Social:Mansi language

Short description: Uralic language spoken in Russia

Mansi
ма̄ньси ла̄тыӈ
Pronunciation	[maːnʲɕi laːtəŋ]
Native to	Russia
Region	Khanty–Mansi
Ethnicity	12,200 Mansi (2020 census)
Native speakers	2,200 (2020 census)
Language family	Uralic Finno-Ugric Ugric? (traditional grouping) Ob-Ugric? Mansi
Dialects	Southern Eastern Northern Western
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mns
Glottolog	mans1269
Map of regions where those who speak the extant Northern Mansi and Eastern Mansi languages. The gradient represents the uncertainty in where these languages can be spoken. (2022)
Northern Mansi is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010)

The Mansi languages are spoken by the Mansi people in Russia along the Ob River and its tributaries, in the Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug, and Sverdlovsk Oblast. Traditionally considered a single language, they constitute a branch of the Uralic languages, often considered most closely related to neighbouring Khanty and then to Hungarian.

The base dialect of the Mansi literary language is the Sosva dialect, a representative of the northern language. The discussion below is based on the standard language. Fixed word order is typical in Mansi. Adverbials and participles play an important role in sentence construction. A written language was first published in 1868, and the current Cyrillic alphabet was devised in 1937.

Varieties

Dialects of Mansi (and Khanty).

  Northern Mansi

  Western and Southern Mansi

  Eastern Mansi

Mansi is subdivided into four main dialect groups which are to a large degree mutually unintelligible, and therefore best considered four languages. A primary split can be set up between the Southern variety and the remainder. A number of features are also shared between the Western and Eastern varieties, while certain later sound changes have diffused between Eastern and Northern (and are also found in some neighboring dialects of Northern Khanty to the east).

Individual dialects are known according to the rivers their speakers live(d) on:

Proto‑Mansi

Southern Mansi (Tavda)†   Core Mansi Central Mansi Western Mansi †   Pelym     North Vagil Mansi Language     South Vagil Mansi Language     Lower Lozva Mansi Language     Middle Lozva Mansi Language     Eastern Mansi (Konda)   Lower Konda Mansi Language     Middle Konda Mansi Language     Upper Konda Mansi Language     Jukonda Mansi Language       Northern Mansi   Upper Lozva Mansi Language     Severnaya Sosva Mansi Language     Sygva Mansi Language     Ob Mansi Language

The sub-dialects given above are those which were still spoken in the late 19th and early 20th century and have been documented in linguistic sources on Mansi. Pre-scientific records from the 18th and early 19th centuries exist also of other varieties of Western and Southern Mansi, spoken further west: the Tagil, Tura and Chusovaya dialects of Southern and the Vishera dialect of Western.

The two dialects last mentioned were hence spoken on the western slopes of the Urals, where also several early Russian sources document Mansi settlements. Placename evidence has been used to suggest Mansi presence reaching still much further west in earlier times, though this has been criticized as poorly substantiated.

Northern Mansi has strong Russian, Komi, Nenets, and Northern Khanty influence, and it forms the base of the literary Mansi language. There is no accusative case; that is, both the nominative and accusative roles are unmarked on the noun. */æ/ and */æː/ have been backed to [a] and [aː].

Western Mansi became extinct ca. 2000. It had strong Russian and Komi influences; dialect differences were also considerable. Long vowels were diphthongized.

Eastern Mansi is spoken by 100–200 people. It has Khanty and Siberian Tatar influence. There is vowel harmony, and for */æː/ it has [œː], frequently diphthongized.

Southern (Tavda) Mansi was recorded from area isolated from the other Mansi varieties. Around 1900 a couple hundred speakers existed; in the 1960s it was spoken only by a few elderly speakers, and it has since then become extinct. It had strong Tatar influence and displayed several archaisms such as vowel harmony, retention of /y/ (elsewhere merged with */æ/), /tsʲ/ (elsewhere deaffricated to /sʲ/), /æː/ (elsewhere fronted to /aː/ or diphthongized) and /ɑː/ (elsewhere raised to /oː/).

