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Latest revision as of 15:11, 1 November 2024

"Grabar" redirects here. For other uses, see Grabar (disambiguation).
Classical Armenian
Old Armenian
գրաբար
RegionArmenian Highlands
Eradeveloped into Middle Armenian
Indo-European
  • Classical Armenian
Early form
Armenian alphabet (Classical Armenian orthography)
Language codes
ISO 639-3xcl
xcl
Glottologclas1249
Linguasphere57-AAA-aa
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
History of the Armenian language
Armenian alphabet
Romanization of Armenian

Classical Armenian (Armenian: գրաբար, romanized: grabar, Eastern Armenian pronunciation [ɡəɾɑˈpʰɑɾ], Western Armenian pronunciation [kʰəɾɑˈpʰɑɾ]; meaning "literary [language]"; also Old Armenian or Liturgical Armenian) is the oldest attested form of the Armenian language. It was first written down at the beginning of the 5th century, and most Armenian literature from then through the 18th century is in Classical Armenian. Many ancient manuscripts originally written in Ancient Greek, Hebrew, Syriac and Latin survive only in Armenian translation.[1]

Classical Armenian continues to be the liturgical language of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian Catholic Church and is often learned by Biblical, Intertestamental, and Patristic scholars dedicated to textual studies. Classical Armenian is also important for the reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European language.

Phonology

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Epitaph in Classical Armenian for Jakub and Marianna Minasowicz at St. Hyacinth's Church in Warsaw

Vowels

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There are seven monophthongs:

  • /a/ (Ա), /i/ (Ի), /ə/ (Ը), /ɛ/ or open e (Ե), /e/ or closed e (Է), /o/ (Ո), and /u/ (ՈՒ) (transcribed as a, i, ə, e, ē, o, and u respectively). The vowel transcribed u is spelled using the Armenian letters for ow (ՈՒ) but it is not actually a diphthong.

There are also traditionally six diphthongs:

  • ay (ԱՅ), aw (ԱՒ, later Օ), ea (ԵԱ), ew (ԵՒ), iw (ԻՒ), oy (ՈՅ).

Consonants

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In the following table is the Classical Armenian consonantal system. The stops and affricate consonants have, in addition to the more common voiced and unvoiced series, also a separate aspirated series, transcribed with the notation used for Ancient Greek rough breathing after the letter: p῾, t῾, c῾, č῾, k῾. Each phoneme has two symbols in the table. The left indicates the pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA); the right one is the corresponding symbol in the Armenian alphabet.

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar /
Uvular 		Glottal
plain velar.
Nasals /m/   Մ   /n/   Ն          
Stops voiced /b/   Բ   /d/   Դ       /ɡ/   Գ    
unvoiced /p/   Պ   /t/   Տ       /k/   Կ    
aspirated /pʰ/   Փ   /tʰ/   Թ       /kʰ/   Ք    
Affricates voiced   /dz/   Ձ     /dʒ/   Ջ      
unvoiced / ejective   /ts/   Ծ     /tʃ/   Ճ      
aspirated   /tsʰ/   Ց     /tʃʰ/   Չ      
Fricatives voiced /v/   Վ   /z/   Զ     /ʒ/   Ժ      
unvoiced /f/   Ֆ  [a] /s/   Ս     /ʃ/   Շ   /χ/   Խ   /h/   Հ  
Approximants lateral   /l/   Լ   /ɫ/   Ղ        
central   /ɹ/   Ր     /j/   Յ      
Trill   /r/   Ռ        
  1. ^ The letter f (or Ֆ) was introduced in the Medieval Period to represent the foreign sound /f/, the voiceless labiodental fricative; it was not originally a letter in the alphabet.[2]

Numbers in Old Armenian

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Number Old Armenian PIE
One մի (mi) *sémih₂ < feminine of *sḗm ("one")
Two երկու (erku) *dwoy- < *dwóh₁ (then fully re-elaborated)
Three երեք (erekʻ) *tréyes
Four չորք (čʻorkʻ)

քառ (kʻaṙ)

*kʷtwr̥(s?) < zero-grade of *kʷetwóres
Five հինգ (hing) *pénkʷe
Six վեց (vecʻ) *suwéḱs < *swéḱs
Seven եօթն (eōtʻn) *septḿ̥
Eight ութ (utʻ) < proto-Armenian *owtu *(h₁)oḱtṓw
Nine ինն (inn) < proto-Armenian *enun- *h₁nuno- < zero-grade of *h₁néwn̥
Ten տասն (tasn) *déḱm̥

Personal pronouns in Old Armenian

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Pronoun Old Armenian PIE
I ես (es) *éǵh₂
You դու (du) *túh₂
He, she, it նա (na) < *no-

նոյն (noyn) < *no-ēn (adverbial suffix)

*h₁nós ("over there")

*h₁nó-eyni- ("over there" +"that")

We մեք (mekʻ) < *mes *wéy
You (all) դուք (dukʻ) *túh₂ with pluralization suffix -k'
They նոքա (nokʻa) *h₁nós +pluralization suffix

The pluralization suffix -k', which since Old Armenian was used form the nominative plural, could be linked to the final -s in PIE *tréyes > Old Armenian երեք (erekʻ) and չորք (čʻorkʻ), which then can point to a pre-Armenian *kʷtwr̥s (< *kʷetwóres). Otherwise, it derives from the number "two", երկու (erku) and was originally used as a mark for the dual number.

