No East Nor West

[Arpa]

East v West.

Ther is no East Nor West.

 

Ther is a hymn that is sung in some Protestant churches.

Below the first stanza.

 

In Christ there is no East or West,

In Him no South or North;

But one great fellowship of love

Throughout the whole wide earth.

 

You can see and hear the rest here;

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/c/iceaswes.htm

 

Another memorable poem that has quote my attention is this by M. Beshiktashlain. The title is Eghbayr Emq Meq (grabarakharn), it is translated as We Are Brothers.

 

Here it is; Translation may be forthcoming if necessary.

 

I byur dzaynits bnutyan shqegh

Te ergq trchin siroghabar,

Matounq kousin amenagegh

Te vor zarnen papouk qnar,

Chounin dzayn mi aynqan siroun,

Qan zandzkali Eghbayr anoun

 

Tour indz dzerq@d, eghbayr emq menq

Vor mrrkav eyinq zatvats,Bakhdin amen vokh charaneng,

I mi hambuyr tsrvin i bats.

@nd ategoq inch ka siroun?

Qan zantskali Eghbayr anoun.

 

Erb alevor Mayrn Hayastan

Tesne zordis iur qove qov,

S@rtin khorunk verq@n dazhan

Qaghtsr artasvats bouzhin tsoghov.

@nd asteghoq...

 

Mektegh latsinq, menq i h@noum...

Ekeq dartsyal har anbazhan,

Kharnenq zartosr ev zkhndoum,

Vor bazmadznund @lla mer jan.

@nd asteghoq...

 

"Tour indz dzerq@d eghbayr emq menq vor mrrkav eyinq zatvats".

 

Give me your hand, we are brothers thrown asunder by the storm.

Brothers, cast asunder by tempest.

 

In Armenian there is no east nor there is west. There is only one Armenian tongue. There are only regional variants, just as any other languages. There is NY English and there is Alabama English, there is London English and there is Sidney English, there is African English and there is Indian English. Arabic has dozens of regional "dialects" sometimes unintelligible to the uninitiated. The only difference between those above and the Armenian language is that when any of the above is written one cannot distinguish the difference except for very subtle telltale signs, but when Armenian is written then all hell breaks loose.

Until a short time ago this was not the case.

Can you tell in which vernacular is the following written?

 

Tsit@ gnatz banjari,

Banjar cheghav khot eghav,

Khoti takin tsit eghav,

Tslvlalen durs trav,

Tsit@ trav geranin,

Kanach khot@ beranin.

 

It is by H. Toumanian one of the giants and archtects of the Eastern Lietarutre.

 

The Armenian language is comprised (I will not say "divided") of two major families, namely the "K@" family and the "Oum" family. The latter will say "groum em" and the former- "k@ grem". They have both evolved from the same "mother tongue", the Grabar. What I found surprising as you also will is that one of the two offshoots prcedes the other.

 

Guess again!

 

Each of the linguistic families evolved from the classical, grabar, each incorpotaring the provincial vernaculars within their geographical vicinities.

Her is the surprising part. Literary Western Armenian, Arevmtahay Grakan Lezou had already shown signs of evolution from the classical as early as the 12th c. At first it had many foreign elements which were subsequently dropped and replaced with native Armenian. The process took a long time until the Mkhitarists gave it its literary character which was eventually picked up the likes of Peshiktashlian, Baronian, Durian, Varouzhan et al. In contrast Arevelahay Grakan Lezou (Literary Easter Armenian) had to wait several centuries, while in the meantime there was no such thing. There really was not a so called literary eatern Armenian with the exception of very few, the likes of Zacharia Agouletsi who wrote (Oragrutyun) in a common eastern vernacular, the majority of literature being written (by and for the clergy) in classical/grabar. In fact this phenomenon was evident until the incorporation of Eastern Armenia into the Russian Empire (1828). Then came the likes of Abovian(1809-1848), who in defiance of all began writing in the common vernacular. The rest is history as the adage goes. It was a painful and difficult process but nevertheless it was pick up by the likes of M. Nalpantian (1829-1866), the process was successful in totally eveloving from the Grabar, and eventually rdding of crude provincial idioms was further developed by the likes of Raffi, Aghayan, Toumanian, Terian, Shirvanzadeh, Ishakian, and of course further crystllaized by the likes of Bakunts, Charents and Sevak.

 

So!

Which one is the lingua franca?

 

Let us go back to that hymn.

"In Christ there is no east or west".

Do we need a Christ?

Do we have a Christ ?

Will Kocharian unite us or Kerrkorian?

Will Toumanian or Varouzhan?

Will Garegin II of Ejmiatsin unite us or Aram I of Antelias?

Will Manukian of Jeruslame or Mutafian of Istanbul?

 

How about our own Christ Haik?

After all his name, the plural of Hai means ALL ARMENIANS.

 

Then let us sing that hymn again, this time;

 

In Haik there is no east or west,

In him no south or north.

 

No! No! Please!

:)

 

I am not a candidate for catholicos or king, I have enough trouble trying to figure my tax returns.

In the words of Pres. Lyndon Johnson; "If nominated I will not run, if elected I will not serve".

 

:)

Edited April 5, 2005 by Arpa