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Eastern Armenian 101


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#21 Iran01

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Posted 25 November 2004 - 04:23 PM

Dear Vava

I know for ex size 4 is huge, but is very helpfull for beginners to memorise and recognise each letter and learn the alphabet faster. ( As it is people who know the language associate each word-shape to pronounciation and meaning! By other words an Armenian read նրանք as նրանք ! But a beginner must read it this way : ն ր ա ն ք .
I hope you understand what I am trying to say.)



Dear Nairi

Thank you,

I will try to make an online transliteration program from Armenian into Latin.
So just by copy/paste, you will get back it transliterated easy way.
(Actually it is not neccesary since Armenian alphabet is totaly phonetic!)

#22 kakachik77

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Posted 08 January 2005 - 02:33 PM

Iran,

not DNO or DNOK

it's DU (YOU) and DUK (YOU plural), pronouce just like in YOU but with a D.

#23 Iran01

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Posted 06 February 2005 - 12:39 AM

Kakachik,
thank you.


it was long time ago to see any activity in this thread.

how goes the cardinal numbers in Armenian?

btw , find a converter , transliterator:

http://www.genocide....it/convert.html

#24 vava

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Posted 06 February 2005 - 09:20 AM

QUOTE (Iran01 @ Feb 6 2005, 01:39 AM)
Kakachik,
btw , find a converter , transliterator:

http://www.genocide....it/convert.html


Iran Jan,

If you haven't noticed, thanks to Harut, (& Garo too) there is already a transliteration tool now built into HF.

You can access it either by This link, or whenever you're posting (see image)

Attached Files


Edited by vava, 06 February 2005 - 09:21 AM.


#25 Iran01

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Posted 07 February 2005 - 03:07 AM

QUOTE (vava @ Feb 6 2005, 09:20 AM)
Iran Jan,

If you haven't noticed, thanks to Harut, (& Garo too) there is already a transliteration tool now built into HF.


Thank you Vava smile.gif

#26 vava

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Posted 07 February 2005 - 06:30 PM

you are quite welcome smile.gif but the real thanks should go to Harut

Edited by vava, 07 February 2005 - 06:30 PM.


#27 sev-mard

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Posted 08 February 2005 - 10:10 AM

Inch or mek, indzi karogh a ognel?

maladets imast inch a?

merci

#28 Azat

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Posted 08 February 2005 - 10:16 AM

Russian for good job or bravo

#29 Armen

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Posted 08 February 2005 - 10:29 AM

QUOTE (sev-mard @ Feb 8 2005, 10:10 AM)
Inch or mek, indzi karogh a ognel?

maladets imast inch a?

merci


So, you did a good job today, ha? biggrin.gif smile.gif

#30 sev-mard

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Posted 08 February 2005 - 03:06 PM

QUOTE (Armen @ Feb 8 2005, 10:29 AM)
So, you did a good job today, ha? biggrin.gif  smile.gif


wink.gif I guess so biggrin.gif

#31 Sip

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Posted 28 February 2005 - 12:12 AM

Not sure if this was posted here, but I think this site is a great start:

http://learnarmenian...NonArmenian.cfm

#32 nairi

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Posted 28 February 2005 - 03:36 AM

Hey thanks Sip!

I also found this a while back for the Armenian alphabet:

http://www.menq.am/tarer_main.htm

Yours is good in terms of vocab, mine in terms of sound. Great combination! smile.gif

#33 Arpa

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Posted 28 February 2005 - 08:16 AM

From the above site;

QUOTE
> The Armenian Alphabet
> Armenian is separate branch in the Indo-European family of languages.
> The Armenian alphabet was created in 405 A.D. It consists of 39 letters, of
> which 36 were created by the auther of the alphabet Mesrop Mashtots, the
> other 3 were added later. It was meant to suit the sound system of Armenian.
> These 39 letters present all the sounds of Armenian language
. There is nearly
> one to one correspondence between the Armenian sounds and the letters that
> present them. The exceptions are the letters ,, which represent


You've got to be kidding!
Wow! Now we have 39 letters? How much wealthier can we be?!
As professionally and beautifully constructed, one wishes that the above sites were composed by people who know something about our language.

"yev" is a letter??
Yev is "bar/word" not a "tar/letter".

