![Book of Mormon - Eastern Armenian](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Book_of_Mormon_-_Eastern_Armenian.jpg)
Eastern Armenian ( ''arevelahayeren'') is one of the two
standardized
Standardization or standardisation is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties that include firms, users, interest groups, standards organizations and governments. Standardization ...
forms of
Modern Armenian
Modern Armenian ( hy, աշխարհաբար, ''ashkharhabar'' or ''ašxarhabar'', literally the "secular/lay language") is the modern vernacular (vulgar) form of the Armenian language. Although it first appeared in the 14th century, it was not until ...
, the other being
Western Armenian
Western Armenian ( Classical spelling: , ) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly based ...
. The two standards form a
pluricentric language.
Eastern Armenian is spoken in
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
,
Artsakh,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, as well as
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, and by the Armenian community in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. Although the Eastern Armenian spoken by Armenians in Armenia and Iranian-Armenians are similar, there are pronunciation differences with different inflections. Armenians from Iran also have some words that are unique to them. Due to migrations of speakers from Armenia and Iran to the
Armenian diaspora
The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered an indigenous population. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. ...
, the dialect is now very prominent in countries and regions where only
Western Armenian
Western Armenian ( Classical spelling: , ) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly based ...
was used. Eastern Armenian is based on the
Yerevan dialect.
Official status and recognition
Eastern Armenian is, for the most part, mutually intelligible by educated or literate users of Western Armenian – and vice versa. Conversely, semi-literate or illiterate users of
lower registers of either variety may have difficulty understanding the other.
The official language, according to law, of
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
is an unspecified "Armenian". In practice, however, Eastern Armenian is the ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'', day-to-day common language of Armenia. For example, commercial translations are generally completed in Eastern Armenian.
Until 2018, both varieties shared the same
ISO 639-3
ISO 639-3:2007, ''Codes for the representation of names of languages – Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages'', is an international standard for language codes in the ISO 639 series. It defines three-letter codes for i ...
code
hye However, on 23 January 2018, a code specifically for Western Armenian was added to ISO 639-3:
''hyw''. (The previous code under
ISO 639-1
ISO 639-1:2002, ''Codes for the representation of names of languages—Part 1: Alpha-2 code'', is the first part of the ISO 639 series of international standards for language codes. Part 1 covers the registration of two-letter codes. There are 18 ...
was ''hy''.)
Th
Armenian Wikipediais predominantly composed of Eastern Armenian content. As a result of the amendment to ISO 639-3, a
campaign to create a separate Wikipedia for Western Armenian has been approved. This has resulted in separate Wikipedia sites for Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian.
Phonology
Vowels
Monophthongs
Eastern Armenian has six monophthong vowel sounds.
Consonants
This is the Eastern Armenian Consonantal System using symbols from the
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic transcription, phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standa ...
(IPA), followed by the corresponding Armenian letter in parentheses.
*Some of the dialects may release the voiceless stops and affricates as ejectives.
Notes
The phonology of Eastern Armenian preserves the
Classical Armenian
Classical Armenian (, in Eastern Armenian pronunciation: Grabar, Western Armenian: Krapar; meaning "literary anguage; also Old Armenian or Liturgical Armenian) is the oldest attested form of the Armenian language. It was first written down at ...
three-way distinction in stops and affricates: one voiced, one voiceless and one aspirated. Compare this to the phonology of the
Western Armenian language
Western Armenian ( Classical spelling: , ) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly based ...
, which has kept only a two-way distinction: one voiced and one aspirated. (See the ''
Differences in Phonology from Classical Armenian'' in the ''Western Armenian language'' article for details.)
A few exceptional Eastern Armenian words contain voiced stop letters pronounced as voiceless aspirated stops, like
Western Armenian
Western Armenian ( Classical spelling: , ) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly based ...
. For instance,
թագավոր (king) is , not ; other examples are
ձիգ,
ձագ,
կարգ,
դադար,
վարագույր.
Orthography
The Eastern Armenian language is written using either
Traditional Armenian Orthography
Classical Armenian orthography, traditional orthography or Mashtotsian orthography ( in classical orthography and in reformed orthography, ''Hayereni tasagan ughakrutyun''), is the orthography that was developed by Mesrop Mashtots in the 5th centu ...
or
Reformed Armenian Orthography
The Armenian orthography reform occurred between 1922 and 1924 in Soviet Armenia and was partially reviewed in 1940. Its main features were neutralization of classical etymological writing and the adjustment of phonetic realization and writing.
Th ...
. The controversial reformed orthography was developed during the 1920s in Soviet Armenia and is in widespread use today by Eastern Armenian speakers in
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
and those in the diaspora that are from Armenia. Eastern Armenian speakers in Iran continue to use the traditional orthography. Nevertheless, writings of either form are mutually intelligible, since the difference between the two orthographies is not large.
Morphology
Pronouns
Armenian has
T-V distinction, with , , used informally and capitalized , , as the polite forms.
Nouns
Eastern Armenian nouns have seven
cases, one more than Western Armenian. They are:
nominative
In grammar, the nominative case (abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or (in Latin and formal variants of Engl ...
(subject),
accusative
The accusative case (abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb.
In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: 'me,' 'him,' 'her,' 'us,' and ‘the ...
(direct object),
genitive
In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...
(possession),
dative (indirect object),
ablative
In grammar, the ablative case (pronounced ; sometimes abbreviated ) is a grammatical case for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives in the grammars of various languages; it is sometimes used to express motion away from something, among other uses. ...
(origin),
instrumental
An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...
(means) and
locative (position). Of the seven cases, the nominative and accusative, with exceptions, are the same, and the genitive and dative are the same, meaning that nouns have mostly five distinct forms for case. Nouns in Armenian also decline for number (singular and plural), but do not decline for gender (i.e. masculine or feminine).
