эрзя

There are at least two hypotheses about the origin of the word:

1. The first element *eŕ- is from Proto-Uralic *irkä or *ürkä (“man, son, boy”) and is cognate with -ar in Hungarian magyar (“Hungarian”), Eastern Mari эрге (erge, “son, boy”) and Finnish yrkä (“groom”).

2. The word is related to эряза (eŕaza, “lively”), Moksha (j)äŕaza[1], derived from эрямс (eŕams, “to live”). However, Proto-Mordvinic *eŕa- itself could be a derivation from *irkä~*ürkä.

In the both cases -зя (-źa) may be a nominalizing suffix.

эрзя • (erźa)

1. Erzya (a member of the ethnic group Erzya-Mordvin, closely related to the Moksha or Moksha-Mordvin).
2. Erzya language (a Finno-Ugrian language).

• эрзянь кель (erźań keľ) (Erzya language)
• эрзя ломань (erźa lomań) (Erzya person)