View source for Armenian language

{{Short description|Indo-European language}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Armenian
| nativename       = {{lang|hy|հայերեն}}{{efn|name=classical}}
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|hy|hɑjɛˈɾɛn||Hɑjɛɾɛn.ogg}}
| states           = {{Plainlist|
* [[Armenia]]
* [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] (including [[Abkhazia]]{{efn|name=Abkhazia| {{Abkhazia-note}}}})
* [[Iran]]
* [[Turkey]]
}}
| speakers         = {{sigfig|5.28129|2}} million{{efn|{{sigfig|1.582290|2}} million for Western Armenian and {{sigfig|3.699000|2}} million for Eastern Armenian}}
| date             = 2013&ndash;2021
| ref              = e26
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| ancestor         = [[Proto-Indo-European]]
| ancestor2        = [[Proto-Armenian]]
| ancestor3        = [[Classical Armenian]]
| ancestor4        = [[Middle Armenian]]
| stand1           = [[Eastern Armenian]]
| stand2           = [[Western Armenian]]
| dia1             = [[Yerevan dialect|Yerevan]]
| dia2             = [[Homshetsi dialect|Homshetsi]]
| dia3             = [[Karabakh dialect|Karabakh]]
| dia4             = [[Karin dialect|Karin]]
| dia5             = [[Mush dialect|Mush]]
| dia6             = [[Kharberd–Yerznka dialect|Kharberd–Yerznka]]
| dia7             = [[Shabin-Karahisar dialect|Shabin–Karahisar]]
| dia8             = [[Kakavaberd dialect|Kakavaberd]]
| dia9             = [[Zok language|Zok]]
| dia10            = [[Akn dialect|Akn]]
| dia11            = [[Malatia dialect|Malatia]]
| dia12            = [[Nor-Nakhichevan dialect|Nor-Nakhichevan]]
| script           = {{plainlist|
* [[Armenian alphabet]]
* [[Armenian Braille]]
}}
| nation           = {{plainlist|
* {{flag|Armenia}}
* {{flag|Eurasian Economic Union}}{{efn|Though Russian is the working language of the Union according to the Treaty on Eurasian Economic Union, Armenian and the languages of other member states are officially recognized.<ref>{{cite web |title=Treaty on Eurasian Economic Union |url=https://docs.eaeunion.org/docs/en-us/0027353/itia_05062014_doc.pdf |website=eaeunion.org |publisher=[[Eurasian Economic Union]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206124246/https://docs.eaeunion.org/docs/en-us/0027353/itia_05062014_doc.pdf |archive-date=6 February 2021 |quote=Article 110 Working Language of the Bodies of the Union. Language of International Treaties within the Union and Decisions of the Commission: 2. International treaties within the Union and decisions of the Commission that are binding on the Member States shall be adopted in Russian with subsequent translation into the official languages of the Member States, if it is provided for by their legislation, in the procedure determined by the Commission.}}</ref> The websites of the Eurasian Economic Union<ref>{{cite web |title=Եվրասիական տնտեսական միություն |url=http://www.eaeunion.org/?lang=am |website=eaeunion.org |publisher=Eurasian Economic Union |access-date=2 May 2021 |language=hy}}</ref> and the Eurasian Economic Commission<ref>{{cite web |title=Եվրասիական Տնտեսական Հանձնաժողով |url=http://www.eurasiancommission.org/hy/Pages/default.aspx |website=eurasiancommission.org |publisher=Eurasian Economic Commission |access-date=2 May 2021 |language=hy}}</ref> are available in Armenian, among other languages.}}
}}
| minority         = {{unbulleted list
| {{CYP}}<ref name=CYP1>{{cite web |title=Western Armenian – Cypriot Arabic: new century, new speakers? |url=https://ec.europa.eu/cyprus/event/20170221_en |website=ec.europa.eu |publisher=[[European Commission]] |date=21 February 2017 |quote=Dedicated to the two officially recognized minority languages of Cyprus, the event will focus on the teaching aspect of Western Armenian and Cypriot Arabic as mother tongues.}}</ref><ref name=CYP2>{{cite web |last1=Hadjilyra |first1=Alexander – Michael |title=The Armenians of Cyprus |url=https://publications.gov.cy/en/assets/user/publications/ARMENIANS/EN/Armenians_EN_2016.pdf |website=publications.gov.cy |publisher=Press and Information Office, Republic of Cyprus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214093009/https://publications.gov.cy/en/assets/user/publications/ARMENIANS/EN/Armenians_EN_2016.pdf |archive-date=14 December 2019 |page=15 |quote=According to the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of the Council of Europe, Armenian was recognised as a minority language of Cyprus as of 1 December 2002.}}</ref>
| {{HUN}}<ref name=HUN>{{cite web |last1=Kenesei |first1=István |title=Minority languages in Hungary |url=http://www.efnil.org/documents/conference-publications/dublin-2009/09-Dublin-Kenesei-Mother.pdf |website=efnil.org |publisher=European Federation of National Institutions for Language |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214103329/http://www.efnil.org/documents/conference-publications/dublin-2009/09-Dublin-Kenesei-Mother.pdf |archive-date=14 December 2019 |date=2009 |quote=As far as indigenous (autochthonous) minority languages are concerned, Hungarian legislation acknowledges the languages in the following list&nbsp;...: Armenian, Boyash, Bulgarian, Croatian, German, Greek, Polish, Romani, Romanian, Ruthenian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene, Ukrainian, and Hungarian Sign Language (HSL).}}</ref>
| {{IRQ}}<ref name=IRQ>{{cite web|title=Iraqi Constitution: Article 4|url=http://www.iraqinationality.gov.iq/attach/iraqi_constitution.pdf|publisher=The Republic of Iraq Ministry of Interior General Directorate for Nationality|access-date=16 June 2014|quote=The right of Iraqis to educate their children in their mother tongue, such as Turkmen, Syriac, and Armenian shall be guaranteed in  government educational institutions in accordance with educational guidelines, or in any other language in private educational institutions.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161128152712/http://www.iraqinationality.gov.iq/attach/iraqi_constitution.pdf|archive-date=28 November 2016}}</ref>
| {{POL}}<ref name=POL1>{{cite web |last1=Zych |first1=Maciej |title=New Polish legislation regarding national, ethnic and linguistic minorities |url=http://ksng.gugik.gov.pl/pliki/new_polish_legislation_regarding_national_ethnic_and_linguistic_minorities.pdf |website=gugik.gov.pl |publisher=Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography of Poland |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214104740/http://ksng.gugik.gov.pl/pliki/new_polish_legislation_regarding_national_ethnic_and_linguistic_minorities.pdf |archive-date=14 December 2019 |page=2 |quote=There are 9 national minorities: Belorussian, Czech, Lithuanian, German, Armenian, Russian, Slovak, Ukrainian and Jewish; and 4 ethnic minorities – Karait, Lemko, Roma and Tartar.}}</ref><ref name=POL2>{{cite web |last1=Pisarek |first1=Walery |title=The relationship between official and minority languages in Poland |url=http://www.efnil.org/documents/conference-publications/dublin-2009/16-Dublin-Pisarek-Mother.pdf |website=efnil.org |publisher=European Federation of National Institutions for Language |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214104352/http://www.efnil.org/documents/conference-publications/dublin-2009/16-Dublin-Pisarek-Mother.pdf |archive-date=14 December 2019 |page=118 |date=2009 |quote=In a Statement made by the Republic of Poland with relation to the ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, Belarusian, Czech, Hebrew, Yiddish, Karaim, Kashubian, Lithuanian, Lemkian, German, Armenian, Romani, Russian, Slovak, Tatar and Ukrainian were recognized as minority languages.}}</ref>
| {{ROU}}<ref name=ROU>{{cite web |last1=Saramandu |first1=Nicolae |author-link=Nicolae Saramandu |last2=Nevaci |first2=Manuela |title=MULTILINGVISM ȘI LIMBI MINORITARE ÎN ROMÂNIA [MULTILINGUALISM AND MINORITY LANGUAGES IN ROMANIA] |url=http://www.dri.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Multilingvism-si-limbi-minoritare-in-Romania.pdf |publisher=[[:ro:Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan - Alexandru Rosetti”|Institute of Linguistics "Iorgu Iordan – Alexandru Rosetti"]], [[Romanian Academy]] |page=25 |language=ro |date=2009 |quote=În cazul României, 10 limbi beneficiază de protecție generală (albaneză, armeană, greacă, italiană, idiș, macedoneană, poloneză, romani, ruteană, tătară) și 10 limbi beneficiază de protecție sporită (bulgară, cehă, croată, germană, maghiară, rusă, sârbă, slovacă, turcă, ucraineană). |access-date=2019-12-14 |archive-date=2019-12-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214095127/http://www.dri.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Multilingvism-si-limbi-minoritare-in-Romania.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| {{TUR}}<ref name=Toktaş2006/><ref name=Bayır2013/><ref name=HRWLanguageRights/><ref name=Uzum2017/>
| {{UKR}}<ref name=UKR>{{cite web|url=http://zakon4.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/5029-17| title=Law of Ukraine "On Principles of State Language Policy" (Current version – Revision from 01.02.2014) |publisher=rada.gov.ua|work=Document 5029-17, Article 7: Regional or minority languages Ukraine, Paragraph 2|date=1 February 2014|access-date=30 April 2014|language =uk|quote=Стаття 7. Регіональні мови або мови меншин України&nbsp;... 2. У контексті Європейської хартії регіональних мов або мов меншин до регіональних мов або мов меншин України, до яких застосовуються заходи, спрямовані на використання регіональних мов або мов меншин, що передбачені у цьому Законі, віднесені мови: російська, білоруська, болгарська, вірменська, гагаузька, ідиш, кримськотатарська, молдавська, німецька, новогрецька, польська, ромська, румунська, словацька, угорська, русинська, караїмська, кримчацька.}}</ref>}}
| agency           = {{plainlist|
*[[Armenian National Academy of Sciences]] and Language Committee (Armenia)<ref>{{cite web|title=H. Acharian Institute of Language|url=http://www.sci.am/resorgs.php?oid=34&langid=1|website=sci.am|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141005040613/http://www.sci.am/resorgs.php?oid=34&langid=1|archive-date=5 October 2014|quote=Main Fields of Activity: investigation of the structure and functioning, history and comparative grammar of the Armenian language, exploration of the literary Eastern and Western Armenian Language, dialectology, regulation of literary language, development of terminology}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Activity |url=https://langcom.am/en/activity/ |website=langcom.am |publisher=Language Committee (The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia) |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250724114409/https://langcom.am/en/activity/ |archive-date=24 July 2025}}</ref>
*[[Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation]] (Western Armenian, ''de facto'')<ref>{{cite book |last1=Borjian |first1=Maryam |title=Language and Globalization: An Autoethnographic Approach |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781315394619 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=rgAqDwAAQBAJ&dq=Calouste+Gulbenkian+Foundation+%22western+armenian%22&pg=PA205 205] |quote=At the forefront of the development of Western Armenian in everyday life as well as in arts and technology is the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Yesayan |first1=Catherine |title=Unraveling the Life of Calouste Gulbenkian |url=https://asbarez.com/181752/unraveling-the-life-of-calouste-gulbenkian/ |work=[[Asbarez]] |date=June 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502174327/https://asbarez.com/181752/unraveling-the-life-of-calouste-gulbenkian/ |archive-date=2 May 2021 |quote=The 'core' activity of the Armenian Department is the preservation, advancement and revitalization of Western Armenian.}}</ref>}}
| iso1             = hy
| iso2b            = arm
| iso2t            = hye
| lc1              = hye
| ld1              = [[Eastern Armenian]]
| lc2              = hyw
| ld2              = [[Western Armenian]]
| lc3              = xcl
| ld3              = [[Classical Armenian]]
| lc4              = axm
| ld4              = [[Middle Armenian]]
| lingua           = 57-AAA-a
| image            = Armenian language in the Armenian alphabet.svg
| imagescale       = 
| imagecaption     = "Armenian language" in the [[Armenian alphabet]]
| map              = Armenian Language distribution map.png
| mapcaption       = The current distribution of the Armenian language in the southern Caucasus
| map2             = Map-of-speakers-of-armenian.png
| mapcaption2      = {{Legend|#023858|Official language spoken by the majority}}
  {{Legend|#0570b0|Recognized minority language}}
  {{Legend|#74a9cf|Significant number of speakers}}
| notice           = IPA
| glotto           = arme1241
| glottorefname    = Armenic
| ethnicity        = [[Armenians]]
}}

