Georgy Chagin’s Contribution to the Linguistic Study of Perm Krai

The research work analyzes the contribution that Georgy Nikolaevich Chagin, a historian, ethnographer, ethnologist, specialist in local history, made to the linguistic study of Perm Krai. The article is intended not only for narrow specialists in linguistics but also for researchers from other humanities fields. Among the scientific interests of Georgy Chagin, two main linguistic areas can be distinguished. First, the scientist built interdisciplinary connections as he referred to linguistic data in order to study ethnogenesis and migration processes in the Perm region. Using the example of one of the most significant works written by the scientist (the monograph Perm the Great Trough Toponymic Evidence), the paper discusses his fundamental approaches to the study of onomastics (toponyms, surnames of local residents, ethnonyms). Particularly interesting is the appendix to the monograph – Materials for the dictionary of geographical names of the Northern Kama region, requiring a full-fledged study by philologists, historians, geographers. The commonality of methodological approaches employed by Georgy Chagin and linguists is noted, these based on the etymology of proper names, onomastic isoglosses, quantitative data, etc. Despite some errors and inaccuracies, the contribution of the historian-ethnographer to linguistics of Perm Krai appears to be undeniable. As to the other major area of his linguistic interest, of particular significance are Chagin’s activities aimed at the revival of the Komi-Yazva language and culture, with the ultimate goal of establishing and consolidating the ethnic identity of this group, residing in the Krasnovishersky district of Perm Krai, as a separate people. Despite all the efforts made by the scientist, the issue has not been resolved definitively, but Chagin’s great role was in drawing attention to it. The researcher introduced new language materials into scientific circulation, outlined certain tasks for further studies on linguistic data of the Yazva variant of the Komi language, used the applied potential of linguistic resources as a source of non-linguistic information, highlighted the socio-political potential of the language as one of the factors in national identity and self-determination.