Erzya language
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other
The Erzya language (Script error: No such module "Lang"., Template:Transliteration, Script error: No such module "IPA".), also Erzian or historically Arisa, is spoken by approximately 300,000 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 and 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.
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.[1]
Palatalization is widespread in Erzya, but is contrastive only for the alveolar consonants. The labial and velar consonants have palatalized allophones before the front vowels Script error: No such module "IPA"., Script error: No such module "IPA".. The pairs Script error: No such module "IPA". – Script error: No such module "IPA"., Script error: No such module "IPA". – Script error: No such module "IPA". and Script error: No such module "IPA". – Script error: No such module "IPA". also often alternate depending on a following or preceding back vs. front vowel. E.g. the 1st person singular possessive suffix has allomorphs such as Script error: No such module "IPA". and Script error: No such module "IPA".. The palatalized consonants can natively occur also in a back vowel environment, e.g. the genitive suffix Script error: No such module "IPA"., providing minimal pairs such as Script error: No such module "Lang". Script error: No such module "IPA". 'my house' – Script error: No such module "Lang". Script error: No such module "IPA". '(a) house's'. Non-palatalized Script error: No such module "IPA"., Script error: No such module "IPA"., Script error: No such module "IPA". in a front vowel environment are limited to recent Russian loans such as Script error: No such module "Lang". Script error: No such module "IPA". 'whale'.[2]
Note on romanized transcription: in Uralic studies, the members of the palatalized series are usually spelled as Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, while the postalveolar sounds are spelled Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr, Template:Angbr (see Uralic Phonetic Alphabet).
Template:IPAslink and Template:IPAslink are loan phonemes from Russian.[1] There is a phonemic contrast between Template:IPAslink and Template:IPAslink, despite that they share the standard spelling ⟨н⟩. Minimal pairs include:
- Script error: No such module "IPA". "along the path", in which the alveolar Script error: No such module "IPA". of the stem is retained before the prolative case ending Script error: No such module "IPA"., vs. Script error: No such module "IPA"., the connegative form of the verb Script error: No such module "IPA". "to break"
- Script error: No such module "IPA". "good", subject or object complement in Script error: No such module "IPA". translative, vs. Script error: No such module "IPA". "direction; area". See Rueter 2010: 58.
Vowels
Erzya has a simple five-vowel system.[3]
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link |
| Mid | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link |
| Low | Template:IPA link | |
The front vowels Script error: No such module "IPA". and Script error: No such module "IPA". have centralized variants Template:IPAblink and Template:IPAblink immediately following a plain alveolar consonant, e.g. Template:Transliteration Script error: No such module "IPA". "they", Template:Transliteration Script error: No such module "IPA". "blue".
Vowel harmony
As in many other Uralic languages, Erzya has vowel harmony. Most roots contain either front vowels (Script error: No such module "IPA"., Script error: No such module "IPA".) or back vowels (Script error: No such module "IPA"., Script error: No such module "IPA".). 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 (Script error: No such module "IPA".), found in the comparative case Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Transliteration) "the size of" and the prolative Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Transliteration) "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:
- If the final syllable of the word stem contains a front vowel, the front form of the suffix is used: Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Transliteration) "village", Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Transliteration) "in a village"
- 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: Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Transliteration) "house", Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Transliteration) "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: Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Transliteration) "with willow", Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Transliteration) "with butter". Likewise, if a front-vowel stem is followed by a low back vowel suffix, subsequent syllables will contain back harmony: Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Transliteration) "throughout its villages"
Thus the seeming violations of vowel harmony attested in stems, e.g. Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Transliteration) "axe", Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Transliteration) "thread (string)", are actually due to the palatalized consonants Script error: No such module "IPA". and Script error: No such module "IPA"..
One exception to front-vowel harmony is observed in palatalized non-final Script error: No such module "IPA"., e.g. Script error: No such module "Lang". (Template:Transliteration) "with asphalt".
Writing
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".
