Vowels

1. Only in Hill Mari

The schwa /ə/ and its fronted counterpart are usually transcribed in Finno-Ugric transcription as ə̑ (reduced mid unrounded vowel) and ə (reduced front unrounded vowel) respectively. The former has sometimes been transcribed in IPA as /ɤ/, but phonetically the vowel is most strongly distinguished by its short duration and reduced quality. Descriptions vary on the degree of backness and labialization.^[3]

The mid vowels /e/, /ø/, /o/ have more reduced allophones [e̽], [ø̽], [o̽] at the end of a word.

Consonants

Consonants are shown in Cyrillic, Latin, and the IPA:

1. Only in Russian loanwords, in Hill Mari also onomatopoeia and Chuvashian loanwords.
2. Palatalisation is marked in different ways. A ⟨у⟩ following a palatalised consonant is written as ⟨ю⟩, and ⟨а⟩ following a palatalised consonant is written as ⟨я⟩. If the vowel following a palatalised consonant is an е or an и, palatalisation is not marked at all. In other cases, the soft sign ь is used to mark palatalisation.
3. The modified Cyrillic letter for the velar nasal (ŋ) combines the Cyrillic letter ⟨Н н⟩ with and ⟨Г г⟩, where the rightmost post of Н is conflated with the vertical post of ⟨Г⟩: ⟨Ҥ, ҥ⟩. Although Hill Mari has this sound too, this character is only used in Meadow Mari.
4. In Russian loanwords and after nasals, /b d ɡ/ are voiced stops. Word-finally and before a consonant, there is free variation between voiced fricatives ([β ð ɣ]) and voiceless stops [p t k].

Phonological processes

Like several other Uralic languages, Mari has vowel harmony. In addition to front/back harmony, Mari also features round/unround harmony. If the stressed vowel in the word is rounded, then the suffix will contain a rounded vowel: for example, кӱтӱ́ ([kyˈty] 'herd') becomes кӱтӱ́штӧ ([kyˈtyʃtø], 'in the herd'); if the stressed vowel is unrounded, then the suffix will contain an unrounded vowel: ки́д ([kid], 'hand') becomes ки́дыште ([ˈkidəʃte], 'in the hand'). If the stressed vowel is back, then the suffix will end in a back vowel: агу́р ([aˈgur], 'whirlpool') becomes агу́рышто ([aˈgurəʃto], 'in the whirlpool').^[4]

Case

Meadow Mari has 9 productive cases, of which 3 are locative cases. The usage of the latter ones is restricted to inanimate objects.

Many cases, aside from their basic function, are used in other situations, such as in expressions of time.

• Nominative, used for subjects, predicatives and for other grammatical functions.
• Genitive, is used for possessive constructions.
• Dative, the indirect object's case.
• Accusative, the direct object's case.
• Comitative, used when a subject or an object can be split up into parts, or in adverbials expressing the involvement of an object in an action.
• Comparative, used to express the likeness to something.
• Inessive, used to state where something is.
• Illative, used to state where something is going.
• Lative, used to express into what something is going.

If a locative statement was to be made about an animate object, postpositions would be used.

Additionally, terms denoting family members have vocative forms. These are, however, not created with a specific paradigm, and only exist in a few pre-defined cases.

Hill Mari has these cases, plus the abessive case (of the form -де), which is used to form adverbials stating without the involvement or influence of which an action happens.

Number

Mari, though an agglutinative language, does not have a separate morpheme to signify plurality. There are three particles, which are attached to the end of words with a hyphen, used to signify plural.

• -влак (-vlak) – Standard plural form.
• -шамыч (-šamõč) – Alternative standard plural, used in many dialects. There is no difference in meaning between these two.
• -мыт (mət) – Sociative plural. Used to signify a group of people: the members of a family, a person and their family and friends.

Possessive suffixes

Every grammatical person in Mari has its own possessive suffix.

Additional suffixes

Additional particles, falling into none of the categories above, can be added to the very end of a word, giving it some additional meaning. For example, the suffix -ат (-at), means 'also' or 'too'.

Arrangement of suffixes

The arrangement of suffixes varies from case to case. Although the case suffixes are after the possessive suffixes in the genitive and the accusative, the opposite is the case for the locative cases. In the dative, both arrangements are possible.

There are many other arrangements in the plural—the position of the plural particle is flexible. The arrangement here is one commonly used possibility.

Comparison

Comparison happens with adjectives and adverbs. The comparative is formed with the suffix -рак (-rak). The superlative is formed by adding the word эн (en) in front.

Conjugation types

In Meadow Mari, words can conjugate according to two conjugation types. These differ from each other in all forms but the infinitive and the third-person plural of the imperative. Unfortunately, the infinitive is the form denoted in dictionaries and word lists. It is, thus, necessary to either mark verb infinitives by their conjugation type in word lists, or to include a form in which the conjugation type is visible—usually, the first-person singular present, which ends in -ам (or -ям) for verbs in the first declination, and in -ем (or -эм) for second-declination verbs.

Tense

The three tenses of Mari verbs are:

1. Present: The present tense is used for present and future actions, for states of being and for habitual actions, among others.
2. First preterite: The first preterite is used to express observed, recent actions.
3. Second preterite: The second preterite is used for actions that are in the more-distant past.

Additional tenses can be formed through periphrasis.

• First periphrastic imperfect
• Second periphrastic imperfect
• First periphrastic perfect
• Second periphrastic perfect

Mood

The moods are:

1. Indicative: The indicative is used to express facts and positive beliefs. All intentions that a particular language does not categorize as another mood are classified as indicative. It can be formed in all persons, in all times.
2. Imperative: The imperative expresses direct commands, requests, and prohibitions. It only exists in the present tense, and exists in all persons but the first person singular.
3. Desiderative: The desiderative is used to express desires. It can be formed for all persons, in the present tense and in the two periphrastic imperfect.

Negation

Negation in Mari uses a 'negative verb', much like Finnish does. The negative verb is more versatile than the negative verb in Finnish (see Finnish grammar), existing in more grammatical tenses and moods. It has its own form in the present indicative, imperative and desiderative, and in the first preterite indicative. Other negations are periphrastic.

The negation verb in its corresponding form is put in front of the negated verb in its second-person singular (the stem-only form), much as it is in Finnish and Estonian.

The verb улаш (ulaš) – to be – has its own negated forms.

Example

In order to illustrate the conjugation in the respective moods and times, one verb of the first declination (лекташ – to go) and one verb of the second declination (мондаш – to forget) will be used.

1. Bold letters are subject to vowel harmony—they can be е/о/ӧ, depending on the preceding full vowel.
2. First-conjugation verb forms using the imperative second-person singular as their stem are subject to the same stem changes as the imperative – see imperative second-person singular.

1. Bold letters are subject to vowel harmony—they can be е/о/ӧ, depending on the preceding full vowel.
2. First-conjugation verb forms using the imperative second-person singular as their stem are subject to the same stem changes as the imperative – see imperative second-person singular.
3. If the consonant prior to the ending can be palatalized—if it is л (l) or н (n)—it is palatalized in this position. Palatalization is not marked if the vowel following a consonant is an е.
   колаш → кольым, кольыч, кольо, колна, колда, кольыч (to hear)

1. Bold letters are subject to vowel harmony—they can be е/о/ӧ, depending on the preceding full vowel.
2. First-conjugation verb forms using the imperative second-person singular as their stem are subject to the same stem changes as the imperative – see imperative second-person singular.

1. Bold letters are subject to vowel harmony—they can be е/о/ӧ, depending on the preceding full vowel.
2. First-conjugation verb forms using the imperative second-person singular as their stem are subject to the same stem changes as the imperative.
3. In the first conjugation, the imperative second-person singular is formed by removing the -аш ending from the infinitive. Four consonant combinations are not allowed at the end of an imperative, and are thus simplified—one consonant is lost.
   кт → к, нч → ч, чк → ч, шк → ш

1. Bold letters are subject to vowel harmony—they can be е/о/ӧ, depending on the preceding full vowel.
2. First-conjugation verb forms using the imperative second-person singular as their stem are subject to the same stem changes as the imperative – see imperative second-person singular.

1. First-conjugation verb forms using the imperative second-person singular as their stem are subject to the same stem changes as the imperative – see imperative second-person singular.

1. Bold letters are subject to vowel harmony—they can be е/о/ӧ, depending on the preceding full vowel.
2. First-conjugation verb forms using the imperative second-person singular as their stem are subject to the same stem changes as the imperative – see imperative second-person singular.

Infinitive forms

Verbs have two infinitive forms: the standard infinitive and the necessive infinitive, used when a person must do something. The person needing to do something is put in the dative in such a situation.

Participles

There are four participles in Meadow Mari:

• Active participle
• Passive participle
• Negative participle
• Future participle

Gerunds

There are five gerunds in Meadow Mari:

• Affirmative instructive gerund
• Negative instructive gerund
• Gerund for prior actions I
• Gerund for prior actions II
• Gerund for simultaneous actions

Word order

Word order in Mari is subject–object–verb.^[5] This means that the object appears directly before the predicate.^[5] Word order in Mari is affected by information structure.^[5] However, the position of the verb is not affected.^[5] The focus position is directly before the verb. ^[5] Subjects, objects, adverbial, and secondary predicate can appear in this position.^[5] The examples below quoted in Saarinen (2022)^[5] show the different elements that can appear in the focus position.

Question particles мо /mo/ and ма /mɑ/ are clause-final.^[5]

However, Georgieva et al. (2021) point out that Mari also allows backgrounded material to occur after the verb.^[6]

Moving the verb to other positions in the sentence is possible for stylistic reasons or for emphasis.^[7]

Nominal predication

Two nouns can be put against each other to form nominal predication.^[8] According to Saarinen (2022) both nouns and adjectives appear in the nominative case and do not agree with the subject in number in nominal predication.^[5] Saarinen (2022) notes that when the sentence is in the indicative mood with 3sg, a copula is not used.^[5] However, a copula is obligatory and appears clause-final and in other persons, tenses, and moods.^[5]

Verbal predication

Saarinen (2022) points out that the object is marked with the accusative in transitive clauses.^[5] However, the object can appear in the nominative case in non-finite constructions.^[5] When the clause is ditransitive, the direct object appears in the accusative case and the indirect takes the dative case.^[5] However, Saarinen (2022) notes that in dialects and with verbs such as йӱкты- /jyktə-/ ‘water’ and пукшы- /pukʃə-/ ‘feed’ both objects appear in the accusative case.^[5]