Phonology

Consonants

Mansi consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	(Alveolo-) Palatal	Velar
				Plain	Labialized
Nasals	/m/ м	/n/ н	/nʲ/ нь	/ŋ/ ӈ	/ŋʷ/ ӈв
Stops	/p/ п	/t/ т	/tʲ/ ть	/k/ к	/kʷ/ кв
Affricate			/ɕ/ [1] ~ /sʲ/ щ ~ сь
Fricatives		/s/ с		/x/ [2] /ɣ/ х г	/xʷ/ [3] *ɣʷ [4] хв (в)
Semivowels			/j/ й		/w/ в
Laterals		/l/ л	/lʲ/ ль
Trill		/r/ р

The inventory presented here is a maximal collection of segments found across the Mansi varieties. Some remarks:

1. /ɕ/ is an allophone of /sʲ/.
2. The voiceless velar fricatives /x/, /xʷ/ are only found in the Northern group and the Lower Konda dialect of the Eastern group, resulting from spirantization of *k, *kʷ adjacent to original back vowels.
3. According to Honti, a contrast between *w and *ɣʷ can be reconstructed, but this does not surface in any of the attested varieties.
4. The labialization contrast among the velars dates back to Proto-Mansi, but was in several varieties strengthened by labialization of velars adjacent to rounded vowels. In particular, Proto-Mansi *yK → Core Mansi *æKʷ (a form of transphonologization).

Vowels

The vowel systems across Mansi show great variety. As typical across the Uralic languages, many more vowel distinctions were possible in the initial, stressed syllable than in unstressed ones. Up to 18–19 stressed vowel contrasts may be found in the Western and Eastern dialects, while Northern Mansi has a much reduced, largely symmetric system of 8 vowels, though lacking short **/e/ and having a very rare long [iː]:

Northern Mansi stressed vowels

	Unrounded	Rounded
Close	/i/ 1, ([iː] 2) ы/и	/u/, /uː/ у/ю
Mid	/eː/ 3 э/е	/o/, /oː/ 3 о/ё
Open	/a/, /aː/ а/я

Northern Mansi unstressed vowels

	Full	Reduced
Close	/i/ 1, (/u/ 4) ы/и, у
Mid	/e/ э/е	/ə/ 5
Open	/a/ а/я

Remarks:

1. ы/и /i/ has a velar allophone [ɨ] before г /ɣ/ and after х /x/.
2. Long [iː] occurs as a rare and archaic phonetic variant of /eː/, cf. э̄ти ~ ӣти (‘in the evening, evenings’)
3. Long /eː/ and /oː/ can be pronounced as diphthongs [e͜ɛ] and [o͜ɔ].
4. у /u/ is found in unstressed (“non-first”) syllables before в /w/, in the infinitive suffix -ункве /uŋkʷe/ and in obscured compound words.
5. Reduced /ə/ becomes labialized [ə̹] or [ɞ̯] before bilabial consonants м /m/ and п /p/.

Alphabet

The first publication of the written Mansi language was a translation of the Gospel of Matthew published in London in 1868. In 1932 a version of Latin alphabet was introduced by the Institute of the Peoples of the North with little success.

The former Latin alphabet:

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, Ꜧ, I, J, K, L, Ļ, M, N, Ņ, Ŋ, O, P, R, S, Ꞩ, T, Ţ, U, V, Z, Ь

In 1937, Cyrillic replaced the Latin.

The highlighted letters, and Г with the value /ɡ/, are used only in names and loanwords. The allophones /ɕ/ and /sʲ/ are written with the letter Щ or the digraph СЬ respectively.

А /a/

А̄ /aː/

Б /b/

В /◌ʷ/

Г /ɡ/, /ɣ/

Д /d/

Е /ʲe/

Е̄ /ʲe:/

Ё /ʲo/

Ё̄ /ʲo:/

Ж /ʒ/

З /z/

И /i/

Ӣ /i:/

Й /j/

К /k/

Л /l/, /ʎ/

М /m/

Н /n/, /ɲ/

Ӈ /ŋ/

О /o/

О̄ /o:/

П /p/

Р /r/

С /s/

Т /t/

У /u/

Ӯ /uː/

Ф /f/

Х /χ/

Ц /t͡s/

Ч /t͡ʃʲ/

Ш /ʃ/

Щ /ʃʲtʃʲ/

Ъ /-/

Ы /ɪ/

Ы̄ /ɪ:/

Ь /◌ʲ/

Э /ə~ɤ/

Э̄ /ə:~ɤ:/

Ю /ʲu/

Ю̄ /ʲu:/

Я /ʲa/

Я̄ /ʲa:/

Grammar

Mansi is an agglutinating, subject–object–verb (SOV) language.

