Moksha language
Encyclopedia
The Moksha language is a member of the Finno-Volgaic subdivision of the Uralic languages
with about 500,000 native speakers. Moksha is the majority language in the western part of Mordovia
.
Its closest relative is the Erzya language
, with which it is not intelligible. Moksha is also considered to be closely related to the extinct Meshcherian and Muromian languages. There are presently six dialects of Moksha: Central, Western (or Zubu dialect), South-Western, Northern, South-Eastern and Southern.
. The right to one's own language is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Mordovia Republic. However, there is no special language law regulating the use of Moksha. Courts and other governmental agencies in Mordovia conduct their proceedings and issue official documents in Moksha, Erzya, and Russian.
, Moksha words can be quite long.
The main stress
is always on the first syllable. Stress does not cause any measurable modifications in vowel quality. However, stress is not strong and words may appear evenly stressed.
below. Moksha has lost its original system of vowel harmony
.
, characteristic of Uralic languages
, is contrastive for alveolar consonant
s. There is also a palatalized postalveolar affricate, which lacks a corresponding non-palatalized affricate, but the postalveolar fricative
s lack palatalized counterparts.
with spelling rules identical to those of Russian and as a consequence of that vowels e, ä, ə are not indicated in a consistent way. The Moksha version of the Cyrillic alphabet has several extra letters, either digraphs or single letters with diacritics. Although the use of the Latin alphabet
for Moksha was officially approved by the CIK VCKNA (General Executive Committee of the All Union New Alphabet Central Committee) on June 25, 1932, it was never implemented.
Pronunciation of the Cyrillic alphabet
published Moksha primers and elementary textbooks of the Russian language for the Mokshas. Among them were two fascicles with samples of Moksha folk poetry. The great native scholar Makar Evsevyev collected Moksha folk songs published in one volume in 1897. Early in the Soviet period, social and political literature predominated among published works. Printing of Moksha language books was all done in Moscow until the establishment of the Mordvinian national district in 1928. Official conferences in 1928 and 1935 decreed the northwest dialect to be the basis for the literary language.
Uralic languages
The Uralic languages constitute a language family of some three dozen languages spoken by approximately 25 million people. The healthiest Uralic languages in terms of the number of native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Mari and Udmurt...
with about 500,000 native speakers. Moksha is the majority language in the western part of Mordovia
Mordovia
The Republic of Mordovia , also known as Mordvinia, is a federal subject of Russia . Its capital is the city of Saransk. Population: -Geography:The republic is located in the eastern part of the East European Plain of Russia...
.
Its closest relative is the Erzya language
Erzya language
The Erzya language is spoken by about 500,000 people in the northern and eastern and north-western parts of the Republic of Mordovia and adjacent regions of Nizhniy Novgorod, Chuvashia, Penza, Samara, Saratov, Orenburg, Ulyanovsk, Tatarstan and Bashkortostan in Russia...
, with which it is not intelligible. Moksha is also considered to be closely related to the extinct Meshcherian and Muromian languages. There are presently six dialects of Moksha: Central, Western (or Zubu dialect), South-Western, Northern, South-Eastern and Southern.
Official status
Moksha is one of the three official languages in MordoviaMordovia
The Republic of Mordovia , also known as Mordvinia, is a federal subject of Russia . Its capital is the city of Saransk. Population: -Geography:The republic is located in the eastern part of the East European Plain of Russia...
. The right to one's own language is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Mordovia Republic. However, there is no special language law regulating the use of Moksha. Courts and other governmental agencies in Mordovia conduct their proceedings and issue official documents in Moksha, Erzya, and Russian.
Phonology
Due to the extensive use of its agglutinative morphologyAgglutination
In contemporary linguistics, agglutination usually refers to the kind of morphological derivation in which there is a one-to-one correspondence between affixes and syntactical categories. Languages that use agglutination widely are called agglutinative languages...
, Moksha words can be quite long.
The main stress
Stress (linguistics)
In linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word, or to certain words in a phrase or sentence. The term is also used for similar patterns of phonetic prominence inside syllables. The word accent is sometimes also used with this sense.The stress placed...
is always on the first syllable. Stress does not cause any measurable modifications in vowel quality. However, stress is not strong and words may appear evenly stressed.
