Armenian language

Armenian (endonym: ,Template:Efn Template:Transliteration, ) is the sole member of an independent branch in the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of the Armenian people and the official language of Armenia. Historically spoken in the Armenian highlands, today Armenian is also widely spoken throughout the Armenian diaspora. Armenian is written in its own writing system, the Armenian alphabet, introduced in 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots. The estimated number of Armenian speakers worldwide is between five and seven million.

History

Classification and origins

Armenian is an independent branch of the Indo-European languages. It is of interest to linguists for its distinctive phonological changes within that family. Armenian exhibits more satemization than centumization, although it is not classified as belonging to either of these subgroups. Some linguists tentatively conclude that Armenian, Greek (and Phrygian), Albanian and Indo-Iranian were dialectally close to each other; within this hypothetical dialect group, Proto-Armenian was situated between Proto-Greek (centum subgroup) and Proto-Indo-Iranian (satem subgroup). Ronald I. Kim has noted unique morphological developments connecting Armenian to Balto-Slavic languages.

The Armenian language has a long literary history, with a 5th-century Bible translation as its oldest surviving text. Another text translated into Armenian early on, and also in the 5th-century, was the Armenian Alexander Romance. The vocabulary of the language has historically been influenced by Western Middle Iranian languages, particularly Parthian; its derivational morphology and syntax were also affected by language contact with Parthian, but to a lesser extent. Contact with Greek, Persian, and Syriac also resulted in a number of loanwords. There are two standardized modern literary forms, Eastern Armenian (spoken mainly in Armenia) and Western Armenian (spoken originally mainly in modern-day Turkey and, since the Armenian genocide, mostly in the diaspora). The differences between them are considerable but they are mutually intelligible after significant exposure. Some subdialects such as Homshetsi are not mutually intelligible with other varieties.

Although Armenians were known to history much earlier (for example, they were mentioned in the 6th-century BC Behistun Inscription and in Xenophon's 4th century BC history, The Anabasis), the oldest surviving Armenian-language writing is etched in stone on Armenian temples and is calledTemplate:By whom Mehenagir. The Armenian alphabet was created by Mesrop Mashtots in 405, at which time it had 36 letters. He is also credited by some with the creation of the Georgian alphabet and the Caucasian Albanian alphabet.

While Armenian constitutes the sole member of the Armenian branch of the Indo-European family, Aram Kossian has suggested that the hypothetical Mushki language may have been a (now extinct) Armenic language.

Early contacts

File:Armenian mosaic and inscr at Jerusalem.jpg

Armenian Birds Mosaic from Jerusalem with Armenian language and alphabet

File:2014 Prowincja Lorri, Hachpat, Klasztor Hachpat (06).jpg

Armenian language writing in Haghpat Monastery

W. M. Austin (1942) concluded that there was early contact between Armenian and Anatolian languages, based on what he considered common archaisms, such as the lack of a feminine gender and the absence of inherited long vowels. Unlike shared innovations (or synapomorphies), the common retention of archaisms (or symplesiomorphy) is not considered conclusive evidence of a period of common isolated development. There are words used in Armenian that are generally believed to have been borrowed from Anatolian languages, particularly from Luwian, although some researchers have identified possible Hittite loanwords as well. One notable loanword from Anatolian is Armenian xalam, "skull", cognate to Hittite ḫalanta, "head".

In 1985, the Soviet linguist Igor M. Diakonoff noted the presence in Classical Armenian of what he calls a "Caucasian substratum" identified by earlier scholars, consisting of loans from the Kartvelian and Northeast Caucasian languages. Noting that Hurro-Urartian-speaking peoples inhabited the Armenian homeland in the second millennium BC, Diakonoff identifies in Armenian a Hurro-Urartian substratum of social, cultural, and animal and plant terms such as ałaxin "slave girl" ( ← Hurr. al(l)a(e)ḫḫenne), cov "sea" ( ← Urart. ṣûǝ "(inland) sea"), ułt "camel" ( ← Hurr. uḷtu), and xnjor "apple (tree)" ( ← Hurr. ḫinzuri). Some of the terms he gives admittedly have an Akkadian or Sumerian provenance, but he suggests they were borrowed through Hurrian or Urartian. Given that these borrowings do not undergo sound changes characteristic of the development of Armenian from Proto-Indo-European, he dates their borrowing to a time before the written record but after the Proto-Armenian language stage.

Contemporary linguists, such as Hrach Martirosyan, have rejected many of the Hurro-Urartian and Northeast Caucasian origins for these words and instead suggest native Armenian etymologies, leaving the possibility that these words may have been loaned into Hurro-Urartian and Caucasian languages from Armenian, and not vice versa. A notable example is arciv, meaning "eagle", believed to have been the origin of Urartian Arṣibi and Northeast Caucasian arzu. This word is derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂r̥ǵipyós, with cognates in Sanskrit (ऋजिप्य, ṛjipyá), Avestan (ərəzifiia), and Greek (αἰγίπιος, aigípios). Hrach Martirosyan and Armen Petrosyan propose additional borrowed words of Armenian origin loaned into Urartian and vice versa, including grammatical words and parts of speech, such as Urartian eue ("and"), attested in the earliest Urartian texts and likely a loan from Armenian (compare to Armenian Template:Wikt-lang Template:Transliteration, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European Template:Wikt-lang). Other loans from Armenian into Urartian includes personal names, toponyms, and names of deities. More recent scholarship is even more sceptical, suggesting that fewer than 10 Armenian words are of assuredly Hurro-Urartian origin, and that no secure loans can be established in the other direction.

