Erzya language

The Erzya language (Erzya: эрзянь кель, romanized: eŕźań keľ, pronounced [ˈerʲzʲanʲ ˈkelʲ]), or Erzian, is spoken by about 37,000 people in the northern, eastern and north-western parts of the Republic of Mordovia and adjacent regions of Nizhny Novgorod, Chuvashia, Penza, Samara, Saratov, Orenburg, Ulyanovsk, Tatarstan and Bashkortostan in Russia. A diaspora can also be found in Armenia, Estonia as well as in Kazakhstan and other states of Central Asia. Erzya is currently written using Cyrillic with no modifications to the variant used by the Russian language. In Mordovia, Erzya is co-official with Moksha and Russian.

Erzya
erzänj kelj
эрзянь кель
Native toRussia
RegionMordovia, Nizhny Novgorod, Chuvashia, Ulyanovsk, Samara, Penza, Saratov, Orenburg, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan
Native speakers
430,000 Mordvin (2010 census)[1]
The 1926 census found that approximately 2/3 of ethnic Mordvins were Erzya, and the figure might be similar today[2]
Cyrillic
Official status
Official language in
Mordovia (Russia)
Language codes
ISO 639-2myv
ISO 639-3myv
Glottologerzy1239[3]

The language belongs to the Mordvinic branch of the Uralic languages. Erzya is a language that is closely related to Moksha but has distinct phonetics, morphology and vocabulary.

Phonology

Consonants

The following table lists the consonant phonemes of Erzya together with their Cyrillic equivalents.[4]

Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar
plain pal.
Nasal /m/ м /n/ н /nʲ/ нь /ŋ/ (н)
Plosive voiceless /p/ п /t/ т /tʲ/ ть /k/ к
voiced /b/ б /d/ д /dʲ/ дь /ɡ/ г
Affricate voiceless /t͡s/ ц /t͡sʲ/ ць /t͡ʃ/ ч
Fricative voiceless /f/ ф /s/ с /sʲ/ сь /ʃ/ ш /x/ х
voiced /v/ в /z/ з /zʲ/ зь /ʒ/ ж
Trill /r/ р /rʲ/ рь
Approximant /l/ л /lʲ/ ль /j/ й

Note on romanized transcription: in Uralic studies, the members of the palatalized series are usually spelled as ń, ť, ď, ċ, ś, ź, ŕ, ľ, while the postalveolar sounds are spelled č, š, ž (see Uralic Phonetic Alphabet).

Minimal pairs between /n/ and /ŋ/ include:

  • /janɡa/ "along the path", in which the alveolar /n/ of the stem is retained before the prolative case ending /ɡa/, vs. /jaŋɡa/, the connegative form of the verb /jaŋɡams/ "to break"
  • /jonks/ "good", subject or object complement in /ks/ translative, vs. /joŋks/ "direction; area". See Rueter 2010: 58.

Vowels

Erzya has a simple five-vowel system.[5]

Front Back
High i u
Mid e o
Low a

The front vowels /i/ and /e/ have centralized variants [ï] and [ë] immediately following a plain alveolar consonant, e.g. siń [sïnʲ] "they", seń [sënʲ] "blue".

Vowel harmony

As in many other Uralic languages, Erzya has vowel harmony. Most roots contain either front vowels (/i/, /e/) or back vowels (/u/, /o/). In addition, all suffixes with mid vowels have two forms: the form to be used is determined by the final syllable of the stem. The low vowel (/a/), found in the comparative case -шка (ška) "the size of" and the prolative -ка/-га/-ва (ka/ga/va) "spatial multipoint used with verbs of motion as well as position" is a back vowel and not subject to vowel harmony.

The rules of vowel harmony are as follows:

  1. If the final syllable of the word stem contains a front vowel, the front form of the suffix is used: веле (veĺe) "village", велесэ (veĺese) "in a village"
  2. If the final syllable of the word stem contains a back vowel, and it is followed by plain (non-palatalized) consonants, the back form of the suffix is used: кудо (kudo) "house", кудосо (kudoso) "in a house"

However, if the back vowel is followed by a palatalized consonant or palatal glide, vowel harmony is violated and the "front" form of the suffix is used: кальсэ (kaĺse) "with willow", ойсэ (ojse) "with butter". Likewise, if a front-vowel stem is followed by a low back vowel suffix, subsequent syllables will contain back harmony: велеванзо (veĺevanzo) "throughout its villages"

Thus the seeming violations of vowel harmony attested in stems, e.g. узере (uźere) "axe", суре (suŕe) "thread (string)", are actually due to the palatalized consonants /zʲ/ and /rʲ/.

