Editing Moksha language (section)

=== Morphosyntax ===
Like other [[Uralic languages]], Moksha is an [[agglutinating language]] with elaborate systems of case-marking and conjugation, [[Preposition and postposition|postpositions]], no grammatical gender, and no articles.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Mordvalaiskielten rakenne ja kehitys|last=(in Finnish) Bartens|first=Raija|date=1999|publisher=Suomalais-ugrilaisen Seura|isbn=9525150224|location=Helsinki|oclc=41513429}}</ref>

==== Case ====
Moksha has 13 [[Productivity (linguistics)|productive]] [[Declension|cases]], many of which are primarily [[locative case]]s. Locative cases in Moksha express ideas that [[Indo-European languages]] such as English normally code by prepositions (in, at, towards, on, etc.).

However, also similarly to Indo-European prepositions, many of the uses of locative cases convey ideas other than simple motion or location. These include such expressions of time (e.g. '''on''' ''the table/Monday'', '''in''' ''Europe/a few hours'', '''by''' ''the river/the end of the summer'', etc. ), purpose ('''to''' ''China/keep things simple''), or beneficiary relations. Some of the functions of Moksha cases are listed below:

* [[Nominative case|Nominative]], used for subjects, predicatives and for other grammatical functions.
* [[Genitive case|Genitive]], used to code possession.
* [[Allative case|Allative]], used to express the motion onto a point.
*[[Elative case|Elative]], used to code motion out of a place.
*[[Inessive case|Inessive]], used to code a stationary state, in a place.
*[[Ablative case|Ablative]], used to code motion away from a point or a point of origin.
* [[Illative case|Illative]], used to code motion into a place.
*[[Translative case|Translative]], used to express a change into a state.
* [[Prolative case|Prolative]], used to express the idea of "by way" or "via" an action or instrument.
* [[Lative case|Lative]], used to code motion towards a place.

There is controversy about the status of the three remaining cases in Moksha. Some researchers see the following three cases as borderline [[Morphological derivation|derivational]] [[Affix|affixes.]]

* [[Comparative case|Comparative]], used to express a likeness to something.
* [[Abessive case|Caritive]] (or abessive), used to code the absence of something.
* [[Causative case|Causal]], used to express that an entity is the cause of something else.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan="2" |Case function
! rowspan="2" |Case Name<ref name=":0" />
! rowspan="2" |Suffix
! colspan="2" |Vowel stem 
! colspan="2" |Plain consonant stem 
! colspan="2" |Palatalized consonant stem 
|-
|{{IPA|[ˈmodɑ]}}
|''land''
|{{IPA|[kut]}}
|''house''
|{{IPA|[velʲ]}}
|''town''
|-
| rowspan="2" |'''Grammatical'''
|Nominative
|<nowiki>-Ø</nowiki>
|{{IPA|[ˈmodɑ]}}
|''a land''
|{{IPA|[kud]}}
|''a house''
|{{IPA|[ˈvelʲæ]}}
|''a town''
|-
|Genitive
|{{IPA|[nʲ]}}
|{{IPA|[ˈmodɑnʲ]}}
|''of a land, a land's''
|{{IPA|[ˈkudʲənʲ]}}
|''of a house, a house's''
|{{IPA|[ˈvelʲənʲ]}}
|''of a town, a town's''
|-
| rowspan="7" |'''Locative'''
|Allative
|{{IPA|[nʲdʲi]}}
|{{IPA|[ˈmodɑnʲdʲi]}}
|''onto a land''
|{{IPA|[ˈkudənʲdʲi]}}
|''onto a house''
|{{IPA|[ˈvelʲənʲdʲi]}}
|''onto a town''
|-
|Elative
|{{IPA|[stɑ]}}
|{{IPA|[ˈmodɑstɑ]}}
|''out of a land''
|{{IPA|[kutˈstɑ]}}
|''out of a house''
|{{IPA|[ˈvelʲəstɑ]}}
|''out of a town''
|-
|Inessive
|{{IPA|[sɑ]}}
|{{IPA|[ˈmodɑsɑ]}}
|''in a land''
|{{IPA|[kutˈsɑ]}}
|''in a house''
|{{IPA|[ˈvelʲəsɑ]}}
|''in a town''
|-
|Ablative
|{{IPA|[dɑ, tɑ]}}
|{{IPA|[ˈmodɑdɑ]}}
|''from a land''
|{{IPA|[kutˈtɑ]}}
|''from the house''
|{{IPA|[ˈvelʲədɑ]}}
|''from the town''
|-
|Illative
|{{IPA|[s]}}
|{{IPA|[ˈmodɑs]}}
|''into a land''
|{{IPA|[kuts]}}
|''into a house''
|{{IPA|[ˈvelʲəs]}}
|''into a town''
|-
|Prolative
|{{IPA|[vɑ, ɡɑ]}}
|{{IPA|[ˈmodɑvɑ]}}
|''through/alongside a land''
|{{IPA|[kudˈɡɑ]}}
|''through/alongside a house''
|{{IPA|[ˈvelʲəvɑ]}}
|''through/alongside a town''
|-
|Lative
|{{IPA|[v, u, i]}}
|{{IPA|[ˈmodɑv]}}
|''towards a land''
|{{IPA|[ˈkudu]}}
|''towards a house''
|{{IPA|[ˈvelʲi]}}
|''towards a town''
|-
| rowspan="4" |'''Other'''
|Translative
|{{IPA|[ks]}}
|{{IPA|[ˈmodɑks]}}
|''becoming/as a land''
|{{IPA|[ˈkudəks]}}
|''becoming/as a house''
|{{IPA|[ˈvelʲəks]}}
|''becoming a town, as a town''
|-
|Comparative
|{{IPA|[ʃkɑ]}}
|{{IPA|[ˈmodɑʃkɑ]}}
|''size of a land, land size''
|{{IPA|[kudəʃˈkɑ]}}
|''size of a house, house size''
|{{IPA|[ˈvelʲəʃkɑ]}}
|''size of a town, town size''
|-
|Caritive
|{{IPA|[ftəmɑ]}}
|{{IPA|[ˈmodɑftəmɑ]}}
|''without a land, landless''
|{{IPA|[kutftəˈmɑ]}}
|''without a house, houseless''
|{{IPA|[ˈvelʲəftəma]}}
|''without a town, townless''
|-
|Causal
|{{IPA|[ŋksɑ]}}
|{{IPA|[ˈmodɑŋksɑ]}}
|''because of a land''
|{{IPA|[kudəŋkˈsɑ]}}
|''because of a house''
|{{IPA|[ˈvelʲəŋksɑ]}}
|''because of a town''
|}

