[1] Vocabulary of the languages in Bjarmia can be reconstructed from toponyms in the Arkhangelsk region, and a few words are documented by Norse travelers.

Some Saamic toponyms can also be found in the Dvina basin,[2][3] and Permic peoples also inhabited Bjarmaland.

However, toponymic and historical data also suggest that later Karelian speakers also later migrated to the Dvina basin in the 15th and 16th centuries, just before the Slavic tribes had arrived.

[2] Some Finnic substrate words can be found in Northern Russian dialects, for example the words: лахта (lahta) 'marsh, moist place, meadow', луда (luda) 'rocky islet', каска (kaska) 'young woods' and щелья (schelja) 'hill or steep bank by a river'.

Norse sagas also documented a Bjarmian word "Jómali", which is likely related to Finnish "Jumala" 'God'.