Sarkis11

In my previous post of July 20, 2011, I had said that Western Armenian had been compiled and systematized in Constantinople, today’s Istanbul, and that Eastern Armenian underwent the same process in Leningrad, Russia, and Tbilisi, Georgia. Well, it so happens that I had read about it long time ago, and didn’t remember the details very well. I just reread it again and realized I had made a mistake that I want to correct now. The main center for the making of Eastern Armenian was not Leningrad (St. Petersburg), as I had said earlier, but Moscow’s Lazarian Armenian Institute. Yes, no doubt that there were Armenian intellectuals in St. Petersburg, but the principal place was Moscow. The other more important centers were Tbilisi, in Georgia, and Astrakhan, in Russia, a city at approximately 1000 km from Armenia, near the Northern tip of the Caspian Sea. Apparently, the Lazarian Institute was founded in 1815 as a “gymnasium” (secondary school) by the Lazarian brothers —Lazarev in Russian— and in 1827 was transferred to the Ministry of Public Education and renamed Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages. At some point its curriculum was expanded to include an in-depth study of languages for higher grades. Between 1919 and 1920 it was renamed Armenian Institute, then Central Institute of Modern Oriental Languages, and finally Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies. In the 1930s, attendance shrunk dramatically, and the Institute was merged with the foreign language division of the more prestigious schools of Moscow. The Lazarian building is utilized at the present time as the headquarters for the Armenian Embassy of Moscow. In 2001 the Russian government honored the Lazarian Brothers and the Lazarian Institute with a postal stamp bearing the photos of Ivan Lazarian and of the school building. Many important Armenian writers and influential intellectuals were Lazarian Institute graduates. There are some articles about the Lazarian Institute that can be found easily in the Internet. If you can read Armenian, click on the “Armenian” link of the Wikipedia article because the content of the article in Armenian is a little more detailed than that of the English version.

In case anybody is contemplating using the free operating system Linux, but is wondering whether it will be compatible with the Armenian language, wonder no more: most distros (not all, but most) come with built-in Armenian keyboards that you can choose from a menu, and they don't have only the two layouts you see in Windows and Mac OS-X, but five layouts to chose from. The layouts available are the Eastern Papazian (from Windows), Western Papazian (from Windows), Armenia keyaboard, which is the one used most commonly in Armenia, and two phonetic layouts which are not bad. So, with a free operating system, without spending a single penny, you can write in Armenian right from the outset.

In the case of the airplane, the designation of “drone” has no relationship with the characteristics of the insect. In those days, 1920s and 1930s, De Havilland was code-naming its airplanes with insect names, such as Mosquito, Tiger Moth, Queen Bee, etc., for no special reason: it was completely arbitrary. This is a common custom in industry: people code-name their projects with words that often make no sense at all, just because the director of the division thought of it or his wife told him so, or it was their children's favorite pet. Among those airplanes they named their radio-controlled pilotless airplane “Drone.” By the time other companies began to make radio-controlled pilotless airplanes, the name had become a common noun and was being used by everybody to mean radio-controlled airplanes, and everybody called them “drones,” just like the last name of Charles Stent became the noun “stent.” There are many other examples that I can’t remember now. I am not sure that I would translate the word to other languages. Do you translate “Microsoft Windows”? Do you translate “OS-X”? Do you translate “Volkswagen”? But of course, if you did translate it, no matter what word you use, you would have to explain at length what you are referring to, because in other languages that word is not used for those airplanes. I would just call it “radio-controlled aircraft” instead of “drone” and translate that.