===== Relationships between locative cases =====
As in other Uralic languages, locative cases in Moksha can be classified according to three criteria: the spatial position (interior, surface, or exterior), the motion status (stationary or moving), and within the latter, the direction of the movement (approaching or departing). The table below shows these relationships schematically:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Schematic Summary of Locative Cases
! rowspan="3" |Spatial Position
! colspan="3" |Motion Status
|-
! rowspan="2" |''Stationary''
! colspan="2" |''Moving''
|-
!'''Approaching'''
!'''Departing'''
|-
|'''Interior'''
|inessive (''in'')
{{IPA|[-sɑ]}}
|illative (''into'')
{{IPA|[-s]}}
|elative (''out of'')
{{IPA|[stɑ]}}
|-
|'''Surface'''
|N/A
|allative (''onto'')
{{IPA|[nʲdʲi]}}
|ablative (''from'')
{{IPA|[dɑ, tɑ]}}
|-
|'''Exterior'''
|prolative (''by'')
{{IPA|[vɑ, gɑ]}}
|lative (''towards'')
{{IPA|[v, u, i]}}
|N/A
|}

==== Pronouns ====
{| class="wikitable"
|+Personal pronouns<ref name=":0" />
! rowspan="2" |Case
! colspan="3" |Singular
! colspan="3" |Plural
|-
!First
!Second
!Third
!First
!Second
!Third
|-
|'''nominative'''
|{{IPA|[mon]}}
|{{IPA|[ton]}}
|{{IPA|[son]}}
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA|[minʲ]}}
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA|[tʲinʲ]}}
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA|[sʲinʲ]}}
|-
|'''genitive'''
|{{IPA|[monʲ]}}
|{{IPA|[tonʲ]}}
|{{IPA|[sonʲ]}}
|-
|'''allative'''
|{{IPA|[monʲdʲəjnʲæ, tʲejnæ]}}
|{{IPA|[ˈtonʲdʲəjtʲ, tʲəjtʲ]}}
|{{IPA|[ˈsonʲdʲəjzɑ, ˈtʲejnzɑ]}}
|{{IPA|[minʲdʲəjnʲek]}}
|{{IPA|[tinʲdʲəjnʲtʲ]}}
|{{IPA|[sʲinʲdʲəst]}}
|-
|'''ablative'''
|{{IPA|[ˈmonʲdʲədən]}}
|{{IPA|[ˈtonʲdʲədət]}}
|{{IPA|[ˈsonʲdʲədənzɑ]}}
|{{IPA|[minʲdʲənk]}}
|{{IPA|[minʲdʲədent]}}
|{{IPA|[sʲinʲdʲədəst]}}
|}