The Mordvinic languages,[3] also known as the Mordvin,[4] Mordovian or Mordvinian languages (Russian: мордовские языки, mordovskiye yazyki),[5] are a subgroup of the Uralic languages, comprising the closely related Erzya language and Moksha language, both spoken in Mordovia.[6]
Mordvinic | |
---|---|
Ethnicity | Mordvins |
Geographic distribution | Southwestern and Southeastern Russia |
Linguistic classification | Uralic
|
Subdivisions | |
Glottolog | mord1256 |
Previously considered a single "Mordvin language",[7] it is now treated as a small language grouping.[8] Due to differences in phonology, lexicon, and grammar, Erzya and Moksha are not mutually intelligible.[9] The two Mordvinic languages also have separate literary forms. The Erzya literary language was created in 1922 and the Mokshan in 1923.[10]
Phonological differences between the two languages include:[7]
The medieval Meshcherian language may have been Mordvinic or close to Mordvinic[citation needed].
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.[11] 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.[12][13][14]
Erza.
[...] the idea, once widely-held, that there was a common Mordva-Mari protolanguage (so-called 'proto-Volgaic') is now out of favour.