Mordvin language

Mordvin language

      member of the Finno-Ugric group of the Uralic language family, spoken in Mordvinia and neighbouring areas. The third largest Uralic language in number of speakers, Mordvin ranks after Hungarian and Finnish. It has two major dialects: Erzya, spoken in the eastern portion of Mordvinia and the surrounding territory, and Moksha, spoken in the west. Both dialects are currently written and have official status, and their speakers have been known to identify themselves as separate ethnic groups. Indeed, they lack a common name for their language; Mordvin is an exonym, or name used primarily by outsiders. Mordvin is most closely related to the Mari language, with which it makes up the Volga-Finnic subgroup of the Finnic languages of Finno-Ugric.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Mordvin — [ mɔ:dvɪn] noun (plural same, Mordvins, or Mordva) 1》 a member of a people of Finnic descent inhabiting Mordvinia in European Russia. 2》 the Finno Ugric language of the Mordvin …   English new terms dictionary

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  • Mordvin — n. one who belongs to the people who speak a Finno Ugric language (found primarily in Mordvinia, Russia) n. language of the Uralic family …   English contemporary dictionary

  • Mordvin — noun 1. a member of the agricultural people living in the central Volga provinces of European Russia • Syn: ↑Mordva, ↑Mordvinian • Hypernyms: ↑Russian • Member Holonyms: ↑Soviet Russia, ↑Russia, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

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