Classical Armenian

Classical Armenian
Գրաբար
Classical Armenian; Գրաբար
Old Armenian
Region	Armenian Highlands
Era	developed into Middle Armenian
Language family	Indo-European Classical Armenian; Գրաբար;
Early form	Proto-Armenian
Writing system	Armenian alphabet (Classical Armenian orthography)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	xcl
Linguist List	xcl
Glottolog	clas1249
Linguasphere	57-AAA-aa
	This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Classical Armenian (Armenian: գրաբար, romanized: grabar, Eastern Armenian pronunciation [ɡəɾɑˈpʰɑɾ], Western Armenian pronunciation [kʰəɾɑˈpʰɑɾ]; meaning "literary [language]"; also Old Armenian or Liturgical Armenian) is the oldest attested form of the Armenian language. It was first written down at the beginning of the 5th century, and all Armenian literature from then through the 18th century is in Classical Armenian. Many ancient manuscripts originally written in Ancient Greek, Hebrew, Syriac and Latin survive only in Armenian translation.^[1]

Classical Armenian continues to be the liturgical language of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian Catholic Church and is often learned by Biblical, Intertestamental, and Patristic scholars dedicated to textual studies. Classical Armenian is also important for the reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European language.

Phonology

Vowels

There are seven monophthongs:

/a/ (ա), /i/ (ի), /ə/ (ը), /ɛ/ or open e (ե), /e/ or closed e (է), /o/ (ո), and /u/ (ու) (transcribed as a, i, ə, e, ē, o, and u respectively). The vowel transcribed u is spelled using the Armenian letters for ow (ու) but it is not actually a diphthong.

There are also traditionally six diphthongs:

ay (այ), aw (աւ, later օ), ea (եա), ew (եւ), iw (իւ), oy (ոյ).

Consonants

In the following table is the Classical Armenian consonantal system. The stops and affricate consonants have, in addition to the more common voiced and unvoiced series, also a separate aspirated series, transcribed with the notation used for Ancient Greek rough breathing after the letter: p῾, t῾, c῾, č῾, k῾. Each phoneme has two symbols in the table. The left indicates the pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA); the right one is the corresponding symbol in the Armenian alphabet.

		Labial	Alveolar		Palatal	Velar / Uvular	Glottal
		Labial	plain	velar.	Palatal	Velar / Uvular	Glottal
Nasals		/m/ մ	/n/ ն
Stops	voiced	/b/ բ	/d/ դ			/ɡ/ գ
	unvoiced	/p/ պ	/t/ տ			/k/ կ
	aspirated	/pʰ/ փ	/tʰ/ թ			/kʰ/ ք
Affricates	voiced		/dz/ ձ		/dʒ/ ջ
	unvoiced		/ts/ ծ		/tʃ/ ճ
	aspirated		/tsʰ/ ց		/tʃʰ/ չ
Fricatives	voiced	/v/ վ	/z/ զ		/ʒ/ ժ
Fricatives	unvoiced	/f/ ֆ ^[a]	/s/ ս		/ʃ/ շ	/χ/ խ	/h/ հ
Approximants	lateral		/l/ լ	/ɫ/ ղ
Approximants	central		/ɹ/ ր		/j/ յ
Trill			/r/ ռ

^ The letter f (or ֆ) was introduced in the Medieval Period to represent the foreign sound /f/, the voiceless labiodental fricative; it was not originally a letter in the alphabet.^[2]

Numbers in Old Armenian


Number	Old Armenian	PIE
One	մի (mi)	sémih₂ < feminine of sḗm ("one")
Two	երկու (erku)	dwoy- < dwóh₁ (then fully re-elaborated)
Three	երեք (erekʻ)	*tréyes
Four	չորք (čʻorkʻ) քառ (kʻaṙ)	kʷtwr̥(s?) < zero-grade of kʷetwóres
Five	հինգ (hing)	*pénkʷe
Six	վեց (vecʻ)	suwéḱs < swéḱs
Seven	եօթն (eōtʻn)	*septḿ̥
Eight	ութ (utʻ) < proto-Armenian *owtu	*(h₁)oḱtṓw
Nine	ինն (inn) < proto-Armenian *enun-	h₁nuno- < zero-grade of h₁néwn̥
Ten	տասն (tasn)	*déḱm̥

Personal pronouns in Old Armenian


Pronoun	Old Armenian	PIE
I	ես (es)	*éǵh₂
You	դու (du)	*túh₂
He, she, it	նա (na) < no- նոյն (noyn) < no-ēn (adverbial suffix)	h₁nós ("over there") h₁nó-eyni- ("over there" +"that")
We	մեք (mekʻ) < *mes	*wéy
You (all)	դուք (dukʻ)	*túh₂ with pluralization suffix -k'
They	նոքա (nokʻa)	*h₁nós +pluralization suffix

The pluralization suffix -k', which since Old Armenian was used form the nominative plural, could be linked to the final -s in PIE *tréyes > Old Armenian երեք (erekʻ) and չորք (čʻorkʻ), which then can point to a pre-Armenian *kʷtwr̥s (< *kʷetwóres). Otherwise, it derives from the number "two", երկու (erku) and was originally used as a mark for the dual number.

There are no dual prefixes or dual plurals in Old Armenian.

