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Spot the Armenian word


Twilight Bark

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Due to the underwhelming response, let me just give the answer.

It is ururu <--> oror

 

5000 years ago, Sumerian mothers were using the same word for lullaby as Armenian mothers today. To my knowlegde, with the possible exception of Basque, there is no other language that has this word.

 

After the "oror", the Sumerian mother would be woken up by the hungry cries of her baby and give "ga" to her baby. Sounds familiar?

 

It just shows how ancient some of our cultural and ancestral roots are.

 

Twilight Bark

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anshu <--> esh

 

The "n" in anshu is thought to be "soft", although nobody has heard a Sumerian speak.

Same applies for "u" at the end (just like the "u" at the end of "ururu", or "Aramu" in the Assyrian archives referring to Aram.)

 

It means donkey or ass. Yes, if you think "ass" sounds related to esh, you are right; it is an "indo-european" word. This is one example of an "important" indo-european word showing up in an unlikely place, much earlier than indo-europeans showed up in history. The significance for Armenians is that such words give more credibility to the theory that indo-european origins lie a lot more to the south than self-centered Europeans have thought.

 

Anyway, having enjoyed his donkey rides, the boy now has reached the age when he has to go to "e-dub-a", where he will learn to write, and print "dub"s. The word "dub" is the one of interest, and produced (or contributed to) several loosely related words in Armenian. Again, when trying to link a language from 5000 years ago to the words used today one has to use some imagination (or trained ears, which come later). Now, can you find at least two Armenian words that come from "dub"?

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quote:
Originally posted by Harut:
in Armenian it should be "dpir", meaning "gir".
from the word "dpir": dprots, dprutyun, etc.



Excellent, Harut.
"Dub" in Sumerian means "tablet". The Armenian words for schooling, as well as printing sound very similar to this word. I wonder if there are any other languages that share this. The word "tablet" or "table" (as in a big, flat object) probably also comes from the Sumerian "dub" via "indo-european". Certainly casts doubt on the whole "indo-european homeland in the Russian steppes" theory of European linguists. I don't mean to say that Sumerians were indo-european, but it seems that they must have intermingled with the early indo-european speakers; and they did not trek to the untamed, chilly steppes to do that.

Unfortunately for the Sumerian boy, he flunked out of school, and became a "gir". Well, his line of job was not exactly cerebrally intense. Can you guess what this "career" could be?
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quote:
Originally posted by Thorny Rose:
One fast question - does "mashat" mean cemetery, grave-yard, etc., in Armenian?

[ November 03, 2001: Message edited by: Thorny Rose ]



"mashat"???
i don't recall anything like that.
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quote:
Originally posted by wh00t:
Off-topic: Are Bolsetsis the only ones to use "chidem" as an alternative to "chem kider"?


i'm sure it is use in many "barbar"s.
for example in Gyumri.

btw, in Eastern Armenian it would be "chgitem". take out "g" when speaking fast and you'll get "chidem".
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quote:
Originally posted by Twilight Bark:

Unfortunately for the Sumerian boy, he flunked out of school, and became a "gir". Well, his line of job was not exactly cerebrally intense. Can you guess what this "career" could be?



is it "gogh"???
pretty dangerous "career"
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