Shokshas

Shoksha (Erzya: шокшот, romanized: šokšot, Russian: шокша, romanized: shoksha) is an ethnographic group of Erzya people. It is named after the village of Shoksha in Tengushevsky District, Mordovia. They live mostly in Mordovia, Tengushevsky District and Torbeyevsky District. The ethnonym is relatively recent.

Shoksha live (or lived) in following settlements:

• Tengushevsky District: Баево, Березняк, Вяжга, Дудниково, Коляево, Кураево, Малая Шокша, Мельсетьево, Мокшанка, Нароватово, Сакаево, Стандрово, Шелубей, Широмасово, Shoksha
• Torbeyevsky District: Drakino, Кажлодка, Майский, Фёдоровка (depopulated), Якстере Теште (depopulated)

Language

Shoksha
Shokshsky, Shoksha-Mordovian
шокшскень кяль
Native to	Russia
Region	Shoksha, Tengushevsky District
Ethnicity	Shokshas
Native speakers	1,669
Language family	Uralic Mordvinic Erzya Shoksha
Writing system	unwritten
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	None
Dialect map of Moksha-Erzya-Shoksha; "E-V" is for Shoksha

The Shoksha speak the Shoksha dialect [de; ru], a dialect of the Erzya language formed under the influence of the Moksha language, as for a long time Shokshas have been living with and surrounded by Mokshas. The language is unwritten and has a status of critically endangered.

Genetics

Based on 65 samples from Tengushevsky, 44.6 percent of Shoksha men have the haplogroup R1a (mostly R1a-CTS1211), and 43.1 percent carry the halpogroup N1c. Some other haplogroups are found with lower frequencies.

References