'''Armenian''' ([[endonym]]: {{lang|hy|հայերեն}},{{Efn|Spelled in [[Classical Armenian orthography|classical orthography]] as {{lang|hy|հայերէն}}.|name=classical}} {{Transliteration|hy|hayeren}}, {{IPA|hy|hɑjɛˈɾɛn|pron|Hɑjɛɾɛn.ogg}}) is the sole member of an independent branch in the [[Indo-European language family]]. It is the native language of the [[Armenians|Armenian people]] and the official language of [[Armenia]]. Historically spoken in the [[Armenian highlands]], today Armenian is also widely spoken throughout the [[Armenian diaspora]]. Armenian is written in its own [[writing system]], the [[Armenian alphabet]], introduced in 405&nbsp;AD by [[Mesrop Mashtots]]. The estimated number of Armenian speakers worldwide is between five and seven million.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Martirosyan |first1=Hrach |author1-link=Hrach Martirosyan |title=All You Need to Know about Armenian Language |url=https://aspirantum.com/blog/all-you-need-to-know-about-armenian-language |website=aspirantum.com |publisher=ASPIRANTUM: Armenian School of Languages and Cultures |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502175841/https://aspirantum.com/blog/all-you-need-to-know-about-armenian-language |archive-date=2 May 2021 |date=March 2, 2020 |quote=The total number of Armenians in the world is roughly estimated as 7–11 million, of which ca. 5-5.5 million speak Armenian.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Language Monday: Armenian |url=https://www.worldbook.com/behind-the-headlines/Language-Monday-Armenian |website=[[World Book Encyclopedia]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502180403/https://www.worldbook.com/behind-the-headlines/Language-Monday-Armenian |archive-date=2 May 2021 |date=April 23, 2018 |quote=About 7 million people speak the Armenian language worldwide.}}</ref>

==History==

===Classification and origins===
{{Main|Proto-Armenian language}}
{{See also|Armenian hypothesis|History of the Armenian alphabet|Urartian language}}
{{History of the Armenian language}}
{{Armenians}}
{{Indo-European}}

Armenian is an independent branch of the [[Indo-European languages]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Armenian-language|title=Armenian language|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=21 November 2023 }}</ref> It is of interest to linguists for its distinctive [[phonological change]]s within that family. Armenian exhibits [[Centum and satem languages|more satemization than centumization]], although it is not classified as belonging to either of these subgroups. Some linguists tentatively conclude that Armenian, [[Greek language|Greek]] (and [[Phrygian language|Phrygian]]), [[Albanian language|Albanian]] and [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]] were dialectally close to each other;<ref name="p. 6">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Mateescu |first1=Alexandru |last2=Salomaa |first2=Arto |encyclopedia=Handbook of Formal Languages |volume=1 |publisher=Springer |editor-last1=Rozenberg |editor-first1=Grzegorz |editor-last2=Salomaa |editor-first2=Arto |year=1997 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yQ59ojndUt4C&dq=armeno-aryan&pg=PA6 |page=6 |isbn=3-540-60420-0 |title=Formal Languages: an Introduction and a Synopsis}}</ref><ref name="public.iastate.edu">{{cite web |url=http://www.public.iastate.edu/~cfford/Indoeuropean%20language%20family%20tree.jpg |title=Indo-European tree with Armeno-Aryan, exclusion of Greek |access-date=2014-04-04 |archive-date=2018-05-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180514140029/http://www.public.iastate.edu/~cfford/Indoeuropean%20language%20family%20tree.jpg |url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Fortson|2004|p=383}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Hans J. |last=Holm |year=2011 |title='Swadesh lists' of Albanian Revisited and Consequences for its position in the Indo-European Languages |journal=The Journal of Indo-European Studies |volume=39 |issue=1–2}}</ref><ref name="Martirosyan">{{cite journal |last1=Martirosyan |first1=Hrach |author-link=Hrach Martirosyan|title=The place of Armenian in the Indo-European language family: the relationship with Greek and Indo-Iranian |journal=[[Journal of Language Relationship]] |date=2013 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=85–138 |doi=10.31826/jlr-2013-100107|s2cid=212688448 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=James P. T. |last=Clackson |editor-last=Woodard |editor-first=Roger D. |year=2008 |title=Classical Armenian |encyclopedia=The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=124 |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511486845.014|isbn=9780521684965 }}</ref> within this hypothetical dialect group, Proto-Armenian was situated between [[Proto-Greek language|Proto-Greek]] ([[centum]] subgroup) and [[Proto-Indo-Iranian language|Proto-Indo-Iranian]] ([[satem]] subgroup).<ref name="Martirosyan"/> Ronald I. Kim has noted unique morphological developments connecting Armenian to [[Balto-Slavic languages]].<ref name="auto">{{cite journal|last=Kim|first=Ronald|title=Greco-Armenian: The persistence of a myth|journal=Indogermanische Forschungen|publisher=The University of British Columbia Library|date=2018|volume=123 |issue=1 |url=https://www.academia.edu/37844906|access-date=9 June 2019|doi=10.1515/if-2018-0009|s2cid=231923312}}</ref>

The Armenian language has a long literary history, with a 5th-century Bible translation as its oldest surviving text. Another text translated into Armenian early on, and also in the 5th-century, was the ''[[Armenian Alexander Romance]]''. The vocabulary of the language has historically been influenced by [[Middle Iranian languages|Western Middle Iranian languages]], particularly [[Parthian language|Parthian]];<ref>{{harvnb|Livshits|2006|p=79}}</ref> its derivational morphology and syntax were also affected by [[language contact]] with Parthian, but to a lesser extent.<ref>{{Cite thesis|title=Iranian-Armenian Language Contact in and before the 5th Century CE.|last=Meyer|first=Robin|date=2017|degree=D.Phil.|publisher=University of Oxford|url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:38e2dcfa-4051-4e5f-a761-844526cc6449|language=English}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Robin Meyer |title=Iranian Syntax in Classical Armenian: The Armenian Perfect and Other Cases of Pattern Replication |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/55800 |isbn=9780191885839 |year=2023 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> Contact with Greek, [[Persian language|Persian]], and [[Syriac language|Syriac]] also resulted in a number of loanwords. There are two standardized modern literary forms, [[Eastern Armenian]] (spoken mainly in Armenia) and [[Western Armenian]] (spoken originally mainly in modern-day Turkey and, since the [[Armenian genocide]], mostly in the [[Armenian diaspora|diaspora]]). The differences between them are considerable but they are [[Mutual intelligibility|mutually intelligible]] after significant exposure.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Vaux |first=B. |editor-last1=Brown |editor-first1=Keith |editor-last2=Ogilvie |editor-first2=Sarah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F2SRqDzB50wC |title=Armenian |encyclopedia=Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World |year=2010 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-087774-7 |pages=70 |language=en |quote=The relationship between the two modern literary dialects is somewhat complicated; there are many grammatical differences [...] and lexical differences [...], and most Western speakers have difficulty understanding Eastern, but many Eastern speakers are relatively comfortable with the Western dialect. [...] The fact that there is some mutual intelligibility in both directions can also be linked to the fact that the literary dialects tend to borrow the same forms from Classical Armenian, and (at least in recent decades) employ the same newly coined words. |author-link=Bert Vaux |editor-link1=Keith Brown (linguist)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dolatian |first1=Hossep |url=https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/you.stonybrook.edu/dist/c/2461/files/2023/05/Parskahayeren-May-23-2023.pdf |title=A grammar of Iranian Armenian |last2=Sharifzadeh |first2=Afsheen |last3=Vaux |first3=Bert |date=2023-05-22 |publisher=Language Science Press |isbn=978-3-96110-419-2 |pages=2 |language=en |chapter=Introduction |quote=There are two standardized dialects that are mutually intelligible after significant exposure: Standard Western Armenian (SWA) and Standard Eastern Armenian (SEA); henceforth Standard Western and Standard Eastern. |author-link3=Bert Vaux |access-date=2023-10-08 |archive-date=2023-10-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014120151/https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/you.stonybrook.edu/dist/c/2461/files/2023/05/Parskahayeren-May-23-2023.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Comrie |first=Bernard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fUq1DwAAQBAJ |title=The Handbook of Linguistics |date=2020 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-1-119-30207-0 |editor-last=Aronoff |editor-first=Mark |editor-link=Mark Aronoff |edition=2nd |series=Blackwell Handbooks in Linguistics |location=Hoboken, NJ Chichester |pages=23 |chapter=Languages of the World |quote=Armenian, spoken primarily in Armenia though also in the Armenian diaspora originating in eastern Turkey, is another branch of Indo-European consisting of a single language, although the differences between Eastern Armenian (spoken mainly in Armenia) and Western Armenian (spoken originally mainly in Turkey) are considerable, and there are two written languages. |author-link=Bernard Comrie |editor-last2=Rees-Miller |editor-first2=Janie}}</ref> Some subdialects such as [[Homshetsi dialect|Homshetsi]] are not mutually intelligible with other varieties.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vaux |first=Bert |url= |title=The Hemshin: History, Society and Identity in the Highlands of Northeast Turkey |date=2007-01-24 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-79830-7 |editor-last=Simonian |editor-first=Hovann |editor-link=Hovann Simonian |language=en |chapter=Homshetsma, The language of the Armenians of Hamshen |author-link=Bert Vaux |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/300652|quote=Homshetsma is generally treated as a dialect of western Armenian. The two are generally not mutually intelligible}}</ref>

Although Armenians were known to history much earlier (for example, they were mentioned in the 6th-century BC [[Behistun Inscription]] and in [[Xenophon]]'s 4th century BC history, ''[[Anabasis (Xenophon)|The Anabasis]]''),<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Armenia as Xenophon Saw It |page=47 |title=A History of Armenia |first=Vahan |last=Kurkjian |year=2008}}</ref> the oldest surviving Armenian-language writing is etched in stone on Armenian temples and is called{{by whom|date=July 2025}} [[Mehenagir]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Movsisyan |first=Artak |url=https://www.academia.edu/37618167 |title=The Writing Culture of Pre-Christian Armenia |date=2006 |publisher=Yerevan University |isbn=5-8084-0810-5}}</ref>{{Dubious|date=May 2023}} The [[Armenian alphabet]] was created by [[Mesrop Mashtots]] in 405, at which time it had 36 letters. He is also credited by some with the creation of the [[Georgian alphabet]] and the [[Caucasian Albanian alphabet]].

While Armenian constitutes the sole member of the Armenian branch of the Indo-European family, Aram Kossian has suggested that the hypothetical [[Mushki]] language may have been a (now extinct) Armenic language.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://docplayer.net/108120425-The-mushki-problem-reconsidered.html|title=The Mushki Problem Reconsidered |date=1997 |first=Aram V.|last=Kossian |journal=SMEA |volume=39 |issue=2 |page=262}}</ref>

===Early contacts===
[[File:Armenian mosaic and inscr at Jerusalem.jpg|thumb|[[Birds Mosaic (Jerusalem)|Armenian Birds Mosaic]] from [[Jerusalem]] with Armenian language and alphabet]]
[[File:2014 Prowincja Lorri, Hachpat, Klasztor Hachpat (06).jpg|thumb|Armenian language writing in [[Haghpat Monastery]]]]
W. M. Austin (1942) concluded<ref>{{cite journal|last=Austin |first=William M. |title=Is Armenian an Anatolian Language? |publisher=Linguistic Society of America |date=January–March 1942 |pages=22–25 |doi=10.2307/409074 |journal=Language |volume=18 |issue=1 |jstor=409074}}</ref> that there was early contact between Armenian and [[Anatolian languages]], based on what he considered common archaisms, such as the lack of a feminine gender and the absence of inherited long vowels. Unlike shared innovations (or ''[[synapomorphy|synapomorphies]]''), the common retention of archaisms (or ''[[symplesiomorphy]]'') is not considered conclusive evidence of a period of common isolated development. There are words used in Armenian that are generally believed to have been borrowed from Anatolian languages, particularly from [[Luwian language|Luwian]], although some researchers have identified possible [[Hittite language|Hittite]] loanwords as well.<ref>{{citation |url=https://iling.spb.ru/confs/armenian_2015/slides/Hrach_Martirosyan_ALaC2015.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://iling.spb.ru/confs/armenian_2015/slides/Hrach_Martirosyan_ALaC2015.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=Notes on Anatolian loanwords in Armenian |work=St. Petersburg, Institute for linguistic studies, Russian Academy of sciences |date=2015 |first=Hrach |last=Martirosyan |location=Russia}}</ref> One notable loanword from Anatolian is Armenian ''xalam'', "skull", cognate to Hittite ''ḫalanta'', "head".<ref>{{harvnb|Fortson|2004|p=337}}</ref>

