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Orthography and Language

Traditional Orthography: ե & է

ե appears in initial position, standing for “ye” երեխայ Երեւան before vowels, standing for “y” եօթը սենեակ within words, standing for “e” մեր գրել գեղեցիկ ե never appears in final position. է is used instead է appears in initial position, standing for “e” էի էջ էակ in final position րոպէ փայտէ հասցէ կ՛ըսէ in final […]

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Orthography and Language

Traditional Orthography: Օօ & Ոո

In the initial position, ո is pronounced “vo” որդի ոլոռ ոտք In the initial position, օ is pronounced “o” օր օգնել օդ However, there are three exceptions whereby ո, when followed by վ, is pronounced “o” ո՞վ ովկիանոս ովասիս The initial ո that appears in compound words is pronounced “o” անորոշ (ան֊որոշ anorosh) վատորակ (վատ֊որակ […]

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Orthography and Language

A (Very) Brief Intro to Modern Armenian and its Orthography

What have now become known as the standard written forms of Eastern and Western Armenian developed in the nineteenth century in Tiflis and Constantinople, respectively.* Western Armenian is now spoken in the diaspora, though that is slowly changing with the large influx of immigrants from the Republic of Armenia, while Eastern is spoken in the […]

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Orthography and Language

The Showdown Between Vernacular and Classical Armenian, 1862

Title: Handes Hakarakuteants: Hayots Grabar ev Ashkharabar Lezuats Summary: A tongue-in-cheek conversation between Classical Armenian and the vernacular.  Author: Garegin Srvandsiants About the piece: Published in Artsvi Vaspurakan in the second edition of 1862/63, pages 51-61 You can access the piece here.  Read this article if you want to learn more about: An important, contemporary […]