Vowels
There are eight vowels, whose lexical and grammatical role is highly important, and which are unusually strictly controlled, so that there is almost no allophony. These are always different phonemes in the initial syllable; for non-initial syllable, see morphophonologyMorphophonology
Morphophonology is a branch of linguistics which studies, in general, the interaction between morphological and phonetic processes. When a morpheme is attached to a word, it can alter the phonetic environments of other morphemes in that word. Morphophonemics attempts to describe this process...
below. Moksha has lost its original system of vowel harmony
Vowel harmony
Vowel harmony is a type of long-distance assimilatory phonological process involving vowels that occurs in some languages. In languages with vowel harmony, there are constraints on which vowels may be found near each other....
.
| Front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also... |
Central Central vowel A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel... |
Back Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark... |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Close Close vowel A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.This term is prescribed by the... |
i | (ɨ) | u |
| Mid Mid vowel A mid vowel is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned mid-way between an open vowel and a close vowel... |
e | ə | o |
| Open Open vowel An open vowel is defined as a vowel sound in which the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels in reference to the low position of the tongue... |
æ | a |
Consonants
There are 33 consonants in Moksha. PalatalizationPalatalization
In linguistics, palatalization , also palatization, may refer to two different processes by which a sound, usually a consonant, comes to be produced with the tongue in a position in the mouth near the palate....
, characteristic of Uralic languages
Uralic languages
The Uralic languages constitute a language family of some three dozen languages spoken by approximately 25 million people. The healthiest Uralic languages in terms of the number of native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Mari and Udmurt...
, is contrastive for alveolar consonant
Alveolar consonant
Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth...
s. There is also a palatalized postalveolar affricate, which lacks a corresponding non-palatalized affricate, but the postalveolar fricative
Postalveolar fricative
Postalveolar fricative can refer to:*Voiced postalveolar fricative*Voiceless postalveolar fricative...
s lack palatalized counterparts.
| Labial Labial consonant Labial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. This precludes linguolabials, in which the tip of the tongue reaches for the posterior side of the upper lip and which are considered coronals... |
Alveolar Alveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth... |
Postalveolar Postalveolar consonant Postalveolar consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, further back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but not as far back as the hard palate... |
Palatal Palatal consonant Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate... |
Velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum).... |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | pal. Palatalization In linguistics, palatalization , also palatization, may refer to two different processes by which a sound, usually a consonant, comes to be produced with the tongue in a position in the mouth near the palate.... |
||||||
| Nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :... |
/m/ | /n/ | /nʲ/ | ||||
| Plosive | voiceless Voiceless In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, this is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word "phonation" implies voicing, and that voicelessness is the lack of... |
/p/ | /t/ | /tʲ/ | /k/ | ||
| voiced Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate... |
/b/ | /d/ | /dʲ/ | /ɡ/ | |||
| Affricate Affricate consonant Affricates are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricative rather than directly into the following vowel.- Samples :... |
voiceless | /t͡s/ | /t͡sʲ/ | /t͡ɕ/ | |||
| Fricative Fricative consonant Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or... |
voiceless | /f/ | /s/ | /sʲ/ | /ʃ/ | /ç/ | /x/ |
| voiced | /v/ | /z/ | /zʲ/ | /ʒ/ | |||
| Trill Trill consonant In phonetics, a trill is a consonantal sound produced by vibrations between the articulator and the place of articulation. Standard Spanish <rr> as in perro is an alveolar trill, while in Parisian French it is almost always uvular.... |
voiceless | /r̥/ | /rʲ̥/ | ||||
| voiced | /r/ | /rʲ/ | |||||
| Approximant Approximant consonant Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough or with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce a turbulent airstream, and vowels, which produce no... |
voiceless | /l̥/ | /lʲ̥/ | /ȷ̊/ | |||
| voiced | /l/ | /lʲ/ | /j/ | ||||
Writing system
Moksha is written using the Cyrillic alphabetCyrillic alphabet
The Cyrillic script or azbuka is an alphabetic writing system developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School...
with spelling rules identical to those of Russian and as a consequence of that vowels e, ä, ə are not indicated in a consistent way. The Moksha version of the Cyrillic alphabet has several extra letters, either digraphs or single letters with diacritics. Although the use of the Latin alphabet
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
for Moksha was officially approved by the CIK VCKNA (General Executive Committee of the All Union New Alphabet Central Committee) on June 25, 1932, it was never implemented.