Cyrillic alphabet
The modern Erzya alphabet is the same as for Russian:[1]
А
Script error: No such module "IPA".Б
Script error: No such module "IPA".В
Script error: No such module "IPA".Г
Script error: No such module "IPA".Д
Script error: No such module "IPA".Е
Script error: No such module "IPA".Ё
Script error: No such module "IPA".Ж
Script error: No such module "IPA".З
Script error: No such module "IPA".И
Script error: No such module "IPA".Й
Script error: No such module "IPA".К
Script error: No such module "IPA".Л
Script error: No such module "IPA".М
Script error: No such module "IPA".Н
Script error: No such module "IPA".О
Script error: No such module "IPA".П
Script error: No such module "IPA".Р
Script error: No such module "IPA".С
Script error: No such module "IPA".Т
Script error: No such module "IPA".У
Script error: No such module "IPA".Ф
Script error: No such module "IPA".Х
Script error: No such module "IPA".Ц
Script error: No such module "IPA".Ч
Script error: No such module "IPA".Ш
Script error: No such module "IPA".Щ
Script error: No such module "IPA".Ъ
Script error: No such module "IPA".Ы
Script error: No such module "IPA".Ь
Script error: No such module "IPA".Э
Script error: No such module "IPA".Ю
Script error: No such module "IPA".Я
Script error: No such module "IPA".
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, э, ы, о, у follow plain alveolars, while я, е, и, ё, ю follow palatalized alveolars, e.g. та /ta/, тэ /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
Template:Undue weight section A Latin alphabet was officially approved by the government of Nizhne-Volzhskiy Kray in 1932, but it was never used:[4]
- 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
One of the modern Latin alphabet proposals:[5][6][7][8]Template:Primary source inline
- a b c č ć d d́/ď e f g h i j k l ĺ/ľ m n ń o p r ŕ s š ś t t́/ť u v z ž ź
| Cyrillic | Latin |
|---|---|
| a | a |
| б | b |
| в | v |
| г | g |
| д | before e,ë,и,ь,ю,я — d́/ď |
| not before e,ë,и,ь,ю,я — d | |
| e | at the beginning of a word — je |
| after a vowel — je | |
| after a consonant — e | |
| ë | at the beginning of a word — jo |
| after a vowel — jo | |
| after a consonant — o | |
| ж | ž |
| з | before e,ë,и,ь,ю,я — ź |
| not before e,ë,и,ь,ю,я — z | |
| и | at the beginning of a word — i |
| after a consonant — i | |
| after a vowel — ji | |
| й | j |
| к | k |
| л | before e,ë,и,ь,ю,я — ĺ/ľ |
| not before e,ë,и,ь,ю,я — l | |
| м | m |
| н | before e,ë,и,ь,ю,я — ń |
| not before e,ë,и,ь,ю,я — n | |
| o | o |
| п | p |
| p | before e,ë,и,ь,ю,я — ŕ |
| not before e,ë,и,ь,ю,я — r | |
| c | before e,ë,и,ь,ю,я — ś |
| not before e,ë,и,ь,ю,я — s | |
| т | before e,ë,и,ь,ю,я — t́/ť |
| not before e,ë,и,ь,ю,я — t | |
| у | u |
| ф | f (only in loanwords) |
| x | h (only in loanwords) |
| ц | before e,ë,и,ь,ю,я — ć |
| not before e,ë,и,ь,ю,я — c | |
| ч | č |
| ш | š |
| щ | šč/šť (only in loanwords) |
| ъ | – |
| ы | i |
| ь | – |
| э | e |
| ю | at the beginning of a word — ju |
| after a vowel — ju | |
| after a consonant — u | |
| я | at the beginning of a word — ja |
| after a vowel — ja | |
| after a consonant — a |
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 Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:Transliteration "ground, earth"). Number is systematically distinguished only with definite nouns; for indefinite nouns and nouns with a possessive suffix, only the nominative case has a distinct plural.[3][1]
| Case | Indefinite | Definite | Template:Gcl possessive | Template:Gcl possessive | Template:Gcl possessive | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | singular/plural | singular | plural | |
| nominative | мода moda |
мода-т moda-t |
мода-сь moda-ś |
мода-тне moda-tńe |
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-ńt́ |
мода-тне-нь moda-tńe-ń | ||||||
| dative/allative | мода-нень moda-ńeń |
мода-нтень moda-ńt́eń |
мода-тне-нень moda-tńe-ńeń | ||||||
| inessive | мода-со moda-so |
мода-сонть moda-sońt́ |
мода-тне-сэ moda-tńe-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-stońt́ |
мода-тне-стэ moda-tńe-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-ńt́eń |
мода-тне-с moda-tńe-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-vańt́ |
мода-тне-ва moda-tńe-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-dońt́ |
мода-тне-дe moda-tńe-d́e |
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-ksońt́ |
мода-тне-кс moda-tńe-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-vtomońt́ |
мода-тне-втеме moda-tńe-vt́eme |
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-škańt́ |
мода-тне-шка moda-tńe-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 | Template:Gcl.Template:Gcl | Template:Gcl.Template:Gcl | Template:Gcl.Template:Gcl |
|---|---|---|---|
| singular/plural | singular/plural | singular/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.[1][3] 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. Template:Transliteration "kissed"). With many o-stems and e-stems, the stem vowel is dropped in these forms (e.g. o-stem Template:Transliteration "watched", e-stem Template:Transliteration "swallowed"), but there also o- and e-stem verbs which retain the vowel (Template:Transliteration "slept", Template:Transliteration "cooked"). Rueter (2010) therefore divides verb stems into vowel-retaining stems and vowel-dropping stems.[2]
In indicative mood, three tenses are distinguished: present/future, first past, second (=habitual) past.