Article

One way to express a noun's definiteness in a sentence is with articles, and Northern Mansi uses two articles. The Indefinite is derived from the demonstrative pronominal word ань ('now'), the definite is derived from the number аква/акв ('one'); ань ('the'), акв ('a/an'). They both are used before the defined word. And if their adverbial and numeral meanings are to be expressed; ань always stands before the verb or a word with a similar function and is usually stressed, акв behaves the same and is always stressed.

Definiteness (determination) can also be expressed by the third (less often second) person singular possession marker, or in case of direct objects, using transitive conjugation. E.g. а̄мп (’dog’) → а̄мпе (’his/her/its dog’, ’the dog’); ха̄п (’boat’) → ха̄п на̄лув-нарыгтас (’he/she pushed a boat in the water’) ≠ ха̄п на̄лув-нарыгтастэ (’he/she pushed the boat in the water’).

Nouns

There is no grammatical gender. Mansi distinguishes between singular, dual and plural number. Six grammatical cases exist. Possession is expressed using possessive suffixes, for example -ум, which means "my".

Grammatical cases, declining

There are 5 ways the case suffix can change.

• If the word last letter is a consonant:

Example with: пӯт /puːt/ (cauldron)

case	sing.	dual	plural
nom.	пӯт puːt	пӯтыг puːtɪɣ	пӯтыт puːtət
loc.	пӯтт puːtt	пӯтыгт puːtɪɣt	пӯтытт puːtətt
lat.	пӯтн puːtn	пӯтыгн puːtɪɣn	пӯтытн puːtətn
abl.	пӯтныл puːtnəl	пӯтыгныл puːtɪɣnəl	пӯтытныл puːtətnəl
trans.	пӯтыг puːtɪɣ	-	-
instr.	пӯтыл puːtəl	пӯтыгтыл puːtɪɣtəl	пӯтытыл puːtətəl

• If the word's last letter is a vowel:

Example with: э̄ква /eːkʷa/ (wife, older woman)

case	sing.	dual	plural
nom.	э̄ква eːkʷa	э̄кваг eːkʷaɣ	э̄кват eːkʷat
loc.	э̄кват eːkʷat	э̄квагт eːkʷaɣt	э̄кватт eːkʷatt
lat.	э̄кван eːkʷan	э̄квагн eːkʷaɣn	э̄кватн eːkʷatn
abl.	э̄кваныл eːkʷanəl	э̄квагныл eːkʷaɣnəl	э̄кватныл eːkʷatnəl
trans.	э̄кваг eːkʷaɣ	-	-
instr.	э̄квал eːkʷal	э̄квагтыл eːkʷaɣtəl	э̄кватыл eːkʷatəl

• If the word has a vowel (ы, и) as the last letter, it can be -йи- or just -и- :

Example with: са̄лы /saːli/ (deer)

case	sing.	dual	plural
nom.	са̄лы saːli	са̄лыйиг saːlijiɣ	са̄лыт eːkʷat
loc.	са̄лыт saːlit	са̄лыйигт saːlijiɣt	са̄лытт saːlitt
lat.	са̄лын saːlin	са̄лыйигн saːlijiɣn	са̄лытн saːlitn
abl.	са̄лыныл saːlinəl	са̄лыйигныл saːlijiɣnəl	са̄лытныл saːlitnəl
trans.	са̄лыйиг saːlijiɣ	-	-
instr.	са̄лыл saːlil	са̄лыйигтыл saːlijiɣtəl	са̄лытыл saːlitəl

• If the word's last letter is a palatalized consonant:

