Christopher
Culver

Doctoral Researcher, Finnish, Finno-Ugric and Scandinavian languages
Contacts between Iranian and Mari, Mordvin, and Permian

Contact

Links

ORCID

Areas of expertise

etymology
historical phonology
Mari language
Chuvash language
Mordvin languages
Permian languages
Iranian languages
Uralic languages
Udmurt language
Komi language
Ossetic language
Volga–Kama languages

Biography

I trained in Finno-Ugrian studies at the University of Helsinki, receiving my MA in 2012. In subsequent years I have published widely on topics of Mari etymology and historical phonology. Since 2025 I have been a doctoral researcher in Finno-Ugrian studies under Turku’s Utuling program.

Research

I am currently writing a PhD dissertation on prehistoric contacts between the Iranian language(s) once spoken in the South Russian steppe and three branches of the Uralic language family spoken in the neighbouring Volga–Kama region, namely Mari, Mordvin, and Permian. This research aims to not only contribute to the long and venerable tradition of studying Iranian loanwords in Uralic, it will also shed light on the history of the Ossetic language which, though now spoken in the North Caucasus, is a living descendant of Steppe Iranian.

Publications

Sort by:

People search