There are no dual prefixes or dual plurals in Old Armenian.

Two examples of verb in Old Armenian

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բերել (berel, "to bear")
Pronoun Old Armenian PIE
I բերեմ (berem) *bʰéroh₂
You բերես (beres) *bʰéresi
He, she, it բերէ (berē) *bʰéreti
We բերեմք (beremkʻ) *bʰéromos
You (all) բերէք (berēkʻ) *bʰérete
They բերեն (beren) *bʰéronti
կարդալ (kardal, "to write")
Pronoun Old Armenian PIE
I կարդամ (kardam) *gʷr̥Hdʰh₁oh₂
You կարդաս (kardas) *gʷr̥Hdʰh₁ési
He, she, it կարդայ (karday) *gʷr̥Hdʰh₁éti
We կարդամք (kardamkʻ) *gʷr̥Hdʰh₁omos
You (all) կարդայք (kardaykʻ) *gʷr̥Hdʰh₁éte
They կարդան (kardan) *gʷr̥Hdʰh₁onti

In the second and third person singular of the present, the pluralization suffix -k' can be noticed again instead of the final part of the original PIE ending. The first person suffix -em comes from the PIE suffix in athematic verbs *-mi.

An example of noun in Old Armenian

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Nouns in Old Armenian can belong to three models of declinations: o-type, i-type and i-a-type. Nouns can show more than one model of conjugation and retain all cases from PIE except for the vocative, which merged with the nominative and the accusative. All the strong cases lost their suffix in the singular; by contrast, almost every weak case in the singular keep a suffix. The cases are: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, locative and instrumental. The o-type model shows an extremely simplified paradigm with many instances of syncretism and the constant use of the pluralization suffix -k' in the plural; not only do strong cases tend to converge in the singular, but most of the weak cases converge into -oy, perhaps from the PIE dative *-oey. There is no suffix for the dual number.

արտ (art, "field"), o-type
Case Old Armenian (singular) Old Armenian (plural)
Nominative արտ (art) < PIE *h₂éǵros արտք (artkʻ) < PIE *h₂éǵroes
Genitive արտոյ (artoy) < *h₂éǵroey? արտոց (artocʻ) < *h₂éǵroHom
Dative արտոյ (artoy) < *h₂éǵroey արտոց (artocʻ) < *h₂éǵromos
Accusative արտ (art) < *h₂éǵrom արտս (arts) < *h₂éǵroms
Ablative արտոյ (artoy) < *h₂éǵroey? արտոց (artocʻ) < *h₂éǵromos
Locative արտ (art) < *h₂éǵrey/oy արտս (arts) < *h₂éǵroysu
Instrumental արտով (artov) < *h₂éǵroh₁ արտովք (artovkʻ) < *h₂éǵrōys

An example of adjective in Old Armenian

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Adjectives in Old Armenian have at least two models of declension: i-a-type and i-type. An adjective, provided that it is not indeclinable, can show both models. Most of the declension show a great deal of syncretism and the plural shows again the pluralization suffix -k'. The instrumental plural has two possible forms.

երկար (erkar, "long")
Case Old Armenian (singular) Old Armenian (plural)
Nom. երկար (erkar) < PIE *dweh₂rós երկարք (erkarkʻ) < PIE *dweh₂róes
Gen. երկարի (erkari) < *dweh₂rósyo? երկարաց (erkaracʻ) < *dweh₂róHom
Dat. երկարի (erkari) < *dweh₂róey երկարաց (erkaracʻ) < *dweh₂rómos
Acc. երկար (erkar) < *dweh₂róm երկարս (erkars) < *dweh₂róms
Abl. երկարէ (erkarē) < *dweh₂réad երկարաց (erkaracʻ) < *dweh₂rómos
Loc. երկարի (erkari) < *dweh₂réy/óy երկարաւք (erkarawkʻ) < *dweh₂róysu

երկարօք (erkarōkʻ) < *dweh₂róysu

Instr. երկարաւ (erkaraw) < *dweh₂róh₁ երկարս (erkars) < *dweh₂rṓys

The adjective "long" shows the same sound changes of the numeral "two": PIE *dweh₂rós / *dwoy- > erkar / erku.

See also

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Sources

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  • Adjarian, Hrachia. (1971–9) Etymological Root Dictionary of the Armenian Language. Vol. I – IV. Yerevan: Yerevan State University.
  • Meillet, Antoine. (1903) Esquisse d'une grammaire comparée de l'arménien classique.
  • Thomson, Robert W. (1989) An Introduction to Classical Armenian. Caravan Books. (ISBN 0-88206-072-4)
  • Godel, Robert. (1975) An Introduction to the Study of Classical Armenian. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag (ISBN 9783920153377)

References

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  1. ^ "Armenian Language Program | Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations". nelc.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
  2. ^ Dum-Tragut, Jasmine (2009). Armenian: Modern Eastern Armenian. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 18. ISBN 9789027238146. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
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For a list of words relating to Old Armenian language, see the Old Armenian language category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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