Srika!!

[Arpa]

SRIKA!!!

 

I called Rubo a SRIKA.

I also gave the clue when I used the phrase; "You stole my thunder"!

Commonly we use the word to mean "rogue/rascal", and in general a person of low moral value, a shameless low creature.

It seems we are not far off the target. Isahakian quotes Abu'l Ala Al Maari when he says; "Srika e na or hayr e linum".

It may be that Avetik was paying a long overdue debt using that word in the context of the work of a poet who wrote in Arabic. Yet he does not really impart the real original root meaning of the word. I don't know what word Maari may have used but Isahakian gets the message across loud and clear condemming all those who cause the birth of a child to this miserable world. He may have also hit the nail on the head, even if inadvertantly, since "srika" seems to have been borrowed from the Arabic language(It may well have been Assyrian/Aramaic). It is a variation of "sarraq/sarraqa" which even today is used to mean "thief", gogh, avazak.

Why was this word so readily absorbed from the Arabic during our intimate contact with them in the 8th and 9th centuries?

Who was in the habit of calling the other SRIKA, sarraq, gogh, avazak???

[564312]

Arpa I want to ask why u say that srika word was adapted from Asurian or Aramaic I think it’s the other way around. Actually you can find Armenian word traces in many languages, Hindu, English, French even Chinese. In the Anglo-Saxon chronicle it says “ Part 1: A.D. 1-748 The island Britain is 800 miles long, and 200 miles broad and there are in the island five nations; English, Welsh, (or British) Scottish, Pictish, and Latin. The first inhabitants were the Britons, who cam from Armenia and first peopled Britain southward……” Read Movses Khorenaci to know accurate Armenian History I am sure you have read Vahagni snund@.

 

I love Byron and unlike the popular scientific beliefs of today he wrote about Armenia & Armenians I already posed this letter but I want to post some of it again.. “It would be difficult, perhaps, to find the annals of a nation less stained with crimes than those of the Armenians, whose virtues have been those of peace and their vices those of compulsion. But whatever may have been their destiny - and it has been better - wathever it may be in future, their country must ever be one of the most interesting on the globe; and perhaps their language only requires to be more studied to become more attractive. If the Scriptures are rightly understood it was in Armenia that Paradise was placed, Armenia, which has paid as dearly as the descendants of Adam for that fleeting participation of its soil in the happiness if Him who was created from its dust. It was in Armenia that the flood first abated. and the dove alighted.

But with the disappearance of Paradise itself may be dated almost the unhappiness of the country, for though long a powerful kingdom, it was scarcely ever an independent one, and the satraps of Persia and the *****s of Turkey have alike desolated the region wheri God created man in his own image".

[Arpa]

Please explain "Britons, who came from Armenia" part. I have also heard that the Celts came from Asia Miinor etc. I have yet to see conclusive extensive and independent account of that.

I must remind you that you are speaking to one the world's most unabashed chauvinist. No, that is not a dirty word as some crack philosophers on this forum may want you to believe. I have stated on numerous occasions that when a word or any cultural trait is common to Armenian and other languages it is most probably Armenian. However many words have been lost to us and have been preserved in other languages, most often in the Persian languages. The reason why our etymologists shy away from claiming ownership.

As to my assertion that it may be from the Assyrian or the Aramaic, besides the fact that you ignored my reference to Arabic, you may have a point. First off, Arabs boast of having one the world's most extensive language, that they may have over a hundred words for the camel and others, they are right, their language is huge for a reason. From everywhere they went, every country and culture they conquered and dominated they virtually totally absorbed and adopted the culture and language, they enriched their vocabulary, it may not be an exaggeration to say that a great portion of the Arabic language is from Aramaic and Assyrian(both being Semitic). I wish we could say the same about us. (But that is another subject that I may address some day).

When I said that it may be from Assyrian I was writing from memory and I was hazy only knowing that I would be safe in assuming that. See above.

And now I had to go to the source and confirm my assertion.

The article is found at the end of the Aramatakan under the topic of Haykakanq (Armeniaca)as an addendum. "Srika" is one of a few that had to be added as Ajarian had either totally missed or he had given inadequate or erroneous information.