In 1985, the Soviet linguist [[Igor M. Diakonoff]] noted the presence in [[Classical Armenian]] of what he calls a "Caucasian substratum" identified by earlier scholars, consisting of loans from the [[Kartvelian languages|Kartvelian]] and [[Northeast Caucasian languages]].<ref name=Diakonoff1985>{{cite journal |url=https://archive.org/stream/Hurro-urartianBorrowingsInOldArmenian#page/n1/mode/1up |title=Hurro-Urartian Borrowings in Old Armenian |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |date=1985 |pages=597–603 |first=I.&nbsp;M. |last=Diakonoff |author-link=Igor M. Diakonoff |location=New&nbsp;Haven |volume=105 |issue=4 |doi=10.2307/602722 |issn=0003-0279 |jstor=602722 |s2cid=163807245 |oclc=6015257905}}</ref> Noting that [[Hurro-Urartian languages|Hurro-Urartian-speaking]] peoples inhabited the Armenian homeland in the second millennium BC, Diakonoff identifies in Armenian a Hurro-Urartian substratum of social, cultural, and animal and plant terms such as ''[[wikt:աղախին|ałaxin]]'' "slave girl" ( ← Hurr. ''al(l)a(e)ḫḫenne''), ''cov'' "sea" ( ← Urart. ''ṣûǝ'' "(inland) sea"), ''[[wikt:ուղտ|ułt]]'' "camel" ( ← Hurr. ''uḷtu''), and ''[[wikt:խնձոր|xnjor]]'' "apple (tree)" ( ← Hurr. ''ḫinzuri''). Some of the terms he gives admittedly have an [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] or [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] provenance, but he suggests they were borrowed through Hurrian or Urartian. Given that these borrowings do not undergo [[sound change]]s characteristic of the development of Armenian from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]], he dates their borrowing to a time before the written record but after the [[Proto-Armenian language]] stage.

Contemporary linguists, such as [[Hrach Martirosyan]], have rejected many of the Hurro-Urartian and Northeast Caucasian origins for these words and instead suggest native Armenian etymologies, leaving the possibility that these words may have been loaned into Hurro-Urartian and Caucasian languages from Armenian, and not vice versa.<ref name="Hrach K. Martirosyan 2009">{{cite book |first=Hrach K. |last=Martirosyan |title=Etymological Dictionary of the Armenian Inherited Lexicon |publisher=Brill |year=2009}}</ref> A notable example is ''[[wikt:արծիվ|arciv]]'', meaning "eagle", believed to have been the origin of Urartian ''Arṣibi'' and Northeast Caucasian ''arzu''. This word is derived from Proto-Indo-European ''*h₂r̥ǵipyós'', with cognates in [[Sanskrit]] (ऋजिप्य, ''ṛjipyá''), [[Avestan]] (''ərəzifiia''), and Greek (αἰγίπιος, ''aigípios'').<ref>{{cite journal|last=Petrosyan|first=Armen| title=The Armenian Elements in the Language and Onomastics of Urartu| journal=Aramazd: Armenian Journal of Near Eastern Studies|publisher=Association for Near Eastern and Caucasian Studies, German University of Armenia|location=Yerevan|volume=V|issue=1|year=2010|page=134|url=https://www.academia.edu/2939663}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Bert|last=Vaux|title=Recent Armenological Research of Indo-European Relevance|year=1998|url=https://www.academia.edu/2741055}}</ref> Hrach Martirosyan and Armen Petrosyan propose additional borrowed words of Armenian origin loaned into Urartian and vice versa, including grammatical words and parts of speech, such as Urartian ''eue'' ("and"), attested in the earliest Urartian texts and likely a loan from Armenian (compare to Armenian {{wikt-lang|hy|եւ}} {{transliteration|hy|yev}}, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European {{wikt-lang|ine-x-proto|*h₁epi}}). Other loans from Armenian into Urartian includes personal names, toponyms, and names of deities.<ref name="Hrach K. Martirosyan 2009"/><ref>{{cite conference|first=Hrach|last=Martirosyan|title=Origins and historical development of the Armenian language|year=2014|pages=7–8|url=https://ling.hse.ru/data/2014/09/01/1313574129/Hrach%20Martirosyan%20-%20Handout.pdf|conference=Лингвистическая школа НИУ ВШЭ|location=Moscow}}</ref><ref name="Martirosyan"/><ref>{{cite journal|first=Armen|last=Petrosyan|title=Towards the Origins of the Armenian People. The Problem of Identification of the Proto-Armenians: A Critical Review|journal=Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies|volume=16|year=2007|pages=33–34|url=https://www.academia.edu/3657764}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|editor-last1=Grekyan|editor-first1=Y|editor-last2=Badalyan|editor-first2=M.|editor-last3=Tiratsyan|editor-first3=N.|editor-last4=Petrosyan|editor-first4=A|
first=Yervand|last=Grekyan|title=Urartian State Mythology|encyclopedia=Biainili-Urartu: Gods, Temples, Cults|publisher=Yerevan Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography Press|location=Yerevan|year=2018|pages=44–45|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351107801|isbn=978-9939-9178-0-1|lang=hy}}</ref> More recent scholarship is even more sceptical, suggesting that fewer than 10 Armenian words are of assuredly Hurro-Urartian origin, and that no secure loans can be established in the other direction.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Simon|first=Szolt|title=The Hurro-Urartian loan contacts of Armenian: A revision|journal=Hungarian Assyriological Review|volume=3|year=2022|pages=63–89|doi=10.52093/hara-202201-00029-000|url=https://harjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/harassets/har202201-00029.pdf#page=9}}</ref>

Loan words from [[Iranian languages]], along with the other ancient accounts such as that of Xenophon above, initially led some linguists to erroneously classify Armenian as an Iranian language. Scholars such as [[Paul de Lagarde]] and F. Müller believed that the similarities between the two languages meant that Armenian belonged to the [[Iranian languages|Iranian language family]].<ref name="iranicaonline.org">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/armenia-iv|title=ARMENIA AND IRAN iv. Iranian influences in Armenian Language|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica|access-date=26 October 2015}}</ref> The distinctness of Armenian was recognized when philologist [[Heinrich Hübschmann]] (1875)<ref name="iranicaonline.org"/><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Hübschmann|first=Heinrich|url=https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/books/reader/12-h-h%C3%BCbschmann|encyclopedia=A Reader in Nineteenth Century Historical Indo-European Linguistics|editor-last=Lehmann|editor-first=Winfred P.|title=On the Position of Armenian in the Sphere of the Indo-European Languages|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=1967|access-date=2023-11-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820053338/https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/books/reader/12-h-h%c3%bcbschmann|archive-date=2022-08-20}}</ref> used the [[comparative method (linguistics)|comparative method]] to distinguish two layers of Iranian words from the older Armenian [[vocabulary]]. He showed that Armenian often had two morphemes for one concept, that the non-Iranian components yielded a consistent [[Proto-Indo-European]] pattern distinct from Iranian, and that the inflectional morphology was different from that of Iranian languages.

====Graeco-Armenian hypothesis====
{{Main|Graeco-Armenian}}
The hypothesis that Greek is Armenian's closest living relative originates with [[Holger Pedersen (linguist)|Holger Pedersen]] (1924), who noted that the number of Greek-Armenian lexical cognates is greater than that of agreements between Armenian and any other Indo-European language. [[Antoine Meillet]] (1925, 1927) further investigated morphological and phonological agreement and postulated that the parent languages of Greek and Armenian were dialects in immediate geographical proximity during the Proto-Indo-European period. Meillet's hypothesis became popular in the wake of his book ''Esquisse d'une histoire de la langue latine'' (1936). [[Georg Renatus Solta]] (1960) does not go as far as postulating a Proto-Graeco-Armenian stage, but he concludes that considering both the lexicon and morphology, Greek is clearly the dialect to be most closely related to Armenian. [[Eric P. Hamp]] (1976, 91) supports the Graeco-Armenian thesis and even anticipates a time "when we should speak of Helleno-Armenian" (meaning the postulate of a Graeco-Armenian proto-language). Armenian shares the [[augment (Indo-European)|augment]] and a negator derived from the set phrase in the [[Proto-Indo-European language]] {{lang|ine-x-proto|*ne h₂oyu kʷid}} ("never anything" or "always nothing"), the representation of word-initial [[laryngeal theory|laryngeals]] by prothetic vowels, and other phonological and morphological peculiarities with Greek. Nevertheless, as Fortson (2004) comments, "by the time we reach our earliest Armenian records in the 5th century AD, the evidence of any such early kinship has been reduced to a few tantalizing pieces".

====Greco-Armeno-Aryan hypothesis====
{{main|Graeco-Aryan}}
Graeco-(Armeno)-Aryan is a hypothetical [[clade]] within the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European family]], ancestral to the [[Greek language]], the Armenian language, and the [[Indo-Iranian languages]]. Graeco-Aryan unity would have become divided into [[Proto-Greek language|Proto-Greek]] and [[Proto-Indo-Iranian language|Proto-Indo-Iranian]] by the mid-3rd millennium BC. Conceivably, [[Proto-Armenian language|Proto-Armenian]] would have been located between Proto-Greek and Proto-Indo-Iranian, consistent with the fact that Armenian shares certain features only with Indo-Iranian (the ''[[satem]]'' change) but others only with Greek (''s'' > ''h'').

Graeco-Aryan has comparatively wide support among Indo-Europeanists who believe the [[Proto-Indo-European Urheimat hypotheses|Indo-European homeland]] to be located in the [[Armenian Highlands]], the "[[Armenian hypothesis]]".<ref>
{{cite book|last=Renfrew|first=Colin|year=1987|title=Archaeology and Language: The Puzzle of Indo-European Origins|location=London|publisher=Pimlico|isbn=0-7126-6612-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gamkrelidze|first1=Thomas V.|author-link1=Tamaz V. Gamkrelidze|last2=Ivanov|first2=V. V.|author-link2=Vyacheslav Ivanov (philologist)|title=The Early History of Indo-European Languages|journal=Scientific American|date=March 1990|volume=262|issue=3|pages=110–117|jstor=24996796|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0390-110|bibcode=1990SciAm.262c.110G }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Renfrew | first = Colin | year = 2003 | chapter = Time Depth, Convergence Theory, and Innovation in Proto-Indo-European | title = Languages in Prehistoric Europe | publisher = Winter | isbn = 3-8253-1449-9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/files/gray_and_atkinson2003/grayatkinson2003.pdf |first1=Russell D.|last1=Gray|first2=Quentin D.|last2=Atkinson|title=Language-tree divergence times support the Anatolian theory of Indo-European origin|journal=Nature|volume=426|year=2003|issue=6965 |pages=435–439 |access-date=20 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520041256/http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/files/gray_and_atkinson2003/grayatkinson2003.pdf |archive-date=20 May 2011 |url-status=dead|doi=10.1038/nature02029|pmid=14647380 |bibcode=2003Natur.426..435G |s2cid=42340 }}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Mallory|first=James P.|author-link=J. P. Mallory|editor-last1=Mallory|editor-first1=James P.|editor-last2=Adams|editor-first2=Douglas Q.|title=Kuro-Araxes Culture|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture|year=1997|pages=341–42|publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn|url=https://archive.org/details/EncyclopediaOfIndoEuropeanCulture/page/n369/mode/2up|isbn=	1-884964-98-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Bammesberger|first=Alfred|chapter=The Place of Europe in Germanic and Indo-European|title=The Cambridge History of the English language|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|year=1992|isbn=978-0-521-26474-7|page=32|doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521264747.003 }} The model "still remains the background of much creative work in Indo-European reconstruction" even though it is "by no means uniformly accepted by all scholars."</ref> Early and strong evidence was given by Euler's 1979 examination on shared features in Greek and Sanskrit nominal flection.<ref>Indoiranisch-griechische Gemeinsamkeiten der Nominalbildung und deren indogermanische Grundlagen (= Aryan-Greek Communities in Nominal Morphology and their Indoeuropean Origins; in German) (282 p.), Innsbruck, 1979</ref>

Used in tandem with the Graeco-Armenian hypothesis, the Armenian language would also be included under the label '''Aryano-Greco-Armenic''', splitting into Proto-Greek/Phrygian and "Armeno-Aryan" (ancestor of Armenian and [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]).<ref name="p. 6"/><ref name="public.iastate.edu"/>

===Evolution===
[[Classical Armenian]] (Arm: ''grabar''), attested from the 5th century to the 19th century as the literary standard (up to the 11th century also as a spoken language with different varieties), was partially superseded by [[Middle Armenian]], attested from the 12th century to the 18th century. Specialized literature prefers "Old Armenian" for ''grabar'' as a whole, and designates as "Classical" the language used in the 5th century literature, "Post-Classical" from the late 5th to 8th centuries, and "Late Grabar" that of the period covering the 8th to 11th centuries. Later, it was used mainly in religious and specialized literature, with the exception of a revival during the early modern period, when attempts were made to establish it as the language of a literary renaissance, with neoclassical inclinations, through the creation and dissemination of literature in varied genres, especially by the [[Mekhitarists]]. The first Armenian periodical, ''[[Azdarar]]'', was published in ''grabar'' in 1794.

