The Èrsh language was the language of the Èr Èrs people.

According to placenames, it was a Nakh language, a kin to the language of the historical Malkh

Malkh

The Malkh were an ancient nation, living in the Western/Central North Caucasus. They are usually regarded as the Westernmost Nakh people , and there name has a Nakh root . Their name may have actually been something closer to "Melkhi", but the common rendering is "Malkh"...

 nation, as well as modern Chechen

Chechen language

The Chechen language is spoken by more than 1.5 million people, mostly in Chechnya and by Chechen people elsewhere. It is a member of the Northeast Caucasian languages.-Classification:...

, Ingush

Ingush language

Ingush is a language spoken by about 413,000 people , known as the Ingush, across a region covering Ingushetia, Chechnya, Kazakhstan and Russia. In Ingush, the language is called ГІалгІай Ğalğaj .-Classification:...

 and Batsbi, and possibly others.

Examples of Placenames

The capital of the Èrs (which was later turned into a fortress by Urartu) was called Èribuni (later turned into and used as a fortress by the Urartian state). Buni is a from Nakh root, meaning shelter or home, which was probably around /bun/ (giving rise to the modern Chechen word bun, a cabin, or small house). Hence, Èribuni meant "the home of the Èrs". It corresponds to modern Yerevan (which was spelled Erivan until relatively recently; van is a common Armenian rendering for the root /bun/).

In the Georgian Chronicles, Leonti Mroveli refers to Lake Sevan

Lake Sevan

Lake Sevan is the largest lake in Armenia and the Caucasus region. It is one of the largest high-altitude lakes in the world.Lake Sevan is situated in the central part of the Republic of Armenia, inside the Gegharkunik Province, at the altitude of 1,900m above sea level...

as "Lake Ereta". The name of the Arax is also attributed to the Èrs. It is also called the Yeraskhi. The Armenian name is "Yeraskhadzor" (which Jaimoukha identifies as Èr + khi a Nakh water body suffix + Armenian dzor gorge).