Հարցումիս պատասխանը գտայ Սովետական Հանրագիտարանին մէջ։ 4րդ հատորին մէջ (Է-Խ), էջ 255, Թուրքիայի «պատմական ակնարկ»-ին մէջ, հետեւեալը կ’ըսէ. «1569-ին թուրք. զորքերը պարտվեցին Աստրախանի մոտ, 1571-ն՝ Լեպանտոյի ծովամարտում։» «Լեպանտոյ»-ի բացատրութիւնը չկայ որպէս հանրագիտարանի զատ բառ, բայց գրութեան մէջ գործածուած է։ Եւ կարծես՝ 1922-ի ուղղագրութեամբ «մօտ»-ը «մոտ» կը գրեն։

What keyboard layout do you use for typing in Armenian? What do you like most about the layout you use? What do you dislike about it? Below is my keyboard layout. It is a mix of the old Olympia typewriter and a transliteration of the Latin characters according to my own taste, my own modification according to the original sounds, which is closer to the Eastern Armenian pronunciation. The punctuation signs remain where the English punctuation signs are in the QWERTY layout, which is what I like most, and some of the extra letters are placed in a relatively logical way according to the morphology: the փ is in the 4 because it looks like a handwritten 4, the ճ is in the 6 because it looks like a 6, and the շ is in the 7 because the capital Շ looks somewhat like a 7. The rest are either arbitrary, or similar to the "Olympia" or the "Armenia" layouts. The numbers are in the number pad and in the upper row with Right-ALT. This is my keyboard layout: 1) small case and capital (normal and Shift): ՝ ՜ օ Օ ձ Ձ խ Խ փ Փ ռ Ռ ճ Ճ շ Շ ղ Ղ և ( * ) - — էԷ քՔ վՎ եԵ րՐ տՏ ըԸ ւՒ իԻ ոՈ պՊ ջՋ ծԾ ՛ … աԱ սՍ դԴ ֆՖ գԳ հՀ յՅ կԿ լԼ թԹ ’ ‘ ցՑ զԶ չՉ ժԺ բԲ նՆ մՄ , « . » ։ ՞ 2) right ALT: µ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 _ = † ‡ € ՟ ⁂ ¥ § | { } [ ] \ ¶ $ ½ ¼ ¾ % ‰ ❁ £ “ ” ÷ × + − ± # ° < > / I never use the և, but I put it in just because it was there, and because someone else might want to have this same layout and like to have that letter. I am against fusing or mixing two letters in one. Do you have a any suggestions or objections? Any way to improve it? By the way, if anyone likes it and wants the keyboard definition files, I can send them; just send me a PM. Although, if you want to have fun making it yourself, you can make it easily with the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator for Windows or with Ukelele for the Mac. Both are free programs. The MLKC is a free download from Microsoft, and Ukelele is a third party freeware that can be found through Google.

And do not forget the other clown that set up the Macintosh "Mshtakan" font so that every time you type "ե" followed by "ւ," it automatically changes it to "և," and no matter what you do to change it, you cannot do it; even retyping it doesn't work. If I remember correctly, I think you can type them separately if you use a different font, but not with the default font of the Mac, which is the Mshtakan.

I see that in this thread people are using the words թրքահայերէն and ռուսահայերէն with mistaken meanings and as insults. I am not at all insulted when they tell me I speak Turkish Armenian, or someone else speaks Russian Armenian. Let me elaborate. As someone explained at the beginning, there were innumerable dialects all over the territories populated by Armenians. In the West, the people of Istanbul gathered all the dialects from the Western areas and systematized them in what is known today as Western Armenian. In the East, the Leningrad School gathered and systematized all the dialects from the Eastern areas. Keep this in mind: Istanbul and Leningrad, and a little bit from Tbilisi; not Yerevan, not Bourj Hammoud, not Aleppo, not Teheran, not Paris, not Hollywood, not Glendale. So because one comes from Istanbul, is called Turkish Armenian, and because the other comes from Leningrad is called Russian Armenian. Russian Armenian is not the slang of Yerevan or a mixture of Russian and Armenian; it is the Armenian language systematized in Leningrad. And Turkish Armenian is not the slang of Istanbul or Bourj Hammoud, nor is a mixture of Turkish and Armenian; it is the Armenian language systematized in Istanbul. Therefore the Armenians who speak Eastern Armenian, whether it is in Yerevan, Moscow, Teheran. Hollywood or Pasadena, are speaking Russian Armenian, and the people who speak Western Armenian, whether in Istanbul, Beirut, Aleppo, Glendale or Paris, are speaking Turkish Armenian. So there are պարսկահայեր, but there is no պարսկահայերէն. The language is either թրքահայերէն or ռուսահայերէն, or, with the politically correct names, արեւմտահայերէն and արեւելահայերէն։ There is nothing wrong with either one. They are both the same language. As Arpa said earlier, if you really know Armenian, you understand both languages when you read our poets or even our newspapers. Even though I cannot understand the slang of some people here in Glendale or Pasadena, I have no problem reading any Armenian authors from Yerevan, or newspapers or websites. It is the same language. The local slang and the mixing with local languages, be it Russian, Turkish, Farsi, Arabic, French, Spanish or English, are totally different issues. Those “languages” don’t have names; they are not Persian Armenian, Arabic Armenian, or Spanish Armenian. They are just local hybridizations within the colloquial use of people who don’t have a formal education in the language. It is merely circumstantial. If they went to school and learned the proper Armenian words, they would not mix the local languages with Armenian. Even though people often mean it as insults, I don’t feel insulted when someone accuses me of speaking Turkish Armenian. It is a perfectly valid variety of Armenian, as valid as Russian Armenian. Both varieties have outstanding literature. Both varieties are worth preserving and teaching to our children. To say that people who speak Turkish Armenian are lesser Armenians than the rest, or vice-versa, is not acceptable.

