| Western Armenian | |
|---|---|
| -gë dialects | |
| ԱրեւմտահայերէնArevmdahayerēn | |
| Pronunciation | [ɑɾɛvmədɑhɑjɛˈɾɛn] |
| Native to | Turkey (Armenian Highlands),Armenia,Cyprus,Iraq,Lebanon,Syria |
Native speakers | 1.6 million (2019)[1] |
Indo-European
| |
| Armenian alphabet (virtually always in theClassical Armenian orthography) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | hyw |
| Glottolog | homs1234 |
| Linguasphere | 57-AAA-ac |
 Map of the Armenian dialects in early 20th century: -gë dialects, corresponding to Western Armenian, are in yellow. | |
 Western Armenian is classified as Vulnerable by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger[2] | |
| 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. | |
 |
| History of theArmenian language |
|---|
| Armenian alphabet Romanization of Armenian |
Western Armenian (Western Armenian:Արեւմտահայերէն,romanized: Arevmdahayeren[ɑɾɛvmədɑhɑjɛˈɾɛn])[a] is one of the twostandardized[3] forms ofModern Armenian, the other beingEastern Armenian. It is based mainly on theIstanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly based on theYerevan Armenian dialect.
Until the early 20th century, various Western Armenian dialects were spoken in theOttoman Empire, predominantly in the historically Armenian populated regions ofWestern Armenia. The dialectal varieties of Western Armenian currently in use includeHomshetsi, spoken by theHemshin people;[4] the dialects of Armenians inKessab,Latakia andJisr al-Shughur in Syria,Anjar in Lebanon, andIstanbul andVakıflı, in Turkey (part of the "Sueidia" dialect). The Sasun and Mush dialects are also spoken in modern-day Armenian villages such asBazmaberd andSasnashen. TheCilician dialect is also spoken inCyprus, where it is taught in Armenian schools (Nareg), and is the first language of about 3,000 people of Armenian descent.
Forms of theKarin dialect of Western Armenian are spoken by several hundred thousand people in Northern Armenia, mostly inGyumri,Artik,Akhuryan, and around 130 villages in theShirak province,[5] and byArmenians in Samtskhe–Javakheti province of Georgia (Akhalkalaki,Akhaltsikhe).[6]
A mostlydiasporic language and one that is not an official language of any state, Western Armenian faces extinction as its native speakers lose fluency in Western Armenian amid pressures to assimilate into their host countries. According toEthnologue, there are 1.58 million native speakers of Western Armenian, primarily in Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Lebanon, and Iraq. The language is classified as 6b (i.e., threatened, with interruptions in intergenerational transmission).[7]
Western Armenian is anIndo-European language belonging to theArmenic branch of the family, alongsideEastern andClassical Armenian. According toGlottolog,Antioch, Artial, Asia Minor,Bolu,Hamshenic,Kilikien,Mush-Tigranakert, Stanoz,Vanic andYozgat are the main dialects of Western Armenian.[8]
Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian are, for the most part, mutually intelligible for educated or literate users of the other, while illiterate or semiliterate users of lower registers of each one may have difficulty understanding the other variant.
Western Armenian is spoken by Armenians of most of theSoutheastern Europe andMiddle East except forIran, andRostov-on-Don inRussia. It is amoribund language spoken by only a small percentage ofArmenians in Turkey (especially inIstanbul) as a first language, with 18 percent among the community in general and 8 percent among younger people.[9] There are notable diaspora L2 Western Armenian speakers inLebanon (Beirut),Syria (Aleppo,Damascus),California (Fresno,Los Angeles), andFrance (Marseilles).[10]
Western Armenian used to be the dominant Armenian variety, but as a result of theArmenian genocide, the speakers of Western Armenian were mostly murdered or exiled. Those who fled to Eastern Armenia now speak either Eastern Armenian or have a diglossic situation between Western Armenian dialects in informal usage and an Eastern Armenian standard. The only Western Armenian dialect still spoken in Western Armenia is theHomshetsi dialect, since theHemshin peoples, who were Muslim converts, did not fall victim to the Armenian genocide.[citation needed]
Western Armenian isn't just predominant for Armenians in the Middle East, the Armenians living in Southeastern Europe/Balkans, mostlyBulgaria,Romania,Greece, andTurkey (Istanbul) are Western Armenian speakers, who immigrated of theArmenian Genocide. Historically there was presence of Western Armenians (Cilicians) inMoldova.