- SIL code: MDF
- ISO 639-2ISO 639-2ISO 639-2:1998, Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code, is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages. The three-letter codes given for each language in this part of the standard are referred to as...
: mdf
- Latin alphabet (1930s): A/a, B/в, C/c, Ç/ç, D/d, Ə/ә, E/e, F/f, G/g, Y/y, I/i, J/j, K/k, L/l, M/m, N/n, O/o, P/p, R/r, S/s, Ş/ş, T/t, U/u, V/v, X/x, Z/z, , ь, rx, lh
- Cyrillic alphabet for Russian: А/а, Б/б, В/в, Г/г, Д/д, Е/е, Ё/ё, Ж/ж, З/з, И/и, Й/й, К/к, Л/л, М/м, Н/н, О/о, П/п, Р/р, С/с, Т/т, У/у, Ф/ф, Х/х, Ц/ц, Ч/ч, Ш/ш, Щ/щ, Ъ/ъ, Ы/ы, Ь/ь, Э/э, Ю/ю, Я/я
- Alternative Latin alphabet: Aa, Ää, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz
Pronunciation of the Cyrillic alphabet
| Letter | Sound | |
|---|---|---|
| А а | [a], [ə] | |
| Б б | [b] | |
| В в | [v] | |
| Г г | [g] | |
| Д д | [d] | |
| Е е | [je] | |
| Ё ё | [jo] | |
| Ж ж | [ʒ] | |
| З з | [z] | |
| И и | [i] | |
| Й й | [j] | |
| К к | [k] | |
| Л л | [l] | |
| М м | [m] | |
| Н н | [n] | |
| О о | [o], [ə] | |
| П п | [p] | |
| Р р | [r] | |
| С с | [s] | |
| Т т | [t] | |
| У у | [u] | |
| Ф ф | [f] | |
| Х х | [h] | |
| Ц ц | [ts] | |
| Ч ч | [t͡ʃ] | |
| Ш ш | [ʃ] | |
| Щ щ | [ʃt͡ʃ] | |
| Ъ ъ | hard sign, [ə] | |
| Ы ы | [ɨ] | |
| Ь ь | soft sign, [i] | |
| Э э | [e] | |
| Ю ю | [ju] | |
| Я я | [ja] |
Literature
Before 1917 about 100 books and pamphlets mostly of religious character were published. More than 200 manuscripts including at least 50 wordlists were not printed. In 19th century the Russian Orthodox Missionary Society in KazanKazan
Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...
published Moksha primers and elementary textbooks of the Russian language for the Mokshas. Among them were two fascicles with samples of Moksha folk poetry. The great native scholar Makar Evsevyev collected Moksha folk songs published in one volume in 1897. Early in the Soviet period, social and political literature predominated among published works. Printing of Moksha language books was all done in Moscow until the establishment of the Mordvinian national district in 1928. Official conferences in 1928 and 1935 decreed the northwest dialect to be the basis for the literary language.
Common expressions (Moksha-Russian-English)
| Moksha | Transliteration | Russian | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| И́на | Ina | Да | Yes |
| Э́ле | Elä | Да | Yes |
| Пара | Para | Ладно | Good |
| Аф | Af | Не | Not |
| Аш | Ash | Нет | No |
| Шумбра́т! | Shumbrat! | Здравствуй! | Hello! (addressing one person) |
| Шумбра́тада! | Shumbratada! | Здравствуйте! | Hello! (addressing more than one person) |
| Сюк(пря)! | Sjuk(prä)! | Привет! ("поклон"), Добро пожаловать! | Hi! (Welcome!) |
| Ульхть шумбра́! | Ulxtj shumbra! | Будь здоров! | Take care! |
| У́леда шумбра́т! | Uläda shumbrat! | Будьте здоровы! | Take care (to many)! |
| Ко́да те́фне? | Koda tefnä? | Как дела? | How are your things getting on/How are you? |
| Ко́да э́рят? | Koda erjat? | Как поживаешь? | How do you do? |
| Лац! Це́бярьста! | Lats! Tsebärjsta! | Неплохо! Замечательно! | Fine! Very good! |