Loan words from Iranian languages, along with the other ancient accounts such as that of Xenophon above, initially led some linguists to erroneously classify Armenian as an Iranian language. Scholars such as Paul de Lagarde and F. Müller believed that the similarities between the two languages meant that Armenian belonged to the Iranian language family. The distinctness of Armenian was recognized when philologist Heinrich Hübschmann (1875) used the comparative method to distinguish two layers of Iranian words from the older Armenian vocabulary. He showed that Armenian often had two morphemes for one concept, that the non-Iranian components yielded a consistent Proto-Indo-European pattern distinct from Iranian, and that the inflectional morphology was different from that of Iranian languages.

Graeco-Armenian hypothesis

The hypothesis that Greek is Armenian's closest living relative originates with Holger Pedersen (1924), who noted that the number of Greek-Armenian lexical cognates is greater than that of agreements between Armenian and any other Indo-European language. Antoine Meillet (1925, 1927) further investigated morphological and phonological agreement and postulated that the parent languages of Greek and Armenian were dialects in immediate geographical proximity during the Proto-Indo-European period. Meillet's hypothesis became popular in the wake of his book Esquisse d'une histoire de la langue latine (1936). Georg Renatus Solta (1960) does not go as far as postulating a Proto-Graeco-Armenian stage, but he concludes that considering both the lexicon and morphology, Greek is clearly the dialect to be most closely related to Armenian. Eric P. Hamp (1976, 91) supports the Graeco-Armenian thesis and even anticipates a time "when we should speak of Helleno-Armenian" (meaning the postulate of a Graeco-Armenian proto-language). Armenian shares the augment and a negator derived from the set phrase in the Proto-Indo-European language ("never anything" or "always nothing"), the representation of word-initial laryngeals by prothetic vowels, and other phonological and morphological peculiarities with Greek. Nevertheless, as Fortson (2004) comments, "by the time we reach our earliest Armenian records in the 5th century AD, the evidence of any such early kinship has been reduced to a few tantalizing pieces".

Greco-Armeno-Aryan hypothesis

Graeco-(Armeno)-Aryan is a hypothetical clade within the Indo-European family, ancestral to the Greek language, the Armenian language, and the Indo-Iranian languages. Graeco-Aryan unity would have become divided into Proto-Greek and Proto-Indo-Iranian by the mid-3rd millennium BC. Conceivably, Proto-Armenian would have been located between Proto-Greek and Proto-Indo-Iranian, consistent with the fact that Armenian shares certain features only with Indo-Iranian (the satem change) but others only with Greek (s > h).

Graeco-Aryan has comparatively wide support among Indo-Europeanists who believe the Indo-European homeland to be located in the Armenian Highlands, the "Armenian hypothesis". Early and strong evidence was given by Euler's 1979 examination on shared features in Greek and Sanskrit nominal flection.

Used in tandem with the Graeco-Armenian hypothesis, the Armenian language would also be included under the label Aryano-Greco-Armenic, splitting into Proto-Greek/Phrygian and "Armeno-Aryan" (ancestor of Armenian and Indo-Iranian).

Evolution

Classical Armenian (Arm: grabar), attested from the 5th century to the 19th century as the literary standard (up to the 11th century also as a spoken language with different varieties), was partially superseded by Middle Armenian, attested from the 12th century to the 18th century. Specialized literature prefers "Old Armenian" for grabar as a whole, and designates as "Classical" the language used in the 5th century literature, "Post-Classical" from the late 5th to 8th centuries, and "Late Grabar" that of the period covering the 8th to 11th centuries. Later, it was used mainly in religious and specialized literature, with the exception of a revival during the early modern period, when attempts were made to establish it as the language of a literary renaissance, with neoclassical inclinations, through the creation and dissemination of literature in varied genres, especially by the Mekhitarists. The first Armenian periodical, Azdarar, was published in grabar in 1794.

The classical form borrowed numerous words from Middle Iranian languages, primarily Parthian, and contains smaller inventories of loanwords from Greek, Syriac, Aramaic, Arabic, Mongol, Persian, and indigenous languages such as Urartian. An effort to modernize the language in Bagratid Armenia and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (11–14th centuries) resulted in the addition of two more characters to the alphabet ("" and ""), bringing the total number to 38.

The Book of Lamentations by Gregory of Narek (951–1003) is an example of the development of a literature and writing style of Old Armenian by the 10th century. In addition to elevating the literary style and vocabulary of the Armenian language by adding well above a thousand new words, through his other hymns and poems Gregory paved the way for his successors to include secular themes and vernacular language in their writings. The thematic shift from mainly religious texts to writings with secular outlooks further enhanced and enriched the vocabulary. "A Word of Wisdom", a poem by Hovhannes Sargavak devoted to a starling, legitimizes poetry devoted to nature, love, or female beauty. Gradually, the interests of the population at large were reflected in other literary works as well. Konsdantin Yerzinkatsi and several others took the unusual step of criticizing the ecclesiastic establishment and addressing the social issues of the Armenian homeland. These changes represented the nature of the literary style and syntax, but they did not constitute immense changes to the fundamentals of the grammar or the morphology of the language. Often, when writers codify a spoken dialect, other language users are then encouraged to imitate that structure through the literary device known as parallelism.