Even though five years have passed since the last activity on this thread, let me add something practical: Posting links to bookstore pages is not a good idea, because bookstores don't keep always the same links. Even before clicking on any of these links, I had a very strong suspicion that they would not work. Especially in the case of Abril, things must have changed after Harout's death (Oct 17, 2010). I used to always ask him about books and he would give me advice. He knew so much! He would tell me about books, concerts, lectures, conferences and various Armenian events. Harout was a great guy, we will all miss him. (Harout Yeretzian was the founder and owner of Abril Books)

Ոեւէ մէկը գիտէ՞ Lepanto ինչպէս կ’ըսեն հայերէն։ Բանի մը համար պէտք չունիմ. միայն հետաքրքրութեան համար է։ Եթէ մոռցած էք, յիշեցնեմ, որ ասիկա այն ճակատամարտն է, ուր արեւմտեան բանակը թուրքերուն յաղթեց, 1571-ին։ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lepanto Հայկական Սովետական Հանրագիտարանին մէջ զանազան կերպերով, ամէն մտքէս անցած կարելիութիւնները փնտռեցի, բայց չգտայ։

Ողջոյն քեզի, Աղբեր ջան՝ Թէեւ ասիկա հին խօսակցութիւն մըն է, երեք տարիներ անցած են վրայէն, հետաքրքրական գտայ եւ ուզեցի մասնակցիլ։ «Սիլֆայէն» տառատեսակը Windows-ի default հայերէնի տառատեսակն է։ Առանց որեւէ բան ընելու, ինքնաբերաբար այդ տառատեսակը կը գործածէ։ Հին Windows-ի մէջ դժուար էր նոյնիսկ ուրիշ տառատեսակով գրել, որովհետեւ Windows XP-ի առաջին տարբերակին մէջ, երբ մէկը Language Bar-ը հայերէնի փոխէր, անմիջապէս Սիլֆայէնի կը դարձնէր, եւ նոյնիսկ եթէ ուրիշ տառատեսակի փոխէիր, ստեղնաշարը գործածելու սկսածիդ պէս Սիլֆայէնի կը վերադառնար։ Ուրեմն, եթէ հին XP-ով ուզէիր ուրիշ տառատեսակ մը գործածել, պէտք էր նախ Սիլֆայէնով գրէիր, եւ ետքը «Select All» ընէիր եւ վերջացած գրութեան տառատեսակը փոխէիր։ Եթէ Language Bar-ը օգտագործելու տեղ KDWIN օգտագործէիր, այդ դժուարութիւնը չէիր ունենար։ Աւելի նոր Windows-ները այդպէս չեն, աւելի կատարելագործուած են աւ կրնաս ուզած տառատեսակովդ գրել։ Macintosh-ի մէջ հայերէնի default տառատեսակը «Մշտական» կը կոչուի։ Սակայն՝ եթէ ուզես Սիլֆայէնը զետեղել Macintosh-իդ մէջ, կարելի է զայս ընել, առանց տարբեր տեսակի մը վերածելու։ Ես ինքս այդպէս ըրի շատ դիւրութեամբ։ Windows-ի տառատեսակները Macintosh-ին մէջ կարելի է ուղղակի զետեղել առանց ոչ մէկ դժուարութեան, բայց հակառակը կարելի չէ, այսինքն՝ Macintosh-ի տառատեսակները Windows-ի մէջ զետեղել կարելի չէ առանց զանոնք Windows-ի փոխելու։ Ուրիշ բան մըն ալ ըսեմ. չեմ գիտեր թէ դուն ի՞նչպէս կը գրես եւ ինչ կը տեսնես քու պաստառիդ վրայ, բայց ես քու գրածներդ Սիլֆայէնով կը տեսնեմ, եւ վստահ եմ, որ բոլոր անոնք, որոնք Windows ունին, նոյնպէս Սիլֆայէնով կը տեսնեն եւ բոլոր անոնք, որոնք Macintosh ունին, Մշտականով կը տեսնեն։ Արդեօք դուն Macintosh-ո՞վ կը գրես։ Եթէ այդպէս է, հաւանաբար Մշտականով կը տեսնես քու պաստառիդ վրայ, բայց եթէ այդպէս ըլլար, Սիլֆայէնին գոյութեան մասին գաղափար պիտի չունենայիր նոյնիսկ։ Ի՞նչ է ասոր պատասխանը։ Կրցա՞ր հարցը լուծել։ Բարեւներ

