| Classical Armenian | |
|---|---|
| Old Armenian | |
| գրաբար | |
| Region | Armenian Highlands |
| Era | developed intoMiddle Armenian |
Indo-European
| |
Early form | |
| Armenian alphabet (Classical Armenian orthography) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xcl |
xcl | |
| Glottolog | clas1249 |
| Linguasphere | 57-AAA-aa |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
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| History of theArmenian language |
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| Armenian alphabet Romanization of Armenian |
Classical Armenian (Armenian:գրաբար,romanized: grabar,Eastern Armenian pronunciation[ɡəɾɑˈpʰɑɾ],Western Armenian pronunciation[kʰəɾɑˈpʰɑɾ]; meaning "literary [language]"; alsoOld Armenian orLiturgical Armenian) is the oldest attested form of theArmenian language. It was first written down at the beginning of the 5th century, and most Armenian literature from then through the 18th century is in Classical Armenian. Many ancient manuscripts originally written inAncient Greek,Hebrew,Syriac andLatin survive only in Armenian translation.[1] Classical Armenian itself, in turn, was heavily influenced by theIranian languages, in particular byParthian.[2]
Classical Armenian continues to be theliturgical language of theArmenian Apostolic Church and theArmenian Catholic Church and is often learned byBiblical,Intertestamental, andPatristic scholars dedicated to textual studies. Classical Armenian is also important for the reconstruction of theProto-Indo-European language.
There are sevenmonophthongs:
There are also traditionally six diphthongs:
In the following table is the Classical Armenian consonantal system. Thestops andaffricate consonants have, in addition to the more commonvoiced and unvoiced series, also a separateaspirated series, transcribed with the notation used for Ancient Greekrough breathing after the letter:p῾,t῾,c῾,č῾,k῾. Each phoneme has two symbols in the table. The left indicates the pronunciation inInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA); the right one is the corresponding symbol in theArmenian alphabet.
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar / Uvular | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | velar. | ||||||
| Nasals | /m/ Մ | /n/ Ն | |||||
| Stops | voiced | /b/ Բ | /d/ Դ | /ɡ/ Գ | |||
| unvoiced | /p/ Պ | /t/ Տ | /k/ Կ | ||||
| aspirated | /pʰ/ Փ | /tʰ/ Թ | /kʰ/ Ք | ||||
| Affricates | voiced | /dz/ Ձ | /dʒ/ Ջ | ||||
| unvoiced / ejective | /ts/ Ծ | /tʃ/ Ճ | |||||
| aspirated | /tsʰ/ Ց | /tʃʰ/ Չ | |||||
| Fricatives | voiced | /v/ Վ | /z/ Զ | /ʒ/ Ժ | |||
| unvoiced | /f/ Ֆ [a] | /s/ Ս | /ʃ/ Շ | /χ/ Խ | /h/ Հ | ||
| Approximants | lateral | /l/ Լ | /ɫ/ Ղ | ||||
| central | /ɹ/ Ր | /j/ Յ | |||||
| Trill | /r/ Ռ | ||||||
| Number | Old Armenian | PIE |
|---|---|---|
| One | մի (mi) | *sémih₂ < feminine of *sḗm ("one") |
| Two | երկու (erku) | *dwoy- < *dwóh₁ (thenfully re-elaborated[clarification needed]) |
| Three | երեք (erekʻ) | *tréyes |
| Four | չորք (čʻorkʻ) քառ (kʻaṙ) | *kʷtwr̥(s?) < zero-grade of *kʷetwóres |
| Five | հինգ (hing) | *pénkʷe |
| Six | վեց (vecʻ) | *suwéḱs < *swéḱs |
| Seven | եօթն (eōtʻn) | *septḿ̥ |
| Eight | ութ (utʻ) <proto-Armenian *owtu | *(h₁)oḱtṓw |
| Nine | ինն (inn) < proto-Armenian *enun- | *h₁nuno- < zero-grade of *h₁néwn̥ |
| Ten | տասն (tasn) | *déḱm̥ |
| Pronoun | Old Armenian | PIE |
|---|---|---|
| I | ես (es) | *éǵh₂ |
| You | դու (du) | *túh₂ |
| He, she, it | նա (na) < *no- նոյն (noyn) < *no-ēn (adverbial suffix) | *h₁nós ("over there") *h₁nó-eyni- ("over there" +"that") |
| We | մեք (mekʻ) < *mes | *wéy |
| You (all) | դուք (dukʻ) | *túh₂ with pluralization suffix -k' |
| They | նոքա (nokʻa) | *h₁nós +pluralization suffix |
The pluralization suffix -k', which since Old Armenian was used form the nominative plural, could be linked to the final -s in PIE *tréyes > Old Armenian երեք (erekʻ) and չորք (čʻorkʻ), which then can point to a pre-Armenian *kʷtwr̥s (< *kʷetwóres). Otherwise, it derives from the number "two", երկու (erku) and was originally used as a mark for the dual number.