In the 19th century, the traditional Armenian homeland was once again divided. This time Eastern Armenia was conquered from Qajar Iran by the Russian Empire, while Western Armenia, containing two thirds of historical Armenia, remained under Ottoman control. The antagonistic relationship between the Russian and Ottoman empires led to creation of two separate and different environments under which Armenians lived. Halfway through the 19th century, two important concentrations of Armenian communities were further consolidated. Because of persecutions or the search for better economic opportunities, many Armenians living under Ottoman rule gradually moved to Istanbul, whereas Tbilisi became the center of Armenians living under Russian rule. These two cosmopolitan cities very soon became the primary poles of Armenian intellectual and cultural life.

The introduction of new literary forms and styles, as well as many new ideas sweeping Europe, reached Armenians living in both regions. This created an ever-growing need to elevate the vernacular, Ashkharhabar, to the dignity of a modern literary language, in contrast to the now-anachronistic Grabar. Numerous dialects existed in the traditional Armenian regions, which, different as they were, had certain morphological and phonetic features in common. On the basis of these features two major standards emerged:

• Western standard: The influx of immigrants from different parts of the traditional Armenian homeland to Istanbul crystallized the common elements of the regional dialects, paving the way for a style of writing that required a shorter and more flexible learning curve than Grabar.
• Eastern standard: The Yerevan dialect provided the primary elements of Eastern Armenian, centered in Tbilisi, Georgia. Similar to the Western Armenian variant, the Modern Eastern was in many ways more practical and accessible to the masses than Grabar.

Both centers vigorously pursued the promotion of Ashkharhabar. The proliferation of newspapers in both versions (Eastern & Western) and the development of a network of schools where modern Armenian was taught, dramatically increased the rate of literacy (in spite of the obstacles by the colonial administrators), even in remote rural areas. The emergence of literary works entirely written in the modern versions increasingly legitimized the language's existence. By the turn of the 20th century both varieties of the one modern Armenian language prevailed over Grabar and opened the path to a new and simplified grammatical structure of the language in the two different cultural spheres. Apart from several morphological, phonetic, and grammatical differences, the largely common vocabulary and generally analogous rules of grammatical fundamentals allows users of one variant to understand the other as long as they are fluent in one of the literary standards.

After World War I, the existence of the two modern versions of the same language was sanctioned even more clearly. The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (1920–1990) used Eastern Armenian as its official language, whereas the diaspora created after the Armenian genocide preserved the Western Armenian dialect.

The two modern literary dialects, Western (originally associated with writers in the Ottoman Empire) and Eastern (originally associated with writers in the Russian Empire), removed almost all of their Turkish lexical influences in the 20th century, primarily following the Armenian genocide.

• Armenian manuscript, 5th–6th centuries.
  Armenian manuscript, 5th–6th centuries.
• Armenian inscription in Gandzasar Monastery
  Armenian inscription in Gandzasar Monastery
• The Four Gospels, 1495, Portrait of St Mark Wellcome with Armenian inscriptions
  The Four Gospels, 1495, Portrait of St Mark Wellcome with Armenian inscriptions
• First printed Armenian language Bible, 1666
  First printed Armenian language Bible, 1666
• Armenian language road sign.
  Armenian language road sign.

Contamination and blending in Armenian etymology

The proportion of words in Armenian inherited directly from Proto-Indo-European is lower than in most other Indo-European languages attested before the end of the first millennium CE. The development of Armenian involved numerous sound changes, the validity of several of which remains debated. A notable example is Meillet’s proposal that Proto-Indo-European *du̯o- developed into Armenian erk-.

Because of the difficulty in identifying regular sound laws and the presence of apparent exceptions, scholars have often explained certain Armenian words through processes of contamination and blending. Comparable phenomena have been identified in other Indo-European languages; for instance, Georgiev (1979:34) suggested that 250 Slavic words could be explained in this way. A considerable proportion of inherited Armenian vocabulary has at some point been interpreted using contamination and blending, making it a recurrent topic in Armenian historical linguistics.

Geographic distribution

In addition to Armenia and Turkey, where it is indigenous, Armenian is spoken among the diaspora. According to Ethnologue, globally there are Template:Sigfig million Western Armenian speakers and Template:Sigfig million Eastern Armenian speakers, totalling Template:Sigfig million Armenian speakers.

Armenian speakers, Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)Template:Efn

Country	Armenian speakers	Main variety
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Eastern
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Eastern
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Western
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Western
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Western
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Eastern
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Eastern
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Eastern
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Eastern
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Western
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Western
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Western
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Eastern
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Western
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Eastern
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Western
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Western
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Western
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Western
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Eastern
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Western
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Western
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Western
[[Template:Getalias|Template:Getalias]]	Template:Sigfig	Western

In Georgia, Armenian speakers are concentrated in Ninotsminda and Akhalkalaki districts where they represent over 90% of the population.

Status and usage

The short-lived First Republic of Armenia declared Armenian its official language. Eastern Armenian was then dominating in institutions and among the population. When Armenia was incorporated into the USSR, the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic made Eastern Armenian the language of the courts, government institutions and schools. Armenia was also russified. The current Republic of Armenia upholds the official status of the Armenian language. Eastern Armenian is the official variant used, making it the prestige variety while other variants have been excluded from national institutions. Indeed, Western Armenian is perceived by some as a mere dialect. Armenian was also official in the Republic of Artsakh. It is recognized as an official language of the Eurasian Economic Union although Russian is the working language.

Armenian (without reference to a specific variety) is officially recognized as a minority language in Cyprus, Hungary, Iraq, Poland, Romania, and Ukraine. It is recognized as a minority language and protected in Turkey by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.