How about "ou"? Does not that deserve a place in the Mesropian table?
In fact, I just looked up in the Hanragitaran, and page 173 of Vol. 6, under the topic of Haykakan Gir there is a table where all 36 letters are presented, in addition, not only "yev" is listed as a letter so is "ou" between "tso" and "pyur", and it is presented as the "hyun". Mind you, it does not qualify it as a diphthong but as the letter "hyun". It may be an erratum. However, as mentioned on many occasions before, "yev" is not a letter, it is a word. One of the reasons why it finds its way in the recitation of the ayb ben gim is that, since O and Fe were later additions the "yev" inserted there to distinguish that those two were added, i.e. "yev/and/in addition". Often we hear the alphabet recited as "a b c d.....x y and z. Does that mean "and" is part of the alphabet?
If we were follows that logic then the English "and" would also qualify as a letter. The English/Latin Alphabet has 26 letters. Does it really? Then how about, "ch", "sh", "th", "gh", "kh", "ou", "au", "ti"(as in tion/shun, as in daffinishun smile.gif smile.gif). That reminds me of an old game. How do you spell "fish"? "ghoti"?

Yev is not a letter, it is a word and as such it is given its proper place in the Armatakan, where, after many wandersings it is stated that it is a native Armenian word the closest kin of which is the Greek "epi" (over/above/beyond/in addition etc.)

I wish we would put our house in order and have oversight as to who and where is teaching Armenian to unsuspecting audiences.

THERE OUGHT TO BE LAW!!!

Besides, in one of those sites above the transliteration is all jumbled up where "gim" is transliterated as "g" in some places and as "k" in others, as in "karak" (butter).

Edited by Arpa, 28 February 2005 - 08:22 AM.


#34 Azat

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Posted 28 February 2005 - 10:33 AM

I am sorry Arpa but I did not understand if you were saying that author of the above site is incorrect or that "yev" should not have been added to the alphabet.

In Armenia we did have "yev" as a letter and the alphabet was changed(dont know what year) to contain 39 letters.

#35 Arpa

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Posted 28 February 2005 - 12:18 PM

QUOTE (Azat @ Feb 28 2005, 04:33 PM)
I am sorry Arpa but I did not understand if you were saying that author of the above site is incorrect or that "yev" should not have been added to the alphabet.

In Armenia we did have "yev" as a letter and the alphabet was changed(dont know what year) to contain 39 letters.



Parev/Barev Azat/Azad, Inj bes yes?
"yes" means me /I.

oops.gif

Inch pes du/tun?

I can make fun of our so called language that is left to th mercy of half baked "teachers". Don't tempt me. smile.gif smile.gif

I meant both, that "yev" is not a letter, and that it is a mistake to include it as such. Whether its inclusion is a mistake or a result of gross ignorance of our "teachers" of orthography. In fact, it is not a result of "ignorance" but a case of indoctrination, read sovietization. After more than 15 years does anyone remember what "soviet" means?
Azat, if I were you I would get down on my knees and praise Aramazt for preserving the Diaspora.
The URL below may shed some light about the subject. In fact, during one of those Armenia-Diaspora conferences I asked one of the delegates to please address the orthography issue, as it may be one of the least painful factors that divide us.

At the risk of repeating myself for the zillionth time; "Yev" is not a letter. It is a word. It is recited as such, "Hyun Pyur Qe YEV O Fe" to indicate that the last two letters , i.e. O and Fe were added, they are in addition to the original Mesropina Ayb Ben Gim. IT IS NOT A LETTER. IT IS A WORD.
At the risk of repeating myself again. Why is it that "yev" is treated as a letter and "ou"? They both mean the same.
In addition to my previous of the Greek "epi" also consider the Arabic "wa" and the Persian "va/ve" to mean "and".
THe Abeghian orthography all but eliminated the letters Hyun an E, the latter being replaced by Yech in all case except in the casae of "esh", did he preserve that to describe him? It is a wonder that he preserved "yev/eu, yech-hyun" and did not rpleace it with th "yech-ve".
As to your question of when and why it was made so. Blame Manuk Abeghian. As invaluable his work and legacy may be he, in his zeal of sovietization lobbied the Armenian Parliament which in a decree of March 4, 1922 declared the new orthography as official. Thank Aramazt the likes of Abeghian have also bit the same dust as the Soviets. See the URL below again. As I see it it was an undeclared war (as cold as may be) between the Homeland and Diaspora. The Soviets have bit the dust of history. Then, why do we insist on their "internazional" doctrine of ethnic obliteration?
Have I heard rumblings that at one time there was a movement in Yerevan to replace the Mesropian with the Cyrillic?
Azeris did(and now they use the Turko-Latin), since they don't have a Mesrop to fall back on. What is our excuse?
Am I angry??
mad.gif mad.gif