On 21 February 2009,International Mother Language Day, a new edition of theAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger was released byUNESCO in which the Western Armenian language in Turkey was defined as adefinitely endangered language.[2][11]
In modern day Armenia, the city ofGyumri took host to large numbers of Armenian refugees fleeing theOttoman Empire from the Armenian Genocide. Many of these people spoke theKarin dialect ofArmenian, which is spoken inGyumri but overtime manyEastern Armenian andRussian words have been borrowed into thedialect. There was also a wave of Armenians coming from theMiddle East who were Western Armenian, who moved to theSoviet Union, mostly inSoviet Armenia. Many have assimilated into theEastern Armenian dialect.
With Western Armenian being declared an endangered language, there has been recent pushback on reviving the language inLos Angeles,[12] which is home to the largest concentration of Western Armenians.
Shushan Karapetian, in her evaluation of both the Eastern and Western dialects of Armenian, concludes that heritage languages, in the face of an English dominant society, rapidly die out within no more than 2 generations, calling America a "linguistic graveyard."[13] In US census data, the percentage of people of Armenian ancestry who speak Western Armenian at home has rapidly declined, down from 25% in 1980 to 16% in 2000.[13]
Western Armenian has seven monophthongs.
| Front | Central | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrounded | Rounded | Unrounded | Rounded | ||
| Close | i ⟨ի⟩ | ʏ ⟨իւ⟩ | u ⟨ու⟩ | ||
| Mid | ɛ ⟨է, ե⟩[14] | ə ⟨ը⟩ | o ⟨ո, օ⟩[14] | ||
| Open | ɑ ⟨ա⟩ | ||||
⟨իւ⟩ /ʏ/ is sometimes realized as /ju/ in nonstandard speech. The cluster թիւն /tʏn/ also shows phonetic variation, even in formal speech, with pronunciations ranging from /t͡ʃ(j)un/ and /tjun/ to /t͡ʃʏn/ and /tʏn/.
| IPA | Example (IPA) | Example (written) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| i | [im] | իմ | "my" |
| ʏ | [hʏɾ] | հիւր | "guest" |
| ɛ | [ɛt͡ʃʰ] | էջ | "page" |
| ɑ | [ɑɾɛv] | արեւ | "sun" |
| ə | [əsɛl] | ըսել | "to say" |
| o | [t͡ʃʰoɾ] | չոր | "dry" |
| u | [uɾ] | ուր | "where" |
Western Armenian has nine vowel sequences in which two vowels appear together in the orthography but belong to the same syllable, forming diphthongs.
The letter ⟨ե⟩ frequently participates in diphthongs, representing sounds such as /jɑ/ and /jo/. When word-initial, ⟨ե⟩ alone denotes /jɛ/. The letter ⟨յ⟩ functions as a postvocalic glide, marking /j/ following vowels.
The cluster ⟨իյ⟩ /ij/ (e.g. in իյնալ /ijˈnɑl/) has generally merged with ⟨ի⟩ /i/ through glide loss, resulting in a phonemic merger of /ij/ with /i/.
| IPA | Example (IPA) | Example (written) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| jɑ | /sɛnˈjɑg/ | սենեակ | "room" |
| jɛ | /jɛˈrɑz/ | երազ | "dream" |
| ji | /mɑˈjis/ | Մայիս | "May" |
| jo | /joˈtə/ | եօթը | "seven" |
| ju | /gɑˈjun/ | կայուն | "firm" |
| ɑj | /ˈmɑjr/ | մայր | "mother" |
| ɛj | /ˈtɛj/ | թէյ | "tea" |
| oj | /ˈχoj/ | խոյ | "ram" |
| uj | /ˈkujr/ | քոյր | "sister" |
In some cases, vowel sequences span syllable or morpheme boundaries rather than forming true diphthongs; in those environments, glide formation (yod insertion) is expected.