Western Armenian is the main language of the Armenian diaspora, and is the medium of instruction in the majority of Armenian-language schools outside Armenia. In particular, although Armenian has no legal status in Georgia, as of 2010 Armenian was the main language of instruction in 144 state-funded schools in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region. The curriculum in Lebanon allows Armenian schools to teach Armenian as a basic language. In California, home to a large Armenian American community, various state government agencies provide Armenian translations of their documents, including the California Department of Social Services, California Department of Motor Vehicles, and California superior courts. In the city of Glendale, there are some street signs in Armenian.

In Lebanon, Syria and Iran, Armenian communities were given greater autonomy than Assyrian, Kurdish, and other communities. In practice, Armenians were the only ethnic minority group in these countries allowed to teach their language in schools. In Iran, article 15 of the constitution allows the use of "regional and tribal languages" in the mass media as well as within the schools. However, these languages do not receive formal status and are not officially regulated by the authorities. Iranian Armenians are de facto the only non-Persian ethnic group in Iran enjoying this right, with private schools where Armenian is the medium of instruction.

Phonology

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Spoken Eastern Armenian

Proto-Indo-European voiceless stop consonants are aspirated in the Proto-Armenian language, one of the circumstances that is often linked to the glottalic theory, a version of which postulated that some voiceless occlusives of Proto-Indo-European were aspirated.

Stress

In Armenian, the stress falls on the last syllable unless the last syllable contains the definite article or , and the possessive articles and , in which case it falls on the penultimate one. For instance, , , but and . Exceptions to this rule are some words with the final letter ( in the reformed orthography) () and sometimes the ordinal numerals (, etc.), as well as , and a small number of other words.

Vowels

All varieties of Armenian employ only monophthongs. Eastern Armenian has six vowels, while Western Armenian has an additional two front rounded vowels.

Eastern Armenian vowel phonemes

	Front	Central	Back
Close	Template:IPAslink Template:Wikt-lang i		Template:IPAslink Template:Wikt-lang u
Mid	Template:IPAslink Template:Wikt-lang, Template:Wikt-lang e, ē	Template:IPAslink Template:Wikt-lang ë	Template:IPAslink Template:Wikt-lang, Template:Wikt-lang o, ō
Open			Template:IPAslink Template:Wikt-lang a

Western Armenian vowel phonemes

	Front		Central	Back
	Unrounded	Rounded		Unrounded	Rounded
Close	Template:IPA link  Template:Angbr	Template:IPA link  Template:Angbr			Template:IPA link  Template:Angbr
Mid	Template:IPA link  Template:Angbr	Template:IPA link  Template:Angbr	Template:IPA link  Template:Angbr		Template:IPA link  Template:Angbr
Open				Template:IPA link  Template:Angbr

Consonants

The following table lists the Eastern Armenian consonantal system. The occlusives and affricates have an aspirated series, commonly transcribed with a reversed apostrophe after the letter. Each phoneme in the table is represented by IPA, Armenian script and romanization.

Eastern Armenian consonant phonemes

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		Template:IPAslink – m	Template:IPAslink – n		(Template:IPA link)Template:Efn-lr
Plosive	voicedTemplate:Efn-lr	Template:IPAslink – b	Template:IPAslink – d		Template:IPAslink – g
	voicelessTemplate:Efn-lrTemplate:Efn-lr	Template:IPAslink – p	Template:IPAslink – t		Template:IPAslink – k
	aspiratedTemplate:Efn-lr	Template:IPAslink – pʻ	Template:IPAslink – tʻ		Template:IPAslink – kʻ
Affricate	voicedTemplate:Efn-lr		Template:IPAslink – j	Template:IPAslink – ǰ
	voicelessTemplate:Efn-lrTemplate:Efn-lr		Template:IPAslink – c	Template:IPAslink – č
	aspiratedTemplate:Efn-lr		Template:IPAslink – cʻ	Template:IPAslink – čʻ
Fricative	voiceless	Template:IPAslink – f	Template:IPAslink – s	Template:IPAslink – š	/Template:IPA link ~ Template:IPA link/Template:Efn-lr – x		Template:IPAslink – h
	voiced	Template:IPAslink – v	Template:IPAslink – z	Template:IPAslink – ž	/Template:IPA link ~ Template:IPA link/Template:Efn-lr – ġ
Approximant		(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPAslink – l	Template:IPAslink – y
Trill			Template:IPAslink – ṙ
Flap			Template:IPAslink – r

The major phonetic difference between dialects is in the reflexes of Classical Armenian voice-onset time. The seven dialect types have the following correspondences, illustrated with the t–d series:

Correspondence in initial position

Armenian letter	Թ	Տ	Դ
Indo-European	*	*	*
Karin, Sebastia
Istanbul
Kharberd, Middle Armenian
Malatya, SWA
Classical Armenian, Agulis, SEA, Yerevan
Van, Artsakh

Morphology

Armenian corresponds to other Indo-European languages in structure, but it shares distinctive sounds and grammatical features with neighboring languages of the Caucasus region. Armenian orthography is rich in consonant clusters, but in pronunciation, they are broken up with schwas. Both classical Armenian and the modern spoken and literary dialects have a system of noun declensions, with six or seven cases but no gender. In modern Armenian, the use of auxiliary verbs to show tense (comparable to "will" in "he will go") has generally supplanted the inflected verbs of Classical Armenian. Negative verbs are conjugated differently from positive ones (as in English "he goes" and "he does not go") in many tenses, otherwise adding only the negative to the positive conjugation. Grammatically, early forms of Armenian had much in common with classical Greek and Latin, but the modern language has undergone many analytic transformations like modern Greek.