There are no dual prefixes or dual plurals in Old Armenian.
| Pronoun | Old Armenian | PIE |
|---|---|---|
| I | բերեմ (berem) | *bʰéroh₂ |
| You | բերես (beres) | *bʰéresi |
| He, she, it | բերէ (berē) | *bʰéreti |
| We | բերեմք (beremkʻ) | *bʰéromos |
| You (all) | բերէք (berēkʻ) | *bʰérete |
| They | բերեն (beren) | *bʰéronti |
| Pronoun | Old Armenian | PIE |
|---|---|---|
| I | կարդամ (kardam) | *gʷr̥Hdʰh₁oh₂ |
| You | կարդաս (kardas) | *gʷr̥Hdʰh₁ési |
| He, she, it | կարդայ (karday) | *gʷr̥Hdʰh₁éti |
| We | կարդամք (kardamkʻ) | *gʷr̥Hdʰh₁omos |
| You (all) | կարդայք (kardaykʻ) | *gʷr̥Hdʰh₁éte |
| They | կարդան (kardan) | *gʷr̥Hdʰh₁onti |
The pluralization suffix -k' can again be seen in the forms of the first and second person plural. The first person suffix -em comes from the PIE suffix in athematic verbs*-mi.
Nouns in Old Armenian can belong to three models of declinations: o-type, i-type and i-a-type. Nouns can show more than one model of conjugation and retain all cases from PIE except for the vocative, which merged with the nominative and the accusative. All the strong cases lost their suffix in the singular; by contrast, almost every weak case in the singular keep a suffix. The cases are: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, locative and instrumental. The o-type model shows an extremely simplified paradigm with many instances of syncretism and the constant use of the pluralization suffix -k' in the plural; not only do strong cases tend to converge in the singular, but most of the weak cases converge into -oy, perhaps from the PIE dative *-oey. There is no suffix for the dual number.
| Case | Old Armenian (singular) | Old Armenian (plural) |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | արտ (art) <PIE *h₂éǵros | արտք (artkʻ) <PIE *h₂éǵroes |
| Genitive | արտոյ (artoy) < *h₂éǵroey? | արտոց (artocʻ) < *h₂éǵroHom |
| Dative | արտոյ (artoy) < *h₂éǵroey | արտոց (artocʻ) < *h₂éǵromos |
| Accusative | արտ (art) < *h₂éǵrom | արտս (arts) < *h₂éǵroms |
| Ablative | արտոյ (artoy) < *h₂éǵroey? | արտոց (artocʻ) < *h₂éǵromos |
| Locative | արտ (art) < *h₂éǵrey/oy | արտս (arts) < *h₂éǵroysu |
| Instrumental | արտով (artov) < *h₂éǵroh₁ | արտովք (artovkʻ) < *h₂éǵrōys |
Adjectives in Old Armenian have at least two models of declension: i-a-type and i-type. An adjective, provided that it is not indeclinable, can show both models. Most of the declension show a great deal of syncretism and the plural shows again the pluralization suffix -k'. The instrumental plural has two possible forms.
| Case | Old Armenian (singular) | Old Armenian (plural) |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | երկար (erkar) <PIE *dweh₂rós | երկարք (erkarkʻ) <PIE *dweh₂róes |
| Gen. | երկարի (erkari) < *dweh₂rósyo? | երկարաց (erkaracʻ) < *dweh₂róHom |
| Dat. | երկարի (erkari) < *dweh₂róey | երկարաց (erkaracʻ) < *dweh₂rómos |
| Acc. | երկար (erkar) < *dweh₂róm | երկարս (erkars) < *dweh₂róms |
| Abl. | երկարէ (erkarē) < *dweh₂réad | երկարաց (erkaracʻ) < *dweh₂rómos |
| Loc. | երկարի (erkari) < *dweh₂réy/óy | երկարաւք (erkarawkʻ) < *dweh₂róysu երկարօք (erkarōkʻ) < *dweh₂róysu |
| Instr. | երկարաւ (erkaraw) < *dweh₂róh₁ | երկարս (erkars) < *dweh₂rṓys |
The adjective "long" shows the same sound changes of the numeral "two": PIE*dweh₂rós / *dwoy- >erkar / erku.
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