Two examples of verb in Old Armenian

բերել (berel, "to bear")
Pronoun	Old Armenian	PIE
I	բերեմ (berem)	*bʰéroh₂
You	բերես (beres)	*bʰéresi
He, she, it	բերէ (berē)	*bʰéreti
We	բերեմք (beremkʻ)	*bʰéromos
You (all)	բերէք (berēkʻ)	*bʰérete
They	բերեն (beren)	*bʰéronti

կարդալ (kardal, "to write")
Pronoun	Old Armenian	PIE
I	կարդամ (kardam)	gʷr̥Hdʰh₁oh₂*
You	կարդաս (kardas)	gʷr̥Hdʰh₁ési*
He, she, it	կարդայ (karday)	gʷr̥Hdʰh₁éti*
We	կարդամք (kardamkʻ)	gʷr̥Hdʰh₁omos*
You (all)	կարդայք (kardaykʻ)	gʷr̥Hdʰh₁éte*
They	կարդան (kardan)	gʷr̥Hdʰh₁onti*

In the second and third person singular of the present, the pluralization suffix -k' can be noticed again instead of the final part of the original PIE ending. The first person suffix -em comes from the PIE suffix in athematic verbs *-mi.

An example of noun in Old Armenian

Nouns in Old Armenian can belong to three models of declinations: o-type, i-type and i-a-type. Nouns can show more than one model of conjugation and retain all cases from PIE except for the vocative, which merged with the nominative and the accusative. All the strong cases lost their suffix in the singular; by contrast, almost every weak case in the singular keep a suffix. The cases are: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, locative and instrumental. The o-type model shows an extremely simplified paradigm with many instances of syncretism and the constant use of the pluralization suffix -k' in the plural; not only do strong cases tend to converge in the singular, but most of the weak cases converge into -oy, perhaps from the PIE dative *-oey. There is no suffix for the dual number.

արտ (art, "field"), o-type
Case	Old Armenian (singular)	Old Armenian (plural)
Nominative	արտ (art) < PIE *h₂éǵros	արտք (artkʻ) < PIE *h₂éǵroes
Genitive	արտոյ (artoy) < *h₂éǵroey?	արտոց (artocʻ) < *h₂éǵroHom
Dative	արտոյ (artoy) < *h₂éǵroey	արտոց (artocʻ) < *h₂éǵromos
Accusative	արտ (art) < *h₂éǵrom	արտս (arts) < *h₂éǵroms
Ablative	արտոյ (artoy) < *h₂éǵroey?	արտոց (artocʻ) < *h₂éǵromos
Locative	արտ (art) < *h₂éǵrey/oy	արտս (arts) < *h₂éǵroysu
Instrumental	արտով (artov) < *h₂éǵroh₁	արտովք (artovkʻ) < *h₂éǵrōys

An example of adjective in Old Armenian

Adjectives in Old Armenian have at least two models of declension: i-a-type and i-type. An adjective, provided that it is not indeclinable, can show both models. Most of the declension show a great deal of syncretism and the plural shows again the pluralization suffix -k'. The instrumental plural has two possible forms.

երկար (erkar, "long")
Case	Old Armenian (singular)	Old Armenian (plural)
Nom.	երկար (erkar) < PIE *dweh₂rós	երկարք (erkarkʻ) < PIE *dweh₂róes
Gen.	երկարի (erkari) < *dweh₂rósyo?	երկարաց (erkaracʻ) < *dweh₂róHom
Dat.	երկարի (erkari) < *dweh₂róey	երկարաց (erkaracʻ) < *dweh₂rómos
Acc.	երկար (erkar) < *dweh₂róm	երկարս (erkars) < *dweh₂róms
Abl.	երկարէ (erkarē) < *dweh₂réad	երկարաց (erkaracʻ) < *dweh₂rómos
Loc.	երկարի (erkari) < *dweh₂réy/óy	երկարաւք (erkarawkʻ) < dweh₂róysu երկարօք (erkarōkʻ) < dweh₂róysu
Instr.	երկարաւ (erkaraw) < *dweh₂róh₁	երկարս (erkars) < *dweh₂rṓys

The adjective "long" shows the same sound changes of the numeral "two": PIE *dweh₂rós / *dwoy- > erkar / erku.

Sources

Adjarian, Hrachia. (1971–9) Etymological Root Dictionary of the Armenian Language. Vol. I – IV. Yerevan: Yerevan State University.
Meillet, Antoine. (1903) Esquisse d'une grammaire comparée de l'arménien classique.
Thomson, Robert W. (1989) An Introduction to Classical Armenian. Caravan Books. (ISBN 0-88206-072-4)
Godel, Robert. (1975) An Introduction to the Study of Classical Armenian. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag (ISBN 9783920153377)

References

^ "Armenian Language Program | Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations". nelc.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2023-03-26.
^ Dum-Tragut, Jasmine (2009). Armenian: Modern Eastern Armenian. John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 18. ISBN 9789027238146. Retrieved 19 May 2021.

External links

Classical Armenian Online by Todd B. Krause and Jonathan Slocum, free online lessons at the Linguistics Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin
New Dictionary of the Armenian Language (Nor Bargirk Haekazian Lezvi, Նոր Բառգիրք Հայկազեան Լեզուի), Venice 1836–1837. The seminal dictionary of Classical Armenian. Includes Armenian to Latin, and Armenian to Greek.
Pocket Dictionary of the Armenian Language (Arrdzern Barraran Haekazian Lezvi, Առձեռն Բառարան Հայկազնեան Լեզուի), Venice 1865 (second edition).
New Dictionary Armenian-English (Նոր Բառգիրք Հայ-Անգլիարէն), Venice, 1875-9.
Grabar Dictionary (Գրաբարի Բառարան), Ruben Ghazarian, Yerevan, 2000.
Grabar Thesaurus (Գրաբարի Հոմանիշների Բառարան), Ruben Ghazarian, Yerevan, 2006.
A grammar, Armenian and English by Paschal Aucher and Lord Byron. Venice 1873
Brief introduction to Classical Armenian also known as Grabar
glottothèque – Ancient Indo-European Grammars online, an online collection of introductory videos to Ancient Indo-European languages produced by the University of Göttingen