One exception to front-vowel harmony is observed in palatalized non-final /lʲ/, e.g. асфальтсо (asfaĺtso) "with asphalt".

Morphology

Like all other Uralic languages, Erzya is an agglutinative language which expresses grammatical relations by means of suffixes.

Nouns

Nouns are inflected for case, number, definiteness and possessor. Erzya distinguishes twelve cases (here illustrated with the noun мода moda "ground, earth"). Number is systematically distinguished only with definite nouns; for indefinite nouns and nouns with a possessive suffix, only nominative case has a distinct plural.[5][4]

Case Indefinite Definite 1st pers. sg. poss. 2nd pers. sg. poss. 3rd pers. sg. poss.
singularpluralsingularpluralsingularpluralsingular/pluralsingularplural
nominative мода
moda		мода-т
moda-t		мода-сь
moda-ś		мода-тне
moda-ťńe		мода-м
moda-m		мода-н
moda-n		мода-т
moda-t		мода-зo
moda-zo		мода-нзo
moda-nzo
genitive мода-нь
moda-ń		мода-нть
moda-ńť		мода-тне-нь
moda-ťńe-ń
dative/allative мода-нень
moda-ńeń		мода-нтень
moda-ńťeń		мода-тне-нень
moda-ťńe-ńeń
inessive мода-со
moda-so		мода-сонть
moda-sońť		мода-тне-сэ
moda-ťńe-se		мода-со-н
moda-so-n		мода-со-т
moda-so-t		мода-со-нзo
moda-so-nzo
elative мода-сто
moda-sto		мода-стонть
moda-stońť		мода-тне-стэ
moda-ťńe-ste		мода-сто-н
moda-sto-n		мода-сто-т
moda-sto-t		мода-сто-нзo
moda-sto-nzo
illative мода-с
moda-s		мода-нтень
moda-ńťeń		мода-тне-с
moda-ťńe-s		мода-з-oн
moda-z-on		мода-з-oт
moda-z-ot		мода-з-oнзo
moda-z-onzo
prolative мода-ва
moda-va		мода-ванть
moda-vańť		мода-тне-а
moda-ťńe-va		мода-ва-н
moda-va-n		мода-ва-т
moda-va-t		мода-ва-нзo
moda-va-nzo
ablative мода-до
moda-do		мода-донть
moda-dońť		мода-тне-дe
moda-ťńe-ďe		мода-до-н
moda-do-n		мода-до-т
moda-do-t		мода-до-нзo
moda-do-nzo
lative мода-в
moda-v		-----
translative мода-кс
moda-ks		мода-ксонть
moda-ksońť		мода-тне-кс
moda-ťńe-ks		мода-кс-oн
moda-ks-on		мода-кс-oт
moda-ks-ot		мода-кс-oнзo
moda-ks-onzo
abessive мода-втомо
moda-vtomo		мода-втомонть
moda-vtomońť		мода-тне-втеме
moda-ťńe-vťeme		мода-втомо-н
moda-vtomo-n		мода-втомо-т
moda-vtomo-t		мода-втомо-нзo
moda-vtomo-nzo
comparative мода-шка
moda-ška		мода-шканть
moda-škańť		мода-тне-шка
moda-ťńe-ška		мода-шка-н
moda-ška-n		мода-шка-т
moda-ška-t		мода-шка-нзo
moda-ška-nzo

Plural possessors follow the pattern of second person singular possessors.

Case 1st pers. pl. poss.2nd pers. pl. poss.3rd pers. pl. poss.
singular/pluralsingular/pluralsingular/plural
nominative мода-нoк
moda-nok		мода-нк
moda-nk		мода-ст
moda-st
inessive

(...)		 мода-со-нoк
moda-so-nok
(...)		мода-со-нк
moda-so-nk
(...)		мода-со-ст
moda-so-st
(...)