The classical form borrowed numerous words from [[Iranian languages#Middle Iranian languages|Middle Iranian languages]], primarily [[Parthian language|Parthian]],<ref name="Diakonoff597">{{cite journal|title=Hurro-Urartian Borrowings in Old Armenian|first=I. M. |last=Diakonoff|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=105|issue=4|year=1985|pages=597–603 |doi=10.2307/602722 |jstor=602722 |s2cid=163807245 }}</ref> and contains smaller inventories of [[loanword]]s from Greek,<ref name="Diakonoff597" /> Syriac,<ref name="Diakonoff597" /> Aramaic,<ref>{{harvnb|Fortson|2004}}</ref> Arabic,<ref>{{cite book|chapter=How Did New Persian and Arabic Words Penetrate the Middle Armenian Vocabulary? Remarks on the Material of Kostandin Erznkac'i's Poetry|year=1995|first=Andrzej|last=Pisowicz|title=New Approaches to Medieval Armenian Language and Literature|doi=10.1163/9789004455139_008|series=
Dutch Studies in Armenian Language and Literature|volume=3|page=96|isbn=9789004455139 |editor-last=Weitenberg|editor-first=Joseph Johannes Sicco}}</ref> Mongol,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Tangsux in Armenia|last=Schütz|first=E.|journal=Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae|volume=17|issue=1|year=1964|page=106|publisher=Akadémiai Kiadó|jstor=23656665}}</ref> Persian,<ref>{{cite book|last=Panossian|first=Razmik|title=The Armenians: From Kings and Priests to Merchants and Commissars|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|page=39|isbn=9780231139267}}</ref> and [[indigenous language]]s such as [[Urartian language|Urartian]]. An effort to modernize the language in [[Bagratid Armenia]] and the [[Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia]] (11–14th centuries) resulted in the addition of two more characters to the alphabet ("{{lang|hy|օ}}" and "{{lang|hy|ֆ}}"), bringing the total number to 38.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ouzounian|first1=Nourhan|editor1-last=Hacikyan|editor1-first=Agop Jack|editor2-last=Basmajian|editor2-first=Gabriel|editor3-last=Franchuk|editor3-first=Edward S.|editor4-last=Ouzounian|editor4-first=Nourhan| display-editors = 3|title=The heritage of Armenian literature|year=2000|publisher=Wayne State Univ. Press|location=Detroit|isbn=0814328156|page=[https://archive.org/details/heritageofarmeni00ajha/page/88 88]|url=https://archive.org/details/heritageofarmeni00ajha|url-access=registration}}</ref>

The ''Book of Lamentations'' by [[Gregory of Narek]] (951–1003) is an example of the development of a literature and writing style of Old Armenian by the 10th century. In addition to elevating the literary style and vocabulary of the Armenian language by adding well above a thousand new words,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mirzoyan |first=H. |date=2005 |title=Նարեկացու բառաշխարհը |trans-title=Narekatsi's World of Words |language=hy |journal=Banber Erewani Hamalsarani |volume=1 |issue=115 |pages=85–114 }}</ref> through his other hymns and poems Gregory paved the way for his successors to include secular themes and vernacular language in their writings. The thematic shift from mainly religious texts to writings with secular outlooks further enhanced and enriched the vocabulary. "A Word of Wisdom", a poem by Hovhannes Sargavak devoted to a starling, legitimizes poetry devoted to nature, love, or female beauty. Gradually, the interests of the population at large were reflected in other literary works as well. Konsdantin Yerzinkatsi and several others took the unusual step of criticizing the ecclesiastic establishment and addressing the social issues of the Armenian homeland. These changes represented the nature of the literary style and syntax, but they did not constitute immense changes to the fundamentals of the grammar or the morphology of the language. Often, when writers codify a spoken dialect, other language users are then encouraged to imitate that structure through the literary device known as [[parallelism (rhetoric)|parallelism]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Švejcer|first=Aleksandr D.|title=Contemporary Sociolinguistics: Theory, Problems, Methods|year=1986|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company|location=Amsterdam/Philadelphia|isbn=9027215189|page=70|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TQhCAAAAQBAJ}}</ref>

In the 19th century, the traditional Armenian homeland was once again divided. This time [[Eastern Armenia]] was conquered from [[Qajar dynasty|Qajar Iran]] by the [[Russian Empire]], while [[Western Armenia]], containing two thirds of historical Armenia, remained under [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] control. The antagonistic relationship between the Russian and Ottoman empires led to creation of two separate and different environments under which Armenians lived. Halfway through the 19th century, two important concentrations of Armenian communities were further consolidated.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Khachaturian|first1=Lisa|title=Cultivating nationhood in imperial Russia the periodical press and the formation of a modern Armenian identity|year=2009|publisher=Transaction Publishers|location=New Brunswick, N.J.|isbn=978-1412813723|page=1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A0uY_tuRcx8C}}</ref> Because of persecutions or the search for better economic opportunities, many Armenians living under Ottoman rule gradually moved to [[Istanbul]], whereas [[Tbilisi]] became the center of Armenians living under Russian rule. These two cosmopolitan cities very soon became the primary poles of Armenian intellectual and cultural life.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Krikor Beledian|editor1-last=Berghaus|editor1-first=Günter|title=International Yearbook of Futurism|year=2014|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG|isbn=978-3110334104|page=264|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nQPpBQAAQBAJ}}</ref>

The introduction of new literary forms and styles, as well as many new ideas sweeping Europe, reached Armenians living in both regions. This created an ever-growing need to elevate the vernacular, Ashkharhabar, to the dignity of a modern literary language, in contrast to the now-anachronistic Grabar. Numerous dialects existed in the traditional Armenian regions, which, different as they were, had certain morphological and phonetic features in common. On the basis of these features two major standards emerged:

* Western standard: The influx of immigrants from different parts of the traditional Armenian homeland to Istanbul crystallized the common elements of the regional dialects, paving the way for a style of writing that required a shorter and more flexible learning curve than Grabar.
* Eastern standard: The [[Yerevan dialect]] provided the primary elements of Eastern Armenian, centered in Tbilisi, Georgia. Similar to the Western Armenian variant, the Modern Eastern was in many ways more practical and accessible to the masses than Grabar.

Both centers vigorously pursued the promotion of Ashkharhabar. The proliferation of newspapers in both versions (Eastern & Western) and the development of a network of schools where modern Armenian was taught, dramatically increased the rate of literacy (in spite of the obstacles by the colonial administrators), even in remote rural areas. The emergence of literary works entirely written in the modern versions increasingly legitimized the language's existence. By the turn of the 20th century both varieties of the one modern Armenian language prevailed over Grabar and opened the path to a new and simplified grammatical structure of the language in the two different cultural spheres. Apart from several morphological, phonetic, and grammatical differences, the largely common vocabulary and generally analogous rules of grammatical fundamentals allows users of one variant to understand the other as long as they are fluent in one of the literary standards.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Waters|first1=Bella|title=Armenia in pictures|year=2009|publisher=VGS/Twenty-First Century Books|location=Minneapolis|isbn=978-0822585763|page=48|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BFN6SuymI00C}}</ref>

After [[World War I]], the existence of the two modern versions of the same language was sanctioned even more clearly. The [[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic]] (1920–1990) used Eastern Armenian as its official language, whereas the diaspora created after the [[Armenian genocide]] preserved the Western Armenian dialect.

The two modern literary dialects, Western (originally associated with writers in the Ottoman Empire) and Eastern (originally associated with writers in the Russian Empire), removed almost all of their [[Turkic loanwords in Armenian|Turkish lexical influences]] in the 20th century, primarily following the [[Armenian genocide]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x9KoAkzfVqIC&q=armenian%20lexical%20purification&pg=PA315|title=Progress in language planning: International Perspectives|last1=Cobarrubias|first1=Juan|last2=Fishman|first2=Joshua A.|publisher=Mouton Publishers|year=1983|isbn=902793388X|location=Berlin|pages=315, 319}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Manuscript arm 5-6AD.jpg|Armenian manuscript, 5th–6th centuries.
File:Gandzasar 01.jpg|Armenian inscription in [[Gandzasar Monastery]]
File:The Four Gospels, 1495, Portrait of St Mark Wellcome L0031107.jpg|The Four Gospels, 1495, Portrait of St Mark Wellcome with Armenian inscriptions
File:The first Bible printed in the Armenian language.jpg|First printed Armenian language Bible, 1666
File:Panneau près d'Ohanavan.JPG|Armenian language road sign.
</gallery>

=== Contamination and blending in Armenian etymology ===
The proportion of words in [[Armenian language|Armenian]] inherited directly from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] is lower than in most other Indo-European languages attested before the end of the first millennium CE. The development of Armenian involved numerous [[sound change|sound changes]], the validity of several of which remains debated. A notable example is [[Antoine Meillet|Meillet]]’s proposal that Proto-Indo-European *du̯o- developed into Armenian ''erk-''.<ref>Meillet (1900); for discussion and criticism see Kortlandt (1989).</ref>  

Because of the difficulty in identifying regular sound laws and the presence of apparent exceptions, scholars have often explained certain Armenian words through processes of [[word formation|contamination and blending]]. Comparable phenomena have been identified in other Indo-European languages; for instance, Georgiev (1979:34) suggested that 250 Slavic words could be explained in this way. A considerable proportion of inherited Armenian vocabulary has at some point been interpreted using contamination and blending, making it a recurrent topic in Armenian historical linguistics.<ref>''The Armenian dialects: Archaisms and innovations; description of individual dialects'', p. 138, [https://www.academia.edu/45035654/The_Armenian_dialects_Archaisms_and_innovations_description_of_individual_dialects academia.edu]</ref>

==Geographic distribution==
In addition to Armenia and Turkey, where it is [[Indigenous language|indigenous]], Armenian is spoken among the [[Armenian diaspora|diaspora]]. According to ''[[Ethnologue]]'', globally there are {{sigfig|1.582290|2}} million Western Armenian speakers and {{sigfig|3.699000|2}} million Eastern Armenian speakers, totalling {{sigfig|5.28129|2}} million Armenian speakers.<ref name=e26/>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Armenian speakers, ''Ethnologue'' (26th ed., 2023){{efn|Only countries with at least 10,000 speakers are listed.}}<ref name=e26/>
! Country || Armenian speakers || Main variety
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Armenia}} || {{sigfig|2,960,000|2}} || Eastern
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Russia}} || {{sigfig|508,000|2}} || Eastern
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Lebanon}} || {{sigfig|336,000|2}} || Western
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|United States}} || {{sigfig|239,000|2}} || Western
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Argentina}} || {{sigfig|149,000|2}} || Western
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Georgia}} || {{sigfig|145,000|2}} || Eastern
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Azerbaijan}} || {{sigfig|120,000|2}} || Eastern
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Iran}} || {{sigfig|111,000|2}} || Eastern
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Turkmenistan}} || {{sigfig|84,000|2}} || Eastern
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|France}} || {{sigfig|70,000|2}} || Western
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Iraq}} || {{sigfig|70,000|2}} || Western
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Turkey}} || {{sigfig|67,300|2}} || Western
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Uzbekistan}} || {{sigfig|65,700|2}} || Eastern
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Syria}} || {{sigfig|60,000|2}} || Western
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Ukraine}} || {{sigfig|50,400|2}} || Eastern
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Brazil}} || {{sigfig|47,000|2}} || Western
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Canada}} || {{sigfig|44,500|2}} || Western
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Germany}} || {{sigfig|26,800|2}} || Western
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Greece}} || {{sigfig|20,000|2}} || Western
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Kazakhstan}} || {{sigfig|16,000|2}} || Eastern
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Spain}} || {{sigfig|12,000|2}} || Western
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Australia}} || {{sigfig|11,000|2}} || Western
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Kuwait}} || {{sigfig|10,600|2}} || Western
|-
| {{flag+link|Armenians in|Jordan}} || {{sigfig|10,000|2}} || Western
|}

