[en] This article briefly presents an overview of how the Zyrian dialects of the Komi language become a literary, and one of the region's official, languages. The first Komi intellectuals with an ethnic sensitivity started to create a literary language based on dialects in the second half of the 19th century. It was not an easy task, for their endeavours contradicted the official nationality policy of tsarist Russia. This changed after the Bolsheviks seized power in 1917. The development of literary non- Russian languages and the widening of their social functions were part of the Soviet nationality policy in the 1920s and 1930s (korenizacija). Thanks to the enthusiasm of the Komi intellectuals and communists, a literary language was created in the 1920s based on previous attempts. Education, especially elementary education, began to be delivered in Komi; books, newspapers and journals began to be published in Komi. In the Komi autonomous district (oblast'), the Komi language was given the status of official language – like Russian – and it was widely used in the everyday public sphere.The Soviet nationality policy changed at the end of the 1930s. A significant part of the Komi elite was sent to the GULAG. The Soviet leadership started to emphasise the Russian people's and the Russian language's leading role in the Soviet Union. At the same time, industrialisation caused the arrival in the Komi land of a massive Russian speaking labour force and the Komi became a minority on their own territory. After World War II, the social functions of the language were considerably reduced and the language's prestige declined even for Komi themselves. Komi is no longer the language of education. It is still in the curricula, although not all Komi children study it. The language also functions as a literary language in a limited way: most of the Komi prefer to write in Russian. In the Komi Republic, Komi has retained the status of official language, but it is mainly formal. Public life is dominated by Russian and Komi has been mainly preserved as an oral communication language in rural zones. However, it is still in a better position than several other Finno-Ugric languages in Russia today.

[fr] Cet article présente un bref aperçu de la manière dont les dialectes zyriènes du komi ont pu donner une langue littéraire, devenue l'une des langues officielles de la région. Une langue littéraire komie émergea dans les années 1920 sur la base des expériences de l'époque tsariste. Dans l'oblast' autonome, le komi avait, à côté du russe, le statut de langue officielle et il était largement utilisé dans l'administration. La politique nationale soviétique changea à la fin des années 1930. En même temps, avec l'arrivée massive de main d'œuvre russophone, les Komis se retrouvèrent peu à peu en minorité. Après la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, les fonctions sociales de la langue komie ne cessèrent de diminuer et son prestige baissa considérablement. Aujourd'hui, le komi n'est plus langue d'enseignement dans les écoles. Son statut officiel à côté du russe demeure plutôt formel. La vie publique est dominée par le russe, le komi comme langue orale de communication s'est préservé surtout dans les zones rurales. En même temps, il se trouve toutefois dans une situation meilleure que bien d'autres langues finno-ougriennes dans la Russie d'aujourd'hui.