http://groong.usc.ed...d-20020521.html


ORTHOGRAPHY, STATE & DIASPORA

A Political Analyst's View on Unified Spelling Problem

By Haroutiun Khachatrian


Armenian orthography has existed in two variants for 80 years now,
which has become another dividing factor between Armenia and its
Diaspora. If we overcome this problem, we can say that we are a nation
capable of acting in accord, otherwise, we can hardly do so. Indeed,
the change in our orthography does not affect any external forces'
interests. They won't even notice what orthography we use in
writing. This is only our problem and its solution (whichever variant
we opt for) will certainly contribute to the unity of Armenians and
vice versa.

So far, mainly professional linguists have discussed the issue, i.e.
whether it was right or wrong to reject the classical orthography in
1922. I'll try to analyze the problem as a public-political rather
than a linguistic one, since the establishment of unified orthography
in Armenia and in the Diaspora is a political issue that eventually
will have to be solved by politicians.

And so: Armenia and a sizable part of the Diaspora, i.e. the Armenians
living in the territory of the former USSR (the so-called `internal
Diaspora'), use the new orthography, and the `external Diaspora' and
also the Armenian Apostolic Church have remained loyal to the
`classical' orthography. A `compromise' between the two systems in
impossible and senseless, as it would mean creating a third
orthography with additional problems. That is, we must make a
decision: either we all adopt the classical spelling system, or we all
use the new one (the notorious problem with the Armenian letter
conveying the sound [u] - a digraph consisting of two elements - has
nothing to do with it, and must be solved in any case). The argument
of those who advocate the new orthography is naturally its easiness,
and those supporting the return to the classical spelling system
substantiate their opinion by the fact that by rejecting the classical
orthography we severed ties with our classical culture.

Without concealing that I myself am an advocate of the new
orthography, below I'll try to give reasons why it is impossible to
revert to the old spelling system not proceeding from my own
preferences but basing on a sober analysis of the situation.


RETROSPECTIVE VIEW ON CULTURE

Paruyr Sevak used to say: in order to know Armenian perfectly, one
must know four languages: Grabar (Old Armenian), Middle Armenian,
Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian. It leads a non-professional to
the obvious conclusion: Ashkharhabar (Modern Armenian) and Grabar (Old
Armenian) are different languages (like, for example, Latin and
Italian, the latter being a descendant of Latin) and consequently, it
is not necessary that they should be written with the use of the same
orthography. That classical orthography is more difficult and does not
correspond to the current two Armenian languages is not new: it was
not without reason that its reform became an agenda issue still at the
beginning of the 20th century. The author of that reform (its initial
variant) was not at all a Bolshevik evildoer who negated the past
(often the reform of 1922 is branded as a `Bolshevik Conspiracy'). It
was Manuk Abeghian, who is considered to be the greatest specialists
in medieval Armenian literature until today.

So, in fact, the aspiration of the supporters of a return to classical
orthography is that all Armenians will know Armenian as perfectly as
possible, i.e., that they will know not only Ashkharhabar (Modern
Armenian) but also Grabar (Old Armenian). It is a very welcome
aspiration, but, unfortunately, it is an unfeasible luxury for us. Let
those who advocate classical orthography tell Italians: you break ties
with your glorious Roman past, and in the name of restoration, adopt
the Latin orthography. Or try to convince Germans to restore the
pre-Lutheran orthography, and the Russians to restore their old
orthography, explaining to them that after the spelling reform in 1918
(also initiated by the Bolshevik government) they lost the spirit of
their epics. Be sure that your suggestion will at least perplex
them. Your interlocutors will explain that the currently applicable
orthography does not at all prevent them from being aware of their old
culture (indeed, I am not sure that I can understand Narekatsi worse
than the one who writes Modern Armenian using the Old Armenian
orthography). True, there are languages, such as English for example,
that have not changed their spelling for centuries, but many did
change. But going back to the pre-change spelling system after an
effected change is perhaps unprecedented. Don't we, Armenians, have
any other domain to distinguish ourselves from others in the world?


PERILS OF LITERACY

Every spelling reform is painful for a literate man. The example of
one German newspaper is notorious. The paper decided to study whether
it was possible to waive the illogical rules of German spelling
according to which upper case is used in writing all nouns. It started
to publish one article every day with lower-case nouns. The experiment
was put an end very soon to by the angered readership.

From this perspective, the 1922 spelling reform (even if we consider
it to be a fatal error) was carried out in a very convenient time when
the sweeping majority of Armenia's population was illiterate. Due to
that circumstance, there was no need to conduct a mass reeducation
campaign: most people simply began to write and read using the
modified orthography only. Today, the situation is different, and like
in every country that has a high degree of literacy, an attempt to
reform orthography in Armenia will meet with stiff public
resistance. In case of change resistance is sure to emerge also in the
`distant' Diaspora, but I dare predict that it will be on a smaller
scale. The reason is evident: the Diaspora (I hate this to sound
insulting) is less `literate' than Armenia when it comes to the mother
tongue.

I mean the following. All citizens of Armenia, including
non-Armenians, study the language, while in Diasporan communities the
study of the language is optional (unfortunately, only a minority
chooses it). In Armenia schools are really Armenian, that is, they
teach all subjects in Armenian - from history up to chemistry, while
in the Diaspora children attending Armenian schools use their mother
tongue only in studying the language proper, history and related
subjects.

In Armenia, written Armenian is an active language. The citizens of
Armenia write in Armenian most of their daily correspondence,
beginning from business contracts, bank receipts and court suits and
ending with letters and kids' scrawl on walls. Most of Diasporan
Armenians, even if they can write and read in Armenian, at best do so
out of their business activities, simply, to say so, for their
pleasure. There is one more problem, a change in the usual mode of
spelling would create more difficulty for those who write, rather for
those who read (for example, residents of Armenia can well read the
texts written with the use of old orthography). And, as residents of
Armenia not only read, but also write in Armenian more often than
their Diasporan compatriots.

In short, Armenian in Armenia is a state language, in the Diaspora -
it is not.

It obviously follows from what was mentioned above that to carry out a
spelling reform in Armenia is a much more difficult thing to do than
in the Diaspora. It would be so even if the new orthography was more
difficult than the classical one, but as it is, in fact, vice versa,
the complication gets tripled.


TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

Even if we agree that the 1922 spelling reform was a fatal error, then
to make an opposite step in Armenia today would be an awfully
difficult, not to say impracticable thing to do.

The change in the spelling of the state language in Armenia must be
carried out at once, at the state level, from top to bottom: more than
one orthography cannot be applied in a country. It means that all
citizens of the republic, in particular, all officials (from the
president and judges to the lowest-ranked policeman) must admit that
they are illiterate and begin studying an orthography alien to
them. No one can predict from what moment it will be possible to
consider that the country is already prepared for passing on to a new
orthography.

Meanwhile, in the `distant' Diaspora the reform can be made gradually,
implanting the new orthography in the course of years. The application
of two orthographies at a time is quite acceptable there. By the way,
this phenomenon already exists - many of those who left Armenia
recently use the new orthography, and there are even newspapers using
the new orthography there.


PSYCHOLOGICAL HANDICAPS

There will emerge no less serious psychological obstacles to the
re-establishment of classical orthography in Armenia. A considerable
part of Diasporan Armenians, at least those whose active language is
English or French, find it quite natural that there is no unequivocal
interconnection between the way a word is written and pronounced. For
example, a native speaker of English is used to spelling out a word
unknown to his interlocutor (in a letter-to-letter way) after dropping
it in a conversation. Meanwhile, an Armenian taught to write using the
new orthography has no need for any `spelling', the orthography he
knows makes it possible to decide the way the new word is to be
written in 99 cases out of 100. For this reason, the following
scenario can be predicted. When Armenia's Armenian hears the name of
the French city of Marseilles (Marsel in Armenian), he puts it down
without thinking, as he knows a clear rule: the sound [e] in an inner
position is always written with the corresponding letter `e' (`yech',
the 5th letter of the alphabet). The advocates of classical
orthography will tell him: so that you maintain ties with your
forefathers' high culture, from now on you must remember that the
sound [e] in this word must be written with the use of `e', the 7th
letter of the Armenian alphabet. Armenia's Armenian will naturally
protest: `For which of my sins do I have to cudgel my brains? What has
the city of Marseilles to do with Mesrop Mashtots?'



POLITICAL PROBLEMS

Let's consider the most formidable challenge - the political one. An
orthographic reform in Armenia can only be carried out according to a
decision made by its leadership - the President and Parliament, and,
unconditionally, only through a referendum. Obviously, new
difficulties besides those considered above will arise, and they will
immediately become a subject of active political speculations. For
example, it is not difficult to foresee the following. As we already
mentioned, along with other traps, the reform is a very expensive
pleasure to afford: first, teachers are to be retrained, then the
entire population of the country is to be taught anew; new literature
is to be printed in huge volumes; road signs, paper money, seals,
passports and other things bearing inscriptions are to be replaced by
new ones. What will be the source of financing this tremendous project
if Armenia cannot even afford to pay its officials decently? They say
that some philanthropists from the Diaspora have volunteered to
allocate funds to this effect. But as soon as someone just mentions
it, no doubt, there will begin a real storm in Armenia: `Don't we have
anything else to spend money on? People do not have enough to eat and
do not have proper clothes to wear, people are abandoning the country
and you're wasting huge money only to complicate our orthography.'
Only a leader inclined to political suicide will take the initiative.

Let's not forget another aspect of our reality - emigration still
looms large in the country as Armenians continue to abandon their
homeland. They leave, of course, in search of livelihood. But for
many of those leaving Armenia it has become something like itching,
they concoct all imaginable and unimaginable excuses to convince their
neighbors and themselves that Armenia `is the wrong place to live
in'. I have no doubts that the probable change in orthography will
give a fresh and drastic impetus to such sentiments. They'll say:
`Armenia is the only country that makes the lives of its citizens
miserable by means of complicating orthography. It's not a country to
live in.' And we will no longer be able to object to this. It will,
indeed, be the only such country in the world.


WE MUST RESPECT THE STATE

Hereby I could put a full stop to my arguments, but I find it
necessary to add another remark, probably the most arguable one.

I mentioned above that during the Bolshevist rule it was not only
Armenian that underwent an orthographic change. Four years before the
reform of Armenian orthography, in 1918, the Bolshevist government
also carried out a reform of Russian orthography, simplifying the way
of writing many words, abolishing a number of archaisms and even
excluding some letters from the alphabet.

Similarly, the reform in the Russian spelling system sparked off a
vigorous protest among the Russian Diaspora. However, hardly a decade
had passed that the Russian Diaspora put up with the new orthography,
and the Russian Church followed suit. The Russian Diaspora, which, for
sure, was no less opposed to the Bolsheviks than the Armenian
Diaspora, did not consider itself to be entitled to oppose the
decision of the then Russian State. Alas, the Armenian Diaspora was
less respectful of the contemporary Armenian State. The most painful
is that the Armenian Church acted the same way. And here is the result
- we still have no Holy Bible orthographically meant for an Armenian
living in Armenia. Even the latest Eastern Armenian translation was
printed with the use of classical orthography alien to the residents
of Armenia as if for maintaining the existing gap between the Church
and the public at large. The foreign sectarians, whose fast spread in
Armenia is a matter of widespread concern, take care not to make this
elementary mistake in their preaching strategy: it does not occur to
them to bring literature written in classical orthography to
Armenia. By the way, I retract my statement made at the beginning of
the article: there is at least one external force interested in our
orthography's remaining divided, namely, the sectarians.

From a political analyst's point of view, it is obviously the Diaspora
and the Church rather that the Armenian Government that committed a
fatal error for the simple reason that arguing with the state over
this issue is improper. It is possible to dispute a pending change,
but if the state has taken some step, it means that it is always right
ever since.

So, I urge my compatriots from the distant Diaspora and our Church
fathers to start writing Old Armenian applying the orthography that
has been used in the Armenian State by four generations of people, for
as long as 80 years now. It will be both a way to pay tribute to the
Armenian State and a contribution that can hardly be estimated in
monetary terms. Simply, we must admit one thing: it is the Republic of
Armenia that is, first of all, the center of Armenians.


--
Haroutiun Khachatrian is an economy and political analyst in Yerevan,
Armenia. He publishes articles in Armenian newspapers and on the
www.eurasianet.org site. He is the Editor-in-chief of the Noyan Tapan
Highlights weekly.

Edited by Arpa, 28 February 2005 - 12:34 PM.


#36 Harut

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Posted 28 February 2005 - 01:23 PM

QUOTE (nairi @ Feb 28 2005, 01:36 AM)
Hey thanks Sip!

