New Research on Erzya Phraseology: How Language Conceptualizes the Human Being

In 2026, Ogarev Mordovia State University presented the dissertation by Ekaterina Dmitrievna Karpunina, The Representation of the Conceptual Field “Human Being” in Phraseological Units of the Erzya Language.

The dissertation was completed in the academic field 5.9.5, “Russian Language and Languages of the Peoples of Russia”. It addresses one of the important areas of contemporary Erzya linguistics: the study of fixed expressions, proverbs, sayings, and phraseological units through which the language represents human beings, their qualities, behaviour, social roles, and moral evaluations.

The study examines how the human being is represented in Erzya phraseology as a bodily, social, and moral subject. The author’s abstract emphasizes that phraseology preserves collective experience, systems of evaluation, and cultural norms embedded in language. The study of fixed expressions therefore allows us to see not only individual words, but also a deeper linguistic worldview.

The dissertation analyses semantic domains such as the body, life, age, appearance, family, intellect, labour, truth, goodness, and money. Through these subconcepts, the study shows which human qualities are foregrounded in Erzya, what is regarded as valuable, which actions are approved or condemned, and how family, work, reason, truth, and responsibility are understood.

A particularly important aspect of the research is that it draws not only on Erzya material, but also uses Finnish data as a comparative background. This approach makes it possible to identify both shared Finno-Ugric features and the national and cultural specificity of the Erzya linguistic tradition.

Karpunina’s research demonstrates that the phraseological stock of the Erzya language requires systematic digital description. In the future, studies of this kind may help Valks develop a dedicated phraseological section: entries for fixed expressions, thematic groups, usage examples, Russian translations, sources, and explanatory comments.

Such a layer would be especially valuable for learners of the language. Phraseological units reveal the living logic of a language: how Erzya speakers talk about health, intelligence, labour, family, truth, goodness, wealth, and human dignity. This is not merely vocabulary; it is cultural memory expressed through language.

Valks will continue to follow new research in Erzya linguistics and gradually take such work into account in the development of the dictionary. We believe that scholarship on the Erzya language should become visible not only in academic settings, but also in the digital tools used by learners, translators, researchers, and everyone for whom the Erzya language matters.

Source: dissertation defence page on the website of Ogarev Mordovia State University.