Example with: ща̄нь /ɕaːnʲ/ (mother)

case	sing.	dual	plural
nom.	ща̄нь ɕaːnʲ	ща̄ньыг ɕaːnʲɪɣ	ща̄ньыт ɕaːnʲət
loc.	ща̄ньт ɕaːnʲt	ща̄ньыгт ɕaːnʲɪɣt	ща̄ньытт ɕaːnʲətt
lat.	ща̄ньн ɕaːnʲn	ща̄ньыгн ɕaːnʲɪɣn	ща̄ньытн ɕaːnʲətn
abl.	ща̄ньныл ɕaːnʲnəl	ща̄ньыгныл ɕaːnʲɪɣnəl	ща̄ньытныл ɕaːnʲətnəl
trans.	ща̄ниг ɕaːnʲiɣ	-	-
instr.	ща̄нил ɕaːnʲil	ща̄ньыгтыл ɕaːnʲɪɣtəl	ща̄ньытыл ɕaːnʲətəl

• If the word has a syncopating stem:

Example with: сасыг /sasɪɣ/ (uncle)

case	sing.	dual	plural
nom.	сасыг sasɪɣ	сасгыг sasɣɪɣ	сасгыт sasɣət
loc.	сасыгт sasɪɣt	сасгыгт sasɣɪɣt	сасгытт sasɣətt
lat.	сасыгн sasɪɣn	сасгыгн sasɣɪɣn	сасгытн sasɣətn
abl.	сасыгныл sasɪɣnəl	сасгыгныл sasɣɪɣnəl	сасгытныл sasɣətnəl
trans.	сасгыг sasɣɪɣ	-	-
instr.	сасгыл sasɣəl	сасгыгтыл sasɣɪɣtəl	сасгытыл sasɣətəl

Missing cases can be expressed using postpositions, such as халныл (χalnəl, 'of, out of'), саит (sait, 'after, behind'), etc.

Possession

Possession is expressed with possessive suffixes, and the suffix change is determined by the last letter of a word. There are 5 ways that the suffixes can change:

• If the word has a consonant as the last letter:

Example with: пӯт /puːt/ (cauldron)

possessor	single	double	multiple
1st person sing.	пӯтум puːtɞ̯m	пӯтагум puːtaɣɞ̯m	пӯтанум puːtanɞ̯m
2nd person sing.	пӯтын puːtən	пӯтагын puːtaɣən	пӯтан puːtan
3rd person sing.	пӯтэ puːte	пӯтаге puːtaɣe	пӯтанэ puːtane
1st person dual	пӯтме̄н puːtmeːn	пӯтагаме̄н puːtaɣameːn	пӯтанаме̄н puːtanameːn
2nd person dual	пӯты̄н puːtiːn	пӯтагы̄н puːtaɣiːn	пӯтаны̄н puːtaniːn
3rd person dual	пӯтэ̄ puːteː	пӯтаге̄н puːtaɣeː	пӯтанэ̄н puːtaneː
1st person plu.	пӯтув puːtuw	пӯтагув puːtaɣuw	пӯтанув puːtanuw
2nd person plu.	пӯты̄н puːtiːn	пӯтагы̄н puːtaɣiːn	пӯтаны̄н puːtaniːn
3rd person plu.	пӯтаныл puːtanəl	пӯтага̄ныл puːtanəl	пӯта̄ныл puːtanəl

• If the word has a vowel as the last letter:

Example with: э̄ква /eːkʷa/ (wife, older woman)

possessor	single	double	multiple
1st person sing.	э̄квам eːkʷam	э̄квагум eːkʷaɣɞ̯m	э̄кванум eːkʷanɞ̯m
2nd person sing.	э̄кван eːkʷan	э̄квагын eːkʷaɣən	э̄кван eːkʷan
3rd person sing.	э̄кватэ eːkʷate	э̄кваге eːkʷaɣe	э̄кванэ eːkʷane
1st person dual	э̄кваме̄н eːkʷameːn	э̄квагаме̄н eːkʷaɣameːn	э̄кванаме̄н eːkʷanameːn
2nd person dual	э̄кван eːkʷan	э̄квагы̄н eːkʷaɣiːn	э̄кваны̄н eːkʷaniːn
3rd person dual	э̄кватэ̄н eːkʷateːn	э̄кваге̄н eːkʷaɣeː	э̄кванэ̄н eːkʷaneː
1st person plu.	э̄квав eːkʷaw	э̄квагув eːkʷaɣuw	э̄кванув eːkʷanuw
2nd person plu.	э̄кван eːkʷan	э̄квагы̄н eːkʷaɣiːn	э̄кваны̄н eːkʷaniːn
3rd person plu.	э̄кваныл eːkʷanəl	э̄кваганыл eːkʷanəl	э̄квананыл eːkʷanəl

