The
Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the
Armenian peopleThe Armenians are a nation and ethnic group which originated in the Caucasus and the Armenian Highland. It is estimated that there are 8 million Armenians around the world. There is a large concentration of Armenians in the Caucasus, especially in Armenia, and there is a significant presence in...
. It is the official language of the
Republic of ArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
as well as in the region of
Nagorno-KarabakhNagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, lying between Lower Karabakh and Zangezur and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains...
. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the
Armenian diasporaThe Armenian diaspora has created the communities of Armenians living outside of Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Javakhk. The total Armenian population living worldwide is estimated to be 11,000,000, but only about 3,150,000 live in Armenia, about 140,000 in Nagorno-Karabakh and approximately 120,000...
. It has its own script, the
Armenian alphabetThe Armenian alphabet is an alphabet that has been used to write the Armenian language since the year 405 or 406. It was devised by Saint Mesrop Mashtots, an Armenian monk. Until the 19th century, Classical Armenian was the literary language; since then, the Armenian alphabet has been used to...
.
Linguists typically classify Armenian as an independent branch of the
Indo-EuropeanIndo-European may refer to:* Indo-European languages** Aryan, a 19th century term for Indo-European speakers.* Proto-Indo-European language, the reconstructed common ancestor of all Indo-European languages....
language family, though many Indo-Europeanists believe it forms a subgroup with the
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
and
Indo-IranianThe Indo-Iranian language group constitutes the easternmost extant branch of the Indo-European family of languages. It consists of three language groups: the Indo-Aryan, Iranian and Nuristani. The term Aryan languages is occasionally still used to refer to the Indo-Iranian languages...
families. (Renfrew,
ClacksonJames Clackson is a British linguist and Indo-Europeanist.He works as a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge, and is also a Fellow and Director of Studies, Jesus College at Cambridge....
and Fortson 1994).
Origins
The earliest testimony of the Armenian language dates to the 5th century AD (the Bible translation of Mesrob Mashtots). The earlier history of the language is unclear and the subject of much speculation.
Graeco-Armenian hypothesis
Armenian is regarded by some linguists as a close relative of
PhrygianThe Phrygian language was the Indo-European language of the Phrygians, a people from Thrace who later migrated to Asia Minor.-Inscriptions:Phrygian is attested by two corpora, one from around 800 BC and later , and then after a period of several centuries from around the beginning of the Common Era...
. Many scholars such as Clackson (1994) hold that
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
is the most closely related surviving language to Armenian. The characteristically Greek representation of word-initial laryngeals by prothetic vowels is shared by Armenian, which also shares other phonological and morphological peculiarities of Greek. The close relatedness of Armenian and Greek sheds light on the paraphyletic nature of the
Centum-Satem isoglossThe Centum-Satem division is an isogloss of the Indo-European language family, related to the evolution of the three dorsal consonant rows reconstructed for Proto-Indo-European, * , * , and *;...
. Armenian also shares major
isoglossAn isogloss refers to a specific type of language border. It is the geographical boundary or delineation of a certain linguistic feature , the meaning of a word, or use of some syntactic feature. Major dialects are typically demarcated by whole bundles of isoglosses, e.g...
es with Greek; some linguists propose that the linguistic ancestors of the Armenians and Greeks were either identical or in a close contact relation. Other linguists including Fortson (2004) comment "by the time we reach our earliest Armenian records in the 5th century A.D., the evidence of any such early kinship has been reduced to a few tantalizing pieces."
Speculations on Anatolian influence
W. M. Austin in 1942 concluded that there was an early contact between Armenian and
Anatolian languagesThe Anatolian languages are a group of extinct Indo-European languages, which were spoken in Asia Minor, the best attested of them being the Hittite language.-Origins:...
, based on what he considered common archaisms, such as the lack of a feminine and the absence of inherited long vowels.
Evolution
Early in the fifth century, Classical Armenian, or Grabar, was one of the great languages of the Near East and Asia Minor. Although an autonomous branch within the Indo-European family of languages, it had some affinities to Middle Iranian, Greek and the Balto-Slavic languages, but belonged to none of them. It was characterized by a system of inflection unlike the other languages, as well as a flexible and liberal use of combining root words to create derivative and compound words by the application of certain agglutinative affixes.
In the period that followed the invention of the alphabet and up to the threshold of the modern era, Grabar (Classical Armenian) lived on. An effort to modernize the language in
Greater ArmeniaGreater Armenia may refer to:* The Kingdom of Armenia, independent from 190 BC to 387 АD, known as Greater Armenia to distinguish it from Roman-controlled Lesser Armenia...
and the
Armenian Kingdom of CiliciaThe Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia was a state formed in the Middle Ages by Armenian refugees fleeing the Seljuk invasion of Armenia...
(11-14th centuries) resulted in the addition of two more characters to the alphabet, bringing the total number to 38.
The Book of Lamentations by
Gregory of NarekGrigor Narekatsi is a canonized saint. He was an Armenian monk, poet, mystical philosopher and theologian, born into a family of writers. His father, Khosrov, was an archbishop...
(951-1003), that could be considered a masterpiece of world literature, is perhaps a good example of the development of a literature and writing style that came to be known as Middle Armenian or Vernacular. In addition to elevating the literary style of the Armenian language, Gregory of Nareg paved the way for his successors to include secular themes 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 “vulgar population” were also reflected in other literary works. Konsdantin Yerzinkatsi and several others even take the unusual step of criticizing the ecclesiastic establishment and addressing the social issues of the Armenian homeland. Not surprisingly, these changes altered the nature of the literary style and syntax but they did not constitute radical changes to the fundamentals of the grammar or the morphology of the language.
The Treaty of Kermanchai of 1828 once again divided the traditional Armenian homeland. This time, two thirds of historical Armenia fell under Ottoman control, while the remaining territories were divided between the Russian and Persian empires. The antagonistic relationship between the Russian and Ottoman Empires led to creation of two separate and different environments under which Armenians lived and suffered. Halfway through the 19th century, two important concentrations of Armenian communities were constituted.
Because of persecutions or the search for better economic opportunities, many Armenians living under Ottoman rule gradually moved to
ConstantinopleConstantinople was the imperial capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire...
, the capital of the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
, while Tiflis (Tbilisi), in
GeorgiaGeorgia Georgia Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Situated at the juncture of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the east by Azerbaijan...
, 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 vulgar language, Ašxarhabar, to the dignity of a modern literary language, in contrast to the now-anachronistic Grabar. Numerous dialects developed 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 variants emerged:
- Western Variant: The influx of immigrants from different parts of the traditional Armenian homeland to Constantinople crystallized the common elements of the regional dialects, paving the way to a style of writing that required a shorter and more flexible learning curve than Grabar.
