Eastern Armenian language
Encyclopedia
Eastern Armenian is one of the two standardized
forms of modern Armenian
(an Indo-European language
), the other being Western Armenian. The two standards form pluricentric language
.
Eastern Armenian is spoken in the Caucasus Mountains
(particularly in the Republic of Armenia
and Nagorno-Karabakh
as well as Georgia
) and by the Armenian community in Iran
. Although the Eastern Armenian spoken by Armenians in Armenia and Iranian-Armenians are similar, there are pronunciation differences with different inflections. Armenians from Armenia also have some words that are unique to them. Due to migrations of speakers from Armenia and Iran to the Armenian Diaspora
, the dialect is now very prominent in countries and regions where only Western Armenian was used. It was developed in the early 19th century and is based on the dialect of the Ararat district (of Eastern Armenia
).
code hy. The ISO 639-3
code for both is hye. The Armenian wikipedia is coded hy and is largely Eastern Armenian. Commercial translations are generally done into Eastern Armenian, the official language of the Republic of Armenia.
(IPA), followed by the corresponding Armenian letter in parentheses.
The phonology of Eastern Armenian preserves the Classical Armenian
three-way distinction in stops and affricates: one voiced, one voiceless and one aspirated. Compare this to the phonology of the Western Armenian language
, 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
. For instance, թագավոր (king) is [tʰɑkʰɑˈvoɾ], not [tʰɑɡɑˈvoɾ]; other examples are ձիգ, ձագ, կարգ, դադար, վարագույր.
or Reformed Armenian Orthography. The controversial reformed orthography was developed during the 1920s in Soviet Armenia and is in widespread use today by Eastern Armenian speakers in the Republic of 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.
(subject), Accusative
(direct object), Genitive
(possession), Dative
(indirect object), Ablative
(origin), Instrumental
(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
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 /-it͡s/, where it is -ê in Western Armenian:
Abl.sg WA karê/EA /ɡaɹut͡sʰ/
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 /ɡaɹineɹi/
mi ɡiɹkʰ ('a book', Nom.sg), /mi ɡɹkʰi/ ('of a book', Gen.sg)
The definite article is a suffix attached to the noun, and is one of two forms, either /-ə/ or /-n/, depending on whether the final sound is a vowel or a consonant, and whether a preceding word begins with a vowel or consonant:
/maɹdə/ ('the man', Nom.sg)
/ɡaɹin/ ('the barley' Nom.sg)
but:
/sa maɹdn e/ ('This is the man')
/sa ɡaɹin e/ ('This is the barley')
/lav ɡiɹkʰə ('the good book', Nom.sg)
/lav ɡɹkʰi ('of the good book', Gen.sg)
and Eastern Armenian verb table
for more detailed information.)
The present tense in Eastern Armenian is based on two conjugation
s (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:
jes kaɹdum em ɡiɹkʰə/ (I am reading the book)
jes siɹum em ajd ɡiɹkʰə/ (I love that book)
Standard language
A standard language is a language variety used by a group of people in their public discourse. Alternatively, varieties become standard by undergoing a process of standardization, during which it is organized for description in grammars and dictionaries and encoded in such reference works...
forms of modern Armenian
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
(an Indo-European language
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
), the other being Western Armenian. The two standards form pluricentric language
Pluricentric language
A pluricentric language is a language with several standard versions, both in spoken and in written forms. This situation usually arises when language and the national identity of its native speakers do not, or did not, coincide.-English:...
.
Eastern Armenian is spoken in the Caucasus Mountains
Caucasus Mountains
The Caucasus Mountains is a mountain system in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus region .The Caucasus Mountains includes:* the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range and* the Lesser Caucasus Mountains....
(particularly in the Republic of Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
and Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-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...
as well as Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
) and by the Armenian community in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. Although the Eastern Armenian spoken by Armenians in Armenia and Iranian-Armenians are similar, there are pronunciation differences with different inflections. Armenians from Armenia also have some words that are unique to them. Due to migrations of speakers from Armenia and Iran to the Armenian Diaspora
Armenian diaspora
The Armenian diaspora refers to the Armenian communities outside the Republic of Armenia and self proclaimed de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic...
, the dialect is now very prominent in countries and regions where only Western Armenian was used. It was developed in the early 19th century and is based on the dialect of the Ararat district (of Eastern Armenia
Eastern Armenia
Eastern Armenia or Caucasian Armenia was the portion of Ottoman Armenia and Persian Armenia that was ceded to the Russian Empire following the Russo-Turkish War, 1828-1829...
).
Distinguishing the two forms of Armenian
Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian are easily mutually intelligible. They share the same ISO 639-1ISO 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 136 two-letter codes registered...
code hy. The ISO 639-3
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. The standard describes three‐letter codes for identifying languages. It extends the ISO 639-2...
code for both is hye. The Armenian wikipedia is coded hy and is largely Eastern Armenian. Commercial translations are generally done into Eastern Armenian, the official language of the Republic of Armenia.