Here is what he has to say;

Srika:(translation in quotes below)

"Erek tari araj @nker Gevorg Jahoukian@ indz arajarkel er.... Three years ago @nker Gevorg Jahoukian suggested that I interpret this word as from Assyrian since most Armenian words that end in -ay(aj)are. I had originally ascribed the word to Arabic because it is reminiscent of "sariq" (Arabic thief). At that time I had not found the corresponding Assyrian word. Indeed, in the Armenian words that end in ay(aj) are usually loaned from the Assyrian, words like tgha, katsa, shghta, tzntzgha, shuka, satana and qahana(this last one is interesting, I may write about it sometime, me, Arpa). In Brockelmann's Assyrian dictionary we find the root word 'sraq' which is transleted to mean 'to loot' (koghoptel. It is also juxtaposd with the Arabic word 'srq' 'to steal' (goghanal). Under this root word are also mentioned synonyms like Ass. 'sriqa' 'vain' (zour) and 'empty/vain' (ounayn), as well as 'suraqa' 'voluntary poverty' (kamavor aghqatutyun, i.e. self depravation). In my original bararan I had derived all these words from the root word of 'zourk' (needy, deprived). Now I realize that that interpretation was wrong and I was misled by the Asyyrian sense of 'ounayn'. The Assyrian word 'sriqa' totally covers the Armenian meaning of the word that denotes 'datarkaport, gogh, avazak' (vainglorious, braggard, thief and robber)." End of quote.

 

As to Vahagni Tsund@. Yes I have read it, I may even have written about it here. " Na hour her ouner, Bots ouner morous, Ev achkounqn eyin aregakounq". The fact that Khorenatsi takes poetic license and decribes him as having red hair does not mean we are the ancestors of every one with red hair. Yes, there are red haired Armenians, both of my brothers have blond hair and blue eyes, I don't. The fact that Sevak (black eyes) is a popular name does not make us trademark holders of that trait either, neither does Hrachya (fire eyes) mean that they have orange, flame colored eyes. The only people with pink, flame colored eyes are albinos. BTW. I am sure you know that Vardkes means "rose colored (red)hair".

 

I can tell you are a great admirer of Byron. Rightfully so. You are not alone, you are not the only incurably narcissistic Armenian who are ready to call god any one who says even one nice word about us. This is not the proper subject topic to address that. I must warn you, you will not like what I have to say about the subject. Suffice it to say that that letter by Lord Byron would make an excellent tapanagir, en epitaph, you know, those nice words that we inscribe on the gravestones of the dearly departed. No wonder. We were almost "dearly departed" in those days and if things keep up/down we may be "dearly departed" again in the near future.

[15levels]

564312, could I ask you to tell me where did you take that quote from Byron, I need exact refference, if possible. Many thanks, and nice to meet you.

[15levels]

Arpa, its no shame to take pride in our achievments but still remain realistic and objective to our own faults and flaws. Armenians are talented people who contributed a lot to the world' culture, so it makes me proud (yes, proud) to read such admiration from one of the greatest poets of all times.

 

Lets separate dirt from the gold. We got plenty of both.

 

Regards,

 

Rouben

[Arpa]

Hello Rouben,

Once again you fail to seen who the author of the above quoute is.Of all the forumers I always try to bring the positive about us. You may go to my profile and see what I have written. As I said previously I may be one of the most incurable chauvinists. If what you say is true and you believe so then you owe us and explanation as to why 90 percent of us are stuck at the Genocide and are obssessed and paralyzed by its wake. How many Daniels and Siamantos have we produced since, how many Arams and Armens? Granted, we have produced Sevaks and Charentses but you will notice that they are all natives of Erevan Province. What have we accomplished in the Diaspora, specially in the arts and sciences since?

It is time we got off our big fat buffs and live and produce rather than hide behind our tragedies and blame our sterility to events that we had no control over. I lied again. We had a lot of control over our destiny but we let them happen regardless, perhaps so we can weep and lament, something we have become masters of.

[15levels]

Hi Arpa. Well, you probably can see that some Armenians in the diaspora have achieved a considerable amount of fame, its not like the whole race fell into the river of darkness and oblivion. Talent is something which is coded in the genetics somehow, and I still insist that there is a lot of talent in Armenia itself as well as in the diaspora. The problem is that we do not work together, we sabotage each other efforts and fail all together. Its very rarely that we see examples of the opposite behavour. For example, someone got talent in arts or music- those who have connections or ability to promote it, stimulate it, should do so. Too often it's just selfish behavour and nothing else. But then, how do you cultivate such thing in nation? So we got funds like Gulbenkian and AGBU, but how many talented Armenians fail to receive any support from anybody, especially in Armenia proper?

