Mordvinic

Some reconstruction notes.

Development from Proto-Uralic

Changes shared with Samic in gray, those also shared with Finnic in green, and those with even wider distribution in orange.

• *V > *Vː / _x (both preconsonantal and prevocalic!)
• *a > *o / _C*ə (except _Ć, _x)
• *ë > *a
• *ü > *i, by default
  • initially *wi- (*ük- > *vej-, *(w)ülä- > *veľ-; any others??)
  • *ü > *u / _velar (*mok- *pokəń *poŋə *śokś); counterfed by the previous. NB also *miŋä > *meŋ- > mej-!
• Vowel height switch:
  1. *i *u > *ɪ *ʊ
  2. *Vː > *V
  3. *e *o > *i *u (assuming a long stage not required)
  4. *ɪ *ʊ > *e *o
  • *o remains before *ŋ however (*čov *joŋs *lokśəj *oŋ poŋgo/pov *sova-, possibly *poŋa ~ Es põv, or poŋgo/povə ~ Es pooma (depending on if *uŋa > BF *oo))
  • Possibly including: *ɪː *ʊː > *iː *uː > *i *u (*wêxə- > *vij-)
  • Last two stages probably postdate vowel reduction (given loanwords like *kerda > *kirda)
• Stress shifts from *e / *o to a later-syllable *ä / *a
• *mt > *nt
• *ć > *ś (if PU *ć even existed; /ć/ is found in Mk oćä, seems to be secondary; lenition may be later than voicing: *eś ~ itse, *śiśəm ~ seitsen, )
• Medial lenition, round 1 (all this when intervocalic or prenasal)
  • *pp *tt *čč *kk > *p *t *č *k (clear examples exist only for *pp though!)
  • *p *t *k > *b *d *g
  • *s *š *ś *x > *z *ž *ź *j
  • *č, however, remains strictly unvoiced
• *nź > ź? (Er. saźi- ~ P. *suudź-)
• *rs *šn > š (*kürsä *warsa *wešnä > *kši *vašə *višɜ)
  • or *ər > š? (Ir. *kārt → *kšńi, but cf. Av. *rt > <š>)
• Word-final *ə > ∅ after a single consonant, or peripheral + sibilant (*joŋs *käťks *lafś *mekš *piks *soks *sokś *suks, ? *vaks)
  • after this, unstress'd *ä *a > *ə too
  • secondarily *ə > ∅ / al_ (al kal pal sal val); -a still attested in 17th century
  • possibly also *ə > ∅ / {j w ŋ}_ ? (*čoŋ *toŋ *vej)
  • unclear: *marja > *maŕ, *ora(wa) > *ur
• *d₂ > *ľ / #_, _C (only ľom~lajmä, *śulgə)
• Palatalization redistribution
  • *t *d *n *l *r (but not *s/*z!) > *ť *ď *ń *ŕ *ľ before/after front vowels or *j
  • *ń > *n initially before back vowels (the *n/*ń contrast is completely lost initially)
  • if *soďka > *suľgə, then also here further *ľ > *l
  • Palatalization occurs also in all back-vocalic originally *ə-stem verbs (*koľgə- *moľə- *poŕə- *sańďə- *uľə-, possibly *pańə- if ~ F. *pane- rather than *paina-), perhaps analogy from the preterite stem? (*kolgə-j- > *kolgi- > *koľgi- etc.)
    • Counterfed by *a-ə > *o-a: cf. *kalə- > *kola- > *kulə-. (But, regardless, *uľə-? Cf F *olë-)
    • Also *-x- > *-j- may fall under this (however: *lukə- > *lovə-)
  • Also non-alveolar consonants are palatalized before front vowels, but this remains allophonic.
• *j *w > ∅ / C_, *w > *v elsewhere
  • This probably phonemicizes *ŕ (*maŕ *uŕə); in theory also *ľ, but no good examples exist.
  • Obstruent + *w remains voiceless (*kaswa- > *kasə-, *latwa > *latə, *wiśwɜ > *veśə)
  • Possibly also: *j > ∅ / F_# (i.e. nominals only: *ki *pi *si(j) *ve). Counterfed by *ŋ > j, possibly also *k > *g > *j? (*vi(j))
  • No good evidence exists on retention of *-w / B_#; only *pov ~ alleged Est. dial. põv, source??
• Medial lenition, round 2 (intervocalic)
  • *b > *v; also r_V (*karvə *ku/orva- *tərva *u/eŕva)
  • *g > *v/*j (per vowel backness); possibly late, since *ŋ > v ~ j by similar conditioning in most dialects is post-PMo.
• But: *d₁, *d₂ > *d/*ď
  • This and the last may indicate that common Mordvinic still had */ð ɣ/ (similar to older Mari) and /d g/ is recent Russian influence (similar to westernmost Finnish, Votic, newer Mari, possibly Veps).
• *kt *pt > *ft; *ps *pś > fs fś (*lafś *lofsa)
• *k > *t / C_# (in the imperativ)