- Eastern Variant: The dialect of the Ararat plateau provided the primary elements of Eastern Armenian, centered in Tiflis (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 Ašxarhabar. 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 minor morphological, phonetic and grammatical differences, the largely common vocabulary and identical rules of grammatical fundamentals allows users of one variant to understand the other easily.
After the First World War, 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, while the Diaspora created after the Genocide of 1915 carried with it the only thing survivors still possessed: its mother tongue, Western Armenian.
Iranian influence
The Classical Armenian language (often referred to as
GrabarClassical Armenian is the oldest attested form of the Armenian language. It was first written down at the beginning of the 5th century, and all Armenian literature from then through the 18th century is in the Grabar Armenian language...
, literally "written (language)") imported numerous words from Middle Iranian languages, primarily
ParthianThe Parthian language, also known as Arsacid Pahlavi and Pahlavanik, is a now-extinct ancient Northwestern Iranian language spoken in Parthia, a region of northeastern Greater Iran, to include a significant portion of Greater Khorasan....
, and contains smaller inventories of borrowings from Greek, Syriac, Latin, and autochthonous languages such as
UrartianUrartian, Vannic, and Chaldean are conventional names for the language spoken by the inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Urartu that was located in the region of Lake Van, with its capital near the site of the modern town of Van, in the Armenian Highland, modern-day Eastern Anatolia region of...
. Middle Armenian (11th–15th centuries AD) incorporated further loans from Arabic, Turkish, Persian, and Latin, and the modern dialects took in hundreds of additional words from Modern Turkish and Persian. Therefore, determining the historical evolution of Armenian is particularly difficult because Armenian borrowed many words from
ParthianThe Parthian language, also known as Arsacid Pahlavi and Pahlavanik, is a now-extinct ancient Northwestern Iranian language spoken in Parthia, a region of northeastern Greater Iran, to include a significant portion of Greater Khorasan....
and
PersianPersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Iraq and Bahrain, and has a status of official language in the first three countries under different names...
(both Iranian languages) as well as from Greek.
The large percentage of loans from Iranian languages initially led linguists to classify Armenian as an Iranian language. The distinctness of Armenian was only recognized when Hübschmann (1875) used the
comparative methodIn linguistics, the comparative method is a technique for studying the development of languages. It requires the use of two or more languages. It is opposed to the method of internal reconstruction, which studies the internal development of a single language over time. Ordinarily both methods are...
to distinguish two layers of Iranian loans from the true Armenian
vocabularyA person's vocabulary is the set of words they are familiar with in a language. A vocabulary usually grows and evolves with age, and serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge.- Knowing and using a word :...
.
Modern changes
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 GenocideThe Armenian Genocide , also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Calamity , was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
.
Vowels
Modern Armenian has eight monophthong vowel sounds.
|
Front A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far forward as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also called...
|
Central A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel...
|
Back A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark...
|
|
Unrounded |
Rounded |
Unrounded |
Rounded |
| Close A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.This term is prescribed by the...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Mid A mid vowel is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned mid-way between an open vowel and a close vowel...
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Open An open vowel is a vowel sound of a type used in nearly all spoken languages . The defining characteristic of an open vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels in reference to the low position of the tongue...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Classical Armenian distinguishes seven vowels:
(ա), (ի), (ը), (ե), (է), (ո and օ) and (ու) (transcribed as
a,
i,
ë,
e,
ē,
o/
ò, and
ou respectively).
Consonants
The following table lists the Eastern Armenian consonantal system. The
occlusivesA stop, plosive, or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. The terms plosive and stop are usually used interchangeably, but they are not perfect synonyms. Plosives are oral stops with a pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism. The term is also used to...
and affricates have a special aspirated series (transcribed with a Greek
spiritus asperThe spiritus asper , is a diacritical mark used in the polytonic orthography. In ancient Greek, it indicates initial aspiration, or the presence of the voiceless glottal fricative at the beginning of a word...
after the letter):
,
,
,
,
. Each phoneme in the table is represented by three symbols. The topmost indicates the phoneme's pronunciation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA); below that appears the corresponding letter of the
Armenian alphabetThe Armenian alphabet is an alphabet that has been used to write the Armenian language since the year 405 or 406. It was devised by Saint Mesrop Mashtots, an Armenian monk. Until the 19th century, Classical Armenian was the literary language; since then, the Armenian alphabet has been used to...
; and the bottom symbol is its
Latin-alphabetThe Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most widely used alphabetic writing system in the world today. It evolved from the western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, and was initially developed by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language.During the...
transliterationTransliteration is the practice of converting a text from one writing system into another in a systematic way.-Definitions:From an information-theoretical point of view, transliteration is a mapping from one system of writing into another, word by word, or ideally letter by letter...
(according to ISO 9985).
| |
bilabialIn phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:...
|
labio-
dentalIn phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lip and the upper teeth. The labiodental consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:...
|
alveolarAlveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth...
|
post-
alveolar |
palatalPalatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate...
|
velarVelars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum)....
/
uvularUvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. Uvulars may be plosives, fricatives, nasal stops, trills, or approximants, though the IPA does not provide a separate symbol for the approximant, and...
|
glottalGlottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricatives, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider...
|
| plosive |
պ բ
p b |
|
տ դ
t d |
|
|
կ գ
k g |
|
| aspirated In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say tore ...
plosive |
փ
p’ |
|
թ
t’ |
|
|
ք
k’ |
|
| nasal A nasal consonant is produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. The oral cavity still acts as a resonance chamber for the sound, but the air does not escape through the mouth as it is blocked by the lips or tongue...
|
մ
m |
|
ն
n |
|
|
|
|
| fricative Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or...
|
|
ֆ վ
f v |
ս զ
s z |
շ ժ
š ž |
|
խ ղ
x ġ |
հ
h |
| affricate Affricates are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricative rather than directly into the following vowel.- Samples :...
|
|
|
ծ ձ
ç j |
ճ ջ
č̣ ǰ |
|
|
|
| aspirated affricate |
|
|
ց
c’ |
չ
č |
|
|
|
flapIn phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator is thrown against another.-Contrast with stops and trills:...
|
|
|
ր
r |
|
-յ-
y |
|
|
| trill In phonetics, a trill is a consonantal sound produced by vibrations between the articulator and the place of articulation. Standard Spanish <rr> as in perro is an alveolar trill, while in Parisian French it is almost always uvular....
|
|
|
r
ռ
|
|
|
|
|
lateral approximantLaterals are "L"-like consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue, while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both sides of the tongue....
|
|
|
լ
l |
|
|
|
|
Morphology
Armenian corresponds with other Indo-European languages in its structure, but it shares distinctive sounds and features of its grammar with neighboring languages of the
CaucasusThe Caucasus or Caucas is a geopolitical region between at the border of Europe and Asia. It is home to the Caucasus Mountains, including Europe's highest mountain ....
region. Armenian is rich in combinations of consonants. Both classical Armenian and the modern spoken and literary dialects have a complicated system of declining nouns, with six or seven noun cases but no gender. In modern Armenian the use of auxiliary verbs to show tense (comparable to will in "he will go") has generally supplemented the inflected verbs of Classical Armenian. Negative verbs are conjugated differently from positive ones (as in English "he goes" and "he does not go"). Grammatically, early forms of Armenian had much in common with classical
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
and
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
, but the modern language, like modern Greek, has undergone many transformations. With time the Armenian language made a transition from a synthetic language (Old Armenian or
GrabarClassical Armenian is the oldest attested form of the Armenian language. It was first written down at the beginning of the 5th century, and all Armenian literature from then through the 18th century is in the Grabar Armenian language...
) to a typical analytic language (Modern Armenian) with Middle Armenian as a midpoint in this transition.
Noun
Classical Armenian has no
grammatical genderIn linguistics, grammatical genders, sometimes also called noun classes, are classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words; every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be very few which belong to several classes at once....
, not even in the pronoun. The nominal inflection, however, preserves several types of inherited stem classes. The noun may take seven cases, nominative,
accusativeThe accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions...
, locative, genitive, dative, ablative,
instrumentalThe instrumental case is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the instrument or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action...
.
Verb
Verbs in Armenian have an expansive system of
conjugationIn linguistics, conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a verb, noun or adjective from its principal parts by inflection . Conjugation may be affected by person, number, gender, tense, aspect, mood, voice, or other grammatical categories...
with two main verb types (three in Western Armenian) changing form based on
tenseGrammatical tense is a temporal linguistic quality expressing the time at, during, or over which a state or action denoted by a verb occurs.Tense is one of at least five qualities, along with mood, voice, aspect, and person, which verb forms may express....
,
moodGrammatical mood is one of a set of distinctive verb forms that are used to signal modality.It is distinct from grammatical tense or grammatical aspect, although these concepts are conflated to some degree in many languages, including English and most other modern Indo-European languages, insofar...
and
aspectIn linguistics, the grammatical aspect of a verb defines the temporal flow in the described event or state...
.
Dialects
The major division is between the Eastern and Western dialects. 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.
For example, Eastern Armenian speakers pronounce as an aspirated "t" as in "tiger", like the "d" in "develop", and as an unaspirated voiceless stop, sounding somewhere between the two as in "s
top." Western Armenian has simplified the stop system into a simple division between voiced stops and voiceless aspirate ones; the first series corresponds to the unaspirated voiceless series of Eastern Armenian, and the second corresponds to the Eastern voiced and aspirated voiceless series. Thus, the Western dialect pronounces both and as an aspirated "t" as in "tiger," and the letter is pronounced like the letter "d" as in "develop."
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). The main difference between both blocks are:
- Western Armenian
Western Armenian
(Arevm'tahayeren):
- Eastern Armenian
Eastern Armenian
(Arevelahayeren):
Armenian can be subdivided in two major dialectal blocks and those blocks into individual dialects, though many of the Western Armenian dialects have died due to the effects of the Armenian Genocide. In addition, neither dialect is completely homogeneous: any dialect can be subdivided into several subdialects. While Western and Eastern Armenian are often described as different dialects of the same language, some subdialects are not readily mutually intelligible. It is true, however, that a fluent speaker of two greatly varying subdialects who are exposed to the other dialect over even a short period of time will be able to understand the other with relative ease.
English - Eastern Armenian
- Yes = Ayo
- No = Voč
- Excuse me = Neroġout'ioun
- Hello = Barev
- How are you(formal) = Vonts ek
- What's up = Inch ca chca
- Please = Xntrem
- Thank you = Šnorhakal em
- Thank you very much = Šat šnorhakal em
- Welcome = Bari galoust
- Goodbye = C'tesout'ioun
- Good morning = Bari louys
- Good afternoon = Bari òr
- Good evening = Bari yereko
- Good night = Bari gišer
- I love you = Yes siroum em k'ez
- I am Armenian = Yes hay em
English - Western Armenian
- Yes = Ayo
- No = Voč
- Excuse me = Neroġout'ioun
- Hello = Parev
- Please = Xntrem , Hadjiss
- Thank you = Šnorhagal em
- Thank you very much = Šad šnorhagal em
- Welcome = Pari yegar / Pari yegak
- Goodbye = C'desout'ioun
- Good morning = Pari louys
- Good afternoon = Pari òr
- Good evening = Parirgoun / Pari irigown
- Good night = Kišer pari
- I love you = Yes k'ez gë sirem
Other distinct dialects include the Homshetsi language of the Hemshin people and
Lomavren languageLomavren is a mixed language, spoken by the Lom people, or Posha. It appeared at the contact between the proto-Romani language and the Armenian language. It lacks a grammatical gender having 7 grammatical cases; its grammar is closely related to Armenian, with the vocabulary being almost...
of the Bosha, both of which are categorized as belonging to the Armenian
language familyA language family is a group of languages related by descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family.As with biological families, the evidence of relationship is observable shared characteristics...
.
Historical Armenian dialects
In 1909, linguist
Hrachia AcharianHrachia Hakobi Acharian was an outstanding Armenian linguist, etymologist and philologist, Professor, Academic of Armenian Academy of Sciences, a member of French Linguistic Association and Czechoslovakian Institute of Oriental studies.He studied at Sorbonne with Antoine...
surveyed many of the Armenian dialects in what is now present day Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Iran, and other surrounding countries settled by Armenians. Unlike the traditional dialect division of Armenian into western and eastern dialects, Adjarian divided Armenian into three main dialects based on which indicative particles are used. He labeled them as the -owm dialects, gë dialects, and -el dialects. These three major dialects were further divided into sub-dialects.
-owm Dialects:
- Yerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. It is situated on the Hrazdan River, and is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
, DoğubeyazıtDoğubeyazıt is a city and district of Ağrı Province of Turkey, and is Turkey's most eastern district, the border crossing to Iran. Elevation 1625 m. Area 2.383 km²...
, TabrizTabriz is the fourth largest city of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former capitals and residence of the crown prince...
(Kala and Lilava quarters), GavarGavar or Gavarr is a city and provincial capital of the Armenian province of Gegharkunik.Gavar is a lovely city near Lake Sevan in the Armenian highlands...
- Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form Tp'ilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
(Havlabar quarter)
- Shushi, Gandzak
Ganja is Azerbaijan's second-largest city. It was named Elizavetpol in the Russian Empire, and Kirovabad in the USSR.-Foundation of the city and its etymology:...
, ShakhiShaki is a city in North-west Azerbaijan, in the rayon of the same name....
, BakuBaku , sometimes known as Baqy, Baky, Baki or Bakou, is the capital, the largest city, and the largest port of Azerbaijan and all the Caucasus. Located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, the city consists of two principal parts: the downtown and the old Inner City...
, DerbentDerbent is a city in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, close to the Azerbaijani border. It is the southernmost city in Russia, and it is the second most important city of Dagestan. Population: 101,031 ; 78,371...
, AgstafaAgstafa is a rayon in northwestern Azerbaijan.-Etnhic Groups:Population-75,000*Azeris 98,7% *Turkish People 0,6 % * Other 0,7% -Prehistoric monuments:* Palaeolithic tent settlement- village Kochesker...
, DilijanDilijan , is a lush, green city located in the northern Armenian province of Tavush. It is one of the most important resorts of Armenia, situated in Dilijan National Park. The forested and reclusive city is home to numerous Armenian artists, composers, and filmmakers and features some traditional...
, VanadzorVanadzor is the third-largest city in Armenia with a population of 107,394 and the capital of the Lori Province...
, KazakhQazakh is a rayon of Azerbaijan. It has two exclaves inside Armenia, Yukhari Askipara and Barkhudarli, both of which came under Armenian control during the Nagorno-Karabakh War.- History :...
, LoriLori may refer to:*Lori Province, Armenia*Luri language, spoken by the Lur people Lorestān, Iran*Kingdom of Lori-Joraget, an Armenian kingdom from c...
, KaradaghSabalan Sabalan Sabalan ((in Persian سبلان Sabalân ;also called Sāvālān in Azerbaijani) is an inactive stratovolcano in Meshkinshahr Ardabil province of northwestern Iran. Sabalan is the third highest mountain in Iran and a permanent crater lake has formed at the summit. Sabalan has a ski resort...
, Mujumbar, TabrizTabriz is the fourth largest city of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former capitals and residence of the crown prince...
(Lilava quarter), BurdurBurdur , is a city southwestern Turkey and the seat of the Burdur Province of Turkey. It is located at , on the shore of Lake Burdur. Its estimated 2007 population is 67,097.-External links:*...
, YodemishÖdemiş is a district of İzmir Province of Turkey.North of Ödemiş, which is 113 km southeast of İzmir, are the ruins of Hypaiapa. The historical importance of the region is also reflected by the small town of Birgi, east of Ödemiş, which was the capital of the Anatolian Turkish Beylik of Aydın...
- Shamaki
Şamaxı is a city in and the capital of the Shamakhi Rayon of Azerbaijan.The city is 70 miles west of Baku. It has some 30,000 inhabitants, among them Azerbaijanis , Padar , and Russians...
, QubaQuba is a rayon in northeastern Azerbaijan. The capital is located on the Kudyal River at 41.37°N, 48.50°E....
- Astrakhan
Astrakhan is a major city in southern European Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea. Population: 502,800 ; 504,501 ; 509,210 .-Medieval history:Astrakhan' is situated in the Volga Delta, rich...
- Julfa
Julfa or Culfa may refer to:*Jolfa, a city in the East Azarbaijan Province of Iran*New Julfa, an Armenian quarter in Isfahan, Iran*Julfa Rayon, a region in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan...
, Isfahan (New JulfaNew Julfa is the Armenian quarter of Isfahan, Iran, located along the south bank of the river Zayandeh River....
quarter), ShirazShiraz may refer to:* Shiraz, Iran, a city* Vosketap, Armenia, formerly called ShirazPeople:* Hovhannes Shiraz, Armenian poet* Shiraz Ali, former Bermudian cricketer* Shiraz Minwalla, Indian string theorist...
, Hamadan, BushehrBushehr , pop. 165,377 , is a city on the southwestern coast of Iran, on the Persian Gulf. It is the chief seaport of the country and the administrative centre of Bushehr province. Its location is 28° 59' N, 50° 49' E, about south of Tehran...
, TehranTehran is the capital and largest city of Iran, and the administrative center of Tehran Province. Tehran is a sprawling city at the foot of the Tochal mountain range with an immense network of highways unparalleled in Western Asia...
, QazvinQazvin is the largest city and capital of the Province of Qazvin in Iran with an estimated population of 331,409 in 2005...
, RashtRasht is the capital of Gilan province in northwestern Iran and the largest city along the Caspian sea coast. It is a major trade center between Caucasia, Russia and Iran using the port of Bandar-e Anzali. Rasht is also a major tourist center with the resort of Masouleh in adjacent mountains and...
, Bandar-e AnzaliBandar-e Anzali , known as Bandar-e Pahlavi before the Iranian Revolution, is a harbour town on the Caspian Sea, in the Iranian province of Gilan, close to Rasht. Bandar-e Anzali has a population of approximately 150,000....
- Nerkin Agulis, Çǝnǝnǝb, Verin Agulis, Yuxarı Əndǝli, Tanagirt, Urumis
Urmis is a village in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan....
, Dosti, Kyalaki
gë Dialects:
- Erzurum
Erzurum is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. The name "Erzurum" derives from "Arz-u Rûm"...
, KarsKars is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province.-History:As Chorzene, the town appears in Roman historiography as part of ancient Armenia....
, GyumriGyumri is the capital and largest city of the Shirak Province in northwest Armenia...
, AkhalkalakiAkhalkalaki is a small city in Georgia's southern region of Samtskhe-Javakheti with a population of 60,975. Akhalkalaki lies on the edge of the Javakheti Volcanic Plateau. The city is located about 30 km from the border with Turkey. 90 percent of the city's population are ethnic Armenians after...
, AkhaltsikheAkhaltsikhe is a small city in southwestern Georgia, Mkhare of Samtskhe-Javakheti with a population of 46,134. It is situated on the both banks of a small river Potskhovi, which separates the city to the old city in the north and new in the south...
- Mush
Mus or MUS may refer to:* Muş, a city in Turkey, capital of Muş Province* Mus, Gard, a commune of the Gard département in France* Mus , a Spanish card game* Mus , the genus that contains the mouse* Mitsubishi UFJ Securities...
, SasunSason is a district in the Batman Province of Turkey. It was formerly part of the sanjak of Siirt, which was in Diyarbakır vilayet until 1880 and in Bitlis vilayet in 1892. Later it became part of Muş sanjak in Bitlis vilayet, and remained part of Muş until 1927...
, BitlisBitlis is a town in eastern Turkey and the capital of Bitlis Province. Kurds form the majority of the population, which was 65,169 as of 2000....
, KhozanHizan is a district of Bitlis Province, Turkey.*****...
, KhlatAhlat is a historic town and a district in Turkey's Bitlis Province in Eastern Anatolia Region. The center town of Ahlat is situated on the northwestern coast of the Lake Van. She was the district in Van Province between 1929-1936....
, ArtcheshErcis may refer to:* Erciş, a district of Van province in the east of Turkey* European Research Center for Information Systems...
, KopBulanık is a town and district of Muş Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey....
, ManazkertMalazgirt is a town in Muş Province in eastern Turkey, with a population of 23,697 .-Founding:...
, KhnusHınıs is a town and district of Erzurum Province in the Eastern Anatolia Region region of Turkey....
, AlashkertEleşkirt, formerly Alashkert , is a town and district of Ağrı Province in Turkey. It was known as Vaghashkert in medieval times.-Places to see:...
, AparanAparan is a town in Armenia, located in the Aragatsotn province, about 50 kilometers north-north-west of Yerevan...
, Eshtia, Ujmana, Toria, Martuni
- Van, Turkey
A van is a kind of vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people. It is usually a box-shaped vehicle on four wheels, about the same width and length as a large automobile, but taller and usually higher off the ground, also referred to as a light commercial vehicle or LCV...
, Diadin, Moks, BashkaleBaşkale is a town and district located in south-eastern Turkey in Van Province. Başkale was formerly called Elbak and was the capital town of Elbak kaza of Hakkari sanjak in the Ottoman Vilayet of Van...
, ShatakhÇatak is a district of Van Province of Turkey, near the border with Iran.Two people were killed in a bomb explosion at an outdoor cafe in south-east Turkey, police stated on September 4 2006...
, Basargecher
- Diyarbakır
Diyarbakır is the largest city in southeastern Turkey. Situated on the banks of the River Tigris, it is the administrative capital of the Diyarbakır Province with a population of almost 1.5 million...
, Lice, HazroHazro is a district of Diyarbakır Province of Turkey....
, KozlukKozluk, formerly Hazzo or Hazo, is a district of Batman Province, Turkey....
, HizanHizan is a district of Bitlis Province, Turkey.*****...
, SiverekSiverek is a town and district in the south-east of Turkey, in Şanlıurfa Province. Population 127,000 ; 250,000 ....
, EdesiaŞanlıurfa , formerly cited as Edessa or in Aramaic; Riha or Urhāy, or in Armenian Urhai, Arabic الرها al-Raha) is a city with 462,923 inhabitants in south-eastern Turkey, and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province...
- Kharberd
Elâzığ is a city in Eastern Anatolia, Turkey and the seat of Elâzığ Province. It has a population of266,495 according to the 2000 census, and the plain on which the city extends has an altitude of 1067 metres....
, YerznkaErzincan is the capital of Erzincan Province in the eastern Anatolian region of Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gumushane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The city is located at 39° 45' 12" North and 39° 20' 28" East, with an altitude of 1185 meters. The...
, BaluPalu is a city on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, located 1,650 km northeast of Jakarta, at . The city sits on the mouth of Palu River, at the head of a long, narrow bay. Because of its sheltered position between mountain ridges, the climate is unusually dry. It is the capital of the...
, TchapaghjurBingöl is a city in Eastern Turkey. Until 1950, it was known as Çabakcur, which means violent water in Armenian. It is surrounded by mountains and a large number of glacier lakes, hence the name. Lately, the town has become a popular tourist destination. In 2000, it had a population of 68,876...
|, ChmshkatsagÇemişgezek is a district of Tunceli Province of Turkey. Çemişgezek has a total population of 9,780 . The most People are Sunni, but there is also a Alevi community. There is a good brotherhood between Alevi and Sunni.Çemişgezek has great history and wild,excellent nature...
, Akpazar, KiğıKığı is a district of Bingöl Province of Turkey....
, TunceliTunceli is the provincial capital of Tunceli Province in Turkey. Tunceli has a population of 25,041 and most of the population are Zaza and Turks. Most of the population is Alevi....
, KemahKemah may refer to:* Kemah in Galveston County, Texas, United States* Kemah in Erzincan Province, Turkey...
- Shabin-Karahisar
Şebinkarahisar is a town and a district of Giresun Province in the Black Sea region of eastern Turkey.-Name:The 6th century Byzantine historian Procopius writes that the Roman general Pompey captured the then ancient fortress and renamed it Koloneia. A Greek inscription of the ninth or tenth...
, AkıncılarAkıncılar is a town and a district of Sivas Province of Turkey....
- Trabzon
Trabzon, historically known as Trapezus and Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a trade gateway to Iran in...
, BaberdBayburt is the provincial capital of Turkey's Bayburt Province.The term "Bayburt", comes from the Armenian suffix "-pert" or "-bert", meaning "fort"....
, GyumushkhanaGümüşhane is a city and the capital district of Gümüşhane Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. The city lies along the Harşit River, at an elevation of 5,000 feet , about 40 miles southwest of Trabzon. According to the 2000 census, population of the district is 46,656 of which 30,270 live...
, GiresunGiresun is the provincial capital of Giresun Province in the Black Sea Region of northeastern Turkey, about west of the city of Trabzon.-Etymology:...
- Hemşin
Hemşin is a town and district of Rize Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, 57 km from the city of Rize....
, TrabzonTrabzon, historically known as Trapezus and Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a trade gateway to Iran in...
, ÜnyeÜnye is a large town and district of Ordu Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, 76 km west of the city of Ordu. In 2007 it had some 73,000 inhabitants.-Geography:Ünye has a little port, in a bay on one of the flatter areas of the Black Sea coast...
, FatsaFatsa is a town and a large district of Ordu Province in the central Black Sea region of Turkey.-Etymology:The name Fatsa derives from Fanizan daughter of King Pharnaces II of Pontus and has since mutated through Fanise, Phadsane, Pytane, Facha and today's Fatsa. In the Ottoman Empire records the...
, TermeTerme is a district of Samsun Province of Turkey....
, ÇarşambaÇarşamba is a town and district of Samsun Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is second largest district of the Samsun province after Bafra.-External links:*...
, SamsunSamsun is a city in northern Turkey, on the coast of the Black Sea, with a population of 725,111 as of 2007. It is the capital city of Samsun Province and an important port...
, SukhumiSukhumi is the capital of Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast, which has been recognized as an independent state by Russia, Venezuela and Nicaragua, and is regarded by all other UN member states as an autonomous republic within Georgia...
, SochiSochi is a Russian resort city, situated in Krasnodar Krai just north of the southern Russian border. It sprawls along the shores of the Black Sea and against the background of the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus Mountains. At , Greater Sochi claims to be the longest city in Europe. As of the...
, Mtsara, Tsebelda, AdlerThe term Adler, the German word for the bird of prey "eagle", is both the last name of many people and an emblematic bird featured on many blazons since the feudal age, including the present German Bundeswappen and at times on the flags of Austria and Germany...
, Shapsugskaya
- Malatya
Malatya is a city and a province in middle eastern Turkey.- Overview :In ancient times, it was also known by its older name of Melitene, that dates back to the Roman period. An even older name was Melid...
, AdıyamanAdıyaman is city in southeastern Turkey, capital of the Adıyaman Province. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in Turkey...
- Saimbeyli
Saimbeyli is a district of Adana Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. The town of Saimbeyli is in the Toros mountains, 157 km north of the city of Adana, by a difficult road. Population 17,140....
, ZaytunSüleymanlı , is a town in the Kahramanmaraş Province, Turkey.-See also:...
, MarashKahramanmaraş is the capital city of Kahramanmaraş Province in southeastern Turkey. The city lies on a plain at the foot of the Taurus Mountains and has a population of 326,198 as of 2000...
, KilisKilis is a city in south-central Turkey on the border with Syria and capital of Kilis Province. It is generally associated with the city of Kilisi, noted in Assyrian texts.-Geography:...
, Alexandrettaİskenderun , is a city and district in the province of Hatay on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.-Geography:...
, Yakacik, SamandağSeleucia Pieria was a town in antiquity, the capital of Seleucus I Nicator, in Syria Prima. It was the port of the western Seleucid capital of Antioch, lying close to the mouth of the Orontes. Its ruins lie near the modern town of Samandağ in the Hatay province of Turkey...
- Aramo
- Arapgir, Tevrik
Divriği is a town and a district of Sivas Province of Turkey. The town lies on gentle slope on the south bank of the Çaltısuyu river, a tributary of the Euphrates....
, GürünGürün is a town and a district of Sivas Province of Turkey.-External links:*...
, DarendeDarende is a district of Malatya Province of Turkey.Darende is in Malatya.Darende which is a city that a science and culture, is ancient silk way. The city center of the charm on the East Anatolia Region is a statue of door which is the entrance of city Malatya. The largest district of...
, KayseriKayseri , named in classical antiquity as Mazaka or Mazaca, Eusebia, Caesarea Cappadociae, and later as Kaisariyah, is a large and industrialized city in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Kayseri Province...
, YozgatYozgat , formerly Bozok, is a city and the capital district of Yozgat province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. According to 2000 census, population of the district is 113,614 of which 73,930 live in the city of Yozgat.-History:The Ottoman Empire annexed Yozgat in 1398...
- Akn
Kemaliye is a town and one of the 9 districts of Erzincan Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The town was re-named Kemaliye after the foundation of the Republic of Turkey, in honor of Mustafa Kemal Pasha, although former name of Eğin is still known and used locally and sometimes...
- Sebastia
- Tokat
Tokat is the capital city of Tokat Province of Turkey, at the mid Black Sea region of Anatolia. According to the 2000 census, the city of Tokat has a population of 113,100.-Landmarks:...
, AmasyaAmasya is the administrative district of Amasya Province in northern Turkey. It covers an area of 1730 km², and a population of 133,000....
, MerzifonMerzifon is a town and district in Amasya Province in the central Black Sea region of Turkey. It covers an area of 970 km², and the population is 67,281 of which 45,613 live in the town of Merzifon, the remainder spread throughout the surrounding countryside. -Etymology:Former variants of its name...
, OrduOrdu is a port on the Black Sea coast of Turkey and the capital city of Ordu Province.-Etymology:"Ordu" means 'army' in the Turkish language...
, SamsunSamsun is a city in northern Turkey, on the coast of the Black Sea, with a population of 725,111 as of 2007. It is the capital city of Samsun Province and an important port...
, SinopSinop can refer to:*Sinop, Turkey, a city near the Black Sea in Turkey, and the battle that took place there.*Sinop Province, the province in Turkey of which the above city is the capital*Sinop, Mato Grosso, a city in Mato Grosso state, Brazil...
- Smyrna
İzmir, historically Smyrna, is Turkey's third most populous city and the country's largest port after Istanbul. It is located along the outlying waters of the Gulf of İzmir, by the Aegean Sea. It is the seat of İzmir Province, which has an area of 7350 km
2...
- Nicomedia
İzmit is a city in Turkey, administrative center of Kocaeli Province as well as the Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality. It is located at the Gulf of İzmit in the Sea of Marmara, about east of Istanbul, on the northwestern part of Anatolia. The city centre has a population of 248,424...
, AdabazarAdapazarı is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of Sakarya Province. The province itself was originally named Adapazarı as well. The city has a population of 391.102 ....
, YalovaYalova is a city located in northwestern Turkey, on the eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara, and is the capital of the Yalova Province. Yalova has a city population of 70,858, while the population of the Yalova Province is 188,440.- Etymology :...
, PartizakBahçecik is a town in Bilecik Province in the Marmara region of Turkey....
, GeyveGeyve is a town and a district of Sakarya Province in the Marmara region of Turkey....
, İznikİznik is a city in Turkey which is known primarily as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea, the first and seventh Ecumenical councils in the early history of the Christian church, the Nicene Creed, and as the capital city of the Empire of Nicaea...
, Pazarköy, KaramürselKaramürsel is a town and district located in northwestern Turkey, in the province of Kocaeli. It is on the coast of Izmit Bay and has beautiful shores. It has a famous basket known as Karamürsel basket, which is mainly used in collecting fruit like cherries, etc....
, Aslanbey, OrtaköyOrtaköy is a neighbourhood, formerly a small village, within the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, located in the middle of the European bank of the Bosphorus....
, Sölöz, Benli
- Istanbul
Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and fifth largest city proper in the world with a population of 12.6 million. Istanbul is also a megacity, as well as the cultural and financial centre of Turkey. The city covers 39 districts of the Istanbul province...
- Tekirdağ
Tekirdağ is a city in Eastern Thrace, on the European part of Turkey. Tekirdağ is the capital of Tekirdağ Province and it is seen by many as a smaller, quieter town than the industrial centre of Çorlu, which it administers. The population as of 2008 was 137,962...
, MalkaraMalkara is a town and district of Tekirdağ Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. It is located at 55 km west of Tekirdağ and 190 km from Istanbul. It covers an area of 1,225 km², which makes the district the largest in Tekirdağ...
- Nor Nakhichevan
Nor Nakhichevan is an Armenian-populated region in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia. In 1778, Catherine the Great invited Armenian merchants from the Crimea to Russia and they established a settlement on the Don, which they named Nor Nakhichevan, after one of the ancient areas of Armenia...
