-ай

See also: ај, ай, яй, -ај, and Appendix:Variations of "ai"

Moksha

Etymology 1

Perhaps related to Finnish -ja, Estonian -ja, Livonian -ji, e.g., jūoji (“drinker”).

Suffix

-ай • (-aj)

1. agentive suffix
   • V. I. Ščankina (2011) Russko-mokšansko-erzjanskij slovarʹ [Russian-Moksha-Erzya Dictionary], Saransk, →ISBN

     певец — морай

     pevec — mor aj

     singer [in Russian] — singer

Etymology 2

Common Moksha adaptation of Russian -ый (-yj, adjective or attributive noun forming suffix).

Suffix

-ай • (-aj)

1. suffix found in adjectives or attributive nouns borrowed from Russian
   • O. Je. Poljakov (1993) Russko-mokšanskij razgovornik [Russian-Moksha phrasebook], Saransk: Mordovskoje knižnoje izdatelʹstvo, →ISBN, page 100

     Порядковые числительные — Порядковай числительнайхне

     Poŕadkovije čiśľiťeľnije — Poŕadkov aj čiśľiťeľn ajhńe

     Ordinal numbers [in Russian] — Ordinal numbers

Declension

Definite declension of -ай

	singular	plural
nominative	-айсь (-ajś)	-айхне (-ajhńe)
genitive	-айть (-ajť)	-айхнень (-ajhńeń)
dative	-айти (-ajťi)	-айхненди (-ajhńeńďi)

Derived terms

Moksha terms suffixed with -ай