On the Ethnonym Vepsä by the Izhorians

Abstract

The author presents on his own field materials of the late 20th — early 21th centuries a motley ethnonymic situation at Izhorians. It has been shown that individual local groups of Izhorians are marked with specific exo- and endoethnonyms, indicating a lack of ethnic unity between these groups in the foreseeable past. The author revealed the existence of a separate group of Izhorians in western Ingermanland (Volosovskii and Lomonosovskii districts of the Leningrad region) with the self-name vepsä / vepsäläiset ‘Vepsians’. This group and the ethnonym marking it did not come to the attention of researchers, due to early russification. The long existence of this group of russified Izhorians settlements is proved, confirmed both topographically and by historical sources. The legacy of the term vepsä / vepsäläinen is preserved in toponyms and surnames, and on a much wider territory than Izhora proper. The question of the relationship of the ethnonym vepsä / vepsäläinen in Izhora Upland and elsewhere remains open.