The Moksha Alphabet

Q: What is the Moksha language?

Moksha (мокшень кяль, ISO 639-3: mdf) is a Mordvinic Uralic language [1] spoken mainly in the western Republic of Mordovia and neighbouring regions of the Volga area of Russia. It has roughly 150,000 speakers and is, together with Erzya, a co-official language of the Republic of Mordovia. Moksha and Erzya make up the Mordvinic branch of the Uralic language family. Moksha has a literary tradition and is used in education and publishing. The Research Institute of the Humanities of Mordovia [1] and the Institute for Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences [2] conduct scholarly work on Moksha grammar, lexicon and its Cyrillic orthography.

Q: What alphabet does Moksha use?

Moksha is written in a Cyrillic alphabet [2] following the Russian letter set, with the extra vowel letters Ӑ (A with breve) and Ӓ (A with diaeresis). These represent a short reduced vowel and an open front vowel that are part of Moksha's richer vowel system. The soft sign Ь and hard sign Ъ are used as in Russian. The standard Moksha orthography is maintained by the Research Institute of the Humanities of Mordovia [1] , and the Institute for Linguistic Studies (RAS) [2] documents the same system in its Mordvinic language research .

Q: How is Moksha different from Erzya?

Moksha and Erzya are distinct but closely related Mordvinic languages [1] . The most visible difference is in their vowel systems: Moksha uses extra letters (Ӑ, Ӓ) for a reduced vowel and an open front vowel that Erzya lacks. They share much vocabulary and grammar but are not always mutually intelligible, and each has its own literary standard. Both are co-official languages of the Republic of Mordovia. The Institute for Linguistic Studies (RAS) [2] treats them as separate languages within the Mordvinic branch, and the Research Institute of the Humanities of Mordovia [1] publishes materials for each language separately .

Q: Where is Moksha spoken?

Moksha is spoken chiefly in the western part of the Republic of Mordovia [1] in the Volga region of Russia, as well as in neighbouring oblasts and in Moksha communities elsewhere in Russia. The Moksha people (мокшет) have historically lived in the western Mordvinic homeland, while Erzya speakers are concentrated more to the east.

Q: What language family does Moksha belong to?

Moksha belongs to the Mordvinic branch of the Uralic language family [1] . Its closest relative is Erzya. More broadly, Moksha is related to Mari, the Permic languages (Udmurt and Komi), the Finnic languages (Finnish, Estonian) and — at the deepest level — to Hungarian and the Samoyedic languages of Siberia. The Institute for Linguistic Studies (RAS) [2] situates Moksha within this Uralic context, and ELAR [3] archives Mordvinic documentation that supports the study of Moksha's place in the Uralic family tree .

Q: What are the special letters Ӑ and Ӓ in Moksha?

Ӑ (A with breve) marks a short reduced vowel, and Ӓ (A with diaeresis) marks an open front vowel [3] . Both are used in Moksha writing to represent vowels that the basic Russian Cyrillic set cannot show. They are a hallmark of Moksha orthography and one of the clearest visual differences from Erzya, which does not use them.

Q: How many people speak Moksha?

Moksha has roughly 150,000 speakers [1] . As with Erzya, speaker numbers have declined as Russian has become dominant in everyday life, but Moksha retains an active literary and educational presence in the Republic of Mordovia, where it is a co-official language. The Research Institute of the Humanities of Mordovia [1] supports Moksha through dictionaries, grammars and teaching materials, 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 Moksha?

The ISO 639-3 code for Moksha is mdf [1] . This distinguishes Moksha from Erzya (ISO 639-3: myv), the other Mordvinic language, since the two are treated as separate languages in academic and documentation databases.

Q: How is Moksha being documented and preserved?

Moksha is supported by several institutions: the Research Institute of the Humanities of the Republic of Mordovia [1] (dictionaries, grammars and teaching materials), the Institute for Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences [2] (research on the Mordvinic languages), and the Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR) [3] (field documentation). As a co-official language of the Republic of Mordovia, Moksha benefits from institutional support for publishing and education. This combination of official status and academic documentation helps keep the Moksha Cyrillic writing system — including its distinctive vowel letters — in active everyday and scholarly use .

Moksha Alphabet at a Glance

Moksha (мокшень кяль, ISO 639-3: mdf) is a Mordvinic Uralic language ^[1] spoken mainly in the western part of the Republic of Mordovia and neighbouring regions of the Volga area of Russia. Together with Erzya it forms the Mordvinic branch of Uralic. Moksha has roughly 150,000 speakers and is a co-official language of the Republic of Mordovia
The Moksha alphabet is based on Cyrillic and follows the Russian letter set, with the special characters Ӑ (A with breve, a short reduced vowel) and Ӓ (A with diaeresis, an open front vowel) that are distinctive to Moksha and not used in Erzya ^[2]
The Institute for Linguistic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences ^[2] researches the Mordvinic languages, documenting the Moksha vowel system — richer than Erzya's — and the orthographic conventions used to write it
The Research Institute of the Humanities of the Republic of Mordovia ^[1] supports Moksha language and literature with dictionaries, grammars and teaching materials that keep the standard Moksha Cyrillic writing system in active use
The Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR) ^[3] at SOAS University of London holds documentation of Mordvinic varieties, offering field recordings and transcribed texts that illustrate the spoken Moksha language and its written Cyrillic form
Moksha belongs to the Mordvinic branch of Uralic ^[1], closely related to Erzya and more distantly to Mari, the Permic languages, Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian. Its most striking feature within the family is a larger vowel inventory that requires the extra letters Ӑ and Ӓ

Moksha Vowels

Moksha has 10 basic vowel letters: А, Е, Ё, И, О, У, Ы, Э, Ю, Я, plus the special characters Ӑ and Ӓ. Moksha has a richer vowel system than Erzya, including a short reduced vowel and an open front vowel that require extra letters ^[2].