, Rostov-on-DonRostov-on-Don is the city and the administrative center of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia, located on the Don River, just 46 km from the Sea of Azov. Population: -Geography:...
, StavropolStavropol is a city located in south-western Russia and is the administrative center of Stavropol Krai. Population: 355,900 ; -History:...
, KrasnodarKrasnodar is a city in Southern Russia on the Kuban River. It is the administrative center of Krasnodar Krai .-Name:It was founded on January 12, 1794 as Yekaterinodar...
, DnipropetrovskDnipropetrovsk is Ukraine's third largest city with 1.1 million inhabitants. There is also another name for the city - Sicheslav...
, AnapaAnapa originally is a seaport for the Natkhuay tribe Adyghe people , and now a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the northern coast of the Black Sea near the Sea of Azov...
, MaykopMaykop is a city in Russia, capital of the Republic of Adygea, located on the right bank of the Belaya River , some 1,600 km south of Moscow. Population: -History:...
, TaganrogTaganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , a few miles west ot the mouth of the River Don...
, PrymorskPrymorsk is a city in Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine. Population is 12,973 . Until 1964 the town was known as Nogaisk after the Turkic Nogai people who lived in the area until the nineteenth century....
, NovocherkasskNovocherkassk is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Tuzlov River and on the Aksay River. It was formerly the capital of the Don Cossacks...
, Dneprovskaya
- Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, BukovinaBukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains...
, TransylvaniaTransylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term frequently encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
- Jerusalem
Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its largest city in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if disputed East Jerusalem is included...
(K'aġak'ac'i dialect), not in Adjarian but mentioned by Vaux as likely coming from Cilicia
-el Dialects:
- Maragheh
Maragheh is a city in Northern Iran on the bank of the river Safi Chay. It is located in East Azerbaijan Province at , 130 km from Tabriz and has a population of 151,486....
- Khoy
Khoy , , is a city in West Azarbaijan Province, Iran. It is located north of the province's capital and largest city Urmia, and 807 km north-west to Tehran. The region's economy is based around agriculture, particularly the production of fruit, grain, and timber. Khoy is nicknamed as the...
, MakuMaku is a town in the northwestern part of the West Azerbaijan province of Iran. It is situated 22 km from the Turkish border in a mountain gorge at an altitude of 1634 metres...
, IğdırIğdır is the capital of Iğdır Province in Eastern Anatolia Region, Turkey, and borders Armenia, Nakhchivan and Iran. The border with Armenia is formed by the Aras River...
, KoriKori may refer to:*Kori, Central African Republic*Kutch kori currency*Kori one of the scheduled tribes of India.*Kōri, Fukushima, a town in Japan.*Kōri, a possible Japanese leading of Goryeo, a dynasty in Korea.* Kori Turbowitz, character in Cars...
, Alighuli, Mughanjugh, KarashenKarashen is a town in the Syunik Province of Armenia....
, Alilu, AngeghakotAngeghakot is a town in the Syunik Province of Armenia.- References :* – World-Gazetteer.com...
, Ghushchi, TazakendTazakend or T’azak’end may refer to:in Armenia*Ashotavan, Armenia*Tasik, Armenia*Tavshut, Armenia*Tazagyukh, Gegharkunik, Armeniain Azerbaijan*Babek , Azerbaijan*Şahsevən Təzəkənd, Azerbaijan*Təzəkənd, Nakhchivan...
, UzUz or UZ may refer to:Name:* Uz or Oghuz Turks, a group of loosely linked nomadic Turkic peoples* Uz , one of the sons of Aram, son of Shem, according to the Hebrew BiblePlaces:...
, MazraMazra may refer to:*Mazra, Armenia* Katnarrat, Syunik, Armenia* Mets Masrik, Armenia* Mutsk, Armenia* Pokr Masrik, Armenia*Mazra, Azerbaijan* Mazra, Qubadli, Azerbaijan* Məzrə, Babek, Azerbaijan* Məzrə, Jabrayil, Azerbaijan* Məzrə, Ordubad, Azerbaijan...
, BalakBalak was king of Moab around 1200 BC. According to the Bible, Zippor was the father of Balak and the ruler of Moab around 1350 BC.Revelation 2:12 - 2:14 says about Balak:...
, ShaghatShaghat is a town in the Syunik Province of Armenia.- References :* – World-Gazetteer.com...
, LtsenLtsen is a town in the Syunik Province of Armenia....
, SisianSisian is a city in Armenia in Syunik province,historical Zangezur province. It is located on both banks of Vorotan River, 6 km south of the passing highway Yerevan - Meghri, 217 km from Yerevan and 115 km from Kapan...
, Nerkin Kilisa
- Artvin
Artvin is a city in northeastern Turkey on the Çoruh River near the Georgian border.- Geography :The climate is wet nearly all year round, in the summer can be pleasantly cool, being strongly affected by the nearby Black Sea....
, ArdahanArdahan is a city in northeastern Turkey on the Georgian border..-Life in Ardahan:...
, ArtanutchArdanuç is a town and district of Artvin Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey.- Geography :Ardanuç is a mountainous district, rising from 250 m in the Şavşat River basin up to the highest point, 3050 m Mount Çadır. Other high mountains are Kürdevan, Yalnızçam and Mount Horasan...
, OltiOltu is a town and district of Erzurum Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. It was historically considered to be a part of Tao-Klarjeti, ancient Georgian region...
Indo-European linguistic comparison
Armenian is an
Indo-European languageThe Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major languages of Europe, Iran, and northern India, and historically also predominant in Anatolia and Central Asia...
, and so many of its
Proto-Indo-EuropeanThe Proto-Indo-European language is the unattested, reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans. The existence of such a language has been accepted by linguists for over a century, and there have been many attempts at reconstruction...