Verbs

Erzya verbs are inflected for tense and mood, and are further conjugated for person of subject and object.[4][5] Traditionally, three stem types are distinguished: a-stems, o-stems and e-stems. A-stems always retain the stem vowel a in the non-third person present tense forms, and in the third person first past tense forms (e.g. pala-ś "kissed"). With many o-stems and e-stems, the stem vowel is dropped in these forms (e.g. o-stem van-ś "watched", e-stem ńiľ-ś "swallowed"), but there also o- and e-stem verbs which retain the vowel (udo-ś "slept", piďe-ś "cooked"). Rueter (2010) therefore divides verb stems into vowel-retaining stems and vowel-dropping stems.[6]

In indicative mood, three tenses are distinguished: present/future, first past, second (=habitual) past.

indicative mood
present/future tense first past tense second past tense
a-stem o-stem e-stem a-stem e-stem a-stem
1sg мора-н
mora-n		 ван-ан
van-an		 пил-ян
piľ-an		 сод-ы-нь
sod-i-ń		 мер-и-нь
meŕ-i-ń		 моры-линь
mori-ľiń
2sg мора-т
mora-t		 ван-ат
van-at		 пил-ят
piľ-at		 сод-ы-ть
sod-i-ť		 мер-и-ть
meŕ-i-ť		 моры-лить
mori-ľiť
3sg мор-ы
mor-i		 ван-ы
van-i		 пил-и
piľ-i		 содa-сь
soda-ś		 мер-сь
meŕ-ś		 моры-ль
mori-ľ
1pl мора-тано
mora-tano		 ван-тано
van-tano		 пиль-тяно
piľ-ťano		 сод-ы-нек
sod-i-ńek		 мер-и-нек
meŕ-i-ńek		 моры-линек
mori-ľińek
2pl мора-тадо
mora-tado		 ван-тадо
van-tado		 пиль-тядо
piľ-ťado		 сод-ы-де
sod-i-ďe		 мер-и-де
meŕ-i-ďe		 моры-лиде
mori-ľiďe
3pl мор-ыть
mor-iť		 ван-ыть
van-iť		 пил-ить
piľ-iť		 содa-сть
soda-śť		 мер-сть
meŕ-śť		 моры-льть
mori-ľť
infinitive мора-мс
mora-ms		 вано-мс
vano-ms		 пиле-мс
piľe-ms		 сода-мс
soda-ms		 мере-мс
meŕe-ms		 мора-мс
mora-ms
'sing' 'watch' 'swallow' 'know' 'say' 'sing'

The third person singular form in present tense is also used as present participle. The second past tense is formed by adding the past tense copula -ľ to the present participle.

The other mood categories are:

  • conditional (-ińďeŕa + present suffixes)
  • conjunctive (-v(o)ľ + past suffixes)
  • conditional-conjunctive (-ińďeŕa-v(o)ľ + past suffixes)
  • desiderative (-ikseľ + past suffixes)
  • optative (zo + present suffixes)
  • imperative (-k/-do)
other mood categories
conditional conjunctive conditional-conjunctive desiderative
1sg ярс-ындеря-н
jars-ińďeŕa-n		 ярсa-влинь
jarsa-vľiń		 ярс-ындеря-влинь
jars-ińďeŕa-vľiń		 мор-ыксэлинь
mor-ikseľiń
2sg ярс-ындеря-т
jars-ińďeŕa-t		 ярсa-влить
jarsa-vľiť		 ярс-ындеря-влить
jars-ińďeŕa-vľiť		 мор-ыксэлить
mor-ikseľiť
3sg ярс-ындеря-й
jars-ińďeŕa-j		 ярсa-воль
jarsa-voľ		 ярс-ындеря-воль
jars-ińďeŕa-voľ		 мор-ыксэль
mor-ikseľ
1pl ярс-ындеря-тано
jars-ińďeŕa-tano		 ярсa-влинек
jarsa-vľińek		 ярс-ындеря-влинек
jars-ińďeŕa-vľińek		 мор-ыксэлинек
mor-ikseľińek
2pl ярс-ындеря-тадо
jars-ińďeŕa-tado		 ярсa-влиде
jarsa-vľiďe		 ярс-ындеря-влиде
jars-ińďeŕa-vľiďe		 мор-ыксэлиде
mor-ikseľiďe
3pl ярс-ындеря-йть
jars-ińďeŕa-jť		 ярсa-вольть
jarsa-voľť		 ярс-ындеря-вольть
jars-ińďeŕa-voľť		 мор-ыксэльть
mor-ikseľť
infinitive ярса-мс
jarsa-ms		 ярса-мс
jarsa-ms		 ярса-мс
jarsa-ms		 мора-мс
mora-ms
'eat' 'eat' 'eat' 'sing'