The Institute for Linguistic Studies (RAS) ^[2] has analysed the Moksha vowel inventory in the context of the Mordvinic languages. The Research Institute of the Humanities of Mordovia ^[1] presents these vowels as used in standard Moksha writing and teaching.

[AH]

[YEH]

[YO]

[EE]

[OH]

[OO]

[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"

[IH]

back unrounded vowel, like a dark "i"

[EH]

as in "bed"

[YOO]

as in "you"

[YAH]

as in "yard"

Moksha Consonants

Moksha uses the Russian Cyrillic consonant letters. As in Erzya, Moksha distinguishes palatalised and non-palatalised consonants, marked with the soft sign and vowel choice. Moksha is also known for voiceless sonorants, a feature typical of its phonology ^[2].

The Institute for Linguistic Studies (RAS) ^[2] documents the Moksha consonant system in its Mordvinic research, while the Research Institute of the Humanities of Mordovia ^[1] maintains the orthographic conventions representing these consonant contrasts in written Moksha.

[B]

[V]

[G]

[D]

[ZH]

[Z]

[Y]

[K]

[L]

[M]

[N]

[P]

[R]

[S]

[T]

[F]

[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"

[P]

as in "pen"

[R]

rolled r

[S]

as in "sun"

[T]

as in "top"

[F]

as in "fun"

[KH]

as in Scottish "loch"

[TS]

as in "cats"

[CH]

as in "church"

[SH]

as in "ship"

[SHCH]

soft sh-ch cluster

Moksha Special Characters

The special characters Ӑ (A with breve, a short reduced vowel) and Ӓ (A with diaeresis, an open front vowel) are distinctive to Moksha. The soft sign Ь and hard sign Ъ function as in Russian Cyrillic ^[3].

The Institute for Linguistic Studies (RAS) ^[2] and the Research Institute of the Humanities of Mordovia ^[1] use these characters consistently, keeping the written system stable across Moksha publishing and education.

[uh]

[AE]

Moksha Digits

Moksha uses Arabic numerals (0–9). Native Moksha number words: нуль (0), вейке (1), кафта (2), колма (3), ниле (4), вете (5), кота (6), сисем (7), кафксе (8), вейкса (9).

Moksha numerals such as кафта (2) and колма (3) closely parallel their Erzya counterparts (кавто, колмо), reflecting the shared Mordvinic ancestry documented by the Institute for Linguistic Studies (RAS) ^[2] and the Research Institute of the Humanities of Mordovia ^[1] in their comparative Mordvinic studies.

[нуль]

[вейке]

[кафта]

[колма]

[ниле]

[вете]

[кота]

[сисем]

[кафксе]

[вейкса]

[нуль]

Moksha: нуль

[вейке]

Moksha: вейке

[кафта]

Moksha: кафта

[колма]

Moksha: колма

[ниле]

Moksha: ниле

[вете]

Moksha: вете

[кота]

Moksha: кота

[сисем]

Moksha: сисем

[кафксе]

Moksha: кафксе

[вейкса]

Moksha: вейкса

Complete Moksha Alphabet

The complete Moksha alphabet in alphabetical order, including the special vowel letters Ӑ and Ӓ alongside the standard Russian Cyrillic letters used to write Moksha.

The Research Institute of the Humanities of Mordovia ^[1], the Institute for Linguistic Studies (RAS) ^[2] and ELAR ^[3] collectively maintain the academic infrastructure that documents the Moksha alphabet and supports the Moksha language and its literary tradition.

[AH]

[uh]

[AE]

[B]

[V]

[G]

[D]

[YEH]

[YO]

[ZH]

[Z]

[EE]

[Y]

[K]

[L]

[M]

[N]

[OH]

[P]

[R]

[S]

[T]

[OO]

[F]

[KH]

[TS]

[CH]

[SH]

[SHCH]

[IH]

[EH]

[YOO]

[YAH]

Expand All Collapse All

What is the Moksha language?

What alphabet does Moksha use?

How is Moksha different from Erzya?

Where is Moksha spoken?

What language family does Moksha belong to?

What are the special letters Ӑ and Ӓ in Moksha?

How many people speak Moksha?

What is the ISO code for Moksha?

How is Moksha being documented and preserved?

References:

[1] Research Institute of the Humanities of the Government of the Republic of Mordovia (НИИ гуманитарных наук при Правительстве Республики Мордовия). "Moksha Language and Literature Studies" — the institute conducts scholarly research on the Moksha language (мокшень кяль, ISO 639-3: mdf), a Mordvinic Uralic language of the Republic of Mordovia, Russia, documenting its Cyrillic orthography and special characters. Retrieved from Government of the Republic of Mordovia - https://www.e-mordovia.ru/ (URL no longer accessible)
[2] Institute for Linguistic Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences (ILS RAS), St Petersburg. "Mordvinic Languages Research — Moksha" — the institute researches the Mordvinic branch of Uralic (Moksha and Erzya), analysing Moksha phonology, morphology and its Cyrillic orthography with special characters. Retrieved from Institute for Linguistic Studies, RAS
[3] Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR), SOAS University of London. "Moksha Language Documentation" — ELAR holds documentation of Moksha, a Mordvinic language of the Volga region of Russia, including field recordings and transcribed texts of its Cyrillic writing system. Retrieved from Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR)