The word "мордва" (mordva) in Ivan Nosovich's "Dictionary of the Belarusian dialect"

Mordva (masculine), and Mordovka (feminine) are terms in Russian and Belarusian for an individual of Erzya or Moksha origin.[1] In some of these languages, this term is considered a pejorative (offensive).

Russian language

During the establishment of the Erzya and Moksha Autonomy in the 1920s, the region was renamed to "Mordvin Okrug", because Joseph Stalin disliked the name. The term Mordva became legal for both Erzya and Moksha on July 16, 1928, and has not been changed since.

In the modern Russian language, the word "Mordva" (мордовка / мордва) has been used as a slur since the mid-19th century.[2]

Example of negative use in children's folklore:

Russian: Мордва - сорок два; Жид - за тобою черт бежит; Жид пархатый - номер пятый., romanized: Mordva - sоrok dva; Žyd - za toboju čort bežit; Žyd parchatyj - nomer pjatyj, lit. 'Mordva you - your number is forty two; Zhyd - The devil runs after you; You lousy Zhyd - your number is five[3]'

In Belarusian

Due to Russian influence, the terms have also become pejoratives in modern Belarusian (мордовка / мордва, mordovka / mordva).[4]

In the Erzya and Moksha languages

The term did not exist in the Erzya and Moksha languages, and is usually either loaned in its original form, or in some cases translated from Russian to Erzya language as эрзямокшо, ěrzämokšo, 'Ěrzä+mokša' and to Moksha language as мокшерзя, Mokšerzä, 'Mokš+erzä' respectively. One of the first actions of the First Erzya and Moksha Peoples' Congress in 1989 was to rename Mordovia to the "Moksha and Erzya Autonomous Republic," and ban the term Mordva.[5]

Controversy

Mordovka, 1781

Ethnic Erzya Professor Nikolay Mokshin commented on the term in 1990:

Some pannelists make accent on allegedly negative, ethnofological (derogatory) character of the mordva ethnonym. There is also a popular commonplace opinion that Russians allegedly derive the word from Russian: морда, romanized: morda, lit. 'snout, mug'. Similar "folk etymologies" are not safe, they hinder developing national dignity in Mordvins, true internationalism, they sow the seeds of interethnic animosity, and give rise to undesirable anti-Russian ethnopsychological attitudes among some parts of Mordvin population.[6]

The negative connotation of the term with Russian: морда, romanized: morda, lit. 'snout, mug' mentioned by Prof. Mokshin can be found in Russian proverb cited by Vladimir Dal in his Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language:

Russian: У мордвы две морды, а шкура одна, romanized: The Mordva has two snouts but one pelt

Since the terms origin is now obscure and few people are aware of its background, it is still used together with archaic epithet Russian: поганый, romanized: poganyj, lit. 'crappy' (old meaning "of another faith"): Russian: поганая мордва, romanized: poganaja mordva, lit. 'crappy mordva' as it was applied historically to both Erzyas and Mokshas.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "«Мордва» — этническое имя или прозвище? (на перекрестке мнений) [Is "Mordva' an ethnonym or a slur (the Crossroads of Opinions)]". Engineering Systems and Technologies (in Russian). 1990. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  2. ↑ Nosovich, Ivan (2012). Russisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. Vol. 2. Universitätsverlag Winter. p. 157. ISBN 3825306658. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  3. ↑ Grishchenko, Alexander (2011). "East Slavic Ethnocultural Stereotypes In Different Language Levels. Ethnonym - Phraseme - Folklore" (PDF). istina.msu.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  4. ↑ Nosovich, Ivan (1870). Dictionary of the Belarusian dialect dictionary. Vol. 1. Academy of Sciences Department of Russian language and Literaturer. p. 289. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  5. ↑ Nadkin, Dmitry (1989). "Erzya and Moksha Spiritual Culture and Issues of "Homeland" Society. Insights from the Report of the First Moksha and Erzya Congress". Engineering Systems and Technologies (in Russian). Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  6. ↑ "«Мордва» — этническое имя или прозвище? (на перекрестке мнений) [Is "Mordva' an ethnonym or a slur (the Crossroads of Opinions)] (". Engineering Systems and Technologies (in Russian). 1990. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
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