Nouns

Armenian has no grammatical gender, not even in pronouns, but there is a feminine suffix ( "-uhi") which has no grammatical effect. For example, (usucʻičʻ, "teacher") becomes (usucʻčʻuhi, female teacher). The nominal inflection preserves several types of inherited stem classes. Historically, nouns were declined for one of seven cases: nominative (ուղղական uġġakan), accusative (հայցական haycʻakan), locative (ներգոյական nergoyakan), genitive (սեռական seṙakan), dative (տրական trakan), ablative (բացառական bacʻaṙakan), or instrumental (գործիական gorciakan), but in the modern language, the nominative and accusative cases, as well as the dative and genitive cases, have merged.

Examples of noun declension in Eastern Armenian

Template:Transliteration (telephone)

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative/ Accusative	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Genitive/ Dative	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Ablative	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Instrumental	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Locative	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear

Template:Transliteration (mother)

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative/ Accusative	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Genitive/ Dative	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Ablative	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Instrumental	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear

Which case the direct object takes is split based on animacy (a phenomenon more generally known as differential object marking). Inanimate nouns take the nominative, while animate nouns take the dative. Additionally, animate nouns can never take the locative case.

Template:Transliteration (republic)

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative/ Accusative	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Genitive/ Dative	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Ablative	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Instrumental	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Locative	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear

Examples of noun declension in Western Armenian

	Template:Transliteration (field)		Template:Transliteration (cow)
	singular	plural	singular	plural
Nom-Acc (Ուղղական-Հայցական)	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Gen-Dat (Սեռական-Տրական)	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Abl (Բացառական)	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Instr (Գործիական)	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear

	Template:Transliteration (spring)		Template:Transliteration (day)		Template:Transliteration (sister)
	singular	plural	singular	plural	singular	plural
Nom-Acc (Ուղղական-Հայցական)	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Gen-Dat (Սեռական-Տրական)	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Abl (Բացառական)	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Instr (Գործիական)	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear

	հայր / hayr (father)		Աստուած / Asdvaj (God)		գիտութիւն / kidutiwn (science)
	singular	plural	singular	plural	singular	plural
Nom-Acc (Ուղղական-Հայցական)	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Gen-Dat (Սեռական-Տրական)	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Abl (Բացառական)	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear
Instr (Գործիական)	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear	Template:Fs interlinear

Verbs

Verbs in Armenian have an expansive system of conjugation with two main verb types in Eastern Armenian and three in Western Armenian changing form based on tense, mood and aspect.

Dialects

File:Armenian dialects, Adjarian 1909.png

Map of the Armenian dialects in early 20th century:

  -owm dialects, nearly corresponding to Eastern Armenian

  -el dialects (intermediate)

  -gë dialects, nearly corresponding to Western Armenian

Armenian is a pluricentric language, having two modern standardized forms: Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian. There are also numerous other non-standard dialects, many of which are extinct. The most distinctive feature of Western Armenian is that it has undergone several phonetic mergers; these may be due to proximity to Arabic- and Turkish-speaking communities.

File:WIKITONGUES- John speaking Armenian.webm

A man speaking in Western Armenian

Classical Armenian (Grabar), which remained the standard until the 18th century, was quite homogeneous across the different regions that works in it were written; it may have been a cross-regional standard. The Middle Armenian variety used in the court of Cilician Armenia (1080–1375) provides a window into the development of Western Armenian, which came to be based on what became the dialect of Istanbul, while the standard for Eastern Armenian was based on the dialect around Mount Ararat and Yerevan. Although the Armenian language is often divided into "east" and "west", the two standards are actually relatively close to each other in light of wealth of the diversity present among regional non-standard Armenian dialects. The different dialects have experienced different degrees of language contact effects, often with Turkic and Caucasian languages; for some, the result has been significant phonological and syntactic changes. Fortson notes that the modern standard as well has now attained a subordinate clausal structure that greatly resembles a Turkic language.

Eastern Armenian speakers pronounce () as [tʰ], () as [d], and () as a tenuis occlusive [t˭]. Western Armenian has simplified the occlusive system into a simple division between voiced occlusives and aspirated ones; the first series corresponds to the tenuis series of Eastern Armenian, and the second corresponds to the Eastern voiced and aspirated series. Thus, the Western dialect pronounces both () and () as [tʰ], and the () letter as [d].

There is no precise linguistic border between one dialect and another because there is nearly always a dialect transition zone of some size between pairs of geographically identified dialects.

Armenian can be divided into two major dialectal blocks and those blocks into individual dialects, though many of the Western Armenian dialects have become extinct due to the effects of the Armenian genocide. In addition, neither dialect is completely homogeneous: any dialect can be subdivided into several subdialects. Although Western and Eastern Armenian are often described as different dialects of the same language, many subdialects are not readily mutually intelligible. Nevertheless, a fluent speaker of one of two greatly varying dialects who is also literate in one of the standards, when exposed to the other dialect for a period of time will be able to understand the other with relative ease.

Distinct Western Armenian varieties currently in use include Homshetsi, spoken by the Hemshin peoples; the dialects of Armenians of Kessab (Քեսապի բարբառ), Latakia and Jisr al-Shughur (Syria), Anjar, Lebanon, and Vakıflı, Samandağ (Turkey), part of the "Sueidia" dialect (Սուէտիայի բարբառ).