Monophthongs
Eastern Armenian has six monophthong vowel sounds.| Front Front vowel 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 in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also... |
Central Central vowel 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 Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in 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 Close vowel 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... |
i ի i |
u ու u |
|||
| Mid Mid vowel 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... |
ɛ ե, է e, ē |
ə ը ë |
o ո, օ o, ò |
||
| Open Open vowel An open vowel is defined as a vowel sound in which 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... |
ɑ ա a |
Consonants
This is the Eastern Armenian Consonantal System using symbols from the International Phonetic AlphabetInternational Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...
(IPA), followed by the corresponding Armenian letter in parentheses.
| Bilabial Bilabial consonant In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:... |
Labio- dental Labiodental consonant In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lip and the upper teeth.-Labiodental consonant in IPA:The labiodental consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:... |
Alveolar Alveolar consonant Alveolar 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 Palato-alveolar consonant In phonetics, palato-alveolar consonants are postalveolar consonants, nearly always sibilants, that are weakly palatalized with a domed tongue... |
Palatal Palatal consonant Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate... |
Velar Velar consonant Velars 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).... |
Uvular Velar consonant Velars 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).... |
Glottal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider... |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :... |
m (մ) | n (ն) | |||||||
| Plosive | aspirated Aspiration (phonetics) 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 pin ... |
pʰ (փ) | tʰ (թ) | kʰ (ք) | |||||
| voiceless | p (պ) | t (տ) | k (կ) | ||||||
| voiced | b (բ) | d (դ) | ɡ (գ) | ||||||
| Affricate Affricate consonant Affricates are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricative rather than directly into the following vowel.- Samples :... |
aspirated | tsʰ (ց) | tʃʰ (չ) | ||||||
| voiceless | ts (ծ) | tʃ (ճ) | |||||||
| voiced | dz (ձ) | dʒ (ջ) | |||||||
| Fricative Fricative consonant 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... |
voiceless | f (ֆ) | s (ս) | ʃ (շ) | χ (խ) | h (հ, յ) | |||
| voiced | v (վ , ւ , ու, ո) | z (զ) | ʒ (ժ) | ʁ (ղ) | |||||
| Approximant Approximant consonant Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough or with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce a turbulent airstream, and vowels, which produce no... |
ɹ (ր) | j (յ, ե, ի, է) | |||||||
| Trill Trill consonant 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) | ||||||||
| Flap Flap consonant In 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:... |
ɾ (ր) | ||||||||
| Lateral Lateral consonant A lateral is an el-like consonant, in which airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue, but is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth.... |
l (լ) | ||||||||
The phonology of Eastern Armenian preserves the Classical Armenian
Grabar
Classical 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. Many ancient Greek, Persian, Hebrew, Syriac, and Latin...
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 language
Western Armenian is one of the two standardized forms of modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. The two standard forms form a pluricentric language. For historical reasons explained below, generally speaking, Western Armenian is used outside the Republic of Armenia, while Eastern...
, 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 language
Western Armenian is one of the two standardized forms of modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. The two standard forms form a pluricentric language. For historical reasons explained below, generally speaking, Western Armenian is used outside the Republic of Armenia, while Eastern...
. For instance, թագավոր (king) is [tʰɑkʰɑˈvoɾ], not [tʰɑɡɑˈvoɾ]; other examples are ձիգ, ձագ, կարգ, դադար, վարագույր.
Orthography
The Eastern Armenian language is written using either Traditional Armenian OrthographyTraditional Armenian orthography
Traditional Armenian orthography is the orthography developed during the early 19th century for the two modern dialects of the Armenian language - Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian...
or Reformed Armenian Orthography. The controversial reformed orthography was developed during the 1920s in Soviet Armenia and is in widespread use today by Eastern Armenian speakers in the Republic of 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.
Nouns
Eastern Armenian nouns have seven cases, one more than Western Armenian. They are: NominativeNominative case
The nominative case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or the predicate noun or predicate adjective, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments...
(subject), Accusative
Accusative case
The 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...
(direct object), Genitive
Genitive case
In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
(possession), Dative
Dative case
The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink"....
(indirect object), Ablative
Ablative case
In linguistics, ablative case is a name given to cases in various languages whose common characteristic is that they mark motion away from something, though the details in each language may differ...
(origin), Instrumental
Instrumental case
The 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...
(means) and Locative
Locative case
Locative is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by"...
