National Research Ogarev Mordovia State University, Saransk, Russian Federation, klementeva.71@mail.ru

ABSTRACT
Introduction: the category of plurality in most languages finds its expression at different levels: lexical, including phraseological, morphological. It can also be conveyed by syntactic formations that are a combination of two or more words. In the Mordovian languages, in particular in Erzya, attention was paid to the consideration of the first ways of denoting plurality, but syntactic means have not found proper coverage in linguistic science. The relevance of the topic is due to the insufficient study of the implementation of multiplicity at the syntactic level in the Erzya language.
Objective: description of the syntactic way of plurality expression and identification of the means that convey this meaning in the Erzya language.
Research materials: syntactic structures from the dictionaries and fiction works by the Erzya writers K. G. Abramov, A. M. Doronin, Nuyan Vidyaz (Ye. V. Chetvergov), lexicographic and dialectal materials.
Results and novelty of the research: the article analyzes the ways for expressing syntactic plurality. It has been found that in the Erzya language this meaning can be expressed by quantitative-noun word-combinations, which convey the semantics of concrete plurality. In addition, nominal word-combinations are used, the dependent component of which are lexemes with the meaning of indefinite plurality. Correlative words of the coordinative type are widespread in the language, most often having in their composition the suffix –t / –t’, and reduplicative formations with the meaning of collective or
disjunctive plurality. Plurality at the syntactic level can also be expressed by a coordinative constructions consisting of homogeneous parts of a sentence or simple sentences within a complex one. The scientific novelty of the study consists in the fact that for the first time a comprehensive analysis of syntactic means of expressing plurality in the Erzya language is given.
Key words: Erzya language, syntactic plurality, quantitative word combinations, coordinative series, paired words, reduplication
For citation: Klementyeva E. F. Syntactic way of plurality expression in the Erzya language // Vestnik ugrovedenia = Bulletin of Ugric Studies. 2025; 15 (3/62): 414–420.