I also found this a while back for the Armenian alphabet:

http://www.menq.am/tarer_main.htm

Yours is good in terms of vocab, mine in terms of sound. Great combination! smile.gif


very good site... but the word pronounciations didn't quite sound right... intonation, i should say... i seems they put the accent on the wrong syllable, not on the last one... sounded more like singing than speaking...

#37 nairi

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Posted 28 February 2005 - 03:35 PM

QUOTE (Harut @ Feb 28 2005, 08:23 PM)
very good site... but the word pronounciations didn't quite sound right... intonation, i should say... i seems they put the accent on the wrong syllable, not on the last one... sounded more like singing than speaking...


Yeah, I see what you mean. Sounds a bit like the intonation mothers have toward their young children. But the letter are fine, no? I was playing around with it for while making music smile.gif zh, zhe, zhamanak, zhe, zh, zhe, zhamanak, zhe, zhe, zh, zhe, zhamanak, zhamanak laugh.gif

#38 Verginne

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Posted 04 March 2005 - 10:15 AM

QUOTE (nairi @ Nov 25 2004, 05:23 PM)
Thanks Vava smile.gif

Iran01, I'll try next time. I'm afraid that if I edit my post now, the font will get lost. Maybe it won't, I don't know. Vava, wanna try? Otherwise do as Vava said, if you can. As for transliteration, okay, but the point is that you learn to do that by yourself smile.gif But I might for the next few lessons, just to make it easier. Meanwhile one correction in your transliteration:

we - menk

ե is pronounced as e in the middle of words as I wrote in my first post. Otherwise you got it right (if I made out your spelling correctly - some letters didn't come out right, but I'm assuming it's okay).

Oh and է is always pronounced as e, so "na e", not "na ye".

Edit: I changed almost everything to size 4.



I have a couple of Armenian fonts installed on my computer but where your Armenian letters are supposed to be I only see empty boxes. What else do I have to install in order for the letters to show up?

#39 Gor-Gor

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Posted 05 March 2005 - 05:15 AM

Arpa: Asdvadz im, don't get me started on the Soviet bastardization of Armenian orthography. Although I can read Armenian written with Soviet orthography perfectly well, it frustrates me to no end to see it. Every other word, I think to myself "WRONG!" *sigh* Poor huin...

#40 Arpa

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Posted 13 March 2005 - 04:56 PM

I had not read the above address by Harutiun Khachatrian in full.
Here are some highlights and comments.
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Who is this “himar”?
The best translation of “idiot”.
Note that “himar” is used in the Arabic to mean “ass/donkey”, not to forget the Armenian “hamarr/jamarr/yamarr”, obstinate/stubborn, usually attributed to mules/jackasses.


QUOTE
Haroutiun Khachatrian is an economy and political analyst in Yerevan, Armenia. He publishes articles in Armenian newspapers and on the www.eurasianet.org site. He is the Editor-in-chief of the Noyan Tapan Highlights weekly.


I am not sure if that is the way he spells his name, HarouTIUN rather than HarutYUN. It is curious that he uses the combination of I and U just as in the classical Armenian Ini-Hyun.



QUOTE
So far, mainly professional linguists have discussed the issue, i.e.  whether it was right or wrong to reject the classical orthography in 1922. I'll try to analyze the problem as a public-political rather
than a linguistic one, since the establishment of unified orthography
in Armenia and in the Diaspora is a political issue that eventually
will have to be solved by politicians.


Yeah! “professional linguists”. Let them speak while you stick to your profession of economics. Speaking of which; Where is that so called “economy” of your much admired overlords?


QUOTE
Paruyr Sevak used to say: in order to know Armenian perfectly, one must know four languages: Grabar (Old Armenian), Middle Armenian,
Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian.  It leads a non-professional to
the obvious conclusion: Ashkharhabar (Modern Armenian) and Grabar (Old
Armenian) are different languages (like, for example, Latin and
Italian, the latter being a descendant of Latin) and consequently, it
is not necessary that they should be written with the use of the same
orthography. That classical orthography is more difficult and does not
correspond to the current two Armenian languages is not new: it was
not without reason that its reform became an agenda issue still at the
beginning of the 20th century. The author of that reform (its initial
variant) was not at all a Bolshevik evildoer who negated the past
(often the reform of 1922 is branded as a `Bolshevik Conspiracy'). It
was Manuk Abeghian, who is considered to be the greatest specialists


It is ironic that he brings the Latin and Italian model. Even if Italian is to Latin as ashkharhabar is to grabar, is it not incumbent on him to show us how many versions of Italian orthography there is? Remember that over a hundred million speak and write in Italian. Compare that to about two million that read and write in Armenian. We have already spoken about the 5 billion that read and write in English.