Hello, In my previous post about the origins and development of Modern Armenian I should have mentioned the role played by the Armenian translation of the Bible by the American missionary Elias Riggs around 1850. Although many armenophiles criticized it harshly, especially people from the Loosavorchagan Church and the Mekhitarist Fathers, saying that it was not a good translation, that it was either Armenian with Turkish grammar or Turkish with Armenian words, and that it was merely an imposition of American imperialism, it was actually a very good translation, amazingly accurate as far as translations go, in popular language accessible to everyone and was made available to everyone. Every household had one, for many decades it was the only Armenian book that many could lay their hands on, it was the only textbook that schools and orphanages had, and many thousands of Armenians learnt Armenian through it. Many Armenians who knew only Turkish learned Armenian by reading and memorizing the Elias Riggs translation; people who couldn't even pronounce the Armenian letters and sounds, who had never even heard the Armenian language spoken, ended up very fluent and were able to read and write and compose poetry in Armenian. And other translations that came many decades later were not significantly better, if at all. The Nareg began to be translated from Grabar into Modern Armenian towards the late 19th Century, but the Nareg is a much more difficult book. It has a much richer vocabulary and the sentences are long and complex, with great profusion of figures of speech. The level of literacy required by the Nareg is at least 12th grade or better, and very few people can read it without having a dictionary at hand. The Elias Riggs translation of the Bible, on the other hand, is written in everyday language, easy to read and easy to understand. Then came some real textbooks, most notably the series by the brother-and-sister team Hrand and Zabel Asadour, called Tangaran, Nor Tangaran and their accompanying grammar books. Later many more were written in Beirut and other places. It would be a very incomplete history of the Armenian language one that doesn't mention this. Greetings

I think Arpa explained that part of your question very well. The same way you learn how to write English or any other language: by reading a lot and paying attention to the spelling. I have the same problem. After I left Armenian school at the age of 12, I didn't read or write Armenian for a good many years and forgot great part of the spelling. Now I am having a hard time remembering and relearning it. Often my friends from Middle Eastern countries laugh at my spelling errors, such as գայլ instead of քայլ, and similar misspellings, which change the meanings of phrases in very funny ways. Another thing I still have not mastered, is what names are male and what names are female. For example, I don't know whether some of the people in this forum are male or female, unless their names are very obvious and similar to English or Latin names or have the typical endings in -ուհի or -ոս. The only way to learn it is by reading a lot, speaking a lot and looking words up in dictionaries. Sarkis

