Representation of the Finno-Ugric *ä of a non-first syllable (on the material of the Moksha dialects)

Introduction: the article examines the development of the Finno-Ugric phoneme *ä of the non-first syllable in the Moksha language, the representatives of which are represented by different inter-dialect and intra-dialect correspondences, depending on the specific phonetic position. The subject of the research is the dialects of the Moksha language. Objective: to research the representative potential of the Finno-Ugric non-first syllable *ä in the Moksha dialects in accordance with the phonetic environment; to determine its correspondences and to map the distribution areal. Research materials: the data collected during dialectological expeditions by the graduate students and employees of the Linguistics Sector of the Research Institute for the Humanities under the Government of the Republic of Mordovia, as well as by students of the National Department of the Philological Faculty of the Mordovian State University in the period from 2000 to 2015. Results and novelty of the research: in the result of our research, we came to the conclusion that the reflexes of the Finno- Ugric phoneme *ä of the non-first syllable are represented in all three dialects of the Moksha language. The historical vowel has survived only in the so called ä-dialect. It is observed in the position of a closed syllable in the presence of the same vowel in the first syllable (in several words), as well as in the position of an open syllable with front vowels in the first syllable, where it alternates with a back vowel a; in the other two dialects it corresponds to the vowel of the middle rise e. In the absolute outcome of most of the words *ä was realized into Ч, ə and ě, ə, which in the auslaut of names after a single consonant, being in a weak position, is dropped out. The vowel elision at the morphemic junction continues to the present day. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that the history of the development of the Finno-Ugric phoneme *ä of the non-first syllable has not been sufficiently considered. The relevance of the chosen topic is dictated by the need to study the unique features of the vocalism of the Moksha dialects in connection with the deep assimilative processes occurring in the language.