Declension in Armenian is based on how the genitive is formed. There are several
declension
In linguistics, declension (verb: ''to decline'') is the changing of the form of a word, generally to express its syntactic function in the sentence, by way of some inflection. Declensions may apply to nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and ar ...
s, but two are the most used (genitive in ''i'', and genitive in ''u''):
Two notes:
First, notice that the Ablative form in Eastern Armenian is , where it is -ê in Western Armenian:
Abl.sg WA ''karê''/EA
Second, notice that in Western Armenian, the plural forms followed the ''u''-declension, while in Eastern Armenian the plural forms follow the ''i''-declension:
Gen.pl WA ''karineru''/EA
Articles
Like some other languages such as English, Armenian has definite and indefinite articles. The indefinite article in Eastern Armenian is , which precedes the noun:
('a book', Nom.sg), ('of a book', Gen.sg)
The definite article is a suffix attached to the noun, and is one of two forms, either or , depending on whether the final sound is a vowel or a consonant, and whether a following word begins with a vowel or consonant:
('the man', Nom.sg)
('the barley' Nom.sg)
but:
('This is the man')
('This is the barley')
Adjectives
Adjectives in Armenian do not decline for case or number, and precede the noun:
('the good book', Nom.sg)
('of the good book', Gen.sg)
Verbs
Verbs in Armenian are based on two basic series of forms, a "present" form and an "imperfect" form. From this, all other tenses and moods are formed with various particles and constructions. There is a third form, the preterite, which in Armenian is a tense in its own right, and takes no other particles or constructions. (See also
Armenian verbs The verbal morphology of Armenian is complicated by the existence of two main dialects, Eastern and Western. The following sketch will be a comparative look at both dialects.
Non-finite forms
Infinitive
The infinitive of Armenian verbs is formed ...
and
Eastern Armenian verb table
The following is an Eastern Armenian verb table. The Western Armenian verb table can be found here.
Conjugations
Affirmative/Interrogative
Type I/II
(This conjugation is termed "I/II" to coincide with historic/Western numbering, where there a ...
for more detailed information.)
The present tense in Eastern Armenian is based on two
conjugations (a, e). In Eastern Armenian, the distinct conjugations in ''e'' and ''i'' merged as ''e''.
The present tense (as we know it in English) is made by adding the present tense of ''linel'' after the present participle form of the verb:
(I am reading the book)
(I love that book)
See also
*
Armenian language
Armenian ( classical: , reformed: , , ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is the official language of Armenia. Historically spoken in the Armenian Highlands, today Armenian is widely spoken t ...
*
Armenian verbs The verbal morphology of Armenian is complicated by the existence of two main dialects, Eastern and Western. The following sketch will be a comparative look at both dialects.
Non-finite forms
Infinitive
The infinitive of Armenian verbs is formed ...
*
Eastern Armenian verb table
The following is an Eastern Armenian verb table. The Western Armenian verb table can be found here.
Conjugations
Affirmative/Interrogative
Type I/II
(This conjugation is termed "I/II" to coincide with historic/Western numbering, where there a ...
*
Western Armenian language
Western Armenian ( Classical spelling: , ) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly based ...
*
Western Armenia
Western Armenia (Western Armenian: Արեւմտեան Հայաստան, ''Arevmdian Hayasdan'') is a term to refer to the eastern parts of Turkey (formerly the Ottoman Empire) that are part of the historical homeland of the Armenians. Weste ...
*
Eastern Armenia
*
Language families and languages
*
IETF language tag
An IETF BCP 47 language tag is a standardized code or tag that is used to identify human languages in the Internet. The tag structure has been standardized by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in ''Best Current Practice (BCP) 47''; the su ...
:hy
References
Bibliography
*
Dora Sakayan
Dora Sakayan (classical Armenian orthography: ; reformed: ; born January 24, 1931), Professor of German Studies (retired), McGill University. Specializing initially as a Germanist, today she is also known for her work in various areas of Applie ...
. (2007) ''Eastern Armenian for the English-speaking World. A Contrastive Approach (with CD-ROM)''. Yerevan State University Press.
External links
Arak29 Eastern ArmenianArak29 Western ArmenianArak29 On-Line Dictionaries
Eastern Armenian Online Dictionaries
Nayiri.com(Library of Armenian dictionaries):
*
Armenian Explanatory Dictionary(ՀԱՅԵՐԷՆ ԲԱՑԱՏՐԱԿԱՆ ԲԱՌԱՐԱՆ) by
Stepan Malkhasiants (about 130,000 entries). Written in traditional Armenian orthography. One of the definitive Armenian dictionaries.
*
Explanatory Dictionary of Contemporary Armenian(ԺԱՄԱՆԱԿԱԿԻՑ ՀԱՅՈՑ ԼԵԶՎԻ ԲԱՑԱՏՐԱԿԱՆ ԲԱՌԱՐԱՆ) published by the Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences between 1969 and 1980. In Eastern Armenian, reformed orthography (about 125,000 headwords).
*
Modern Armenian Explanatory Dictionary(ԱՐԴԻ ՀԱՅԵՐԵՆԻ ԲԱՑԱՏՐԱԿԱՆ ԲԱՌԱՐԱՆ) by
Edward Aghayan
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
(about 135,600 headwords). In Eastern Armenian and Soviet Armenian orthography.
*
Armenian Language Thesaurus(ՀԱՅՈՑ ԼԵԶՎԻ ՀՈՄԱՆԻՇՆԵՐԻ ԲԱՌԱՐԱՆ) by
Ashot Sukiasyan (about 83,000 entries). In Eastern Armenian and Soviet Armenian orthography.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eastern Armenian Language
Armenian languages
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