In Georgia, Armenian speakers are concentrated in [[Ninotsminda]] and [[Akhalkalaki]] districts where they represent over 90% of the population.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hille|first=Charlotte|title=State Building and Conflict Resolution in the Caucasus|url=https://archive.org/details/statebuildingcon00hill|url-access=limited|year=2010|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|location=Leiden, Netherlands|isbn=9789004179011|page=241}}</ref>

== Status and usage ==
The short-lived [[First Republic of Armenia]] declared Armenian its official language. [[Eastern Armenian]] was then dominating in institutions and among the population. When Armenia was incorporated into the USSR, the [[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic]] made Eastern Armenian the language of the courts, government institutions and schools. Armenia was also [[Russification|russified]]. The current [[Republic of Armenia]] upholds the official status of the Armenian language. [[Eastern Armenian]] is the official variant used, making it the [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestige variety]] while other variants have been excluded from national institutions. Indeed, [[Western Armenian]] is perceived by some as a mere dialect.<ref name=Karamanian2019>{{Cite journal |last=Karamanian |first=Armen Samuel |date=2019-11-13 |title='He Wasn't Able to Understand What I Was Saying': The Experiences of Returnees' Speaking Western Armenian in 'Eastern' Armenia |journal=PORTAL Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies |volume=16 |issue=1–2 |pages=120–140 |doi=10.5130/pjmis.v16i1-2.6290 |s2cid=211676057 |issn=1449-2490|doi-access=free |hdl=10453/141096 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Armenian was also official in the [[Republic of Artsakh]]. It is recognized as an official language of the [[Eurasian Economic Union]] although Russian is the working language.

Armenian (without reference to a specific variety) is officially recognized as a [[minority language]] in [[Languages of Cyprus|Cyprus]],<ref name=CYP1/><ref name=CYP2/> [[Languages of Hungary|Hungary]],<ref name=HUN/> [[Languages of Iraq|Iraq]],<ref name=IRQ/> [[Languages of Poland|Poland]],<ref name=POL1/><ref name=POL2/> [[Languages of Romania|Romania]],<ref name=ROU/> and [[Languages of Ukraine|Ukraine]].<ref name=UKR/> It is recognized as a minority language and protected in [[Languages of Turkey|Turkey]] by the 1923 [[Treaty of Lausanne]].<ref name=Toktaş2006>{{Cite journal |last= Toktaş |first= Şule |date=2006 |title=EU enlargement conditions and minority protection : a reflection on Turkey's non-Muslim minorities |url=https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/42732 |journal=East European Quarterly |language=en |volume=40|issue=4 |pages=489–519 |issn=0012-8449|quote-page=514|quote=This implies that Turkey grants educational right in minority languages only to the recognized minorities covered by the Lausanne who are the Armenians, Greeks and the Jews.}}</ref><ref name=Bayır2013>{{Cite book |last=Bayır |first=Derya |title=Minorities and nationalism in Turkish law |date=2013 |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4094-7254-4 |series=Cultural Diversity and Law |location=Farnham|url=https://www.academia.edu/37557239| pages=89–90 |quote=Oran farther points out that the rights set out for the four categories are stated to be the 'fundamental law' of the land, so that no legislation or official action shall conflict or interfere with these stipulations or prevail over them (article 37). [...] According to the Turkish state, only Greek, Armenian and Jewish non-Muslims were granted minority protection by the Lausanne Treaty. [...] Except for non-Muslim populations - that is, Greeks, Jews and Armenians - none of the other minority groups' language rights have been ''de jure'' protected by the legal system in Turkey. }}</ref><ref name=HRWLanguageRights>{{cite book |title = Questions and Answers: Freedom of Expression and Language Rights in Turkey |publisher = Human Rights Watch |date = April 2002 |location = New York |url =https://www.hrw.org/news/2002/04/19/qa-freedom-expression-and-language-rights-turkey |quote=The Turkish government accepts the language rights of the Jewish, Greek and Armenian minorities as being guaranteed by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.}}</ref><ref name=Uzum2017>{{Cite journal |last1=Uzum |first1=Melike |last2=Demir |first2=Nurettin |date=2017-10-24 |title=Minority Language Education and Policy in Turkey: The Case of Cankiri Poshas |url=https://ugei-ojs-shsu.tdl.org/ugei/article/view/16 |journal=Journal of Universality of Global Education Issues |language=en |volume=4 |issn=2575-9388|pages=5–6|quote=In the Lausanne treaty, people of the republic were defined through a religion based definition, similar to the Ottoman concept of millet (nation). For example, the non-Muslim minorities such as Armenians, Greeks, and Jews were recognized as minorities, and their language rights were identified in articles 39, 40, and 41.}}</ref>

Western Armenian is the main language of the [[Armenian diaspora]], and is the [[medium of instruction]] in the majority of [[Armenian-language schools outside Armenia]].<ref name=Karamanian2019/> In particular, although Armenian has no legal status in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], as of 2010 Armenian was the main language of instruction in 144 state-funded schools in the [[Samtskhe-Javakheti]] region.<ref>{{cite news|title=Javakhk Armenians Looks Ahead to Local Elections|url=http://asbarez.com/78867/georgias-armenian-minority-looks-ahead-toward-local-elections/|access-date=26 May 2014|newspaper=[[Asbarez]]|date=31 March 2010|quote=Javakheti for use in the region's 144 Armenian schools&nbsp;...}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Mezhdoyan|first=Slava|title=Challenges and problems of the Armenian community of Georgia|url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/MinorityIssues/Session5/statements/ItemV/3.%20EuropeanArmenianFederationJustice%20andDemocracy.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/MinorityIssues/Session5/statements/ItemV/3.%20EuropeanArmenianFederationJustice%20andDemocracy.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|publisher=European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy|access-date=26 May 2014|location=Tbilisi|date=28 November 2012|quote=Armenian schools in Georgia are fully funded by the government&nbsp;...}}</ref> The curriculum in Lebanon allows Armenian schools to teach Armenian as a basic language.<ref>{{cite web|title=Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 44 of the Convention. Third periodic reports of states parties due in 2003: Lebanon|url=http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/45377eb00.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/45377eb00.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|publisher=[[Committee on the Rights of the Child]]|access-date=26 May 2014|page=108|date=25 October 2005|quote=Right of minorities to learn their language. The Lebanese curriculum allows Armenian schools to teach the Armenian language as a basic language.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Sanjian|first=Ara|title=Armenians and the 2000 Parliamentary Elections in Lebanon|url=http://www.groong.org/ro/ro-20000907.html|work=Armenian News Network / Groong|publisher=[[University of Southern California]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140526153117/http://www.groong.org/ro/ro-20000907.html|archive-date=26 May 2014|quote=Moreover, the Lebanese government approved a plan whereby the Armenian language was to be considered from now on as one of the few 'second foreign languages' that students can take as part of the official Lebanese secondary school certificate (Baccalaureate) exams.}}</ref> In [[California]], home to a large [[Armenian American]] community, various [[California executive branch|state]] government agencies provide Armenian translations of their documents, including the [[California Department of Social Services]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Armenian Translations |url=http://www.cdss.ca.gov/cdssweb/PG25.htm |publisher=California Department of Social Services |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140526153235/http://www.cdss.ca.gov/cdssweb/PG25.htm |archive-date=26 May 2014 }}</ref> [[California Department of Motor Vehicles]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Վարորդների ձեռնարկ [Driver's Manual] |url=https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/wcm/connect/09a5b933-9869-4504-ac90-fe54366771b3/dl600A.pdf?MOD=AJPERES |publisher=California Department of Motor Vehicles |year=2016 |access-date=October 29, 2016 |archive-date=January 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180112155947/https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/wcm/connect/09a5b933-9869-4504-ac90-fe54366771b3/dl600A.pdf?MOD=AJPERES |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[California superior courts]].<ref>{{cite web |title=English/Armenian Legal Glossary |url=http://www.saccourt.ca.gov/general/legal-glossaries/docs/armenian-western-legal-glossary.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.saccourt.ca.gov/general/legal-glossaries/docs/armenian-western-legal-glossary.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |publisher=Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento |access-date=26 May 2014 |date=22 June 2005}}</ref> In the city of [[Glendale, California|Glendale]], there are some street signs in Armenian.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rocha |first=Veronica |title=New Glendale traffic safety warnings in English, Armenian, Spanish |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/01/glendales-new-traffic-safet-signs-in-english-armenian-and-spanish.html |access-date=26 May 2014 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=11 January 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Aghajanian |first=Liana |title=Intersections: Bad driving signals a need for reflection |url=http://articles.glendalenewspress.com/2012-09-04/opinion/tn-gnp-0904-intersections-bad-driving-signals-a-need-for-reflection_1_luxury-cars-car-accident-bad-drivers |access-date=26 May 2014 |newspaper=Glendale News-Press |date=4 September 2012 |quote=...&nbsp;trilingual street signs in English, Armenian, and Spanish at intersections&nbsp;... |archive-date=25 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525141440/http://articles.glendalenewspress.com/2012-09-04/opinion/tn-gnp-0904-intersections-bad-driving-signals-a-need-for-reflection_1_luxury-cars-car-accident-bad-drivers |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In Lebanon, Syria and Iran, Armenian communities were given greater autonomy than Assyrian, Kurdish, and other communities. In practice, Armenians were the only ethnic minority group in these countries allowed to teach their language in schools.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tK2GMRf-sY |title=How Syrian-Armenians Preserved Western Armenian |date=2020-05-31 |last=Rerooted Archive |access-date=2024-10-12 |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016 |title=Armenians, Kurds in Lebanon hold on to their languages |work=AW |url=https://thearabweekly.com/armenians-kurds-lebanon-hold-their-languages |access-date=October 12, 2024}}</ref> In [[Languages of Iran|Iran]], article 15 of the [[Constitution of Iran|constitution]] allows the use of "regional and tribal languages" in the mass media as well as within the schools. However, these languages do not receive formal status and are not officially regulated by the authorities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yesiltas |first=Ozum |date=2016-07-02 |title=Contested Notions of National Identity, Ethnic Movements And Democratization in Iran |url=http://publications.tlu.ee/index.php/stss/article/view/255 |journal=Studies of Transition States and Societies |language=en |volume=8 |issue=1 |doi=10.58036/stss.v8i1.255 |issn=1736-8758}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Riazi |first=Abdolmehdi |title=Decolonisation, Globalisation |chapter=6. The Four Language Stages in the History of Iran |date=2005-07-04 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234705882 |pages=98–114 |access-date=2023-10-07 |publisher=Multilingual Matters |language=en |doi=10.21832/9781853598265-008 |isbn=978-1-85359-826-5}}</ref> [[Iranian Armenians]] are de facto the only non-Persian ethnic group in Iran enjoying this right, with private schools where Armenian is the medium of instruction.<ref>{{cite web |title=Legal Aspects of Education in Mother Language for Iranian Azerbaijani Students |url=https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=30582350 |website=eLIBRARY.RU|language=en|pages=284–294|year=2017}}</ref>

==Phonology==
{{See also|Western Armenian#Phonology}}
[[File:Hy-1-ին տիպի շաքարային դիաբետ (Diabetes mellitus type 1).ogg|thumb|Spoken Eastern Armenian]]

[[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] voiceless [[stop consonant]]s are aspirated in the [[Proto-Armenian language]], one of the circumstances that is often linked to the [[glottalic theory]], a version of which postulated that some voiceless occlusives of Proto-Indo-European were aspirated.<ref>{{cite book |first=James |last=Clackson |title=Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction |year=2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/CBO9780511808616|isbn=9780521653671 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Robert S.P. |last=Beekes |title=Comparative Indo-European Linguistics: An Introduction |year=1995 |publisher=John Benjamins |doi=10.1075/z.72 |isbn=9781556195051}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Oswald J.L. |last=Szemerényi |title=Introduction to Indo-European Linguistics |year=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780198238706}}</ref>

===Stress===
In Armenian, the stress falls on the last syllable unless the last syllable contains the definite article {{IPA|[ə]}} or {{IPA|[n]}}, and the possessive articles {{lang|hy|ս}} and {{lang|hy|դ}}, in which case it falls on the penultimate one. For instance, [[wikt:ախորժակ|{{IPA|[ɑχɔɾˈʒɑk]|cat=no}}]], [[wikt:մաղադանոս|{{IPA|[mɑʁɑdɑˈnɔs]|cat=no}}]], [[wikt:գինի|{{IPA|[ɡiˈni]|cat=no}}]] but [[wikt:Վահագն|{{IPA|[vɑˈhɑɡən]|cat=no}}]] and [[wikt:դաշտը|{{IPA|[ˈdɑʃtə]|cat=no}}]]. Exceptions to this rule are some words with the final letter {{lang|hy|է}} ({{lang|hy|ե}} in the reformed orthography) ({{lang|hy|մի՛թէ, մի՛գուցե, ո՛րեւէ}}) and sometimes the ordinal numerals ({{lang|hy|վե՛ցերորդ, տա՛սներորդ}}, etc.), as well as {{lang|hy|նաեւ, նամանաւանդ, հիմա, այժմ}}, and a small number of other words.