QUOTE
From this perspective, the 1922 spelling reform (even if we consider it to be a fatal error) was carried out in a very convenient time when the sweeping majority of Armenia's population was illiterate.  Due to that circumstance, there was no need to conduct a mass reeducation campaign: most people simply began to write and read using the modified orthography only. Today, the situation is different, and like


Illiterate!!??
Yes!
When!?
Who!?


QUOTE
I mean the following. All citizens of Armenia, including
non-Armenians, study the language, while in Diasporan communities the
study of the language is optional (unfortunately, only a minority
chooses it). In Armenia schools are really Armenian, that is, they
teach all subjects in Armenian - from history up to chemistry, while
in the Diaspora children attending Armenian schools use their mother
tongue only in studying the language proper, history and related
subjects.


This is highly divisive and prejudicial. Brings to mind another diatribe that was directed towards the diaspora by that infamous Gevorg Abov who in his poem directed to the Dashnaks, “Menq Chenq Moratsel” (1944) writes these memorable words;

“Duq Dashnak shner,
Duq Hay geghjukin
Stipel eq choqwl
Ev ir sirtn i ver
Parpel mauser-
Ayd chenq moratsel.”


(Please! This is not to debate Dashnak vs whatever. The so called poet above used the “dashnak” designation as a substitute to “diaspora”.)

To which Andranik Zarukian replies in his “Tught ar Yerevan” (Letter to Yerevan). The most memorable lines;

"Karogh en mardik khakhtel lernerin,
U bazki uzhov sandzel geterin,
Bayts ove e karogh
Zhamanakneri vjir@ yeghdsel,
Ev dyutsaznutyan kabuyt erknqum
Shoghatsogh astghin varaguyr qashel..?”


What Haroutiun above is doing is nothing less than a call to war once again.


QUOTE
Even if we agree that the 1922 spelling reform was a fatal error, then to make an opposite step in Armenia today would be an awfully
difficult, not to say impracticable thing to do.


Here he speaks about the economic cost of reconversion.
Brings to mind the hot denbate of some years ago about the metrification of America. I should say metrification of the US, since all of America except the US is metric already. The arguments were from the ridiculous to the sublime when little old ladies would write to the editor lamenting; “but, how would I know how far NY is in if we change to kilometers, or how much would the package of meat be in grams and kilograms”? As if the distance and the quantity would change. The whole matter was handled so shabbily when they began to teach the children how many grams a pound is or how many miles a kilometer. Eventually the whole thing was dropped when industry lobbied and convinced those idiots in the congress that it would be economically devastating to retool and refurbish all the factories. And now. Who cares!? Nobody buys US manufactured goods anyway be they metric or else.
Is that what Mr. Khachatrian suggesting? Isolationism?
BTW. Why do they spell their surname as above while it is based on the patronymy of Khachatur?



QUOTE
Let's not forget another aspect of our reality - emigration still
looms large in the country as Armenians continue to abandon their
homeland.  They leave, of course, in search of livelihood. But for
many of those leaving Armenia it has become something like itching,
they concoct all imaginable and unimaginable excuses to convince their

Yeah! Emigration! Is anyone left in Yerevan?


QUOTE
So, I urge my compatriots from the distant Diaspora and our Church fathers to start writing Old Armenian applying the orthography that has been used in the Armenian State by four generations of people, for as long as 80 years now. It will be both a way to pay tribute to the
Armenian State and a contribution that can hardly be estimated in
monetary terms. Simply, we must admit one thing: it is the Republic of
Armenia that is, first of all, the center of Armenians.


“80 years”!!??
Is he suggesting that we forget the 1800 years of classical orthography?

Let’s close this with the closing words of Zarukian;

“Hey jan Yerevan,
Mi vayrkyani mej orov kanaches,
Tiezerqi dem parqov jajanches,
Mer artsunqi mej hogid janaches,
Hoqud zhpitov mer visht@ jnjes,
Ev pandukhtnerid hayreniq kanches..
Hey jan Yerevan...!!”





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