 

The other issue you touched is suffering the consequences of events we had no control of. The ghost of the genocide is never gonna leave until Armenian achieve some sort of acknowlegment and apology. Yes, it blocks the development of the nation on the large scale, but could it be otherwise? The modern history of Armenia (and the big chunk of the ancient one) is a history of suffering. We have to solve the biggest problems we have until we can cure the pshyco of the nation. Thats what I think.

 

ps. btw, WHO IS the autor of above mentioned quote, are you saying Lord Byron never wrote that and if yes, who did?

 

[ December 05, 2002, 09:17 AM: Message edited by: Rouben Malayan ]

[564312]

Nice to meet you Ruben I see you are from Tel Aviv you must be accustomed to all the bombs how is life. The Lord Byron letter I’ve found it @ www.iatp.am/byron/hope you find it informative and yes it is written by Byron himself u can buy the book too.

 

Arpa regarding the Britons who came from Armenia..i think there is a book about this published in 1914 Constantinople by a British writer ( I can’t remember his name I'l get back to you) saying how Brits were originated from Armenia if you won’t to check out more u can visit this web site. www.postroman.info/anglo_saxon/chronicle1.htm. Regardless of any cynicism there is no other country named Armenia Arpa is there?

 

You got your “unabashed chauvinist” opinion which is perfectly fine, I suppose.

You make me laugh eh why not; we are a little nation so lets just nullify whatever little great, pure and heavenly we have. Lets just bulldoze what is secret to us just like Turks destroying thousands Armenian Churches under the pretense of “restoration”. Who needs Narekaci & Khorenaci, Tumanyan & Isahakian, Ara Gegecik, Sasunci Davit, Vahagni Cnund. OHH NO they are mere “poetic licenses” no accurate information at all, lets just go into the Arab & Aramaic dictionary to check its origins.

 

Yes like you said we needs new accomplishments why we already have one the genius Egoyan, who needs to know about Hamo Beknazarian when we got modern artists. The next best accomplishment will be to queen you as the CAK PROFESSORNERI queen.

A great poet who was not Armenian said and phrased our country more then thousands of Armenians combined and Byron is not the only one, there are Russians, Europeans, even Blacks fascinated about our culture and history. Bayc menk ekek kacov tank mez there are international musicians trying to find the mysterious notes of Komitas and still can’t. I can go on talking about our “old accomplishments” but it is not necessary for you anyways.

 

Regarding you analyzing about eyes of Vahagn & Sevak – when was Sevak born and when was Vahagn born? There is such thing as time, Before Sevak was born Armenians already have assimilated with many neighboring nations. Thus we have many Sevaks and les Vagni achker hahaha. I think I am going to give you a heart attack --> Abraham the father of Hebrews was Armenian too.

 

Why am i even saying all this. It won’t sink in to your understanding. I guess it hurts me when I hear such things. I grew with Armenian literature & legends with the bread I ate, I saw Ararat from my balcony every morning before the polluted Yerevan fog set in & I loved eating Tut.I miss all that and I wish I could take you back with me to those days so your could feel what I felt.

[Harut]

just completely off topic...

 

56-43-12

 

is this your telephone number in Yerevan?

[Harut]

Arpa, to comment on your post in the Ecomony forum...

 

you see the negative aspects of our excellent ability of adoptting to surrounding world.

 

but many see it as a positive thread.

 

unfortunately, you are too few in numbers and too weak to dictate our will and spread our influance on others. (((other - otar ??? how about you write a little on this subject.)))

 

until we can stand on our feet by ourselves and have a saying in this world, we have to adopt to others' ideas, or else we would be lost in our own world. i think the time of the opportunity has come with the independance of ROA. let's see when we'll take some action.

 

at last, as the saying goes:

"kheloqner@ harmarvum en ashkharhin, himarner@ ashkharhn en irents harmaretsnum."

but on the other hand, at the end "himarner@" are the ones happy and satisfied.

[Harut]

Arpa, you are right, as i thought about it a little more.

the adoptivity has become a nasty habbit for us. even at the time, when the opportunity comes to our doors itself, we choose to listen instead of dictating.

 

i guess we are "otaramor" by definition.

[15levels]

Hi 564312, nice to meet you too. I might live in Tel Aviv but I am yerevantsi, just like yourself, loving tut and zmeruk, plus of course our famous mountain Fuji (or am i confused... Which school did you go to btw?

 

ps. ah yea, about the bombs. you get used to it.

[564312]

Ruben shat urakh em canotanalu harevn Yerevancu het. Vonc ek Vonch check?

haha Fuji..?mmm i don't remember maybe it just grew, have to check it out.

