Mordva (masculine) or mordovka (feminine) are collective terms for a Erzya or

Moksha ''Moksha'' (; sa, मोक्ष, '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'' and ''mukti'', is a term in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, enlightenment, liberation, and release. In its soteriology, ...

man or woman, respectively, equal to zhyd and zhydovka in several Slavic languages. In some of those languages, they are considered

pejorative A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

The term ''zhyd'' and ''mordva'' equivalence

The Russian terms mordva(mordovka) and zhyd(zhydovka) equality and usage are is attested in

Heikki Paasonen Heikki Paasonen may refer to: * Heikki Paasonen (linguist) (1865–1919), Finnish linguist * Heikki Paasonen (presenter) Heikki Valtteri Paasonen (born ) is a Finnish television presenter. Paasonen came to prominence as the host of '' Idols ...

's Mordwinisches Wörterbuch: Humiliating models in children’s folklore examples:

Russian

In modern

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

(russian: мордовка / мордва, label=none), it has been an anti-Semitic slur, similar to the word '' zhyd'', since the mid-19th century. During establishing "Erzya and Moksha Autonomous District" it was renamed to Mordvin District because

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

who attended the meeting didn't like the name. The term ''Mordva'' became legal for both Erzya and

on July 16, 1928 and never been changed.

Belarusian language

Under the influence of Russian, the terms have also become pejorative in modern Belarusian ( be, мордовка / мордва, label=none, ''mordovka'' / ''mordva'').

Erzya and Moksha languages

The term never existed in

Erzya language The Erzya language (, , ), also Erzian or historically Arisa, is spoken by approximately 300,000 people in the northern, eastern and north-western parts of the Republic of Mordovia and adjacent regions of Nizhny Novgorod, Chuvashia, Penza, Samara ...

Moksha language Moksha ( mdf, мокшень кяль, translit=mokšeň käľ, label=none, ) is a Mordvinic language of the Uralic family, with around 130,000 native speakers in 2010. Moksha is the majority language in the western part of Mordovia. Its closes ...

s and has been being translated from Russian as myv, эрзямокшо, erzyamoksho, Erzya+moksha and mdf, мокшерзя, Moksherzia, Moksh+erzya respectively or being replaced. On the First Erzya and Moksha Peoples' Congress in 1989 the first point of the Congress Declaration was renaming

Mordovia The Republic of Mordovia (russian: Респу́блика Мордо́вия, r=Respublika Mordoviya, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə mɐrˈdovʲɪjə; mdf, Мордовия Республиксь, ''Mordovija Respublikś''; myv, Мордовия Рес ...

to Moksha and Erzya Autonomous Republic and banning the term ''Mordva''.

Is ''Mordva'' a slur?

016 Description of all the Russian state-dwelling peoples

Ethnic Erzya Professor Nikolay Mokshin commented on the term in 1990:. 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. The negative connotation of the term with russian: морда, morda, snout, mug mentioned by Prof. Mokshin can be found in Russian prover cited by

Vladimir Dal Vladimir Ivanovich Dal ( rus, Влади́мир Ива́нович Даль, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr ɨˈvanəvʲɪdʑ ˈdalʲ; November 22, 1801 – October 4, 1872) was a noted Russian-language lexicographer, polyglot, Turkologist, and founding me ...

in his

Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language The ''Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language'' (russian: link=no, Толко́вый слова́рь живо́го великору́сского языка́), commonly known as ''Dal's Explanatory Dictionary'' (russian: � ...

. Since the term origin is now obscure and few people are aware of its anti-Semitic background it is still used together with archaic epithet russian: поганый, poganyy, crappy (old meaning "of another faith"): russian: поганая мордва, poganaya mordva, crappy mordva as it was applied historically to both historical

Mordvins The Mordvins (also Unified Mordvin people, Mordvinians, Mordovians; russian: мордва, Mordva, Mordvins (no equivalents in Moksha and Erzya)) is an obsolete but official term used in the Russian Federation to refer both to Erzyas and Moksh ...

and

Khazars The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...

Other languages

The other language speakers are hardly aware of the term origin but those who visit

or any other Moksha or Erzya populated regions in Russia soon learn that the term is pejorative and stop using it.

Notes

References

{{Jews and Judaism in Europe Volga Finns Moksha language Erzya language Antisemitic slurs Slavic words and phrases