The system of gustatory terms and the original term for umami taste in Udmurt

The system of taste designations in the Udmurt language contains basic terms: ćeski̮t ‘sweet, tasty’, ći̮rs ‘sour’, kuźi̮t ‘salty’, and kuri̮t ‘bitter’. These terms describe strong, distinct tastes that can be either pleasant or unpleasant. Additionally, there are terms for weaker tastes that are often translated in dictionaries as ‘bland’, but in reality, these words rather express the idea of a weaker version of the strong taste: Udm. końal, końi̮t ‘slightly sweet, sickly sweet’, jumal ‘insufficiently sour, slightly sweet’, kuźi̮r-maźi̮r ‘slightly sour, a bit salty’, kuźal ‘slightly bitter with a salty taste’. These weaker tastes can be treated as positive or negative, depending on the context. In addition, there are specific terms denoting the absence of saltiness (še̮g ‘bland, unseasoned’) and sweetness (ke̮š ‘unsweetened, unpleasant to the taste’). In this system, kuźi̮r-maźi̮r ‘slightly sour, a bit salty’ is used very rarely and only in specific contexts. Instead of it, Udm. korel (dialectal korer) ‘savory, meaty; tasty; salty (a little bit salty)’, which always has a positive meaning, should be put into the scheme. An analysis of contexts with Udm. korel represented in the Corpora of the Udmurt Language shows that this word fully corresponds to the meaning ‘umami’ (the fifth basic taste, discovered by Japanese scientists in the 20th century). The article also discusses the etymology of Udm. korel and other gustatory terms.