| present/future tense | first past tense | second past tense | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a-stem | o-stem | e-stem | a-stem | e-stem | e-stem | |||
| Template:Nobold | Template:Nobold | Template:Nobold | Template:Nobold | Template:Nobold | Template:Nobold | |||
| 1st person |
singular | мора-н mora-n |
ван-ан van-an |
пил-ян piĺ-an |
сод-ы-нь sod-i-ń |
мер-и-нь meŕ-i-ń |
неи-линь ńej-i-ĺiń | |
| plural | мора-тано mora-tano |
ван-тано van-tano |
пиль-тяно piĺ-t́ano |
сод-ы-нек sod-i-ńek |
мер-и-нек meŕ-i-ńek |
неи-линек ńej-i-ĺińek | ||
| 2nd person |
singular | мора-т mora-t |
ван-ат van-at |
пил-ят piĺ-at |
сод-ы-ть sod-i-t́ |
мер-и-ть meŕ-i-t́ |
неи-лить ńej-i-ĺit́ | |
| plural | мора-тадо mora-tado |
ван-тадо van-tado |
пиль-тядо piĺ-t́ado |
сод-ы-де sod-i-d́e |
мер-и-де meŕ-i-d́e |
неи-лиде ńej-i-ĺid́e | ||
| 3rd person |
singular | мор-ы mor-i |
ван-ы van-i |
пил-и piĺ-i |
содa-сь soda-ś |
мер-сь meŕ-ś |
неи-ль ńej-i-ĺ | |
| plural | мор-ыть mor-it́ |
ван-ыть van-it́ |
пил-ить piĺ-it́ |
содa-сть soda-śt́ |
мер-сть meŕ-śt́ |
неи-льть ńej-i-ĺt́ | ||
| infinitive | first | мора-мс mora-ms |
вано-мс vano-ms |
пиле-мс piĺe-ms |
сода-мс soda-ms |
мере-мс meŕe-ms |
нее-мс ńeje-ms | |
| second | мора-мо mora-mo |
вано-мо vano-mo |
пиле-ме piĺe-me |
сода-мо soda-mo |
мере-ме meŕe-me |
нее-ме ńeje-me | ||
The third-person singular form in the present tense is also used as present participle. The second past tense is formed by adding the past-tense copula Template:Transliteration to the present participle.
The other mood categories are:
- conditional (Template:Transliteration + present suffixes)
- conjunctive (Template:Transliteration(V)Template:Transliteration + past suffixes)
- conditional-conjunctive (Template:Transliteration(V)Template:Transliteration + past suffixes)
- desiderative (Template:Transliteration + past suffixes)
- optative (Template:Transliteration + present suffixes)
- imperative (Template:Transliteration)
| conditional | conjunctive | conditional-conjunctive | desiderative | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Nobold | Template:Nobold | Template:Nobold | Template:Nobold | ||
| 1st person |
singular | ярс-ындеря-н jars-ińd́eŕa-n |
изня-влинь iźńa-vĺiń |
ул-индеря-влинь uĺ-ińd́eŕa-vĺiń |
вид-иксэлинь vid́-ikseĺiń |
| plural | ярс-ындеря-тано jars-ińd́eŕa-tano |
изня-влинек iźńa-vĺińek |
ул-индеря-влинек uĺ-ińd́eŕa-vĺińek |
вид-иксэлинек vid́-ikseĺińek | |
| 2nd person |
singular | ярс-ындеря-т jars-ińd́eŕa-t |
изня-влить iźńa-vĺit́ |
ул-индеря-влить uĺ-ińd́eŕa-vĺit́ |
вид-иксэлить vid́-ikseĺit́ |
| plural | ярс-ындеря-тадо jars-ińd́eŕa-tado |
изня-влиде iźńa-vĺid́e |
ул-индеря-влиде uĺ-ińd́eŕa-vĺid́e |
вид-иксэлиде vid́-ikseĺid́e | |
| 3rd person |
singular | ярс-ындеря-й jars-ińd́eŕa-j |
изня-воль iźńa-voĺ |
ул-индеря-воль uĺ-ińd́eŕa-voĺ |
вид-иксэль vid́-ikseĺ |
| plural | ярс-ындеря-йть jars-ińd́eŕa-jt́ |
изня-вольть iźńa-voĺt́ |
ул-индеря-вольть uĺ-ińd́eŕa-voĺt́ |