This is the Western Armenian Consonantal System using letters from theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), followed by the corresponding Armenian letter in brackets.
| Labial | Alveolar | Palato-(alveolar) | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m ⟨մ⟩ | n ⟨ն⟩ | |||||
| Stop | aspirated | pʰ ⟨բ, փ⟩[15] | tʰ ⟨դ, թ⟩[15] | kʰ ⟨գ, ք⟩[15] | |||
| voiced | b ⟨պ⟩[16] | d ⟨տ⟩[16] | ɡ ⟨կ⟩[16] | ||||
| Affricate | aspirated | tsʰ ⟨ձ, ց⟩[15] | tʃʰ ⟨չ, ջ⟩[15] | ||||
| voiced | dz ⟨ծ⟩[16] | dʒ ⟨ճ⟩[16] | |||||
| Fricative | unvoiced | f ⟨ֆ⟩ | s ⟨ս⟩ | ʃ ⟨շ⟩ | χ ⟨խ⟩ | h ⟨հ, յ⟩[14] | |
| voiced | v ⟨վ, ւ, ու, ո⟩[14] | z ⟨զ⟩ | ʒ ⟨ժ⟩ | ʁ ⟨ղ⟩ | |||
| Approximant | l ⟨լ⟩ | j ⟨յ, ե, ի⟩[14] | |||||
| Flap | ɾ ⟨ռ, ր⟩[17] | ||||||
The/f/ in Armenian is rare and exclusively used in non-native words; the letter "ֆ" was added to the alphabet much later. The/w/ glide is not used except for foreign proper nouns, like Washington (by utilizing the "u" vowel, Armenian "ու").
The primary phonological difference between Western Armenian and Classical Armenian lies in the stop and affricate system.
Classical Armenian distinguished three series of stops and affricates: voiced, voiceless unaspirated (plain), and voiceless aspirated. Western Armenian reduced this to a two-way contrast: voiced vs. aspirated. As a result, Classical Armenian's voiced series became aspirated in Western Armenian, while its plain voiceless series became voiced.
In comparison, Eastern Armenian fully preserves this contrast.
| Place | Classical Armenian | Western Armenian |
|---|---|---|
| Bilabial stops | /b/ ⟨բ⟩, /p/ ⟨պ⟩, /pʰ/ ⟨փ⟩ | /b/ (from ⟨պ⟩), /pʰ/ (from ⟨բ⟩, ⟨փ⟩) |
| Alveolar stops | /d/ ⟨դ⟩, /t/ ⟨տ⟩, /tʰ/ ⟨թ⟩ | /d/ (from ⟨տ⟩), /tʰ/ (from ⟨դ⟩, ⟨թ⟩) |
| Velar stops | /ɡ/ ⟨գ⟩, /k/ ⟨կ⟩, /kʰ/ ⟨ք⟩ | /ɡ/ (from ⟨կ⟩), /kʰ/ (from ⟨գ⟩, ⟨ք⟩) |
| Alveolar affricates | /dz/ ⟨ձ⟩, /ts/ ⟨ծ⟩, /tsʰ/ ⟨ց⟩ | /dz/ (from ⟨ծ⟩), /tsʰ/ (from ⟨ձ⟩, ⟨ց⟩) |
| Post-alveolar affricates | /dʒ/ ⟨ջ⟩, /tʃ/ ⟨ճ⟩, /tʃʰ/ ⟨չ⟩ | /dʒ/ (from ⟨ճ⟩), /tʃʰ/ (from ⟨ջ⟩, ⟨չ⟩) |
Example:
Classical Armenian /d͡ʒur/ "water" (⟨ջուր⟩) became Western Armenian /t͡ʃur/ (⟨ջուր⟩). Words such as [kʰaɾ] "stone" (⟨քար⟩) remain phonetically similar in both stages.