===Vowels===
All varieties of Armenian employ only [[monophthongs]]. Eastern Armenian has six vowels, while Western Armenian has an additional two front rounded vowels.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Eastern Armenian vowel phonemes<ref>{{Harvnb|Dum-Tragut|2009|p=13}}</ref>
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Central vowel|Central]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! style="text-align:left;"| [[Close vowel|Close]]
| class="nounderlines" style="text-align:center" | {{IPAslink|i}} <br />{{wikt-lang|hy|ի}}<br />i
| class="nounderlines" style="text-align:center" |
| class="nounderlines" style="text-align:center" | {{IPAslink|u}} <br />{{wikt-lang|hy|ու}}<br />u
|-
! style="text-align:left;"| [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| class="nounderlines" style="text-align:center" | {{IPAslink|ɛ}} <br />{{wikt-lang|hy|ե}}, {{wikt-lang|hy|է}}<br />e, ē
| class="nounderlines" style="text-align:center" | {{IPAslink|ə}} <br />{{wikt-lang|hy|ը}}<br />ë
| class="nounderlines" style="text-align:center;" | {{IPAslink|ɔ}} <br />{{wikt-lang|hy|ո}}, {{wikt-lang|hy|օ}}<br />o, ō
|-
! style="text-align:left;"| [[Open vowel|Open]]
|
|
| class="nounderlines" style="text-align:center" | {{IPAslink|ɑ}} <br />{{wikt-lang|hy|ա}}<br />a
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+Western Armenian vowel phonemes
!
! colspan=2| [[Front vowel|Front]]
! rowspan=2| [[Central vowel|Central]]
! colspan=2| [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
!|| [[unrounded vowel|Unrounded]] || [[rounded vowel|Rounded]] || [[unrounded vowel|Unrounded]] || [[rounded vowel|Rounded]]
|-
! align="left" | [[Close vowel|Close]]
| class="nounderlines" style="text-align:center" | {{IPA link|i}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{angbr|ի}}
| class="nounderlines" style="text-align:center" | {{IPA link|ʏ}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{angbr|իւ}}
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| class="nounderlines" style="text-align:center" | {{IPA link|u}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{angbr|ու}}
|-
! align="left" | [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| class="nounderlines" style="text-align:center" | {{IPA link|ɛ}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{angbr|է, ե}}<ref name="context_sensitive">The choice of Armenian symbol depends on the vowel's context in the word. See the ''Orthography'' section [[#Orthography|below]] for details.</ref>
| class="nounderlines" style="text-align:center" | {{IPA link|œ}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{angbr|էօ}}
| class="nounderlines" style="text-align:center" | {{IPA link|ə}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{angbr|ը}}
| &nbsp;
| class="nounderlines" style="text-align:center;" | {{IPA link|o}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{angbr|ո, օ}}<ref name="context_sensitive"/>
|-
! align="left" | [[Open vowel|Open]]
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| class="nounderlines" style="text-align:center" | {{IPA link|ɑ}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{angbr|ա}}
| &nbsp;
|}

===Consonants===
The following table lists the Eastern Armenian consonantal system. The occlusives and [[affricate consonant|affricates]] have an aspirated series, commonly transcribed with a reversed [[apostrophe]] after the letter. Each phoneme in the table is represented by IPA, Armenian script and romanization.

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+Eastern Armenian consonant phonemes<ref>{{Harvnb|Dum-Tragut|2009|pp=17–20}}</ref>
! colspan="2" | 
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Dental consonant|Dental]]/<br />[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPAslink|m}} {{lang|hy|մ}} – m
| {{IPAslink|n}} {{lang|hy|ն}} – n
|
| ({{IPA link|ŋ}}){{efn-lr|Occurs before velars.}}
|
|
|-
! rowspan="3" | [[Plosive]]
! <small>[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>{{efn-lr|name=plosives|/pʰ p b/ in Eastern Armenian dialects generally correspond to /pʰ b pʰ/ in Western dialects (more detailed table given below).}}
| {{IPAslink|b}} {{lang|hy|բ}} – b
| {{IPAslink|d}} {{lang|hy|դ}} – d
| 
| {{IPAslink|ɡ}} {{lang|hy|գ}} – g
|
|
|-
! <small>[[voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>{{efn-lr|name=ejectives|Some of the dialects may release the voiceless stops and affricates as ejectives.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dum-Tragut|2009|pp=17–18}}</ref>}}{{efn-lr|name=plosives}}
| {{IPAslink|p}} {{lang|hy|պ}} – p
| {{IPAslink|t}} {{lang|hy|տ}} – t
| 
| {{IPAslink|k}} {{lang|hy|կ}} – k
|
|
|-
! <small>[[aspirated consonant|aspirated]]</small>{{efn-lr|name=plosives}}
| {{IPAslink|pʰ}} {{lang|hy|փ}} – pʻ
| {{IPAslink|tʰ}} {{lang|hy|թ}} – tʻ
| 
| {{IPAslink|kʰ}} {{lang|hy|ք}} – kʻ
|
|
|-
! rowspan="3" | [[Affricate]]
! <small>[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>{{efn-lr|name=plosives}}
|
| {{IPAslink|d͡z}} {{lang|hy|ձ}} – j
| {{IPAslink|d͡ʒ}} {{lang|hy|ջ}} – ǰ
|
|
|
|-
! <small>[[voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>{{efn-lr|name=ejectives}}{{efn-lr|name=plosives}}
|
| {{IPAslink|t͡s}} {{lang|hy|ծ}} – c
| {{IPAslink|t͡ʃ}} {{lang|hy|ճ}} – č
|
|
|
|-
! <small>[[aspirated consonant|aspirated]]</small>{{efn-lr|name=plosives}}
|
| {{IPAslink|t͡sʰ}} {{lang|hy|ց}} – cʻ
| {{IPAslink|t͡ʃʰ}} {{lang|hy|չ}} – čʻ
|
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Fricative]]
! <small>[[voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
| {{IPAslink|f}} {{lang|hy|ֆ}} – f
| {{IPAslink|s}} {{lang|hy|ս}} – s
| {{IPAslink|ʃ}} {{lang|hy|շ}} – š
|colspan=2| /{{IPA link|x}} ~ {{IPA link|χ}}/{{efn-lr|name=velar_uvular|Sources differ on the place of articulation of these consonants.}} {{lang|hy|խ}} – x 
| {{IPAslink|h}} {{lang|hy|հ}} – h
|-
! <small>[[voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
| {{IPAslink|v}} {{lang|hy|վ}} – v
| {{IPAslink|z}} {{lang|hy|զ}} – z
| {{IPAslink|ʒ}} {{lang|hy|ժ}} – ž
|colspan=2| /{{IPA link|ɣ}} ~ {{IPA link|ʁ}}/{{efn-lr|name=velar_uvular}} {{lang|hy|ղ}} – ġ 
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant]]
| ({{IPA link|ʋ}})
| {{IPAslink|l}} {{lang|hy|լ}} – l
| {{IPAslink|j}} {{lang|hy|յ}} – y
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
| {{IPAslink|r}} {{lang|hy|ռ}} – ṙ
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Tap and flap consonants|Flap]]
|
|{{IPAslink|ɾ}} {{lang|hy|ր}} – r
|
|
|
|
|}
{{notelist-lr}}

The major phonetic difference between dialects is in the reflexes of Classical Armenian [[voice-onset time]]. The seven dialect types have the following correspondences, illustrated with the t–d series:<ref>{{Harvnb|Price|2005}}</ref>
:{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+Correspondence in initial position
!Armenian letter
|Թ
|Տ
|Դ
|-
![[Proto-Indo-European language|Indo-European]]
|*{{IPA|t}}
|*{{IPA|d}}
|*{{IPA|dʰ}}
|-
![[Erzurum|Karin]], [[Sivas, Turkey|Sebastia]]
| rowspan="6" |{{IPA|tʰ}}
|{{IPA|d}}
|{{IPA|dʱ}}
|-
![[Istanbul]]
|colspan=2|{{IPA|d}}
|-
![[Kharberd]], [[Middle Armenian]]
| rowspan="2" |{{IPA|d}}
|{{IPA|t}}
|-
![[Malatya]], [[Western Armenian|SWA]]
|{{IPA|tʰ}}
|-
![[Classical Armenian]], [[Yuxarı Əylis|Agulis]], [[Eastern Armenian|SEA]], [[Yerevan dialect|Yerevan]]
|{{IPA|t}}
|{{IPA|d}}
|-
![[Van, Turkey|Van]], [[Khankendi|Artsakh]]
|colspan=2|{{IPA|t}}
|}

==Morphology==

Armenian corresponds to other Indo-European languages in structure, but it shares distinctive sounds and grammatical features with neighboring [[languages of the Caucasus|languages of the Caucasus region]]. Armenian orthography is rich in consonant clusters, but in pronunciation, they are broken up with schwas.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kortmann|first1=Bernd|last2=van der Auwera|first2=Johan|title=The Languages and Linguistics of Europe: A Comprehensive Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vi_VCm51kpkC|year=2011|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3110220261|page=129}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The New Armenia, Vol. 11-12|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3nLnAAAAMAAJ|year=1919|publisher=New Armenia Publishing Company|isbn=1248372786|page=160}}</ref> Both classical Armenian and the modern spoken and literary dialects have a system of noun declensions, with six or seven cases but no gender. In modern Armenian, the use of auxiliary verbs to show tense (comparable to "will" in "he will go") has generally supplanted the inflected verbs of [[Classical Armenian]]. Negative verbs are conjugated differently from positive ones (as in English "he goes" and "he does not go") in many tenses, otherwise adding only the negative {{lang|hy|չ}} to the positive conjugation. Grammatically, early forms of Armenian had much in common with classical [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Latin]], but the modern language has undergone many [[analytic language|analytic]] transformations like modern Greek.

===Nouns===
Armenian has no [[grammatical gender]], not even in pronouns, but there is a feminine suffix ({{lang|hy|-ուհի}} "-uhi") which has no grammatical effect. For example, {{lang|hy|ուսուցիչ}} (''usucʻičʻ'', "teacher") becomes {{lang|hy|ուսուցչուհի}} (''usucʻčʻuhi'', female teacher). The nominal inflection preserves several types of inherited stem classes. Historically, nouns were declined for one of seven cases: [[nominative case|nominative]] (ուղղական ''uġġakan''), [[accusative case|accusative]] (հայցական ''haycʻakan''), [[locative case|locative]] (ներգոյական ''nergoyakan''), [[genitive case|genitive]] (սեռական ''seṙakan''), [[dative case|dative]] (տրական ''trakan''), [[ablative case|ablative]] (բացառական ''bacʻaṙakan''), or [[instrumental case|instrumental]] (գործիական ''gorciakan''), but in the modern language, the nominative and accusative cases, as well as the dative and genitive cases, have merged.

