The Mari Alphabet

Q: What is the Mari language?

Mari (марий йылме, historically called Cheremis, ISO 639-3: mhr) is a Uralic language [1] spoken by the Mari people, chiefly in the Republic of Mari El in the middle Volga region of Russia. It has roughly 400,000 speakers and exists in two main literary varieties, Meadow (and Hill) Mari and Eastern Mari. Mari has an active literary tradition and is used in education, publishing and media. Mari State University [1] in Yoshkar-Ola and the Institute for Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences [2] conduct scholarly work on Mari grammar, lexicon and orthography.

Q: What alphabet does Mari use?

Mari is written in a Cyrillic alphabet [1] based on the Russian letters, extended with Ӱ (U with diaeresis), Ӧ (O with diaeresis) and Ҥ (velar nasal). The letter Ӱ is especially characteristic of Mari and rarely used in other Cyrillic scripts. Mari State University [1] maintains the standard orthography, and the Institute for Linguistic Studies (RAS) [2] documents the same alphabet in its Uralic language research .

Q: Why is Mari also called Cheremis?

Cheremis is the older Russian name for Mari [3] . It was used in earlier literature and comparative Uralic studies. Modern usage prefers "Mari", the self-designation of the people, but "Cheremis" refers to exactly the same language.

Q: What are the Meadow and Eastern varieties of Mari?

Mari has two main literary varieties [1] : Meadow (and Hill) Mari, spoken west of the Volga and on the meadow lands, and Eastern Mari, spoken further east. They differ in phonology and vocabulary but share the same Cyrillic-based writing tradition. Some classifications treat Hill Mari as a separate language. Mari State University [1] and the Institute for Linguistic Studies (RAS) [2] document the differences between these varieties, which are important for teaching and publishing across the Mari-speaking area .

Q: Where is Mari spoken?

Mari is spoken chiefly in the Republic of Mari El [1] in the middle Volga region of Russia, with its capital Yoshkar-Ola, as well as in neighbouring Bashkortostan, Tatarstan and other regions where Mari communities live. It is a co-official language of the Republic of Mari El.

Q: What is the special letter Ӱ in Mari?

The letter Ӱ (U with diaeresis) represents a front rounded vowel [1] , similar to the German ü or the Hungarian ü. It is one of the signature letters of the Mari alphabet and is rarely found in other Cyrillic-script languages, making it a distinctive marker of written Mari.

Q: How many people speak Mari?

Mari has roughly 400,000 speakers [1] , making it one of the larger indigenous minority languages of Russia. While speaker numbers have declined with the spread of Russian, Mari retains a strong literary and educational presence in the Republic of Mari El. Mari State University [1] supports Mari through research and teaching, while the Institute for Linguistic Studies (RAS) [2] and ELAR [3] contribute to the documentation and study of the language .

Q: What is the ISO code for Mari?

The main ISO 639-3 code for Mari (Meadow/Eastern Mari) is mhr [1] . Hill Mari, sometimes treated as a separate language, has the code mrj. The historical name "Cheremis" refers to the same Mari language.

Q: How is Mari being documented and preserved?

Mari is supported by several institutions: Mari State University [1] in Yoshkar-Ola (dictionaries, grammars and teaching materials), the Institute for Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences [2] (linguistic research), and the Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR) [3] (field documentation). As a co-official language of the Republic of Mari El with a substantial speaker base, Mari benefits from institutional support for education and publishing. This combination of official status and academic documentation keeps the Mari Cyrillic writing system — including its distinctive letters — in active everyday and scholarly use .

Mari Alphabet at a Glance

Mari (марий йылме, historically called Cheremis, ISO 639-3: mhr) is a Uralic language ^[1] spoken by the Mari people, chiefly in the Republic of Mari El in the middle Volga region of Russia. It has roughly 400,000 speakers, making it one of the larger indigenous minority languages of Russia. Mari exists in two main literary varieties, Meadow (Hill) and Eastern
The Mari alphabet is based on Cyrillic, extended with the distinctive letters Ӱ (U with diaeresis), Ӧ (O with diaeresis) and Ҥ (velar nasal). The letter Ӱ is especially characteristic of Mari among the Cyrillic-script Uralic languages ^[1]
Mari State University ^[1] in Yoshkar-Ola is a leading centre for Mari language and literature, producing dictionaries, grammars and teaching materials that maintain the standard Mari orthography
The Institute for Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences ^[2] researches Mari and the other Uralic languages of the Volga region, documenting Mari phonology, its literary varieties and its extended Cyrillic alphabet
The Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR) ^[3] at SOAS University of London holds Mari documentation, providing field recordings and transcribed texts that illustrate the spoken language and its Cyrillic writing
Mari forms its own branch of Uralic ^[1], related to the Mordvinic languages (Erzya and Moksha), the Permic languages (Udmurt and Komi), the Finnic languages and — more distantly — Hungarian and the Samoyedic languages

Mari Vowels

Mari has a rich set of vowel letters including the standard Cyrillic vowels plus the front rounded vowel Ӱ (U with diaeresis) and Ӧ (O with diaeresis). Mari also has a reduced central vowel that is a hallmark of its phonology ^[1].