| Feature | Western Armenian | Classical Armenian |
|---|---|---|
| Initial ⟨ե⟩ | [jɛ] | /ɛ/ |
| Initial ⟨ո⟩ | generally [vo] | /o/ |
| ⟨ղ⟩ | [ʁ] | /ɫ/-like sound |
| ⟨ւ⟩ | [v] | /w/ |
| ⟨եւ⟩ | [jɛv] | /ɛw/ |
| ⟨իւ⟩ | [ʏ] | /iw/ |
| ⟨ռ⟩ vs. ⟨ր⟩ | merged to [ɾ] | /ɹ/ and /r/ respectively |
| ⟨ե⟩ vs. ⟨է⟩ | merged as [ɛ] | /ɛ/ and /e/ respectively |
| Word-initial ⟨յ⟩ | [h] | /j/ |
| Word-final ⟨յ⟩ | lost | /j/ |
| Digraph ⟨իյ⟩ | simplified to [i] | (?) |
Western Armenian usesClassical Armenian orthography, also known as Mashdotsian orthography. TheArmenian orthography reform (commonly called Abeghian orthography), first introduced in theArmenian Soviet Socialist Republic and used by most Eastern Armenian speakers from Armenia, has not been adopted by Eastern Armenian speakers of Iran and their diaspora or by speakers of Western Armenian, with the exception of periodicals published in Romania and Bulgaria under Communist regimes.
Armenian lacks grammatical gender, including in pronouns. A feminine suffix -ուհի /uhi/ exists but carries no grammatical effect.
Western Armenian nouns have fourgrammatical cases:nominative-accusative (subject / direct object),genitive-dative (possession / indirect object),ablative (origin) andinstrumental (means). Except for personal pronouns, the nominative and accusative are the same, and the genitive and dative are the same, meaning that nouns have four distinct forms for case.
Nouns in Armenian also decline for number (singular and plural). They are pluralized with the suffixes -եր /ɛr/ or -ներ /nɛr/, which are generally not interchangeable and follow predictable attachment patterns. Two other plural suffixes, -ք /k/ and -ց /t͡s/, inherited from Classical Armenian, both survive in a small set of nouns. For example, տղայ /dəˈʁɑ/ "boy" forms the plural տղաք /dəˈʁɑk/ "boys," and տիկին /diˈgin/ "madam" forms տիկնա(ն)ց /diˈgna(n)t͡s/ "madams." Such nouns may follow regular pluralization.
Declension in Armenian is based on how the genitive is formed. There are severaldeclensions, the first three (genitive ini, u, anda respectively) being the most common. The genitive ini, however, is the most common, while other forms are in gradual decline and are being replaced by thei-form, which has virtually attained the status of a regular form. The plural is consistent across almost all declensions.
| դաշտ (field) | կով (cow) | գարուն (Spring) | օր (day) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | |
| Nom-Acc (Ուղղական-Հայցական) | դաշտ | դաշտեր | կով | կովեր | գարուն | գարուններ | օր | օրեր |
| Gen-Dat (Սեռական-Տրական) | դաշտի | դաշտերու | կովու | կովերու | գարնան | գարուններու | օրուայ | օրերու |
| Abl (Բացառական) | դաշտէ | դաշտերէ | կովէ | կովերէ | գարունէ | գարուններէ | օրէ/օրուընէ | օրերէ |
| Instr (Գործիական) | դաշտով | դաշտերով | կովով | կովերով | գարունով | գարուններով | օրով | օրերով |
| քոյր (sister) | մայր (mother) | Աստուած (God) | գիտութիւն (science) | |||||
| singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | |
| Nom-Acc (Ուղղական-Հայցական) | քոյր | քոյրեր | մայր | մայրեր | Աստուած | աստուածներ | գիտութիւն | գիտութիւններ |
| Gen-Dat (Սեռական-Տրական) | քրոջ | քոյրերու | մօր | մայրերու | Աստուծոյ | աստուածներու | գիտութեան | գիտութիւններու/ գիտութեանց* |
| Abl (Բացառական) | քրոջմէ | քոյրերէ | մօրմէ | մայրերէ | Աստուծմէ | աստուածներէ | գիտութիւնէ/գիտութենէ | գիտութիւններէ |
| Instr (Գործիական) | քրոջմով | քոյրերով | մօրմով | մայրերով | Աստուծմով | աստուածներով | գիտութեամբ/ գիտութիւնով | գիտութիւններով |
* Extremely rare.
Which case the direct object takes is split based on animacy (a phenomenon more generally known asdifferential object marking). Inanimate nouns generally take the nominative-accusative, while animate nouns generally take the genetive-dative.
Other rare declensional forms are also found, though they have almost completely fallen out of use.
The indefinite article in Western Armenian is մը /mə/, and it follows the noun:
When followed by ալ ("also, too") or by the present/imperfect forms ofեմ ("to be"), the article takes the form մըն /mən/:
The definite article is a suffix attached directly to the noun.
