaching the peak with the forceful Evangelisation of the eighteenth century. This culture is rich and original: it has retained many Udmurt features as the ethnic religion that is still alive, and has merged with Turkic features in several important aspects, such as language, costume, and music. This continues with the observation of Eastern Udmurt organisations and the relation to their core territory, nowadays the Republic of Udmurtia.
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