Forms of the Karin dialect of Western Armenian are spoken by several hundred thousand people in Northern Armenia, mostly in Gyumri, Artik, Akhuryan, and around 130 villages in Shirak Province, and by Armenians in Samtskhe–Javakheti province of Georgia (Akhalkalaki, Akhaltsikhe).

Nakhichevan-on-Don Armenians speak another Western Armenian variety based on the dialect of Armenians in Crimea, where they came from in order to establish the town and surrounding villages in 1779 (Նոր Նախիջևանի բարբառ).

Western Armenian dialects are currently spoken also in Gavar (formerly Nor Bayazet and Kamo, on the western shore of Lake Sevan), Aparan, and Talin in Armenia (Mush dialect), and by the large Armenian population residing in Abkhazia, where they are considered to be the first or second ethnic minority, or even equal in number to the local Abkhaz population

Examples

English	Eastern Armenian	Western Armenian
Yes	Ayo ()	Ayo ()
No	Vočʻ ()	Voč ()
I see you	Yes kʻez tesnum em ()	Yes kez(i) gë desnem ()
Hello	Barev ()	Parev ()
I'm going	Gnum em ()	G'ertam (gor) ()
Come!	Ari! ()	Yegur! ()
I will eat	Utelu em ()	Bidi udem ()
I must do	Piti/petkʻ ē anem ()	Bēdk ē ënem ()
I was going to eat	Utelu ēi ()	Bidi udēi ()
Is this yours?	Sa kʻonn ē? ()	Asiga kugt ē? ()
His grandma	Nra tatikë ()	Anor nēnēn / mej maman ()
Look at that one!	Dran nayir ()	Ador nayē / Anor nayē ()
Have you brought these?	Du es berel srankʻ? ()	Asonk tun peraj es? ()
How are you? I'm fine.	Inčʻpes es? / Voncʻ es? Lav em ()	Inčbēs es? Lav em ()
Did you say it? Say it!	Du asacʻir (asecʻir)? Asa! ()	Tun ësir? Ësē! ()
Have you taken it from us?	Mezanicʻ es vercʻrel? ()	Mezmē araj es? ()
Good morning	Bari luys ()	Pari luys ()
Good evening	Bari yereko ()	Pari irigun / Parirgun ()
Good night	Bari gišer ()	Kišer pari ()
You love me	Sirum es inj ()	Inji gë sires ()
I am Armenian	Yes hay em ()	Yes hay em ()
I missed you	Karotel em kʻez ()	Garōdcay kezi ()

Orthography

File:Keyboard Layout Armenian.png

Armenian keyboard layout using the Armenian alphabet.

The Armenian alphabet (Template:Langx or Template:Langx) is a graphically unique alphabetical writing system that is used to write the Armenian language. It was introduced around AD 405 by Mesrop Mashtots, an Armenian linguist and ecclesiastical leader, and originally contained 36 letters. Two more letters, օ (ō) and ֆ (f), were added in the Middle Ages.

During the 1920s orthography reform in Soviet Armenia, a new letter և (capital ԵՎ) was added, which was a ligature before ե+ւ, whereas the letter Ւ ւ was discarded and reintroduced as part of a new letter ՈՒ ու (which was a digraph before). This alphabet and associated orthography is used by most Armenian speakers of Armenia and the countries of the former Soviet Union. Neither the alphabet nor the orthography has been adopted by Diaspora Armenians, including Eastern Armenian speakers of Iran and all Western Armenian speakers, who keep using the traditional alphabet and spelling.

Vocabulary

Indo-European cognates

Armenian is an Indo-European language, so many of its Proto-Indo-European-descended words are cognates of words in other Indo-European languages such as English, Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit.

Due to extensive loaning, only around 1,500 words (G. Jahukyan) are known to have been inherited from Indo-European by the Classical Armenian stage; the rest were lost, a fact that presents a major challenge to endeavors to better understand Proto-Armenian and its place within the family, especially as many of the sound changes along the way from Indo-European to Armenian remain quite difficult to analyze.

This table lists some of the more recognizable cognates that Armenian shares with English words descended from Old English.