• If the word has a vowel (ы, и) as the last letter:

Example with: са̄лы /saːli/ (deer)

possessor	single	double	multiple
1st person sing.	са̄лым saːlim	са̄лыягум saːlijaɣɞ̯m	са̄лыянум saːlijanɞ̯m
2nd person sing.	са̄лын saːlin	са̄лыягын saːlijaɣən	са̄лыян saːlijan
3rd person sing.	са̄лытэ saːlite	са̄лыяге saːlijaɣe	са̄лыянэ saːlijane
1st person dual	са̄лыме̄н saːlimeːn	са̄лыягаме̄н saːlijaɣameːn	са̄лыянаме̄н saːlijanameːn
2nd person dual	са̄лын saːlin	са̄лыягы̄н saːlijaɣiːn	са̄лыяны̄н saːlijaniːn
3rd person dual	са̄лытэ̄н saːliteː	са̄лыяге̄н saːlijaɣeː	са̄лыянэ̄н saːlijaneː
1st person plu.	са̄лыюв saːlijuw	са̄лыягув saːlijaɣuw	са̄лыянув saːlijanuw
2nd person plu.	са̄лын saːlin	са̄лыягы̄н saːlijaɣiːn	са̄лыяны̄н saːlijaniːn
3rd person plu.	са̄лыяныл saːlijanəl	са̄лыяганыл saːlijaɣanəl	са̄лыянаныл saːlijananəl

• If the word has a palatalized consonant as the last letter:

Example with: ща̄нь /ɕaːnʲ/ (mother)

possessor	single	double	multiple
1st person sing.	ща̄нюм ɕaːnʲɞ̯m	ща̄нягум ɕaːnʲaɣɞ̯m	ща̄нянум ɕaːnʲanɞ̯m
2nd person sing.	ща̄нин ɕaːnʲən	ща̄нягын ɕaːnʲaɣən	ща̄нян ɕaːnʲan
3rd person sing.	ща̄не ɕaːnʲe	ща̄няге ɕaːnʲaɣe	ща̄нянэ ɕaːnʲane
1st person dual	ща̄няме̄н ɕaːnʲameːn	ща̄нягаме̄н ɕaːnʲaɣameːn	ща̄нянаме̄н ɕaːnʲanameːn
2nd person dual	ща̄нӣн ɕaːnʲiːn	ща̄нягы̄н ɕaːnʲaɣiːn	ща̄няны̄н ɕaːnʲaniːn
3rd person dual	ща̄не̄ ɕaːnʲeː	ща̄няге̄н ɕaːnʲaɣeː	ща̄нянэ̄н ɕaːnʲaneː
1st person plu.	ща̄нюв ɕaːnʲuw	ща̄нягув ɕaːnʲaɣuw	ща̄нянув ɕaːnʲanuw
2nd person plu.	ща̄нӣн ɕaːnʲiːn	ща̄нягы̄н ɕaːnʲaɣiːn	ща̄няны̄н ɕaːnʲaniːn
3rd person plu.	ща̄няныл ɕaːnʲanəl	ща̄няга̄ныл ɕaːnʲanəl	ща̄ня̄ныл ɕaːnʲanəl

• If the word has syncopating stem:

Example with: сасыг /sasɪɣ/ (uncle)

possessor	single	double	multiple
1st person sing.	сасгум sasɣɞ̯m	сасгагум sasɣaɣɞ̯m	сасганум sasɣanɞ̯m
2nd person sing.	сасгын sasɣən	сасгагын sasɣaɣən	сасган sasɣan
3rd person sing.	сасгэ sasɣe	сасгаге sasɣaɣe	сасганэ sasɣane
1st person dual	сасыгме̄н sasɪɣmeːn	сасгагаме̄н sasɣaɣameːn	сасганаме̄н sasɣanameːn
2nd person dual	сасгы̄н sasɣiːn	сасгагы̄н sasɣaɣiːn	сасганы̄н sasɣaniːn
3rd person dual	сасгэ̄ sasɣeː	сасгаге̄н sasɣaɣeː	сасганэ̄н sasɣaneː
1st person plu.	сасгув sasɣuw	сасгагув sasɣaɣuw	сасганув sasɣanuw
2nd person plu.	сасгы̄н sasɣiːn	сасгагы̄н sasɣaɣiːn	сасганы̄н sasɣaniːn
3rd person plu.	сасганыл sasɣanəl	сасгага̄ныл sasɣaɣaːnəl	сасга̄ныл sasɣanəl

Verbs

Mansi conjugation has three persons, three numbers, two tenses, and five moods. Active and passive voices exist.

