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Cheremiss language

Cheremiss language

9.9
A language that the Mari people in Russia speak and now call Mari
  • noun
  • Archaic
: idioma cheremís
  • Today, the Cheremiss language is more commonly referred to as the Mari language.

Examples

  • Many documents and songs were originally written in the Cheremiss language.

  • The Cheremiss language is classified as part of the Finnic branch of the Uralic language family.

  • The Cheremiss language is rich in folklore.

  • Many young people are learning the Cheremiss language today.

  • The Cheremiss language is classified as part of the Finnic branch of the Uralic language family.

  • Today, the Cheremiss language is more commonly referred to as the Mari language.

  • Many young people are learning the Cheremiss language today.

Synonyms

Mari
vsCheremiss language
1 9.9

A language the Mari people speak in central Russia

is an older label that highlights the earlier traditional name
Cheremis language
vsCheremiss language
  • Archaic
9.9

A language spoken by the Mari people in the Mari El region of Russia

is the more current name for the same language
Cheremis
vsCheremiss language
  • Archaic
9.9

A language of the Mari people spoken in the Volga region of Russia

is the increasingly preferred modern name for the same language
Cheremiss
vsCheremiss language
  • Archaic
9.9

A language like Finnish that the Mari people speak in central Russia

is the modern preferred phrase rather than this older label
Mari language
vsCheremiss language
9.9

A language spoken by the Mari people in the Mari El region of Russia

is narrower, identifying it specifically as a Finnic language

Surface Forms

Morphology

Cheremiss + language

This is a straightforward compositional noun phrase: combining the proper name 'Cheremiss' (a Finnic people/language) with 'language' yields 'the language spoken by the Cheremiss/Mari people.' The pattern 'X language' is cross-linguistically common and follows ordinary English noun compounding, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Cheremiss language is an older name that comes from a Russian name for the Mari people, so outsiders called their speech Cheremiss and named it the Cheremiss language. Today the same speech is usually called the 'Mari language', so Cheremiss language refers to that language.