Eastern Armenian is a standard form of theArmenian language. It serves as the official language ofArmenia and is widely spoken inArmenian communities inGeorgia,Russia,Iran, and the diaspora.[1] It is mainly based on theYerevan dialect and is jointly understandable with Western Armenian, through variations in pronunciation, grammar , and vocabulary .
Eastern Armenian belong to theIndo-European language. It developed from Classical Armenian (Grabar) and went through major changes in the 19th century, when it became standardized.[2] While Western Armenian, which was traditionally spoken in theOttoman Empire and is now mainly used in diaspora communities, Eastern Armenian has been influenced byRussian andIranian languages due to Armenia's geopolitical history.
Eastern Armenian has six-vowels (a, e, ə, i, o, u) and a common inventory consisting of voiced, voiceless, and suctioned stops (e.G., բ /b/, պ /p/, փ /pʰ/). In differentiate to Western Armenian, it keeps a three-way distinction in stops (voiced, voiceless, and suctioned), much likeClassical Armenian.[3]
It was composed in theArmenian alphabet, created byMesrop Mashtots in 405 A.D. It makes use of reformedorthography in Armenia, whileIranian Armenians keep traditional orthography.[4][2]