Mordva (slur)

Mordva (masculine) or mordovka (feminine) are collective terms for a Erzya or Moksha man or woman, respectively.[1] In some of those languages, they are considered pejorative.

Not to be confused with Mordvins.

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

Russian

In modern Russian (мордовка / мордва), it has been an anti-Semitic slur, similar to the word zhyd, since the mid-19th century.[2] During establishing "Erzya and Moksha Autonomous District" it was renamed to Mordvin District because Joseph Stalin who attended the meeting didn't like the name. The term Mordva became legal for both Erzya and Moksha on July 16, 1928 and never been changed.

Humiliating models in children’s folklore examples:

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 - Devil is behind you; You lousy Jew - your number is two[3]'

Belarusian language

Under the influence of Russian, the terms have also become pejorative in modern Belarusian (мордовка / мордва, mordovka / mordva).[4]

Erzya and Moksha languages

The term never existed in Erzya language or Moksha languages and has been translated from Russian as Erzya: эрзямокшо, romanized: erzyamoksho, lit. 'Erzya+moksha' and Moksha: мокшерзя, romanized: Moksherzia, lit. '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 to Moksha and Erzya Autonomous Republic and banning the term Mordva.[5]

Is Mordva a slur?
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 prover 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[lower-alpha 1].

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, romanized: poganyy, lit. 'crappy' (old meaning "of another faith"): Russian: поганая мордва, romanized: poganaya mordva, lit. 'crappy mordva' as it was applied historically to both historical Mordvins and Khazars.

Other languages

The other language speakers are hardly aware of the term origin but those who visit Mordovia or any other Moksha or Erzya populated regions in Russia soon learn that the term is pejorative and stop using it.[7]

See also

Notes
  1. volume2, p.941

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.
  7. Hartwich, Anna (10 June 2018). "Russland verstehen: Wie die Fußball-WM das Land verändert" (in German). SÜDKURIER. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.