Mari State University ^[1] presents the Mari vowel system in its teaching materials, and the Institute for Linguistic Studies (RAS) ^[2] documents these vowels as part of its research into the Uralic languages of the Volga region.

[AH]

[YEH]

[YO]

[EE]

[OH]

[OO]

[UE]

[IH]

[EH]

[YOO]

[YAH]

[AH]

as in "father"

[YEH]

as in "yet"

[YO]

as in "yore"

[EE]

as in "see"

[OH]

as in "more"

[OO]

as in "moon"

[UE]

U with diaeresis — front rounded vowel, the signature letter of Mari

[IH]

back unrounded vowel, like a dark "i"

[EH]

as in "bed"

[YOO]

as in "you"

[YAH]

as in "yard"

Mari Consonants

Mari consonant letters include the distinctive Ҥ (velar nasal). Mari uses the Russian Cyrillic consonants plus this extra nasal letter, and its consonant system is shaped by extensive vowel harmony and morphophonological alternations ^[2].

Mari State University ^[1] and the Institute for Linguistic Studies (RAS) ^[2] document the Mari consonant system, including how it differs between the Meadow and Eastern literary varieties.

[B]

[V]

[G]

[D]

[ZH]

[Z]

[Y]

[K]

[L]

[M]

[N]

[NG]

[P]

[R]

[S]

[T]

[KH]

[TS]

[CH]

[SH]

[SHCH]

[B]

as in "bat"

[V]

as in "van"

[G]

as in "go"

[D]

as in "dog"

[ZH]

as in "measure"

[Z]

as in "zoo"

[Y]

as in "yes"

[K]

as in "key"

[L]

as in "lamp"

[M]

as in "man"

[N]

as in "not"

[NG]

En with descender — velar nasal used in the Mari alphabet

[P]

as in "pen"

[R]

rolled r

[S]

as in "sun"

[T]

as in "top"

[KH]

as in Scottish "loch"

[TS]

as in "cats"

[CH]

as in "church"

[SH]

as in "ship"

[SHCH]

soft sh-ch cluster

[UE]

[OE]

[NG]

Mari Digits

Mari uses Arabic numerals (0–9). Native Mari number words: нул (0), ик (1), кок (2), кум (3), ныл (4), вич (5), куд (6), шым (7), кандаш (8), индеш (9).

Mari numerals such as кум (3) and вич (5) preserve Uralic roots that can be compared with the Permic and Mordvinic languages, connections documented by Mari State University ^[1] and the Institute for Linguistic Studies (RAS) ^[2] in their comparative Uralic research.

[нул]

[ик]

[кок]

[кум]

[ныл]

[вич]

[куд]

[шым]

[кандаш]

[индеш]

[нул]

Mari: нул

[ик]

Mari: ик

[кок]

Mari: кок

[кум]

Mari: кум

[ныл]

Mari: ныл

[вич]

Mari: вич

[куд]

Mari: куд

[шым]

Mari: шым

[кандаш]

Mari: кандаш

[индеш]

Mari: индеш

[AH]

[B]

[V]

[G]

[D]

[YEH]

[YO]

[ZH]

[Z]

[EE]

[Y]

[K]

[L]

[M]

[N]

[NG]

[OH]

[OE]

[P]

[R]

[S]

[T]

[OO]

[UE]

[F]

[KH]

[TS]

[CH]

[SH]

[SHCH]

[IH]

[EH]

[YOO]

[YAH]

Expand All Collapse All

What is the Mari language?

What alphabet does Mari use?

Why is Mari also called Cheremis?

What are the Meadow and Eastern varieties of Mari?

Where is Mari spoken?

What is the special letter Ӱ in Mari?

How many people speak Mari?

What is the ISO code for Mari?

How is Mari being documented and preserved?

References:

[1] Mari State University (Марийский государственный университет), Yoshkar-Ola, Republic of Mari El. "Mari Language and Literature Studies" — the university is a leading centre for research on the Mari language (марий йылме, ISO 639-3: mhr), a Uralic language of the Republic of Mari El, Russia, documenting its Cyrillic alphabet with the unique letter Ӱ. Retrieved from Mari State University - https://www.marsu.ru/ (URL no longer accessible)
[2] Institute for Linguistic Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences (ILS RAS), St Petersburg. "Mari Language Research" — the institute researches the Mari language and other Uralic languages of the Volga region, analysing Mari phonology, its two literary varieties, and its extended Cyrillic alphabet. Retrieved from Institute for Linguistic Studies, RAS
[3] Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR), SOAS University of London. "Mari Language Documentation" — ELAR holds documentation of Mari (Cheremis), a Uralic language of the middle Volga region of Russia, including recordings illustrating its Cyrillic orthography. Retrieved from Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR)