Also Known As: Mokshan,Mordov,Mordoff,Mordvin-moksha,Moksha language
Description:
The Moksha language (Moksha: мокшень кяль) is a member of the Finno-Volgaic subdivision of the Uralic languages with about 500,000 native speakers. Moksha is the majority language in the western part of Mordovia. It closest related to the Erzya language, although they are not mutually intelligible. Moksha is also considered to be closely related to the extinct Meshcherian and Muromian languages. There are presently six dialects of Moksha: Central, Western (or Zubu dialect), South-Western, Northern, South-Eastern and Southern.
Moksha is one of the three official languages in Mordovia. The right to one's own language is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Mordovia Republic. However, there is no special language law regulating the use of Moksha. Courts and other governmental agencies in Mordovia conduct their proceedings and issue official documents in Moksha, Erzya, and Russian.
Characteristic features of Moksha is agglutinative morphology; due to the extensive use of the latter, words can be quite long. Now it is considered Moksha lost vowel harmony.
The main stress is always on the first syllable. Stress does not cause any measurable modifications in vowel quality. However,..... full article at Wikipedia |