“Writing in Mari Correctly”
On December 8, 2024, the House of Friendship of the Leningrad Region marked Mari Literacy Day. Representatives of the Mari National and Cultural Autonomy “Shiy Korno” participated in the international initiative “MARLA CHYN VOZENA” (“Writing in Mari Correctly”).
The All-Mari Dictation has been held annually for the past 12 years in regions of the world with significant Mari populations. Its main objective is the preservation and development of the Mari language as a cultural heritage of the Mari people. The dictation text was prepared by the V. M. Vasilyev Mari Research Institute of Language, Literature, and History and was conducted by Irina Toygildina.
Mari Language Day in the Republic of Mari El holds official state status and has been observed since 1998. The starting point for Mari literacy dates back to the publication in 1775 in St. Petersburg of the “Works Pertaining to the Grammar of the Cheremis Language.” This publication included not only grammar but also a dictionary containing approximately 1,000 words from various Mari dialects, many of which have since disappeared from everyday use or undergone significant changes.
The first book in the Mari language, titled “Abridged Catechism,” was published in 1804 in Moscow. Between the release of the first grammar in 1775 and 1917, over 250 books were published in the mountain and meadow Mari dialects. In February 1918, during the National Regional Congress of the Mari People held in Kazan, participants resolved: “To abolish the existing name for the Mari people, ‘Cheremis,’ due to its non-ethnic origin, and replace it with the historically ethnic name ‘Mari.'” The word “Cheremis” and all its derivatives disappeared from official documents and everyday speech. From that time onward, all newly published grammars and textbooks were titled “Mari Grammar” or “Mari Language Textbook.”
In the late 1930s, as part of a language reform, a new orthography for the Mari language was introduced, and nine new letters were added to the Mari alphabet. This was done to align Mari orthography more closely with Russian spelling. Today, Mari writing exists in both the meadow and mountain Mari languages, and books, newspapers, and magazines are published in these languages.
The Mari language belongs to the Finno-Ugric language group and is studied in many universities around the world. It serves as a means of communication for hundreds of thousands of people and plays a vital role in the life of the Mari people. The creation of Mari literacy was the foundation for the development of the Mari literary language.
