Armenia
The Urartu Civilisation
Victory for Independence
Artashisian Dynasty on the Armenian Throne
Armenia caught between Rome and the Arsacids
The Acceptance of Christianity
Defending Christianity
Armenia Under the Bagratouni Dynasty
Cilicia - the New Armenia
Armenia Under Turanian Rule
The Renaissance or the Resurrection of Armenia
The Eastern Question
Russia in the Caucasus
The Armenian Question
Battle on Two Fronts
Tsarist Russia Against the Armenians
The Revolution of the Young Turks and the Armenian People on the Eve of World War I
The First World War
The Resurrection of Armenia
Armenia on the Road to Independence, 1918
- Armenia on the Road to Independence, 1918
Eastern Armenia
Western Armenia
"The Fateful Years" (1914-1917)
"Hopes and Emotions" (March-October, 1917)
The Bolshevik Revolution and Armenia
Transcaucasia Adrift (November, 1917
Dilemmas (March-April, 1918)
War and Independence (April-May, 1918)
The Republics of Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia
The Suppliants (June-October, 1918)
In conclusion
Soviet Armenia
The Second Independent Republic of Armenia
Epilogue
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© 2008 ARMENICA.ORG
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The Armenian Language
The Armenian language is a member of the Indo-European language tree and constitutes a branch of its own. It is placed between the Greek and the Persian families. It is most likely to be closely related to the famous Phrygian language which disappeared during the early years after the birth of Christ. It was the two oriental scientists, Heinrich Petermann and F. Müller, who for the first time proved that the Armenian language is of an Indo-European origin.
Since Armenian had over the years adopted several Persian expressions and phrases, for a long time everyone thought that it was a sub-branch of Persian, but the work of the German oriental scientist H. Hübschmann refuted this. By separating Persian and Armenian phrases he was able to show that Armenian is an independent branch in the Indo-European family. 69
The Armenian language borrowed a number of phrases from other languages. The Persian phrases were introduced under the Arsacids, who had very close links with the Armenians. Greek expressions date back to the Hellenic influence in Asia Minor and the conquests of Alexander the Great, and also from the close links between the Armenians and Rome. (Greek was the real administrative language in the conquered eastern regions of the Roman Empire.) However, the greatest period of Greek influence took place during the centuries after the Armenian acceptance of Christianity as the state religion (year 301 A.D.)
And finally we should mention some words and expressions that have been borrowed from the French, dating from the period when the Armenians were in contact with the crusaders.
The influence of the Caucasian languages (Georgian, etc.) on the Armenian language, languages which belong to a totally different linguistic group. This influence has resulted in the alteration of the pronunciation of some of the consonants, e.g. the letter "d" is often pronounced as "t".
All these developments in the Armenian language have turned it into a highly interesting and rich resource, from a linguistic point of view, and many linguistic researchers have been attracted to it. Among these we should first of all mention the linguistic veteran A. Meillet whose book, devoted to the study of the Armenian language, was used as long ago as the middle of the 20th century A.D. 70
E. Dulaurier also researched the sentence structure of the Armenian language, its grammar and its adaptability in building new phrases and creating endless numbers of compound expressions, an ability which is characteristic of most Indo-European languages. "While most of the eastern languages are not capable of adapting themselves to constantly evolving social developments, the Armenian language has been able to survive like an eternal fountain, from which new necessary expressions in science and social developments are able to spring. The most artificial and difficult expressions and technical terms in our languages are absorbed into Armenian without any major difficulty or need for foreign words, but only by the aid of their own existing vocabulary." 71
And finally one should note the "ian" suffix which is characteristic of the majority of Armenian surnames. This suffix does not seem to be of pure Armenian origin, but is Persian and was used to name the plural form of a thing or a person. For example, if we consider the Armenian surname Mamikonian, then it is the designation of the Mamikons, i.e. a person who belongs to the house of Mamikon.
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69) H. Hübschmann, Grundzüge der armenischen Ethmynologie, Leipzig, 1883
70) A. Meillet, Grammaire de l'Arménien classique, Vienna, 1903, 1936
71) E. Dulaurier, La Société arménienne contemproraine, Revue des Deux-Mondes, April 15, 1854, p. 211
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