How to use the dictionary

Three scripts

Every Erzya word is shown in three writing systems — switch with the buttons above the word:

• new — the new Latin orthography of Erzya (primary on this site; developed by Aleksanteri Nazarenko, see alphabet);
• Cyr. — the Cyrillic spelling;
• UPA — Uralic Phonetic Alphabet: the scholarly transcription from Paasonen's dictionary.

Two layers of an entry

valks team dictionary (top) — the modern dictionary. Paasonen's dictionary (card below) — the classic “Mordvin Dictionary” by H. Paasonen (early 20th c.), the historical layer: German and Russian glosses, dialects, volume.

Reliability marks

• no mark — verified;
• source — taken directly from Paasonen's dictionary;
• auto — a draft machine translation (Ger.→Rus.), not yet checked by a native speaker — not an error, just pending review.

Examples and their labels

Usage examples appear under the meanings. The label shows where the example comes from:

• ✓ checked by a native speaker — an example from a modern text (fiction, tales, games); the Russian translation was checked by a native Erzya speaker;
• auto — the Russian translation of the example was produced automatically and is not yet checked. This does not mean it is “bad” — the Erzya text itself is genuine; only the accuracy of the translation is still pending;
• H. Paasonen · vol. … · p. … — an example from the historical “Mordvin Dictionary” by H. Paasonen (with volume, page and dialect);
• DE — the example translation is in German (the original language of Paasonen's dictionary), with no Russian yet;
• fiction · tale · game — the genre/type of the example source.

Word nest

Related forms of the same root — for easy navigation between close words.

Search

Search a word in Erzya (in any script) or in English. English glosses are machine-translated from Russian and are being checked by a native speaker.

Abbreviations

dial. — dialect(s) · etym. — etymology · vol. — volume of Paasonen's dictionary.