Hello, I don't know how much of this is true and accurate, but this is what I have read: Written Armenian used to be only "Grabar" until very recently, that is, 18th Century, and spoken Armenian was composed of a multitude of local dialects, often unintelligible from one region to the other. Armenians from different regions could not communicate with each other in Armenian, and used either Turkish, Arabic, Farsi or Russian. Some didn't even speak Armenian at all, but the foreign language of their closest neighbors. When the persecutions against Armenians became more intense, a stronger sense of nationality was awakened and the need for a uniform contemporary language became apparent. People began to work on that in several places. The Constantinople School (Istanbul) began gathering linguistic materials from the Western areas of Anatolia and systematized something that eventually evolved into what we know today as Western Armenian, hence the name "Turkish-Armenian." This happened approximately in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries. At the same time similar efforts were carried on in Tiflis (Tbilisi), Georgia, and St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia, with the dialects of the Ararat region and surrounding areas. Eventually, the Leningrad School came up with what we know today as Eastern Armenian, hence the name "Russian-Armenian." Since the language spoken in the regions that comprise Armenia was more similar to the Leningrad variety, that was adopted as the official language of the country. The Tbilisi school also made great contributions to the systematics of the Eastern Armenian. It is interesting that the main impetus behind Modern Armenian was not from Erevan, but from Leningrad and Tbilisi for the Eastern language and from Istanbul for the Western language. That means both languages, Eastern and Western, are somewhat artificial and diasporic. This is the reason why all the literature in Modern Armenian starts in the 18th Century. Before that, everything was in Grabar. So to answer your question, on one hand, this phonetic corruption started with the persecution that caused the Armenians to lose their language and a new language was made up afterward, or rather two new languages, Eastern and Western; but on the other hand, the local dialects all over Armenia, Russia, Persia and Turkey were so different from each other, that there was no right and wrong way to pronounce things. Of course, I agree with you in that the original pronunciation was closer to the Greek and Latin, but I don't think there was a way to prevent the local changes of the sounds. My grandmother, who was from a little Armenian-speaking village at only 60 km from Istanbul, used to pronounce many words differently, more in line with the original sounds than with Modern Armenian, and I learned to pronounce them like her when I was little. I don't know how much we can blame the authors of these changes or corruptions of sounds, because they were some of the greatest writers and poets that existed in the Armenian language, and they gave us a language where there wasn't one. Remember that most people in Istanbul and the whole Western Anatolia didn't speak Armenian, but Turkish, and those who were able to go abroad to study, spoke French, German, Italian and English. It was very difficult for them to start speaking Armenian. And many on the Eastern side didn't speak Armenian either, but Russian, Farsi and Arabic. I hope I didn't make many factual errors, but as I said earlier, this is what I read. I have no way of proving or disproving the accuracy of this information. Greetings

Hello, As Yume and Vava said, often it is possible to install Windows fonts in the Mac OS-X, because many of the new fonts are OpenType, but even the older TrueType fonts can be installed. A friend of mine is converting many fonts to Unicode OpenType, so that they can be used both for Mac and Windows. Once he is done with it, he will make them available for free. When these fonts become available, I will post a notice and a link in this forum. In the meantime, if you see a font that you like in Windows, try it on your Mac: it may install without problems. I have done it even with older TrueType fonts, that were not OpenType. Some of them install without problems: once you double click on the font file and it opens with Font Book, you click on "Install Font" and it installs right away. Others may not install directly from your disk or your flash drive, and you may have to copy the file manually into the font library and then double click again and then click on "Install". Most of them install easily. I have encountered some fonts among the older ones, that Microsoft Word does not show in the list of fonts from the tool bar, but if you go into the "Format" menu and then into "Fonts", you find it and it works, but with the newer ones you won't have those problems. Sarkis

Yes, Ashot, you are right, I think it is a problem with my computer, because when I access the forum from my desktop computer at home, they look fine, all in a nice Sylfaen font. However, when I access the forum from my Toshiba laptop, the Armenian "r" appears much bigger, and I found out that it is in Verdana font, while the rest of the text is in Sylfaen. I just found this out now. I had never accessed the forum from home, from my desktop computer; it had been always from my laptop away from home and I had always seen the problem I described. I don't know whether it is a problem of the operating system, because at home I have Windows XP, but in my laptop I have Vista. Բարեւներ՝ Սարգիս