Mordvinic
EthnicityMordvins
Geographic
distribution		Southwestern and Southeastern Russia
Linguistic classificationUralic
Subdivisions
Glottologmord1256

The Mordvinic languages,[1] also known as the Mordvin,[2] Mordovian or Mordvinian languages (Russian: мордовские языки, mordovskiye yazyki),[3] are a subgroup of the Uralic languages, comprising the closely related Erzya language and Moksha language, both spoken in Mordovia.[4]

Previously considered a single "Mordvin language",[5] it is now treated as a small language grouping.[6] Due to differences in phonology, lexicon, and grammar, Erzya and Moksha are not mutually intelligible.[7] The two Mordvinic languages also have separate literary forms. The Erzya literary language was created in 1922 and the Mokshan in 1923.[8]

Phonological differences between the two languages include:[5]

  • Moksha retains a distinction between the vowels /ɛ, e/ while in Erzya, both have merged as /e/.
  • In unstressed syllables, Erzya features vowel harmony like many other Uralic languages, using [e] in front-vocalic words and [o] in back-vocalic words. Moksha has a simple schwa [ə] in their place.
  • Word-initially, Erzya has a postalveolar affricate /tʃ/ corresponding to a fricative /ʃ/ in Moksha.
  • Next to voiceless consonants, liquids /r, rʲ, l, lʲ/ and the semivowel /j/ are devoiced in Moksha to [r̥ r̥ʲ l̥ l̥ʲ ȷ̊].

The medieval Meshcherian language may have been Mordvinic or close to Mordvinic.

Classification

Traditionally, Uralicists grouped the Mordvinic and Mari languages together in the so-called Volgaic branch of the Uralic family; this view was however abandoned in the late 20th century.[9] Instead, some Uralicists now prefer a rapid expansion model, with Mordvinic as one out of nine primary branches of Uralic; others propose a close relation between Mordvinic with the Finnic and Saamic branches of Uralic.[10][11][12]

References

  1. ↑ Bright, William (1992). International Encyclopedia of Linguistics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-505196-4.
  2. ↑ Mordvin languages @ google books
  3. ↑ Dalby, Andrew (1998). Dictionary of Languages. Columbia University Press. p. 429. ISBN 9780231115681. Erza.
  4. ↑ Grenoble, Lenore (2003). Language Policy in the Soviet Union. Springer. p. A80. ISBN 978-1-4020-1298-3.
  5. 1 2 Raun, Alo (1988). Sinor, Denis (ed.). The Uralic languages: Description, history and foreign influences. BRILL. p. A96. ISBN 978-90-04-07741-6.
  6. ↑ Hamari, Arja; Ajanki, Rigina (2022). "Mordvin (Erzya and Moksha)". In Marianne Bakró-Nagy; Johanna Laakso; Elena Skribnik (eds.). The Oxford Guide to the Uralic Languages. Oxford University Press. pp. 392–431.
  7. ↑ Феоктистов А. П. Мордовские языки. основы финно-угорского языкознания. Прибалтийско-финские, саамский и мордовские языки. М., 1975
  8. ↑ Wixman, Ronald (1984). The Peoples of the USSR. M.E. Sharpe. p. A137. ISBN 978-0-87332-506-6.
  9. ↑ Abondolo, Daniel (1988). The Uralic Languages. London & New York: Routledge. p. 4. [...] the idea, once widely-held, that there was a common Mordva-Mari protolanguage (so-called 'proto-Volgaic') is now out of favour.
  10. ↑ Nichols, Johanna (2021). "The Origin and Dispersal of Uralic: Distributional Typological View". Annual Review of Linguistics. 7: 351–369. doi:10.1146/annurev-linguistics-011619-030405. S2CID 234179048.
  11. ↑ Saarikivi, Janne (2022). "The divergence of Proto-Uralic and its offspring: A descendant reconstruction". In Marianne Bakró-Nagy; Johanna Laakso; Elena Skribnik (eds.). The Oxford Guide to the Uralic Languages. Oxford University Press. pp. 28–58.
  12. ↑ Piispanen, Peter S. (2016). "Statistical Dating of Finno-Mordvinic Languages through Comparative Linguistics and Sound Laws" (PDF). Fenno-Ugrica Suecana Nova Series. 15: 1–58.
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