Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Mordvin, Erza, эрзянский язык, erzja, Mordwin, Mordva, erza, Erzya-Mordva, Mordwinisch, Erza-Mordwinisch, Mordvinisch, Ersä-Mundart, Mordvinian, mordve, erźa, Mordvin-Erzya, Erzia, Erzá, Erzja, Erza-Mordvinisch, erzjan΄ kel΄, erzjanskij jazyk, Morduini, Mordua, eŕźań keĺ, эрзянь кель, Ersän kieli, ersämordva,
CLASSIFICATION		Uralic, Mordvin
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		myv
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS		Erzya is closely related to the language Moksha.

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Information from: “Europe and North Asia” (211-282) . Tapani Salminen (2007) , C. Moseley · London & New York: Routledge

Threatened

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
~250,000
Native speakers worldwide

DATE OF INFO: 1989

DOMAINS OF USE

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

Quite a lot of children learn the language, but the typical pattern is that they only use it with elderly relatives.

PLACES: Central Russia

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Spoken mainly in the western parts of the Republic of Mordovia in the Russian Federation, and in the adjacent parts of Ryazan’ and Penza provinces; also in pockets in Tatarstan and Orenburg Province

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
~500,000
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"Statistically, there has been a marked fall in the Erzya population. Based on data from the latest All-Russian census (2002) the “Mordvin” population is recorded as 0.84 million. If we adhere to the commonly held belief that the Erzya comprise two-thirds of that total, or a generous half a million people, we will arrive at the equivalent of a native-speakers’ figure... A slightly higher figure is provided by the Ethnologue report online with a world-wide Erzya population of 696,630."

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: "As a minority in a republic in close proximity to the nation's capital, the Erzya have continually been faced with assimilative pressure... In the 1990s and beginning of the new millennium, first-language instruction for subjects other than the native language became an issue. What started out in village primary schools brought about a new trend in publication practices, and now use of other new media is spreading, i.e. the scattered population of Erzya speakers actively utilize services offered by mobile phones and the Internet in Erzya. The publication of readers in environmental studies and mathematics has been announced for the lower grades, as well as a complete curriculum for Erzya language in the primary and secondary schools."
Scripts (Writing system): Cyrillic

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
400,000
Native speakers worldwide

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
696,630
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
614,000 in Russian Federation (2002 census). Population total all countries: 696,630

DATE OF INFO: 2002

MORE ON VITALITY

Check if endangered?

PLACES: Kyrgyzstan; Ukraine; Azerbaijan; Turkmenistan; Uzbekistan; Kazakhstan; Russia;

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
517,575
Native speakers worldwide

				2007	Europe and North Asia	Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages	211-282	C. Moseley	London & New York: Routledge			Tapani Salminen	Salminen, Tapani. 2007. "Europe and North Asia." In Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, edited by C. Moseley. 211-282. London & New York: Routledge.	HHOLD	~250,000	1989	100000				Threatened (80 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	11	Quite a lot of children learn the language, but the typical pattern is that they only use it with elderly relatives.	13	Central Russia	Spoken mainly in the western parts of the Republic of Mordovia in the Russian Federation, and in the adjacent parts of Ryazan’ and Penza provinces; also in pockets in Tatarstan and Orenburg Province
0199255911				2005	The World Atlas of Language Structures			Bernard Comrie and David Gil and Martin Haspelmath and Matthew S. Dryer	Oxford University Press	New York			2005. "The World Atlas of Language Structures." edited by Bernard Comrie et al. Oxford University Press.														53.0,45.5
		16		2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)			M. Paul Lewis	SIL International	Dallas, TX	http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub	696,630	2002	100000	614,000 in Russian Federation (2002 census). Population total all countries: 696,630			At risk (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)		Check if endangered?		Kyrgyzstan; Ukraine; Azerbaijan; Turkmenistan; Uzbekistan; Kazakhstan; Russia;
		3rd		2010	Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger				UNESCO Publishing	Paris	http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas	Christopher Moseley (ed.)	Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)	ll_pub	400,000		100000				At risk (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)						54.1302,45.4394
9789525667240	Mémoires de la Société Finno-Ougrienne		261	2010	Adnominal Person in the Morphological System of Erzya				Finno-Ugrian Society	Helsinki	http://www.sgr.fi/sust/sust261/sust261.pdf	Jack Rueter			~500,000		100000	"Statistically, there has been a marked fall in the Erzya population. Based on data from the latest All-Russian census (2002) the “Mordvin” population is recorded as 0.84 million. If we adhere to the commonly held belief that the Erzya comprise two-thirds of that total, or a generous half a million people, we will arrive at the equivalent of a native-speakers’ figure... A slightly higher figure is provided by the Ethnologue report online with a world-wide Erzya population of 696,630."	Russian	"As a minority in a republic in close proximity to the nation's capital, the Erzya have continually been faced with assimilative pressure... In the 1990s and beginning of the new millennium, first-language instruction for subjects other than the native language became an issue. What started out in village primary schools brought about a new trend in publication practices, and now use of other new media is spreading, i.e. the scattered population of Erzya speakers actively utilize services offered by mobile phones and the Internet in Erzya. The publication of readers in environmental studies and mathematics has been announced for the lower grades, as well as a complete curriculum for Erzya language in the primary and secondary schools."	At risk (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
					World Oral Literature Project						http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.		517,575		100000				At risk (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)

Erzya

Language metadata

Language information by source

Threatened

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~250,000

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~500,000

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

400,000

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

696,630

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

517,575

Discussion

Erzya

Language metadata

Language information by source

Threatened

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~250,000

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~500,000

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

400,000

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

696,630

At risk

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

517,575

Discussion

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Sources of information

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