There is no clear distinction between transitive and intransitive verbs.

The verb can conjugate in a Definite and Indefinite way which depends on if the sentence has an object, which the action depicted by the verb refers to directly.

Personal suffixes

Personal suffixes are attached after the verbal marker. The suffixes are the following:

	Singular	Dual	Plural
1st person	-ум	-ме̄н	-в
2nd person	-ын	-ы̄н	-ы̄н
3rd person	-ø	-ø	-ыт

Tenses

Tenses are formed with suffixes except for the future.

Present tense

The tense suffix precedes the personal suffix. The form of the present tense suffix depends on the character of the verbal stem, as well as moods. Tense conjugation is formed with the suffixes -эг, -э̄г, -и, -э, -э̄, -г, or -в. In the following examples, the tense suffix is in bold and the personal ending is in italic.

рӯпитаӈкве - to work

	Singular	Dual	Plural
1st person	рӯпитэ̄гум	рӯпитыме̄н	рӯпитэ̄в
2nd person	рӯпитэ̄гын	рӯпитэгы̄н	рӯпитэгы̄н
3rd person	рӯпиты	рӯпитэ̄г	рӯпитэ̄гыт

The present tense suffix -э̄г is used if the following personal marker contains a consonant or a highly reduced vowel; the suffix -эг is used if the following personal marker has a stronger vowel, as it is the case in 2nd person dual and plural. 1st person dual has no tense marker but rather a ы between the verb stem and personal ending.

Verb stems that end in a vowel, have -г as verbal marker. Verb stems that end with the vowel у have -в as verbal marker.

3rd person dual has no personal ending. If the verbal stem ends in a vowel, the tense suffix becomes -ыг.

1st person plural personal ending is -в if the verbal stems ends in a consonant; the personal ending becomes -ув if the verbal stem ends in a vowel.

Past tense

The past tense suffix if the verb stem is monosylabalic is -ыс- and if the verb is polysyllabic it is -ас-:

Сяр ма̄ньлат каснэ хум Евгений Глызин о̄лыс.	The youngest participant in the competition was Jevgeni Glizin.
Ёська мо̄лхо̄тал урт рӯпитас.	Joseph worked at the mountain yesterday.

рӯпитаӈкве - to work

	Singular	Dual	Plural
1st person	рӯпитасум	рӯпитасаме̄н	рӯпитасув
2nd person	рӯпитасын	рӯпитасы̄н	рӯпитасы̄н
3rd person	рӯпитас	рӯпитасы̄г	рӯпита̄сыт

3rd person dual in past tense has a -ы̄г personal ending.

The 1st person plural personal suffix turns into -ув.

Future "tense"

To represent the Future, the verb патуӈкве (not dissimilar to Hungarians use of the verb fogni) is used as an auxiliary verb conjugated in the Present Indicative:

Тав кӯтювытыл рӯпитаӈкве паты.

He will work with (female) dogs.

Definiteness

Verbs can conjugate two ways to show their agreement with the sentence's object.

Indefinite conjugation

In Indefinite verb conjugations there is no object present. It is not represented by any suffix.

Definite conjugation

In Definite verb conjugations there are three ways the verb can represent the direct object's number.

рӯпитаӈкве - to work

Singular Object	Singular	Dual	Plural
1st person	рӯпитылум	рӯпитыламēн	рӯпитылув
2nd person	рӯпитылын	рӯпитылы̄н	рӯпитылы̄н
3rd person	рӯпитытэ	рӯпитытэ̄н	рӯпитыяныл

The singular object is expressed with the -ыл- suffix which changes depending on the mood and tense.