;Examples of noun declension in Eastern Armenian

{| class="wikitable"
|+{{lang|hy|Հեռախոս}} {{transliteration|hy|''Heṙaxos''}} (telephone)
!Case
!Singular
!Plural
|-
!Nominative/ Accusative
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հեռախոս'''(ը/ն)*'''|heṙaxos'''(ë/n)*'''|}}
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հեռախոս'''ներ(ը/ն)*'''|heṙaxos'''ner(ë/n)*'''|}}
|-
!Genitive/ Dative
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հեռախոս'''ի(ն)'''|heṙaxos'''i(n)'''|}}
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հեռախոս'''ների(ն)'''|heṙaxos'''neri(n)'''|}}
|-
!Ablative
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հեռախոս'''ից'''|heṙaxos'''icʻ'''|}}
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հեռախոս'''ներից'''|heṙaxos'''nericʻ'''|}}
|-
!Instrumental
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հեռախոս'''ով'''|heṙaxos'''ov'''|}}
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հեռախոս'''ներով'''|heṙaxos'''nerov'''|}}
|-
!Locative
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հեռախոս'''ում'''|heṙaxos'''um'''|}}
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հեռախոս'''ներում'''|heṙaxos'''nerum'''|}}
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+{{lang|hy|Մայր}} {{transliteration|hy|''Mayr''}} (mother)
!Case
!Singular
!Plural
|-
!Nominative/ Accusative
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|մայր'''(ը/ն)*'''|mayr'''(ë/n)*'''|}}
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|մայր'''եր(ը/ն)*'''|mayr'''er(ë/n)*'''|}}
|-
!Genitive/ Dative
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|մ'''որ(ը/ն)*'''|m'''or(ë/n)*'''|}}
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|մայրեր'''ի(ն)'''|mayr'''eri(n)'''|}}
|-
!Ablative
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|մ'''որից'''|m'''oricʻ'''|}}
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|մայրեր'''ից'''|mayr'''ericʻ'''|}}
|-
!Instrumental
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|մ'''որով'''|m'''orov'''|}}
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|մայր'''երով'''|mayr'''erov'''|}}
|}

Which case the direct object takes is split based on animacy (a phenomenon more generally known as [[differential object marking]]). Inanimate nouns take the nominative, while animate nouns take the dative. Additionally, animate nouns can never take the locative case.

{| class="wikitable"
|+{{lang|hy|Հանրապետություն}} {{transliteration|hy|''Hanrapetut'yun''}} (republic)
!Case
!Singular
!Plural
|-
!Nominative/ Accusative 
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հանրապետություն'''(ը/ն)*'''|hanrapetutʻyun'''(ë/n)*'''|}}
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հանրապետություն'''ներ(ը/ն)*'''|hanrapetutʻyun'''ner(ë/n)*'''|}}
|-
!Genitive/ Dative
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հանրապետությ'''ան(ը/ն)*'''|hanrapetutʻy'''an(ë/n)*'''|}}
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հանրապետություն'''ների(ն)'''|hanrapetutʻyun'''neri(n)'''|}}
|-
!Ablative
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հանրապետություն'''ից'''|hanrapetutʻyun'''icʻ'''|}}
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հանրապետություն'''ներից'''|hanrapetut'yun'''nericʻ'''|}}
|-
!Instrumental
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հանրապետությ'''ամբ'''|hanrapetutʻy'''amb'''|}}
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հանրապետություն'''ներով'''|hanrapetutʻyun'''nerov'''|}}
|-
!Locative
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հանրապետություն'''ում'''|hanrapetut'yun'''um'''|}}
|{{fs interlinear|lang=hy|հանրապետություն'''ներում'''|hanrapetut'yun'''nerum'''|}}
|}

;Examples of noun declension in Western Armenian

{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | {{lang|hy|դաշտ}} {{transliteration|hy|''tašd''}} (field)
! colspan="2" | {{lang|hy|կով}} {{transliteration|hy|''gov''}} (cow)
|-
! singular || plural
! singular || plural
|-
! Nom-Acc<br />(Ուղղական-Հայցական)
| {{fs interlinear|դաշտ|tašd|}}
| {{fs interlinear|դաշտ'''եր'''|tašd'''er'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|կով|gov|}}
| {{fs interlinear|կով'''եր'''|gov'''er'''|}}
|-
! Gen-Dat<br />(Սեռական-Տրական)
| {{fs interlinear|դաշտ'''ի'''|tašd'''i'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|դաշտ'''երու'''|tašd'''eru'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|կով'''ու'''|gov'''u'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|կով'''երու'''|gov'''eru'''|}}
|-
! Abl<br />(Բացառական)
| {{fs interlinear|դաշտ'''է'''|tašd'''ē'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|դաշտ'''երէ'''|tašd'''erē'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|կով'''է'''|gov'''ē'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|կով'''երէ'''|gov'''erē'''|}}
|-
! Instr<br />(Գործիական)
| {{fs interlinear|դաշտ'''ով'''|tašd'''ov'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|դաշտ'''երով'''|tašd'''erov'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|կով'''ով'''|gov'''ov'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|կով'''երով'''|gov'''erov'''|}}
|}

{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | {{lang|hy|գարուն}} {{transliteration|hy|''karun''}} (spring)
! colspan="2" | {{lang|hy|օր}} {{transliteration|hy|''ōr''}} (day)
! colspan="2" | {{lang|hy|Քոյր}} {{transliteration|hy|''koyr''}} (sister)
|-
! singular || plural
! singular || plural
! singular || plural
|-
! Nom-Acc<br />(Ուղղական-Հայցական)
| {{fs interlinear|գարուն|''karun''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|գարուն'''ներ'''|''karun'''ner'''''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|օր|''ōr''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|օր'''եր'''|''ōr'''er'''''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|քոյր|''koyr''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|քոյր'''եր'''|''koyr'''er'''''|}}
|-
! Gen-Dat<br />(Սեռական-Տրական)
| {{fs interlinear|գարն'''ա'''ն|''karn'''an'''''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|գարուն'''ներու'''|''karun'''neru'''''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|օր'''ուայ'''|''ōr'''uay'''''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|օր'''երու'''|''ōr'''eru'''''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|քր'''ոջ'''|''kr'''oč'''''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|քոյր'''երու'''|''koyr'''eru'''''|}}
|-
! Abl<br />(Բացառական)
| {{fs interlinear|գարուն'''է'''|''karun'''ē'''''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|գարուն'''ներէ'''|''karun'''nerē'''''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|օր'''ուընէ'''|''ōr'''uënē'''''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|օր'''երէ'''|''ōr'''erē'''''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|քր'''ոջմէ'''|''kr'''očmē'''''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|քոյր'''երէ'''|''koyr'''erē'''''|}}
|-
! Instr<br />(Գործիական)
| {{fs interlinear|գարուն'''ով'''|''karun'''ov'''''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|գարուն'''ներով'''|''karun'''nerov'''''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|օր'''ով'''|''ōr'''ov'''''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|օր'''երով'''|''ōr'''erov'''''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|քր'''ոջմով'''|''kr'''očmov'''''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|քոյր'''երով'''|''kuyr'''erov'''''|}}
|}
{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | '''հայր''' / '''''hayr''''' (father)
! colspan="2" | '''Աստուած''' / '''''Asdvaj''''' (God)
! colspan="2" | '''գիտութիւն''' / '''''kidutiwn''''' (science)
|-
! singular || plural
! singular || plural
! singular || plural
|-
! Nom-Acc<br />(Ուղղական-Հայցական)
| {{fs interlinear|հայր|hayr|}}
| {{fs interlinear|հայր'''եր'''|hayr'''er'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|Աստուած|Asdvaj|}}
| {{fs interlinear|աստուած'''ներ'''|Asdvaj'''ner'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|գիտութիւն|kidutiwn|}}
| {{fs interlinear|գիտութիւն'''ներ'''|kidutiwn'''ner'''|}}
|-
! Gen-Dat<br />(Սեռական-Տրական)
| {{fs interlinear|հ'''օ'''ր|h'''ō'''r|}}
| {{fs interlinear|հայր'''երու'''|hayr'''eru'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|Աստուծ'''ոյ'''|Asduj'''oy'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|աստուած'''ներու'''|Asdvaj'''neru'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|գիտութ'''եան'''|kidut'''ean'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|գիտութիւն'''ներու''' / գիտութ'''եանց'''|kidutiunn'''eru''' / kidut'''eancʻ'''|}}
|-
! Abl<br />(Բացառական)
| {{fs interlinear|հ'''օ'''ր'''մէ'''|h'''ō'''r'''mē'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|հայր'''երէ'''|hayr'''erē'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|Աստուծ'''մէ'''|Asduj'''mē'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|աստուած'''ներէ'''|Asdvaj'''nerē'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|գիտութ'''ենէ'''|kidut'''enē'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|գիտութիւն'''ներէ'''|kidutiwn'''nerē'''|}}
|-
! Instr<br />(Գործիական)
| {{fs interlinear|հ'''օ'''ր'''մով'''|h'''ō'''r'''mov'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|հայր'''երով'''|hayr'''erov'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|Աստուծ'''մով'''|Asduj'''mov'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|աստուածն'''երով'''|Asdvaj'''nerov'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|գիտութ'''եամբ''' / գիտութիւն'''ով'''|kidut'''eamp''' / kidutiwn'''ov'''|}}
| {{fs interlinear|գիտութիւն'''ներով'''|kidutiwn'''nerov'''|}}
|}

===Verbs===
{{Main|Armenian verbs}}

Verbs in Armenian have an expansive system of [[Grammatical conjugation|conjugation]] with two main verb types in Eastern Armenian and three in Western Armenian changing form based on [[Grammatical tense|tense]], [[Grammatical mood|mood]] and [[Grammatical aspect|aspect]].

==Dialects==
{{Main|Armenian dialects}}
[[File:Armenian dialects, Adjarian 1909.png|thumb|upright=1.6|Map of the [[Historical dialects of Armenian|Armenian dialects in early 20th century]]:
{{legend|#00FF00|-owm dialects, nearly corresponding to Eastern Armenian}}
{{legend|#808080|-el dialects (intermediate)}}
{{legend|#FFD800|-gë dialects, nearly corresponding to Western Armenian}}]]
Armenian is a [[pluricentric language]], having two modern [[Standard language|standardized]] forms: [[Eastern Armenian]] and [[Western Armenian]]. There are also numerous other non-standard dialects, many of which are extinct.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dolatian |first1=Hossep |title=Adjarian's Armenian dialectology (1911): Translation and commentary |date=2024 |publisher=Language Science Press |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-96110-489-5 |url=https://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/385}}</ref> The most distinctive feature of Western Armenian is that it has undergone several phonetic mergers; these may be due to proximity to Arabic- and Turkish-speaking communities.

[[File:WIKITONGUES- John speaking Armenian.webm|thumb|A man speaking in Western Armenian]]
Classical Armenian (Grabar), which remained the standard until the 18th century, was quite homogeneous across the different regions that works in it were written; it may have been a cross-regional standard.<ref name="Fortson 2004 338–340">{{harvnb|Fortson|2004|pp=338–340}}</ref> The Middle Armenian variety used in the court of Cilician Armenia (1080–1375) provides a window into the development of Western Armenian, which came to be based on what became the dialect of Istanbul, while the standard for Eastern Armenian was based on the dialect around Mount Ararat and Yerevan.<ref name="Fortson 2004 338–340"/> Although the Armenian language is often divided into "east" and "west", the two standards are actually relatively close to each other in light of wealth of the diversity present among regional non-standard Armenian dialects. The different dialects have experienced different degrees of [[language contact]] effects, often with Turkic and Caucasian languages; for some, the result has been significant phonological and syntactic changes.<ref name="Fortson 2004 338–340"/> Fortson notes that the modern standard as well has now attained a subordinate clausal structure that greatly resembles a Turkic language.<ref>{{harvnb|Fortson|2004|p=340}}:"The modern standard language has not been free of these influences either; in many areas of syntax, such as subordinate clausal structure, it more greatly resembles a Turkic language than a European one."</ref>

Eastern Armenian speakers pronounce ({{lang|hy|թ}}) as [tʰ], ({{lang|hy|դ}}) as [d], and ({{lang|hy|տ}}) as a [[tenuis consonant|tenuis]] occlusive [t˭]. Western Armenian has simplified the occlusive system into a simple division between voiced occlusives and aspirated ones; the first series corresponds to the tenuis series of Eastern Armenian, and the second corresponds to the Eastern voiced and aspirated series. Thus, the Western dialect pronounces both ({{lang|hy|թ}}) and ({{lang|hy|դ}}) as [tʰ], and the ({{lang|hy|տ}}) letter as [d].

There is no precise linguistic border between one dialect and another because there is nearly always a dialect transition zone of some size between pairs of geographically identified dialects.