[…TBC…]

Development to the individual languages

Vowels:

• Erzya:
  • *ä > e
  • Dialectally, *e > ä (yet *ä always > e!) (Gor. Ba. Hl. Nask. Kažl.)
  • *a > o / _j. (ojdor ojmams ojme voj kojme; perhaps ľom ~ Mk lajmä; bojar nojabŕa vojna ~ Mk bajar najabŕä vajna (< Ru боярин ноябрь война); but ajge- g/kajge- tajmaza, g/kajťan- < Ru гайтан.)
  • in later syllables e ə > Će/Co (i.e. not strictly "vowel harmony"); some exceptions (piźol)
  • in Tambov Oblast (Kad. Kal. Kažl. Šir.), *u > *vi / _Ć (viľ- viŕaš viŕna- viśkä viźiŕ)

    — does this indicate *u > *ü > *vi, and similar late retention PU *ü > *ö > *ve?!

• Mokša:
  • *ə is split as allophonic [ə̟] ~ [ə̠], similar to Erzya
    • /ə/ → [ə̠] also between a (phonemic) nonpalatal and a palatal (at least ćipəŕ kavəŕ kopəŕ mokəŕ odgəŕ šäxəŕ tokəŕ, cases with other /Cʲ/ TBA) — but contrast kevəŕ with [ə̟]?
      • later than *ŋ > j/v: šej[ə̠]ŕ < *šeŋəŕ
  • *ə > ä/a / _# per harmony; ä also after palatals, a after nonpalatal *s/*z (or other alveolars) — i.e. [ə̠] > a, [ə̟] > ä
  • *əj *əw (from *əɣ *əŋ) > i u
  • *i *u > ə / initial pretonic
  • in P Pš, *e > ä / {v k}_ŕ (käŕ käŕ- käŕč käŕämäť väŕ väŕəďə-) - maybe generalizable as peripheral + ŕ, no counterexamples with m- p-

A possible final *-ə/-ä contrast does not seem reconstructible (will write *-ɜ), but should medially remain in Mk. (only inherited example: śäjäŕ).

Consonants:

• Erzya:
  • *š > č / #_ (dialectal)
  • *j > ∅ / _e (fed by *ä-raising; *je- previously didn't exist)
  • *nd > n / 3rd+ syllable
  • *ft > /vt/ = [wt] in "mainstream" dialects (Mar. NSurk. Kozl. VVr. Jeg.) and literary Erzya
    • Widely retained (Atr. Večk. Bug. Petr. Šokša; Kad. Kal.; Gor. Ba. Hl. Nask. Kažl.; SŠant. Is.?)
    • Does not go with general devoicing, e.g. /vkst/ typically remains (however, Ba. kuluv : pl. kuluft)
• Mokša:
  • ? *č > š / #_ (if not already in Proto-Mordv.)
    • initial č- occurs in recent loans (čavka ← Tat.), onomatopoeia / ideophones (čaka-, čoka- 'to hit', čof 'whistle', čofaďə- 'to push/swat away', čura- 'to piss', čəka 'game pin'), ? (čińas čiva čivgä čopaftə-; ču/əŕkä < ? *čŕka)
  • *k > ∅ / F_š (jäšä käšə- ľeš meš päšä ťišä äšťəŕ - but: šäkši), also sometimes #_šC (before nonpalatals? šna šta, but kšńi kšńit)
  • Devoicing: m n r l j v > p t r̥ l̥ ç f / _{p t c č k}. Dialectally ç > ɕ.
  • *s > ś / _F
  • n > ń / #_Vŕ (ńuŕa- ńuŕgə- ńuŕgamə-) (check other palatals?)
• *ŋ > j/v per vowel backness, except dialectally in Erzya