It appears either as -ն /n/ after vowels or -ը /ə/ after consonants:
When the noun is immediately followed by ալ, ու ("and"), or by a form ofեմ ("to be"), the -ն form is used regardless of final sound:
Adjectives in Western Armenian are invariable: they do not decline for case or number and always precede the noun:
| Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | Dative | Ablative | Instrumental |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ես 'I' | զիս | իմ | ինծի | ինձմէ / ինծմէ | ինձմով / ինծմով |
| դուն 'you' | քեզ | քու | քեզի | քեզմէ | քեզմով |
| ինք 'she/he/it' | զինք | իր | իրեն | իրմէ | իրմով |
| ան 'she/he/it' | զայն | անոր | անոր | անկէ | անով |
| մենք 'we' | մեզ | մեր | մեզի | մեզմէ | մեզմով |
| դուք 'you' | ձեզ | ձեր | ձեզի | ձեզմէ | ձեզմով |
| իրենք 'they' | զիրենք | իրենց | իրենց | իրենցմէ | իրենցմով |
| անոնք 'they' | զանոնք | անոնց | անոնց | անոնցմէ | անոնցմով |
In informal Western Armenian, the accusative case occasionally merges with the dative, so the same form is used for both. Speech that preserves the distinct accusative forms is considered more formal or prestigious.
The genitive case also sometimes merges with the dative. For instance,ինծի է (literally "to me it is") is used to mean "it's mine." This is often seen as a mistake in formal Armenian, despite how common it is.
| Proximal | Medial | Distal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| Nominative-Accusative | ասիկա | ասոնք | ատիկա | ատոնք | անիկա | անոնք |
| Genitive-Dative | ասոր | ասոնց | ատոր | ատոնց | անոր | անոնց |
| Ablative | ասկէ | ասոնցմէ | ատկէ | ատոնցմէ | անկէ | անոնցմէ |
| Instrumental | ասով | ասոնցմով | ատով | ատոնցմով | անով | անոնցմով |
The primary distinction among proximal, medial, and distal demonstrative pronouns lies in the initial consonants ս (s), տ (d), and ն (n).
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | որ | որոնք |
| Accusative | զոր | զորոնք / զորս |
| Genitive | որու(ն) | որոնց |
| Dative | որուն | որոնց |
| Ablative | որմէ | որոնցմէ |
| Instrumental | որ(մ)ով | որոնցմով |
The accusative case is hardly seen in both formal and informal speech; similar to the personal pronouns, it has merged with the genitive/dative.
Armenian verbs are fully conjugated for all pronouns, making the languagepro-drop. 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.
The present tense in Western Armenian is based on threeconjugations (a, e, i):
| սիրել (to love) | խօսիլ (to speak) | կարդալ (to read) | |
| ես (I) | սիրեմ | խօսիմ | կարդամ |
| դուն (thou) | սիրես | խօսիս | կարդաս |
| ան (he/she/it) | սիրէ | խօսի | կարդա |
| մենք (we) | սիրենք | խօսինք | կարդանք |
| դուք (you.pl) | սիրէք | խօսիք | կարդաք |
| անոնք (they) | սիրեն | խօսին | կարդան |
The present tense is made by adding the particle կը (gə) before the "present" form, except for five defective verbs: եմ (em: I am), կամ (gam: I exist, I'm there), ունիմ (unim: I have), գիտեմ (kidem: I know), կրնամ (gərnam: I can).
The future tense is formed by adding պիտի (bidi), often shortened to պիտ (bid) in rapid speech.
For defective verbs, the future tense is formed as follows: ըլլամ (used for both եմ and կամ), ունենամ, գիտնամ, and կարենամ/կրնամ, respectively.
In the vernacular language, the particle կոր /gor/(< Turkish -iyor) is added after the verb to indicate present progressive tense. This distinction is not made in literary Armenian.
Thus, even today theErzerum dialect is widely spoken in the northernmost districts of the Armenian republic as well as in the Akhalkalak (Javakheti; Javakhk) and Akhaltskha (Akhaltsikh) districts of southern Georgia
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| Main foreign languages | |||||
| Sign languages | |||||
| Whistle languages | |||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
