 |
|---|
|
|---|
Photo Gallery Photo provided by Armeniapedia.org.
The official language of Armenia is Armenian (Hayeren), which 95% of the population speaks. The language is a member of the Indo-European language family and it is most closely related to the Greek language. It’s a complex, but beautiful language that has been continuously used for 1500 years. |
Dialects |
|---|
|
Eastern Armenian is spoken in the Republic of Armenia and has been influenced by two sets of Russian reforms. It differs orthographically from Western Armenian and is used in Armenia, Iran and Russia. Western Armenian was developed in the regions of Armenia that are now Turkey. It is used in Istanbul, Lebanon, Egypt and formerly in Eastern Turkey. |
Armenian Lesson! |
|---|
Parev! |
Hello! |
|---|---|
Eench bes es? |
How are you? |
Lav em, toon? |
I'm good, you? |
Eem anoonus - e. |
My name is -. |
Koo anoonut eench e? |
What's your name? |
Eem anoonus - e.
|
My name is -. |
 |
|---|
How the Armenian Alphabet Came About |
|---|
Until the 5th century, Christian worship in Armenia was conducted in Greek or Syriac because there was no Armenian alphabet. In 404 A.D., St. Mesrob Mashtots completed the Armenian alphabet, which consisted of 36 letters. His objective was to translate the Bible into Armenian and he did achieve that goal. It was the first written literature in the new alphabet and many linguists have since regarded the translation as a masterpiece. Between the 10th-12th centuries, three more letters were added to the alphabet to make it what it is today at 39 letters. |
Grabar |
|---|
During the centuries, the dialect into which the Bible was translated was known as the standard language in Armenia called Grabar (Guh-ra-bar). This was the older form of the Armenian language in which numerous literary works were written. Many works in classical Greek, Latin, Syriac and others exist today only in their Armenian translations. |
|