рӯпитаӈкве - to work

Dual Object	Singular	Dual	Plural
1st person	рӯпитыягум	рӯпитыягмēн	рӯпитыягув
2nd person	рӯпитыягын	рӯпитыягы̄н	рӯпитыягы̄н
3rd person	рӯпитыяге	рӯпитыягēн	рӯпитыяга̄ныл

The dual object is expressed with the -ыяг- suffix which changes depending on the mood and tense.

рӯпитаӈкве - to work

Plural Object	Singular	Dual	Plural
1st person	рӯпитыянум	рӯпитыянмēн	рӯпитыянув
2nd person	рӯпитыянын or рӯпитыян	рӯпитыяны̄н or рӯпитыян	рӯпитыяны̄н or рӯпитыян
3rd person	рӯпитыянэ	рӯпитыянанэ̄н or рӯпитыянэ̄н	рӯпитыяна̄ныл or рӯпитыя̄ныл

The plural object is expressed with the -ыян- suffix which changes depending on the mood and tense.

Moods

There are four moods: indicative, mirative, optative, imperative and conditional.

Indicative mood has no suffix. Imperative mood exists only in the second person. Optative and Imperative don't have tenses.

Mirative mood

Is a mood presented in the present indefinite by the -не suffix and by the -но in definite.

In the past tense it is represented by the -ам suffix, both in indefinite and definite.

Optative mood

The mood is represented by the -нӯв and -нув suffixes, determined by the vowel in the next suffix.

Imperative mood

It exists only in the second person, and in indefinite conjugation, it doesn't show any personal markers, and it is represented by the -эн and -э̄н suffixes.

Active/Passive voice

Verbs have active and passive voice. Active voice has no suffix; the suffix to express the passive is -ве-.

Verbal prefixes

Verbal prefixes are used to modify the meaning of the verb in both concrete and abstract ways. For example, with the prefix эл- (el-) (away, off) the verb мина (mina) (go) becomes элмина (elmina), which means to go away. This is surprisingly close to the Hungarian equivalents: el- (away) and menni (to go), where elmenni is to go away

ēl(a) – 'forwards, onwards, away'

jōm- 'to go, to stride'	ēl-jōm- 'to go away/on'
tinal- 'to sell'	ēl-tinal- 'to sell off'

χot – 'direction away from something and other nuances of action intensity'

min- 'to go'	χot-min- 'to go away, to stop'
roχt- 'to be frightened'	χot-roχt- 'to take fright suddenly'

Numbers

Whole and below ten numbers

#	Northern Sosva Mansi	Hungarian
1	аква (akʷa)	egy
2	китыг (kitɪɣ)	kettő
3	хурум (xuːrɞ̯m)	három
4	нила (nʲila)	négy
5	ат (at)	öt
6	хот (xoːt)	hat
7	са̄т / ма̄нь са̄т (saːt / maːnʲ saːt)	hét
8	нёлолов (nʲololow)	nyolc
9	онтолов (ontolow)	kilenc
10	лов (low)	tíz
20	хус (xus)	húsz
100	са̄т / яныг са̄т (saːt / janiɣ saːt)	száz
1000	со̄тыр (soːtər)	ezer

Numbers 1 and 2 also have attributive forms: акв (1) and кит (2); compare with Hungarian két, Old Hungarian kit).

The ма̄нь and яныг before 7 and 100 are there to differentiate between the two if both are in the same number or sentence; meaning small and big respectively.

Numbers between twenty and ten

The Mansi numbering system is different in this range than after twenty.

Here, you form a number with the word хуйп (above, more than);

#	Northern Sosva Mansi	Hungarian
11	аквхуйплов (akʷxujploβ)	tizenegy
15	атхуйплов (atxujploβ)	tizenöt
19	онтоловхуйплов (ontoloβxujploβ)	tizenkilenc

There for, аквхуйплов means "one over/above ten", in a similar way to other Uralc languages.