Armenian	English	Latin	Classical and Hellenistic Greek	Persian	Sanskrit	Russian	Old Irish	PIE
Template:Wikt-lang mayr "mother"	mother ( ← OE mōdor)	māter	μήτηρ mētēr	mâdar	मातृ mātṛ	мать mat'	máthair	"mother"
Template:Wikt-lang hayr "father"	father ( ← OE fæder)	pater	πατήρ patēr	pedar	पितृ pitṛ		athair	"father"
Template:Wikt-lang eġbayr "brother"	brother ( ← OE brōþor)	frāter	φράτηρ phrātēr "brother-in-arms, comrade"	barâdar	भ्रातृ bhrātṛ	брат brat	bráthair	"brother"
Template:Wikt-lang dustr "daughter"	daughter ( ← OE dohtor)	(Oscan futrei)	θυγάτηρ thugátēr	doxtar	दुहितृ duhitṛ	дочь doč'	der, Dar- "daughter (of)"	"daughter"
Template:Wikt-lang kin "woman, wife"	queen ( ← OE cwēn "queen, woman, wife")		γυνή gunē	zan	ग्ना gnā/ जनि jani	жена žena "wife"	ben "woman"	"woman, wife"
Template:Wikt-lang im "my, mine"	my, mine ( ← OE min)	me-us, -a, -um etc.	ἐμ-ός, -ή, -όν em-ós, -ē, -ón etc.	man,-am	मम mama	мой moy	mo "my, me"	"my, mine"
Template:Wikt-lang anun "name"	name ( ← OE nama)	nōmen	ὄνομα ónoma	nâm	नामन् nāman	имя im'a	ainm	"name"
Template:Wikt-lang yotʻ ( ← եաւթն "eawtʻn") "seven"	seven ( ← OE seofon)	septem	ἑπτά heptá	haft	सप्तन् saptán	семь sem'	secht	"seven"
Template:Wikt-lang utʻ "eight"	eight ( ← OE eahta)	octō	ὀκτώ óktō	hašt	अष्ट aṣṭa	во́семь vosem'	ocht	"eight"
Template:Wikt-lang inn "nine"	nine ( ← OE nigon)	novem	ἐννέα ennéa	noh	नवन् navan	де́вять dev'at'	noí	"nine"
Template:Wikt-lang tas (<տասն "tasn") "ten"	ten ( ← OE tien) ( ← P.Gmc. *tehun)	decem	δέκα déka	dah	दश daśa	де́сять des'at'	deich	"ten"
Template:Wikt-lang ačʻkʻ "eye"	eye ( ← OE ēge)	oculus	ὀφθαλμός ophthalmós	Avestan 𐬀𐬱𐬌 (aši, "eyes")	अक्षि akṣi	око oko (archaic)		"to see"
Template:Wikt-lang armunk (<*h₂(e)rH-mo-+ -ուկն) "elbow"	arm ( ← OE earm "joined body parts below shoulder")	armus "shoulder"	ἁρμός harmós "a joint"	arm "arm" (archaic)	ईर्म īrma "arm"	рамя ram'a "shoulder" (archaic)		"fit, join (that which is fitted together)"
Template:Wikt-lang cunk "knee"	knee ( ← OE cnēo)	genū	γόνυ gónu	zânu	जानु jānu		glún	"knee"
Template:Wikt-lang otkʻ "foot, leg"	foot ( ← OE fōt)	pēs, pedis	πούς, πόδος poús, pódos	pâ, pây "foot"	पाद् pād "foot"		(Gaul. ades "feet")	"foot, leg"
Template:Wikt-lang sirt "heart"	heart ( ← OE heorte)	cor, cordis	καρδία kardía	del	हृदय hṛdaya	се́рдце serdce	cride	"heart"
Template:Wikt-lang muk "mouse"	mouse ( ← OE mūs)	mūs, mūris	μῦς mûs "mouse, muscle"	muš	मूष् mūṣ	мышь myš'		*múh₂s "mouse, muscle"
Template:Wikt-lang kov "cow"	cow ( ← OE cū)	bōs, bovis	βοῦς boûs	gâv	गो go	говядина gov'adina "beef"	bó	"cow"
Template:Wikt-lang šun "dog"	hound ( ← OE hund "hound, dog")	canis	κύων kúōn	sag	श्वन् śvan	сука sukaTemplate:Efn "bitch"	cú	"hound, dog"
Template:Wikt-lang amis "month"	moon, month ( ← OE mōnaþ)	mēnsis	μήν mēn "moon, month"	mâh "moon, month"	मास māsa "moon, month"	месяц mes'ac	mí	"moon, month"
Template:Wikt-lang amaṙ ( ← Proto-Armenian *sm̥h₂er-m̥ <*s(e)m-eh₂-) "summer"	summer ( ← OE sumor)			hâmin (archaic)	समा samā "season"		sam "summer"	*semh₂- "summer, hot season"
Template:Wikt-lang ǰerm "warm"	warm ( ← OE wearm)	formus	θερμός thermós	garm	घर्म gharma "heat"	жарко žarko "hot"	geirid "warm (v)"	"warm"
Template:Wikt-lang luys "light"	light ( ← OE lēoht "brightness")	lūx	λευκός leukós "bright, shining, white"	ruz "day"	रोक roka	луч luč' "beam"	lóch "bright"	"light, brightness"
Template:Wikt-lang hur "flame"	fire ( ← OE fȳr)	(Umbrian pir "fire")	πῦρ pûr "fire"			пожа́р požar "wildfire"		"fire"
Template:Wikt-lang heṙu "far"	far ( ← OE feor "to a great distance")	per "through"	πέρα péra "beyond"	farâ "forward"	परस् paras "beyond"	пере- pere- "through", про- pro- "forth"	íre "further"	"through, across, beyond"
Template:Wikt-lang lvanal "to wash"	flow ( ← OE flōwan)	pluĕre "to rain"	πλύνω plúnō "I wash"		प्लु plu "to float, swim"	плавать plavat' "swim"	luí "rudder"	"to flow, float, wash"
Template:Wikt-lang utel "to eat"	eat ( ← OE etan)	edō	ἔδω édō		अद्मि admi	есть jest'	ithid	"to eat"
Template:Wikt-lang gitem "I know"	wit ( ← OE wit, witan "intelligence, to know")	vidēre "to see"	οἶδα oîda	vida "knowledge"	विद् vid	видеть videt' "see, understand"	adfet "tells"	"to see"
Template:Wikt-lang get "river"	water ( ← OE wæter)	(Umbrian utur "water")	ὕδωρ húdōr "water"	bārān باران "rain"	उदन् udan "water"	вода voda "water"	uisce "water"	"water"
Template:Wikt-lang gorc "work"	work ( ← OE weorc)		ἔργον érgon	ورز varz		гора gora "mountain" (climbing is work)		"to work"
Template:Wikt-lang mec "big, great"	much ( ← OE mycel "great, big, many")	magnus	μέγας mégas	meh, mahest	मह maha	много mnogo "many"	maige "great, mighty"	"great"
Template:Wikt-lang čanačʻel' ( ← *ծանաչել canačʻel) "to recognize"	know ( ← OE cnawan)	nōscere "to learn, recognize"	γιγνώσκω gignōskō "I know"	šenâxtan "to know"	जानाति jānāti "to know"	знать znat' "to know"	ad·gnin "to know"	"to know"
Template:Wikt-lang meṙnel "to die"	murder ( ← OE morþor)	morī	βροτός brotós "mortal"	mordan "death"	मरति marati	мереть meret'	marb "dead"	"to die"
Template:Wikt-lang miǰin "middle"	mid, middle ( ← OE mid, middel)	medius	μέσος mésos	miyân	मध्य madhya	меж mež "between"	mide	"mid, middle"
Template:Wikt-lang ayl "other"	else ( ← OE elles "other, otherwise, different")	alius	ἄλλος állos				aile "other"	*h₂élyos "other"
Template:Wikt-lang nor "new"	new ( ← OE nīwe)	novus	νέος néos	now	नव nava	новый novyj	núae	"new"
Template:Wikt-lang duṙ "door"	door ( ← OE dor, duru)	foris	θύρα thúrā	dar	द्वार dvāra	дверь dver'	dorus	"door, doorway, gate"
Template:Wikt-lang tun "house"	town, timber ( ← OE timber "trees used for building material, structure")	domus	δόμος domos	mān مان "house" Avestan: dąm 𐬛𐬄𐬨	दम dama	дом dom		"house"
Template:Wikt-lang berel "to bring"	bear ( ← OE beran "give birth, carry")	ferre "to carry"	φέρω phérō	bordan, bar- "to carry"	भरति bharati "to carry"	брать brat' "to take"	beirid "carry"	"to carry"

