Article

Name: On the origin of consonant complexes in the Mordovian languages

Authors: Galina S. Ivanova

Ogarev Mordovia State University, Saransk, Russian Federation

In the section Linguistics

Abstract: We consider consonant complexes at the beginning, middle, and end of Mordovian (Moksha and Erzya) words absent in related Finno-Ugric languages. The purpose of the study was to find out the reasons for the origin of this phenomenon (the absence of consonant complexes) and to determine to what historical period of language development it belongs. The research material was Mordovian (Moksha and Erzya) languages, in which there is a large group of words with consonant complexes. The main research methods were synchronous descriptive and comparative historical, involving the classification of linguistic facts, their analysis, and restoration of certain historical aspects. The study revealed that the consonant complexes in Mordovian languages are innovative. At the beginning of the word, their appearance cannot be attributed to one historical period. The reason for the loss of the vowel of the first syllable should be sought in the changes that have occurred in the accentological system: a more sonorous vowel or vowel from the diphthongal combination of not the first syllable acquired the ability to pull the stress from the narrow or reduced vowel of the first syllable onto itself. In the middle and at the end of the word, consonant complexes are observed at the junction of morphemes, with there being two reasons for their formation: 1) loss of the final vowel (often reduced) non-derivative basis during agglutination of the relational or derivational affix; 2) joining of the affix with the initial consonant to the primary consonant base.

Keywords: Finno-Ugric languages, Mordovian (Moksha and Erzya) languages, consonant complex, beginning, middle and end of a word, stress, loss

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