Unicode Block - Old Permic

Old Permic is a historical script used for writing the Komi language and related Permic dialects in the medieval period, primarily from the 14th to 17th centuries. It was created by the missionary Stephen of Perm to translate religious texts and represents an early adaptation of Cyrillic, Greek, and runic influences. The characters in this script include distinct letters for vowel and consonant sounds, with some signs showing clear visual links to both the Greek alphabet and the traditional runic marks of the region, though it also features unique letterforms not found in neighboring writing systems. The script fell out of common use as Komi speakers gradually shifted to the standard Cyrillic alphabet, but it remains of significant interest to paleographers and linguists studying the history of Uralic languages and medieval literacy in northeastern Europe.