Передача специфических звуков марийского языка в памятниках письменности конца XVII — XVIII вв. [Transmission of Specific Speech Sounds of Mari in Monuments of Writing from the Late 17th — 18th Centuries]

Abstract

The article deals with the designation of the specific vowels of Mari ӓ, ӧ, ӱ, ӹ and the consonant ҥ in early written monuments. The first writings appeared in the Latin alphabet. In these valuable sources, there is a fixation of letters unknown from the Russian graphic system. Unfortunately, authors of books and short texts, compilers of glossaries or word lists didn’t spell consistently. In the early writings based on the Cyrillic alphabet, Mari specific sounds are transmitted in different ways. They are mainly transmitted by similar Russian graphemes or by their combinations. The modern form of the letters appeared and became fixed in the graphic system of the Mari language in the second half of the 19th century after the formation of the Translation Commission of St. Gurius (Gurij).

Keywords

• mari dialects; cyrillic graphemes; labial vowels; reduced vowel; velar nasal