| Ня́емозонк! | Näemazonk! | До свидания! | Good bye! |
| Ва́ндыс! | Vandis! | До завтра! | See you tomorrow! |
| Шумбра́ста па́чкодемс! | Shumbrasta pachkadäms! | Счастливого пути! | Have a good trip/flight! |
| Па́ра а́зан - ле́здоманкса! - се́мбонкса! |
Para azan - lezdamanksa! - sembänksa! |
Благодарю - за помощь! - за всё! |
Thank you - for help/assistance! - for everything! |
| Аш ме́зенкса! | Ash mezänksa! | Не за что! | Not at all! |
| Прости́ндамак! | Prostindamak! | Извини! | I'm sorry! |
| Прости́ндамасть! | Prostindamastj! | Извините! | I'm sorry (to many)! |
| Тят кя́жиякшне! | Tät käzhijakshnä! | Не сердись! | I didn't mean to hurt you! |
| Ужя́ль! | Uzhälj! | Жаль! | It's a pity! |
| Ко́да тонь ле́мце? | Koda tonj lemtsä? | Как тебя зовут? | What is your name? |
| Монь ле́мозе ... | Monj lemazä ... | Меня зовут ... | My name is ... |
| Мъзя́ра тейть ки́зода? | Mezjara tejtj kizada? | Сколько тебе лет? | How old are you? |
| Мъзя́ра тейнза ки́зода? | Mezjara tejnza kizada? | Сколько ему (ей) лет? | How old is he (she)? |
| Те́йне ... ки́зот. | Tejnä ... kizat. | Мне ... лет. | I'm ... years old. |
| Те́йнза ... ки́зот. | Tejnza ... kizat. | Ему (ей) ... лет. | He (she) is ... years old. |
| Мярьк сува́мс? | Märjk suvams? | Разреши войти? | May I come in? |
| Мярьк о́замс? | Märjk ozams? | Разреши сесть? | May I have a seat? |
| О́зак. | Ozak. | Присаживайся. | Take a seat. |
| О́зада. | Ozada. | Присаживайтесь. | Take a seat (to more than one person). |
| Учт аф ла́мос. | Ucht af lamas. | Подожди немного. | Please wait a little. |
| Мярьк та́ргамс? | Märjk targams? | Разреши закурить? | May I have a smoke? |
| Та́ргак. | Targak. | Кури(те). | You may smoke. |
| Та́ргада. | Targada. | Курите. | You may smoke (to more than one person). |
| Аф, э́няльдян, тят та́рга. | Af, enäljdän, tät targa. | Нет, пожалуйста, не кури. | Please, don't smoke. |
| Ко́рхтак аф ламода сяда кайгиста (сяда валомне). | Korxtak af lamada säda kajgista (säda valomnä). | Говори немного погромче (тише). | Please speak a bit louder (lower). |
| Аст ни́нге весть. | Ast ningä vestj. | Повтори ещё раз. | Repeat one more time. |
| Га́йфтек те́йне. | Gajftäk tejnä. | Позвони мне. | Call me. |
| Га́йфтеда те́йне. | Gajftäda tejnä. | Позвоните мне. | Call me (to more than one person). |
| Га́йфтек те́йне сяда ме́ле. | Gajftäk tejnä säda melä. | Перезвоните мне позже. | Call me later. |
| Сува́к. | Suvak. | Войди. | Come in. |
| Сува́да. | Suvada. | Войдите. | Come in (to many). |
| Ётак. | Jotak. | Проходи. | Enter. |
| Ётада. | Jotada. | Проходите. | Enter (to many). |
| Ша́чема ши́цень ма́рхта! | Shachäma shitsänj marxta! | С днём рождения! | Happy Birthday! |
| А́рьсян тейть па́ваз! | Arjsän tejtj pavaz! | Желаю тебе счастья! | I wish you happiness! |
| А́рьсян тейть о́цю сатфкст! | Arjsän tejtj otsu satvkst! | Желаю тебе больших успехов! | I wish you great success! |
| Тонь шумбраши́цень и́нкса! | Tonj shumbrashitsänj inksa! | За твое здоровье! | Your health! |
| Од Ки́за ма́рхта! | Od Kiza marxta! | С Новым годом! | Happy New Year! |
| Ро́штува ма́рхта! | Roshtuva marxta! | С Рождеством! | Happy Christmas! |
| То́ньге ста́не! | Tonjgä stanä! | Тебя также! | Same to you! |