(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
Declension
In linguistics, declension is the inflection of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and articles to indicate number , case , and gender...
s, but two are the most used (genitive in i, and genitive in u):
| | դաշտ /daʃt/ (field) | ɡaɹi (barley) | ||
| | singular | plural | singular | plural |
| Nominative Nominative case The nominative case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or the predicate noun or predicate adjective, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments... -Accusative Accusative case The 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... | դաշտ /daʃt/ | դաշտեր /daʃteɹ/ | /ɡaɹi/ | /ɡaɹineɹ/ |
| Genitive Genitive case In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun... -Dative Dative case The dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink".... | դաշտի /daʃti/ | դաշտերի /daʃteri/ | /ɡaɹu/ | /ɡaɹineɹi/ |
| Ablative Ablative case In linguistics, ablative case is a name given to cases in various languages whose common characteristic is that they mark motion away from something, though the details in each language may differ... | դաշտից /daʃtit͡sʰ/ | դաշտերից /daʃterit͡sʰ/ | /ɡaɹut͡sʰ/ | /ɡaɹineɹit͡sʰ/ |
| Instrumental Instrumental case The 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... | դաշտով /daʃtov/ | դաշտերով /daʃteɹov/ | /ɡaɹov/ | /ɡaɹineɹov/ |
| Locative Locative case Locative is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by"... | դաշտում /daʃtum/ | դաշտերում /daʃteɹum/ | /ɡaɹum/ | /ɡaɹineɹum/ |
Two notes:
First, notice that the Ablative form in Eastern Armenian is /-it͡s/, where it is -ê in Western Armenian:
Abl.sg WA karê/EA /ɡaɹut͡sʰ/
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 /ɡaɹineɹi/
Articles
Like some other languages such as English, Armenian has definite and indefinite articles. The indefinite article in Eastern Armenian is /mi/, which precedes the noun:mi ɡiɹkʰ ('a book', Nom.sg), /mi ɡɹkʰi/ ('of a book', Gen.sg)
The definite article is a suffix attached to the noun, and is one of two forms, either /-ə/ or /-n/, depending on whether the final sound is a vowel or a consonant, and whether a preceding word begins with a vowel or consonant:
/maɹdə/ ('the man', Nom.sg)
/ɡaɹin/ ('the barley' Nom.sg)
but:
/sa maɹdn e/ ('This is the man')
/sa ɡaɹin e/ ('This is the barley')
Adjectives
Adjectives in Armenian do not decline for case or number, and precede the noun:/lav ɡiɹkʰə ('the good book', Nom.sg)
/lav ɡɹkʰi ('of the good book', Gen.sg)
Verbs
Verbs in Armenian are based on two basic series of forms, a "present" form and a "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 tense in its own right, and takes no other particles or constructions. (See also Armenian verbsArmenian verbs
The verbal morphology of Armenian is fairly simple in theory, but is complicated by the existence of two main dialects, Eastern and Western. The following sketch will be a comparative look at both dialects.-Infinitive:...
and Eastern Armenian verb table
Eastern Armenian verb table
The following is an Eastern Armenian verb table. The Western Armenian verb table can be found here:-Type I/II: ...
for more detailed information.)
The present tense in Eastern Armenian is based on two conjugation
Grammatical conjugation
In linguistics, conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a verb from its principal parts by inflection . Conjugation may be affected by person, number, gender, tense, aspect, mood, voice, or other grammatical categories...
s (a, e). In Eastern Armenian, the distinct conjugations in e and i merged as e.
| | /linel/ 'to be' | siɹel 'to love' | kaɹdal 'to read' |
| present participle | /siɹum/ | /kaɹdum/ | |
| /jes/ (I) | /em/ | /siɹem/ | /kaɹdam/ |
| /du/ (you. sg) | /es/ | /siɹes/ | /kaɹdas/ |
| /na/ (he/she/it) | /e/ | /siɹi/ | /kaɹda/ |
| /menkʰ/ (we) | /enkʰ/ | /siɹenkʰ/ | /kaɹdankʰ/ |
| /dukʰ/ (you.pl) | /ekʰ/ | /siɹekʰ/ | /kaɹdakʰ/ |
| /nɹankʰ/ (they) | /en/ | /siɹen/ | /kaɹdan/ |
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:
jes kaɹdum em ɡiɹkʰə/ (I am reading the book)
jes siɹum em ajd ɡiɹkʰə/ (I love that book)
See also
- Armenian languageArmenian languageThe Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
- Armenian verbsArmenian verbsThe verbal morphology of Armenian is fairly simple in theory, but is complicated by the existence of two main dialects, Eastern and Western. The following sketch will be a comparative look at both dialects.-Infinitive:...
- Eastern Armenian verb tableEastern Armenian verb tableThe following is an Eastern Armenian verb table. The Western Armenian verb table can be found here:-Type I/II: ...
- Western Armenian languageWestern Armenian languageWestern Armenian is one of the two standardized forms of modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. The two standard forms form a pluricentric language. For historical reasons explained below, generally speaking, Western Armenian is used outside the Republic of Armenia, while Eastern...
- Western ArmeniaWestern ArmeniaWestern Armenia is a term, primarily used by Armenians, to refer to Armenian-inhabited areas of the Armenian Highland that were part of the Ottoman Empire and now are part of the Republic of Turkey....
- Eastern ArmeniaEastern ArmeniaEastern Armenia or Caucasian Armenia was the portion of Ottoman Armenia and Persian Armenia that was ceded to the Russian Empire following the Russo-Turkish War, 1828-1829...
- Language families and languages
- IETF language tag:hy-arevela
External links
- Arak29 Eastern Armenian
- Arak29 Western Armenian
- Arak29 On-Line Dictionaries
- http://www.ethnologue.com/show_iso639.asp?code=hye