Sample text

Below is a sample text of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Armenian:

Eastern Armenian	Romanization	Pronunciation
Բոլոր մարդիկ ծնվում են ազատ ու հավասար` իրենց արժանապատվությամբ և իրավունքներով: Նրանք օժտված են բանականությամբ ու խղճով, և պարտավոր են միմյանց նկատմամբ վարվել եղբայրության ոգով:	Bolor mardik tznvum en azat u havasar irents arzhanapatvuthyamb yev iravunqnerov. Nranq ozhtvatz en banakanuthyamb u xghcov, yev partavor en mimyants nkatmamb varvel yeghbayruthyan vogov.	[bɔˈlɔɾ mɑɾˈdik t͡sənˈvum ɛn ɑˈzɑt u hɑvɑˈsɑɾ iˈɾɛnt͡sʰ ɑɾʒɑnɑpɑtvuˈtʰjɑmb jɛv iɾɑvuŋkʰnɛˈɾɔv ‖ nəˈɾɑŋkʰ ɔʒtˈvɑt͡s ɛn bɑnɑkɑnuˈtʰjɑmb u χəʁˈt͡ʃɔv jɛv pɑɾtɑˈvɔɾ ɛn miˈmjɑnt͡sʰ nəkɑtˈmɑmb vɑɾˈvɛl jɛʁbɑjɾuˈtʰjɑn vɔˈɡɔv ‖]
Western Armenian	Romanization	Pronunciation
Բոլոր մարդիկ կը ծնուին ազատ եւ հաւասար իրենց արժանապատուութեամբ եւ իրաւունքներով: Իրենք օժտուած են բանականութեամբ ու խիղճով, եւ պարտաւորուած են միմեանց հանդէպ եղբայրութեան ոգիով վարուիլ:	Polor martig gė dznvin azad yev havasar irents arzhanabadvuthyamp yev iravunqnerov. Irenq ozhtvadz yen panaganuthyamp u xighjov, yev bardavorvadz yen mimyants hantèb yeghpayruthyan voqiov varvil.	[pɔˈlɔɾ mɑɾˈtig gə d͡zənˈvin ɑˈzɑd jɛv hɑvɑˈsɑɾ iˈɾɛnt͡sʰ ɑɾʒɑnɑbɑdvuˈtʰjɑmp jɛv iɾɑvuŋkʰnɛˈɾɔv ‖ iˈɾɛŋkʰ ɔʒtˈvɑd͡z jɛn pɑnɑgɑnuˈtʰjɑmp u χiʁˈd͡ʒɔv jɛv bɑɾdɑvɔɾˈvɑd͡z jɛn miˈmjɑnt͡sʰ hɑnˈtɛb jɛχpɑjɾuˈtʰjɑn vɔkʰiˈɔv vɑɾˈvil ‖]

English translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

See also

• Armenian PowerSpell, electronic text corrector
• Armenian Sign Language
• Auguste Carrière
• Classical Armenian orthography
• European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages
• Languages of Armenia
• Language families and languages
• List of Indo-European languages

Further reading

• Template:Cite thesis
• Template:Cite JIPA

External links

• Haylib - A free library of courses, books, videos and other resources to help you learn Armenian
• Armenian PowerSpell
• ARMENIA AND IRAN iv. History, discussion, and the presentation of Iranian influences in Armenian Language over the millennia
• Nayiri.com (Library of Armenian dictionaries)
• dictionaries.arnet.am Collection of Armenian XDXF and Stardict dictionaries
• Grabar (Brief introduction to Classical Armenian also known as Grabar)
• բառարան.հայ – Armenian dictionary