Numbers above twenty

Number is this range use the word нупыл (towards);

#	Northern Sosva Mansi	Hungarian
21	ва̄т нупыл аква (βaːt nupəl akʷa)	huszonegy
31	налыман нупыл аква (naliman nupəl akʷa)	harmincegy
41	атпан нупыл аква (atpan nupəl akʷa)	negyvenegy
51	хо̄тпан нупыл аква (xoːtpan nupəl akʷa)	ötvenegy
61	са̄тлов нупыл аква (saːtloβ nupəl akʷa)	hatvanegy
71	нёлса̄т нупыл аква (nʲolsaːt nupəl akʷa)	hetvenegy
81	онтырса̄т нупыл аква (ontərsaːt nupəl akʷa)	nyolcvanegy
91	са̄т нупыл аква (saːt nupəl akʷa)	kilencvenegy

There for, ва̄т нупыл аква means "Twoards thirty with one".

Numbers above and beyond hunderd

You just add the number after the biggest number;

#	Northern Sosva Mansi	Hungarian
101	са̄т аква (saːt akʷa)	százegy
111	са̄т аквхуйплов (saːt akʷxujploβ)	száztizenegy
121	са̄т ва̄т нупыл аква (saːt βaːt nupəl akʷa)	százhuszonegy
201	китса̄т аква (xoːtpan akʷa)	kétszázegy
301	хурумса̄т аква (xuːrɞ̯msaːt akʷa)	harmincegy

Sample vocabulary

Northern Mansi	English
Па̄ща о̄лэн	Hello (to one person)
Па̄ща о̄лэ̄н	Hello (to multiple people)
Наӈ наме ма̄ныр?	What is your name?
Ам намум ___.	My name is ____.
Пумасипа!	Thank you
О̄с ёмас ӯлум	Goodbye
нэ̄	woman
хум	man, person
ня̄врам	child
юрт, рума	friend
а̄щ	father
ща̄нь	mother
пы̄г	boy
а̄ги	girl
кол	house
ӯс	city
ма̄	land
ха̄ль	birch tree
я̄	river
во̄р	forest
тӯр	lake
нэ̄пак	book
пасан	table
а̄мп	dog
кати	cat
ӯй	animal
во̄рто̄лнут	bear
хӯл	fish

Examples

Northern Mansi	English	Morphological translation
Aм хӯл алысьлаӈкве минасум.	I went fishing.	I fish hunt.to go.did.I
А̄кврись, а̄кврись, тутсяӈын хо̄т? — А̄мпын тотвес. А̄мпе хо̄т? —Во̄рн минас. Во̄ре хо̄т? —На̄йн та̄йвес.	Dear auntie, dear auntie, where is your sewing kit? — It has been taken by the dog. Where is the dog? — It has gone to the forest. Where is the forest? — It has been burnt down by fire.	Auntie.dear, auntie.dear, sewing-kit.your where? — Dog.by taken.was.(it). Dog.its where? — Forest.into go.did.(it). Forest.its where? — Fire.by eaten.was.(it).

References

• Nyelvrokonaink. Teleki László Alapítvány, Budapest, 2000.
• A világ nyelvei. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest
• Abondolo, Daniel, ed. The Uralic Languages. 
• Kálmán, Béla (1965). Vogul Chrestomathy. Indiana University Publications. Uralic and Altaic Series. 46. The Hague: Mouton. 
• Kálmán, Béla (1989) (in hu,de). Chrestomathia Vogulica (3rd ed.). Budapest: Tankönyvkiadó. ISBN 963-18-2088-2. 
• Kulonen, Ulla-Maija (2007) (in fi). Itämansin kielioppi ja tekstejä. Apuneuvoja suomalais-ugrilaisten kielten opintoja varten. XV. Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura. ISBN 978-952-5150-87-2. 
• Munkácsi, Bernát and Kálmán, Béla. 1986. Wogulisches Wörterbuch. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest. [In German and Hungarian.]
• Riese, Timothy. Vogul: Languages of the World/Materials 158. Lincom Europa, 2001. ISBN:3-89586-231-2
• Ромбандеева, Евдокия Ивановна. Мансийский (вогульский) язык, Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Linguistics, 1973. [In Russian.]

External links

• Mansi at Omniglot
• Digital version of Munkácsi and Kálmán's dictionary
• Mansi language dictionary
• Mansi basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
• Red Book of the Peoples – Mansi history
• Endangered Languages of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia – Mansi education
• OLAC resources in and about the Mansi language
• Документация и изучение верхнелозьвинского диалекта