Writing

Cyrillic alphabet

The modern Erzya alphabet is the same as for Russian:[4]

А
/a/		Б
/b/		В
/v/		Г
/ɡ/		Д
/d/		Е
/je/		Ё
/jo/		Ж
/ʒ/		З
/z/		И
/i/		Й
/j/
К
/k/		Л
/l/		М
/m/		Н
/n/		О
/o/		П
/p/		Р
/r/		С
/s/		Т
/t/		У
/u/		Ф
/f/
Х
/x/		Ц
/t͡s/		Ч
/t͡ʃ/		Ш
/ʃ/		Щ
/ʃt͡ʃ/		Ъ
/-/		Ы
/ɨ/		Ь
/◌ʲ/		Э
/e/		Ю
/ju/		Я
/ja/

The letters ф, х, щ and ъ are only used in loanwords from Russian. The pre-1929 version of the Erzya alphabet included the additional letter Cyrillic ligature En Ge (Ҥ ҥ) in some publications, (cf. Evsevyev 1928).

In combination with the alveolar consonants т, д, ц, с, з, н, л, and р, vowel letters are employed to distinguish between plain and palatalized articulations in a similar way as in Russian: а, є, ы, о, у follow plain alveolars, while я, е, и, ё, ю follow palatalized alveolars, e.g. та /ta/, тє /te/, ты /ti/, то /to/, ту /tu/ vs. тя /tʲa/, те /tʲe/, ти /tʲi/, тё /tʲo/, тю /tʲu/. If no vowel follows, palatalization is indicated by ь, e.g. ть /tʲ/. Following non-alveolar consonants, only а, е, и, о, у occur, e.g. па /pa/, пе /pe/, пи /pi/, по /po/, пу /pu/.

Latin alphabet

A Latin alphabet was officially approved by the government of Nizhne-Volzhskiy Kray in 1932, but it was never used:

a в c ç d ә e f g y i j k l m n o p r s ş t u v x z ƶ ь

The other version of Latin alphabet exists:

a ä b c č cy d e f g h i j k l m n ny o ö p r ry s š sy t ty u ü v y z ž zy
gollark: > seller: heav???
gollark: > makes acceleration inertial for objects in a 1.312m radius around itselfWhat does this MEAN?!
gollark: Interesting!
gollark: No, He is correct in the grammatical context.
gollark: Time machines? Space machines? Spacetime machines?

See also

Bibliography
  • A.I. Bryzhinskiy, O.V. Pashutina, Ye.I. Chernov. Писатели Мордовии Биобиблиографический справочник. Saransk: Mordovskoye Knizhnoye Izdatelystvo, 2001. ISBN 5-7595-1386-9.
  • Vasilij D'omin. Сюконян тенк... Эрзянь писательде ёвтнемат. Saransk, 2005. ISBN 5-7595-1665-5.
  • Ksenija Djordjevic & Jean-Leo Leonard. Parlons Mordve. Paris: L'Harmattan, 2006, ISBN 2-296-00147-5.
  • Makar E. Evsev'ev. Основы мордовской грамматика, Эрзянь грамматика. С приложением образцов мокшанских склонений и спряжений. Москва: Центральное издательство народов СССР, 1928.
  • Jack Rueter. Adnominal Person in the Morphological System of Erzya. Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran Toimituksia 261. Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, 2010, ISBN 978-952-5667-23-3 [print], ISBN 978-952-5667-24-0 [online].
  • D.V. Tsygankin. Память запечатленная в слове: Словарь географических названий республики Мордовия. Saransk, 2005. ISBN 5-7493-0780-8.

References
  1. [Перепись-2010 "Population of the Russian Federation by Languages (in Russian)"] Check |url= value (help). gks.ru. Russian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  2. Jack Rueter (2013) The Erzya Language. Where is it spoken? Études finno-ougriennes 45
  3. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Erzya". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  4. Saarinen, Sirkka. "Erzya e-learning course" (PDF). Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
  5. Zaicz, Gábor (1998). "Mordva". In Abondolo, Daniel (ed.). The Uralic Languages. London: Routledge. pp. 184–218.
  6. Rueter, Jack (2010). Adnominal Person in the Morphological System of Erzya. Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran Toimituksia 261. Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura.
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