The Armenian Language
The Country of Armenia
Armenia is located wholly
within the Armenian
Highland, an extensive
upland area that extends
as far south as Lake Van
in Turkey. Extremely
mountainous, the average
elevation of Armenia is
5,900 feet. The highest
point, Mount Aragats, is
13,419 feet high. A
landlocked country,
Armenia contains the
largest lake in
Transcaucasia, Lake
Sevan, which is also one
of the largest high-elevation lakes in the world and a popular resort area.
Armenia’s rivers provide considerable hydroelectric power. The climate varies by
elevation but is mostly dry and continental with long, hot summers and moderate
winters. Inclement weather in the winter occurs mostly on the elevated plateaus,
which are less sheltered by mountains than the inland plains. Mountainous areas
receive the most precipitation, which varies by location and is heaviest in
autumn.
History of the Country of Armenia
Armenians converted to Christianity in the
early 4th century, and some scholars
believe that they were the first in the world
to adopt Christianity as a state religion.
During periods of foreign control when
Armenians did not have a state of their own
the Armenian Church offered a sense of
collective identity. The catholicos, the head
of the church, was considered the most
important representative of the Armenian
people when they were part of the Russian
Empire. Because of this sense of identity it
offered, the church gradually became a
strong symbol of the Armenian nation. Even
during the Soviet period, the Armenian
Church was allowed to continue as the national
church even though the Communists were
officially atheistic. Clergy who supported
nationalist groups were not allowed to hold
power within the church, however Christianity
remains the country’s predominant religion with
94 percent of the population belonging to the
Armenian Apostolic or Orthodox Church.
Among the ethnic minorities in Armenia, there
are Russian Orthodox Christians, Protestants,
and Muslims.
Government
Armenia declared independence on September
23, 1991, and became an independent state
when the USSR disbanded in December. Fighting between mostly Christian
Armenia and mostly Muslim Azerbaijan over an enclave in Azerbaijan, called
Nagorno-Karabakh that has a majority population of ethnic Armenians, escalated
in 1992 and continued through 1993. Armenian forces defeated the Azerbaijani
army in several confrontations, and Armenia gained control of the region by
August of 1993. A ceasefire agreement was reached in May 1994 with Armenia
retaining control of the enclave.i
The Armenian Language
Today, five to six million people
speak Armenian (Grimes 1992),
although the total population of the
Republic of Armenia is only 3.5
million (ninety three percent of
whom are ethnic Armenian). Thus,
nearly half of Armenian speakers
today live outside their historic
homeland, primarily in Iran
(370,000), Syria (299,000),
Lebanon (235,000), Egypt
(100,000), and the United States
(175,000). Smaller communities, fewer than 40,000, are found in Canada,
Cyprus, Greece, India, Israel, and Jordan. Somewhat larger communities,
between 40,000 and 70,000 speakers, live in Turkey, France, and Iraq. Enclaves
of speakers also reside in Georgia and Azerbaijan, especially the Nagorno
Karabakh region (CIA 1992). Haieren and Ashkhari are Armenian terms for the
language, although the latter is somewhat erudite.
History – Language related
The scattered population of Armenian speakers--the diaspora--is the result of
several historically significant events. During World War I, Armenian speakers in
Turkey suffered persecution and then genocide in 1915. From 1918 to 1920,
those who resisted the Turks attempted to create an independent Armenian
Republic but ultimately were unsuccessful. Historic Armenia was then divided up
among the USSR, Turkey, and Iran while numerous Armenians fled to other
parts of the world. These Armenians are the primary speakers of the West
Armenian dialect. The Armenians who settled in Armenia and Iran were
influenced by the USSR. By 1923, all the political power in Armenia was in the
hands of the Soviet government and the East Armenian dialect was subsequently
influenced by two sets of Soviet orthographic reforms.ii
Language Variation
Two standard dialects exist. Eastern Armenian is
used in Armenia and in enclaves in Azerbaijan
and Iran. Armenians in Istanbul, Lebanon, Egypt,
other parts of the diaspora, and formerly in
eastern Turkey use Western Armenian. Eastern
Armenian has been influenced by two sets of
Russian reforms and differs orthographically from
Western Armenian; there are also phonological
differences. Many regional dialect variations exist,
e.g., Yerevan, Tbilisi, Karabagh, Istanbul
(Djahukian 1986). Some local dialects are so
different from both standard forms of the
language that speakers of the standard forms
have difficulty in understanding local dialects
(Greppin and Khachaturian 1986). Otherwise,
dialect differences are no greater than dialect
differences within American English.
Orthography
The Armenian alphabet was derived primarily from the Greek alphabet in the fifth
century and consists of thirty-eight (originally thirty six) letters. Although foreign
influences have greatly changed the Armenian language Armenian's script is
easily distinguished from Persian and Arabic writing.
Linguistic Sketch
The sound system of Armenian is atypical of Indo-European languages in that it
has ejective sounds. Ejectives are sounds made by using the vocal cords instead
of the lungs to push out air. It is probable that these sounds were borrowed from
neighboring Caucasian languages. Words are normally assigned word final
stress.
Role in Society
Armenian is the official language in
Armenia and is used in schools and
by the media. Armenians of the
diaspora have gained renewed
interest in their homeland as a result
of the Armenian revolution and the
establishment of the Republic of
Armenia. Although many Armenians
of the diaspora do not intend to
return to their Armenian homeland,
they consider continued use of the
language of critical importance to the maintenance of a unified Armenian sense
of history and identity. Because many second-generation Armenian immigrants in
the United States have lost proficiency in their native language, attempts are
being made to preserve their cultural heritage. Thus, the Armenian community in
the United States has recently published many books that are intended to reintroduce Armenians to their mother tongue, generally the West Armenian
dialect. In addition to textbooks, Armenian language newspapers are printed in
Boston, Fresno, and New York. Thus the Armenian language learner in the
United States has a rich diversity of language materials and cultural resources to
draw from.
i
ii
AGWM World Focus, WFARME~1.DOC
http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/profiles/profa02.htm
Graohics used:
Armenia map, http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/profiles/profa02.htm
Biblical looking, http://img.coxnewsweb.com/B/08/80/75/image_475808.jpg
Armenian Woman, http://www.anahit.am/gr/splash.gif
Group of older women, http://w3.physics.uiuc.edu/~danagoul/peop2.jpg
Child with horse, http://w3.physics.uiuc.edu/~danagoul/child10.jpg
Armenian church, http://www.bravosolutions.com/ecards/armenian_church.jpg