I went to Proshiani Anvan #15 dproc@ cackac shukaic verev@ depi Surb Sarkis Ekegecu mot gites? It used to be half Armenian half Azerbaijani school in Soviet time afterwards it became all Armenian. Which school did you go to?

[564312]

Ruben after I asked what school you went I found that u have a web site. Your web site, it’s wonderful. You have an interesting hand I specially loved the lilies naturmort..very subtle colors. Photo portraits are very expressive, photos inside St. Gayane echoes melancholy . This is incredible my sister and brother went to Terlemezian too. Have you heard the name Martin Petrosian? the old painter not the young one.

[Harut]

tsavoq srti yes khul u hamr em. MosJanin hartsra, yes ir het mi qani angam herakhosov khosel em.

 

es el er indz ughghgvats? yete ayo, ban chhaskats. mi angam el portsi batsatrel?

[Arpa]

The author I wa referring to is me, I wasa urging you read (again) my previous post.

As to the acheivement of the Diaspora in the field of arts and sciences, not finance, that is another sore subject, it is a separate topic. I may get to it sometime.

[Arpa]

I have been intending to write about that subject specailly in the light of what was being said about "intermarriage". It is a huge subject and I need more time as I have not read everything that was said in that topic.

I must warn you though, and I must warn the general audience, you may not like what I have to say.

In the meantime, you may mull over a couple of not so rhetorical questions; When is the last time anybody became Armenian? How many Armenians have alienated and denied their ethnicity? How many Armenians have become Turks? How many Turks have become Armenian? How many Turks speak Armenian? How many Armenians speak Turkish? You may remember my comments about "assimilation" and "alienation". Read them again. You will find them under my profile.

[Azat]

Arpa jan, we like 99.99% of what you have to say. Fire away.

[MJ]

I think much of the content of this thread goes into the heart of the notion of "set of symbols" substituting the Armenian history and, more importantly, the future of Armenia.

 

It seems that for many the history of Armenia is identified with a number of symbols - legends - myths, which are frequently even taken out of the context of the reality.

 

This obsession with symbols is indicative of the absence of the sense of present. About 150 years ago these symbols did a good job in the context of the awakening of the nation.

In our days these symbols are equivalent of drugs denigrating the national consciousness and sending the receivers into a deep denial of reality, part of which is formulated through the rhetoric questions in Arpa’s note above.

 

I say drug therapy is a good thing as painful as occasionally it may be…

[sen_Vahan]

"at last, as the saying goes:

"kheloqner@ harmarvum en ashkharhin, himarner@ ashkharhn en irents harmaretsnum."

but on the other hand, at the end "himarner@" are the ones happy and satisfied."

 

I am not sure himarner' irenz en harmareznum ashxarh@. harmareznelu hamar petk e khelk ev bazki ug:

And to have a saying in the world one needs not only a brain in the head but also a strong sword(at least).

[564312]

Ha harutik im tan hamarn a mi hat kzanges ko khelok zen@ lcem?

 

Pfffffffff why would I be more in topic if I was personified here with woman’s name?

Lav jugi ape jan karoga mi kani hat achokner havakes Arpaic

[Azat]

Arpa, When you write about Armenians and foreigners please put a line or two about the Russian, Greek, Persian, Turkish singers who sing Armenian songs. And about the Armenian morons who sing Russian, Greek, Persian, Turkish songs and melodies and call it Armenian. And the idiot public who buys it.

 

Oh sorry, did I say morons, I meant to say morons. Wow I can't call them anything else but morons.

[MosJan]

Azat Hangstatsy !!!

 

voroshel em yete es .com gorts@ lav chlini mot apagayum yes el @sksem yergel / de gites Barsegyan kam Akhtamar teri vra vertsnor en enpes vro manavand Hndkakan yergornerin ban chases / yerav ???

[Azat]

Movses, karogha kamancha nvaghoxi petkutun unenas? Gone yes chans kunenam tsanotanal aid sirun Hay blond axchikneri het vor bolor yerqichneri het parum en, yete qo xumbi mech masnaktsem.

 

Okay, I know I talk too much. sorry.

[MosJan]

lava hishetsretsir et axchikneri moment@ moratsel eyi

 

Qyamancha ??? hmm ha inchu che - Electronic Qyamancha mi hat ar / dzeri het el duduk nvagel sovori - shabat kiraki k@gnanq Forest Lown - dzeri het gerezmani gorts anenq -

 

Aper kpav