Analogies & such

• n-l metathesis:
  • Erzya keŋgeľems, MkSučk. MkUr. käŋgəľəms ~ Moksha käľgəťńəms 'to lie'
  • Erzya keńďal ~ Moksha (P Pš) kelda 'bug, bedbug'
• Erzya vaľgej ~ ErVečk. SSant. vajgeľ, Moksha vajgäľ 'voice': is this *vaj_käľ > *vajgäľ from *käľ 'tongue', with analogy from val 'word' in most of Erzya; or vice versa: *vaľgəj from 'word', with analogy from 'tongue' in Moksha + Večk. SSant.?

Dialect table

Vocalism → Consonantism ↓			Erzya		Moksha
			*e *ä > /ä e/	*e *ä > /e/		*e *ä ≡		*e *ä > /i e/
							*e > /ä/ / _ŕ
*ŋ ≡ / _#				Atrať (Atr.)
*ŋ > j/v				Literary		Literary	P. Pš.
*ŋ > v

On the correspondence PU *m > /v/

After PU *u

• *lumə "sno" > *loŋ (!)
• *kumV "cloud" > *kovol

Suffix exchange?

• *śüðäm(ə) "heart" > *śeďeŋ

Versus BF *-u

• *śëmə(-w?) > *śëëmu > *śav (cf. BF *soomu)
• *suv "fog" ~ BF *sumu ~ S. *somō
• *ľevəš "lime bast" ~ BF *lehmus ~ Ma. *nəməštə

Limited comparanda

• Er. jav "joint" ~ BF *jama ~ S *jōmē (better ~ javoms < *jëka-)
• *šov "butt of knife" ~ BF *hamara ~ S *ši/ëmērē ← Gmc *hamaraz
• *šovar "mortar" ~ BF *huumar ~ Ma. *šuer
• *toŋ (!) "kernel" ~ F. tuma ~ tuuma ~ E. tuum ~ Me. tum ~ Hi. toŋ
• *kav "granary, barn" ~ K. kum "loft"

(*luv "gap" = Ma. *lu better ~ F *lovi than *loma)

But not in:

• Er. kumoka "fever" ~ BF *kuuma "hot" (better ← Ru.)
• *lamə "many" ~ BF *laama
• *šamə "shape" ~ BF *haamo
• *kuma > *koma, *juma- > *jumi-, *tammə > *tumə
• *numələ *śumərdə- umaŕ *komər Er. umok
• *ľem *kämə
• #ľajmə *ľäm *śimə-

Also *p ~ Mari *m

• *karvə "fly" ~ BF *kärpä-, Ma. #ka/arme

*kt notes

Ravila '33:

• Mk ĺiç/ɕťə- (Selišče, Pšenevo) ~ ĺifťə- "hervornehmen/-ziehen/-quellen/-sprudeln" (kausatiivi?)
• Mk ĺiçťəma (Gorodišče) "lähde"
• Mk śeɕťə- (Pš.) ~ Er. sevťnə- "sormeilla"
• Mk ťiçťəďə- (Čembar) ~ ťifťəďə- (Sel.) "ochutitjsja"
• ńäfťə- "näyttää", vifťə- "johdattaa" (*vêx-ta-), ĺifťə- "paeta" ← ĺijə- "lentää" (eikä ← *läkti-?)

This article is one of quite a few pages about Natlangs. Indo-european natlangs: Balto-Slavic Natlangs: Czech * Russian Celtic Natlangs: Revived Middle Cornish * Pictish Germanic Natlangs: North Germanic Natlangs: Norwegian West Germanic Natlangs: Anglo-Saxon * Dutch * English (Old English * Middle English * Modern English * Scots) * German (High German * Low German) Indo-Iranian Natlangs: Pahlavi Italic Natlangs: French * Italian * Latin * Spanish Debated: Cimmerian Uralic Natlangs: Finnish * Khanty * Mansi * Mordvinic * Proto-Uralic Altaic (controversial): Japanese Sino-Tibetan Natlangs: Uto-Aztecan Natlangs: Nahuatl - Isolate Natlangs: Basque * * Hypothetical/debated Natlangs and Natlang families: Danubian * Europic (obsolete)