About Erzya

This site is designed to help anyone who wishes to learn Erzya or improve their command of the language. Erzya belongs to the Finno-Ugric language family, to its Finnic group. Together with Moksha and Mari it forms the Volgaic subgroup. It is a very ancient language.

The ancient Finno-Ugric tribes formed in the 4th–3rd millennia BCE in the southern Urals and the Kama region. From the 1st millennium BCE begins the history of the Volgaic subgroup, which occupied the territory between the Tsna, Oka and Volga (Erzya name Rav). In Mordovia, Erzya is one of the state languages, alongside Moksha and Russian.

According to Professor D. V. Bubrikh, Erzya is regarded as the “Finno-Ugric Sanskrit” (a progenitor). It is a very poetic, sonorous and melodious language. In different areas the Erzya speak somewhat differently — these are dialects, which differ from the literary (written) language. Since the late 1920s the dialect of the Atyashevo district has been the basis of the Erzya literary language.

A few useful resources: Oĺačiv Rav-Ural — news from Idel-Ural and the Erzya national movement; Inyazoro — the official site of the Inyazor (chief elder) of the Erzya people; ĚRZÄŃ VAL — magazine of the Erzya national movement.