Editing Mordvins (section)

===Etymologies===
The name ''Mordva'' is thought to originate from an [[Iranian languages|Iranian]] ([[Scythian languages|Scythian]]) word, ''mard'', meaning "man" ([[wikt:مرد#Persian|Persian مرد]]). The Mordvin word ''mirde'' denoting a husband or spouse is traced to the same origin. This word is also probably related to the final syllable of "[[Udmurt people|Udmurt]]", and also in {{langx|kv|mort}} and perhaps even in {{langx|chm|marij}}.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Indo-Aryan Controversy |last=Bryant |first=Edwin |author2=Laurie L. Patton |year=2005 |publisher=Routledge |location=PA201 |isbn=978-0-7007-1463-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8VnAk14pODsC&q=marij&pg=PA201 }}</ref><ref> Напольских В. В. Введение в историческую уралистику. Ижевск: УдмИИЯЛ, 1997. p. 37.</ref>

The first written mention of ''Erzya'' is considered to be in a letter dated to 968 AD, by [[Joseph (Khazar)|Joseph]], the [[Khazar khaganate|Khazar khagan]], in the form of ''arisa''. More controversially, it is sometimes linked to the ''Aorsy'' and ''Alanorsi'' mentioned in the works of [[Strabo]] and [[Ptolemy]]. (However, the consensus view is that the [[Alans]], a nomadic Iranian tribe from east Central Asia, were also known  as the [[Aorsi]]/Alanorsi.) [[Estakhri]], from the 10th century, has recorded among the three groups of the [[Rus people]] the ''al-arsanija'', whose king lived in the town of ''Arsa''. The people have sometimes been identified by scholars as Erzya, sometimes as the ''aru'' people, and also as [[Udmurts]]. It has been suggested by historians that the town ''Arsa'' may refer to either the modern [[Ryazan]] or [[Arsk]]<ref name="TLA"/> In the 14th century, the name Erzya is considered to have been mentioned in the form of ''ardzhani'' by [[Rashid-al-Din Hamadani]],<ref>(Sbornik... 1941, 96) see László</ref> and as ''rzjan'' by Jusuf, the Nogaj khan<ref>(Safargaliev 1964, 12) László</ref> In Russian sources, the ethnonym Erza first appears in the 18th century.<ref>(Mokshin 1977, 47) László</ref>

The earliest written mention of Moksha, in the form of Moxel, is considered to be in the works of a 13th-century Flemish traveler, [[William of Rubruck]], and in the Persian chronicle of [[Rashid-al-Din Hamadani|Rashid-al-Din]], who reported the [[Golden Horde]] to be at war with the Moksha and the Ardzhans (Erzia){{Obsolete source|reason=dated translation again, the first mentioning of Moksha in Arab sources specified by [[Vladimir Minorsky]], 1959|date=May 2022}}.
In Russian sources, 'Moksha' appears from the 17th century.<ref>(Mokshin 1977, 47)László</ref>