вид-иксэльть vid́-ikseĺt́ | |
| infinitive | first | ярса-мс jarsa-ms |
изня-мс iźńa-ms |
уле-мс uĺe-ms |
виде-мс vid́e-ms |
| second | ярса-мо jarsa-mo |
изня-мо iźńa-mo |
уле-ме uĺe-me |
виде-ме vid́e-me | |
Vocabulary
| Erzya | English |
|---|---|
| Шумбрат (Šumbrat) | Hello (to one person) |
| Шумбратадо (Šumbratado) | Hello (to multiple people) |
| Кода тонь леметь? (Koda toń ĺemet́?) | What is your name? |
| Монь лемем ___. (Moń ĺemem ___.) | My name is ____. |
| Сюкпря (Śukpŕa) | Thank you |
| Вастомазонок (Vastomazonok) | Goodbye |
| ава (ava) | woman |
| ломань (lomań) | man, person |
| эйкакш (ejkakš) | child |
| ялга (jalga), оя (oja) | friend |
| тетя (t́et́a) | father |
| ава (ava) | mother |
| цёра (ćora) | boy |
| тейтерь (t́ejt́eŕ) | girl |
| кудо (kudo) | house |
| ош (oš) | city |
| мастор (mastor) | land |
| килей (kiĺej) | birch tree |
| лей (ĺej) | river |
| вирь (viŕ) | forest |
| эрьке (eŕke) | lake |
| кинига (kińiga), конёвкс (końovks) | book |
| столь (stoĺ), тувор (tuvor) | table |
| пине (pińe) | dog |
| псака (psaka), катка (katka) | cat |
| ракша (rakša) | animal |
| овто (ovto) | bear |
| кал (kal) | fish |
Sample text
| Erzya (Cyrillic)[9] | Erzya (Transliteration) | English[10] |
|---|---|---|
| Весе ломантне чачить олякс ды правасост весе вейкетекс. Сынст улить превест-чарьксчист ды визькстэ чарькодемаст, вейке-вейкень коряс прясь тенст ветяма братонь ёжо марто. | Veśe lomańt́ńe čačit́ oĺaks di pravasost veśe vejket́eks. Sinst uĺit́ pŕevest-čaŕksčist di viźkste čaŕkod́emast, vejke-vejkeń koŕas pŕaś t́eńst vet́ama bratoń jožo marto. | All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. |
See also
Bibliography
- A.I. Bryzhinskiy, O.V. Pashutina, Ye.I. Chernov. Писатели Мордовии Биобиблиографический справочник. Saransk: Mordovskoye Knizhnoye Izdatelystvo, 2001. Template:ISBN.
- Vasilij D'omin. Сюконян тенк... Эрзянь писательде ёвтнемат. Saransk, 2005. Template:ISBN.
- Ksenija Djordjevic & Jean-Leo Leonard. Parlons Mordve. Paris: L'Harmattan, 2006, Template:ISBN.
- 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, Template:ISBN [print], Template:ISBN [online].
- D.V. Tsygankin. Память запечатленная в слове: Словарь географических названий республики Мордовия. Saransk, 2005. Template:ISBN.
References
External links
- Finno-Ugric Electronic Library by the Finno-Ugric Information Center in Syktyvkar, Komi Republic (interface in Russian and English, texts in Mari, Komi, Udmurt, Erzya and Moksha languages): [1]
- Erzjanj Mastor – The society for preserving the Erzya language (in Erzya and Russian)
- https://web.archive.org/web/20061029185215/http://www.info-rm.com/er/index.php News in the Erzya and Moksha Mordvinian languages
- [2] Эрзянский язык
- Erzya – Finnish/English/German/Russian dictionary (robust finite-state, open-source)
- [3] Erzya studies reference bibliography under construction.
- Russian-Moksha-Erzya Dictionary
- Russian-Erzya Dictionary
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