-descended words are
cognateCognates in linguistics are words that have a common etymological origin.An example of cognates within the same language would be English shirt and skirt, the former from Old English scyrte, the latter loaned from Old Norse skyrta, both from the same Common Germanic *skurtjōn-. Words with this type...
s of words in other Indo-European languages such as
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
, Latin,
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
, and
SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
. This table lists only some of the more recognizable cognates that Armenian shares with English (more specifically, with English words descended from the
Old English(Anglo-Saxon) languageOld English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
). (Source: Online Etymology Dictionary.)
| Armenian |
English English is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
|
LatinClassical Latin in simplest terms is the sociolinguistic register of the Latin language regarded by the enfranchised and empowered populations of the late Roman republic and the Roman empire as good Latin. Most writers during this time made use of it...
|
Classical and Hellenistic Greek Greek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
|
SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
|
PIE The Proto-Indo-European language is the unattested, reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans. The existence of such a language has been accepted by linguists for over a century, and there have been many attempts at reconstruction...
|
| mayr "mother" |
mother (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
mōdor) |
māter "mother" |
mētēr "mother" |
mātṛ "mother" |
"mother" |
| hayr "father" |
father (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
fæder) |
pater "father" |
patēr "father" |
pitṛ "father" |
"father" |
| eġbayr "brother" |
brother (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
brōþor) |
frāter "brother" |
phrātēr "brother" |
bhrātṛ "brother" |
"brother" |
| dowstr "daughter" |
daughter (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
dohtor) |
futrei "daughter" |
thugatēr "daughter" |
duhitṛ "daughter" |
"daughter" |
| kin "woman" |
queen (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
cƿēn "queen, woman, wife") |
|
gunē "a woman, a wife" |
gnā/jani "woman" |
"woman, wife" |
| im "my" |
my, mine (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
min) |
mei "my" |
emeo "my, of mine" |
mama "my" |
"my, mine" |
| anown "name" |
name (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
nama) |
nōmen "name" |
onoma "name" |
nāman "name" |
"name" |
| owt' "8" |
eight (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
eahta) |
octō "eight" |
oktō "eight" |
aṣṭa "eight" |
"eight" |
| inn "9" |
nine (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
nigon) |
novem "nine" |
ennea "nine" |
nava "nine" |
"nine" |
| tas "10" |
ten (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
tien) (< P.Gmc. *tekhan) |
decem "ten" |
deka "ten" |
daśa "ten" |
"ten" |
| ačk' "eye" |
eye (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
ēge) |
oculus "eye" |
ophthalmos "eye" |
akṣan "eye" |
"to see" |
| armownk "elbow" |
arm (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
earm "joined body parts below shoulder") |
armus "shoulder" |
arthron "a joint" |
īrma "arm" |
"fit, join (that which is fitted together)" |
| çownk "knee" |
knee (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
cnēo) |
genū, "knee" |
gonu "knee" |
jānu "knee" |
"knee" |
| otk' "foot" |
foot (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
fōt) |
pedis "foot" |
podi "foot" |
pāda "foot" |
"foot" |
| sirt "heart" |
heart (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
heorte) |
cor "heart" |
kardia "heart" |
hṛdaya "heart" |
"heart" |
| kaši "skin" |
hide (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
hȳdan "animal skin cover") |
cutis "skin" |
keuthō "I cover, I hide" |
kuṭīra "hut" |
"to cover, conceal" |
| mowk "mouse" |
mouse (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
mūs) |
mūs "mouse" |
mus "mouse" |
mūṣ "mouse" |
"mouse, small rodent" |
| kov "cow" |
cow (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
cū) |
bum "cow" |
bous "cow" |
go "cow" |
"cow" |
| šown "dog" |
hound (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
hund "hound, dog") |
canis "hound, dog" (canine) |
kuōn "hound, dog" |
śvan "dog" |
"hound, dog" |
| tari "year" |
year (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
gēar) |
hōrnus "of this year" |
hōra "time, year" |
yare "year" |
"year" |
| amis "month" |
moon, month (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
mōnaþ) |
mēnsis "month" |
mēn "moon, month" |
māsa "moon, month" |
"moon, month" |
| amaṙ "summer" |
summer (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
sumor) |
|
|
samā "season" |
"hot season of the year" |
| ǰerm "warm" |
warm (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
wearm) |
formus "warm" |
thermos "warm" |
gharma "heat" |
"warm" |
| lowys "light" |
light (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
lēoht "brightness") |
lucere, lux, lucidus "to shine, light, clear" |
leukos "bright, shining, white" |
roca "shining" |
"light, brightness" |
| howr "flame" |
fire (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
fȳr) |
pir "fire" |
pur "fire" |
pu "fire" |
"fire" |
| heṙow "far" |
far (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
feor "to a great distance") |
per "through" |
pera "beyond" |
paras "beyond" |
"through, across, beyond" |
| helowm "I pour" |
flow (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
flōƿan) |
pluĕre "to rain" |
plenō "I wash" |
plu "to swim" |
"flow, float" |
| owtem "I eat" |
eat (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
etan) |
edulis "edible" |
edō "I eat" |
admi "I eat" |
"to eat" |
| gitem "I know" |
wit (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
ƿit, ƿitan "intelligence, to know") |
vidēre "to see" |
eidenai "to know" |
vid "to know" |
"to know, to see" |
| get "river" |
water (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
ƿæter) |
utur "water" |
hudōr "water" |
udan "water" |
"water" |
| gorç "work " |
work (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
ƿeorc) |
urgēre "push, drive" |
ergon "work" |
varcas "activity" |
"to work" |
| meç "great " |
much (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
mycel "great, big, many") |
magnus "great" |
megas "great, large" |
mahant "great" |
"great" |
| ançanot' "stranger, unfamiliar" |
unknown (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
uncnaƿen) |
ignōtus, ignōrāntem "unknown, ignorant" |
agnōstos "unknown" |
ajñāta "unfamiliar" |
"not" + "to know" |
| meṙaç "dead" |
murder (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
morþor) |
mortalis "mortal" |
ambrotos "immortal" |
mṛta "dead" |
"to die" |
| mēǰteġ "middle" |
mid, middle (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
mid, middel) |
medius "middle" |
mesos "middle" |
madhya "middle" |
"mid, middle" |
| ayl "other" |
else (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
elles "other, otherwise, different") |
alius, alienus "other, another" |
allos "other, another" |
anya "other" |
"beyond, other" |
| nor "new" |
new (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
nīƿe) |
novus "new" |
neos "new" |
nava "new" |
"new" |
| dowṙ "door" |
door (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
dor, duru) |
fores "door" |
thura "door" |
dvār "door" |
"door, doorway, gate" |
| town "house" |
timber (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
timber "trees used for building material, structure") |
domus "house" |
domos "house" |
dama "house" |
"house" |
| berri, berel "fertile, carry" |
bear (< OE Old English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
beran "give birth, carry") |
ferre, fertilis "to bear, fertile" |
pherein "to carry" |
bharati "carry" |
"to bear, to carry" |
See also
- Armenian alphabet
The Armenian alphabet is an alphabet that has been used to write the Armenian language since the year 405 or 406. It was devised by Saint Mesrop Mashtots, an Armenian monk. Until the 19th century, Classical Armenian was the literary language; since then, the Armenian alphabet has been used to...
- Eastern Armenian language
Eastern Armenian
- Graeco-Armenian
Graeco-Armenian refers to the hypothesis that the Greek language and the Armenian language share a common ancestor postdating the Proto-Indo-European language . Its notability may be comparable to that of Italo-Celtic grouping...
- Language families and languages
- List of Indo-European languages
- Western Armenian language
Western Armenian
External links