Armenian can be divided into two major dialectal blocks and those blocks into individual dialects, though many of the Western Armenian dialects have become extinct due to the effects of the Armenian genocide. In addition, neither dialect is completely homogeneous: any dialect can be subdivided into several subdialects. Although Western and Eastern Armenian are often described as different dialects of the same language, many subdialects are not readily mutually intelligible. Nevertheless, a fluent speaker of one of two greatly varying dialects who is also literate in one of the standards, when exposed to the other dialect for a period of time will be able to understand the other with relative ease.

Distinct Western Armenian varieties currently in use include [[Homshetsi dialect|Homshetsi]], spoken by the [[Hemshin peoples]];<ref>{{cite book |first1=Victor A. |last1=Friedman|editor1-last=Ball|editor1-first=Martin J.|title=The Routledge Handbook of Sociolinguistics Around the World: A Handbook|year=2009|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415422789|page=128|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AtCNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA128 |chapter=Sociolinguistics in the Caucasus}}</ref> the dialects of Armenians of [[Kessab]] ([[:hy:Քեսաբի բարբառ|Քեսապի բարբառ]]), [[Latakia]] and [[Jisr al-Shughur]] (Syria), [[Anjar, Lebanon]], and [[Vakıflı, Samandağ]] (Turkey), part of the "Sueidia" dialect ([[:hy:Սվեդիայի բարբառ|Սուէտիայի բարբառ]]).

Forms of the [[Karin dialect]] of Western Armenian are spoken by several hundred thousand people in Northern Armenia, mostly in [[Gyumri]], [[Artik]], [[Akhuryan]], and around 130 villages in [[Shirak Province]],<ref>{{cite journal|last=Baghdassarian-Thapaltsian|first=S. H.|script-title=hy:Շիրակի դաշտավայրի բարբառային նկարագիրը|journal=Լրաբեր հասարակական գիտությունների (Bulletin of Social Sciences)|volume=6|year=1970|issue=6|pages=51–60|url=http://lraber.asj-oa.am/1696/|access-date=24 March 2013|language=hy|archive-date=15 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190915004421/http://lraber.asj-oa.am/1696/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and by [[Armenians in Samtskhe–Javakheti]] province of Georgia ([[Akhalkalaki]], [[Akhaltsikhe]]).<ref name="Hovannisian">{{cite book|editor=[[Richard Hovannisian|Hovannisian, Richard]]|title=Armenian Karin/Erzerum|year=2003|publisher=Mazda Publ.|location=Costa Mesa, California|isbn=9781568591513|page=48|quote=Thus, even today the Erzerum dialect is widely spoken in the northernmost districts of the Armenian republic as well as in the Akhalkalak (Javakheti; Javakhk) and Akhaltskha (Akhaltsikh) districts of southern Georgia}}</ref>

[[Nakhichevan-on-Don]] Armenians speak another Western Armenian variety based on the dialect of [[Armenians in Crimea]], where they came from in order to establish the town and surrounding villages in 1779 ([[:hy:Նոր Նախիջևանի բարբառ|Նոր Նախիջևանի բարբառ]]).

Western Armenian dialects are currently spoken also in [[Gavar]] (formerly Nor Bayazet and Kamo, on the western shore of [[Lake Sevan]]), [[Aparan]], and [[Talin, Armenia|Talin]] in Armenia ([[Mush dialect]]), and by the large Armenian population residing in [[Abkhazia]], where they are considered to be the first or second ethnic minority, or even equal in number to the local Abkhaz population<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/islam-tekushev/unlikely-home|title=An unlikely home|first=Islam |last=Tekushev|publisher=[[openDemocracy]]|date=5 January 2016|access-date=22 August 2016|archive-date=20 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920130336/https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/islam-tekushev/unlikely-home|url-status=dead}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+Examples
!English
! [[Eastern Armenian language|Eastern Armenian]] 
![[Western Armenian language|Western Armenian]]
|-
| Yes
| Ayo ({{lang|hy|Այո}})
| Ayo ({{lang|hy|Այո}})
|-
| No
| Vočʻ ({{lang|hy|Ոչ}})
| Voč ({{lang|hy|Ոչ}})
|-
| I see you
| Yes kʻez tesnum em ({{lang|hy|Ես քեզ տեսնում եմ}})
| Yes kez(i) gë desnem ({{lang|hy|Ես քեզ(ի) կը տեսնեմ}})
|-
| Hello
| Barev ({{lang|hy|Բարեւ}})
| Parev ({{lang|hy|Բարեւ}})
|-
| I'm going
| Gnum em ({{lang|hy|Գնում եմ}})
| G'ertam (gor) ({{lang|hy|Կ՚երթամ (կոր)}})
|-
| Come!
| Ari! ({{lang|hy|Արի՛}})
| Yegur! ({{lang|hy|Եկո՛ւր}})
|-
| I will eat
| Utelu em ({{lang|hy|Ուտելու եմ}})
| Bidi udem ({{lang|hy|Պիտի ուտեմ}})
|-
| I must do
| Piti/petkʻ ē anem ({{lang|hy|Պիտի/պետք է անեմ}})
| Bēdk ē ënem ({{lang|hy|Պէտք է ընեմ}})
|-
| I was going to eat
| Utelu ēi ({{lang|hy|Ուտելու էի}})
| Bidi udēi ({{lang|hy|Պիտի ուտէի}})
|-
| Is this yours?
| Sa kʻonn ē? ({{lang|hy|Սա քո՞նն է}})
| Asiga kugt ē? ({{lang|hy|Ասիկա քո՞ւկդ է}})
|-
| His grandma
| Nra tatikë ({{lang|hy|Նրա տատիկը}})
| Anor nēnēn / mej maman ({{lang|hy|Անոր նէնէն / մեծ մաման}})
|-
| Look at that one!
| Dran nayir ({{lang|hy|Դրան նայիր}})
| Ador nayē / Anor nayē ({{lang|hy|Ատոր նայէ / Անոր նայէ}})
|-
| Have you brought these?
| Du es berel srankʻ? ({{lang|hy|Դո՞ւ ես բերել սրանք}})
| Asonk tun peraj es? ({{lang|hy|Ասոնք դո՞ւն բերած ես}})
|-
| How are you? I'm fine.
| Inčʻpes es? / Voncʻ es? Lav em ({{lang|hy|Ինչպե՞ս ես։ / Ո՞նց ես։ Լավ եմ։}})
| Inčbēs es? Lav em ({{lang|hy|Ինչպէ՞ս ես։ Լաւ եմ։}})
|-
| Did you say it? Say it!
| Du asacʻir (asecʻir)? Asa! ({{lang|hy|Դո՞ւ ասացիր (ասեցիր): Ասա՛։}})
| Tun ësir? Ësē! ({{lang|hy|Դո՞ւն ըսիր։ Ըսէ՛։}})
|-
| Have you taken it from us?
| Mezanicʻ es vercʻrel? ({{lang|hy|Մեզանի՞ց ես վերցրել}})
| Mezmē araj es? ({{lang|hy|Մեզմէ՞ առած ես}})
|-
| Good morning
| Bari luys ({{lang|hy|Բարի լույս}})
| Pari luys ({{lang|hy|Բարի լոյս}})
|-
| Good evening
| Bari yereko ({{lang|hy|Բարի երեկո}})
| Pari irigun / Parirgun ({{lang|hy|Բարի իրիկուն / Բարիրկուն}})
|-
| Good night
| Bari gišer ({{lang|hy|Բարի գիշեր}})
| Kišer pari ({{lang|hy|Գիշեր բարի}})
|-
| You love me
| Sirum es inj ({{lang|hy|Սիրում ես ինձ}})
| Inji gë sires ({{lang|hy|Ինծի կը սիրես}})
|-
| I am Armenian
| Yes hay em ({{lang|hy|Ես հայ եմ}})
| Yes hay em ({{lang|hy|Ես հայ եմ}})
|-
| I missed you
| Karotel em kʻez ({{lang|hy|Կարոտել եմ քեզ}})
| Garōdcay kezi ({{lang|hy|Կարօտցայ քեզի}})
|}

==Orthography==
{{Main|Armenian alphabet|Armenian Braille}}
{{See also|History of the Armenian alphabet}}
[[File:Keyboard Layout Armenian.png|thumb|Armenian [[keyboard layout]] using the [[Armenian alphabet]].]]
The [[Armenian alphabet]] ({{langx|hy|Հայոց գրեր|translit=Hayots grer}} or {{langx|hy|Հայոց այբուբեն|translit=Hayots aybuben}}) is a graphically unique [[alphabet]]ical writing system that is used to write the Armenian language. It was introduced around AD 405 by [[Mesrop Mashtots]], an Armenian linguist and ecclesiastical leader, and originally contained 36 letters. Two more letters, օ (ō) and ֆ (f), were added in the Middle Ages.

During the [[Armenian orthography reform|1920s orthography reform]] in Soviet Armenia, a new letter և (capital ԵՎ) was added, which was a ligature before ե+ւ, whereas the letter Ւ ւ was discarded and reintroduced as part of a new letter ՈՒ ու (which was a digraph before). This alphabet and associated orthography is used by most Armenian speakers of [[Armenia]] and the countries of the former Soviet Union. Neither the alphabet nor the orthography has been adopted by Diaspora Armenians, including Eastern Armenian speakers of Iran and all Western Armenian speakers, who keep using the traditional alphabet and spelling.

==Vocabulary==
===Indo-European cognates===
Armenian is an [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European language]], so many of its [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]]-descended words are [[cognate]]s of words in other Indo-European languages such as [[English language|English]], [[Latin]], [[Greek language|Greek]], and [[Sanskrit]].

Due to extensive loaning, only around 1,500 words (G. Jahukyan) are known to have been inherited from Indo-European by the Classical Armenian stage; the rest were lost, a fact that presents a major challenge to endeavors to better understand Proto-Armenian and its place within the family, especially as many of the sound changes along the way from Indo-European to Armenian remain quite difficult to analyze.<ref>{{harvnb|Fortson|2004|p=338}}:"Armenian is still difficult for IE studies. This is primarily due to the small number of native forms left in the language by the time of its earliest attestation: no more than about 450 words are inherited. The small stock of native words has left precious few examples of many Armenian sound changes, some of which are among the most bizarre in the whole family..."</ref>

This table lists some of the more recognizable cognates that Armenian shares with English words descended from [[Old English]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=a |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |publisher=etymonline.com |access-date=2007-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613145930/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=a |archive-date=13 June 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
! Armenian || [[English language|English]]|| [[Classical Latin|Latin]] || [[Greek language|Classical and Hellenistic Greek]] || [[Persian language|Persian]] || [[Sanskrit]] || [[Russian language|Russian]] || [[Old Irish]] || [[Proto-Indo-European language|PIE]]
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|մայր}} ''mayr'' "mother" || '''mother''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''mōdor'')|| '''māter''' || μήτηρ '''mētēr''' || {{lang|fa|مادر}} '''mâdar''' || मातृ '''mātṛ''' || мать '''mat'''' || '''máthair''' || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*méh₂tēr}}''' "mother"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|հայր}} ''hayr'' "father" || '''father''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''fæder'')|| '''pater''' || πατήρ '''patēr''' || {{lang|fa|پدر}} '''pedar''' || पितृ '''pitṛ''' || || '''athair''' || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*ph₂tḗr}}''' "father"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|եղբայր}} ''eġbayr'' "brother" || '''brother''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''brōþor'')|| '''frāter''' || φράτηρ '''phrātēr''' "brother-in-arms, comrade" || {{lang|fa|برادر}} '''barâdar''' || भ्रातृ '''bhrātṛ''' || брат '''brat''' || '''bráthair''' || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*bʰréh₂tēr}}''' "brother"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|դուստր}} ''dustr'' "daughter" || '''daughter''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''dohtor'')|| (Oscan '''futrei''') || θυγάτηρ '''thugátēr''' || {{lang|fa|دختر}} '''doxtar''' || दुहितृ '''duhitṛ''' || дочь '''doč'''' || '''der, Dar-''' "daughter (of)" || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*dʰugh₂tḗr}}''' "daughter"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|կին}} ''kin'' "woman, wife" || '''queen''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''cwēn "queen, woman, wife"'')|| || γυνή '''gunē''' || {{lang|fa|زن}} '''zan''' || ग्ना '''gnā'''/ जनि '''jani''' || жена '''žena''' "wife" || '''ben''' "woman" || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*gʷḗn}}''' "woman, wife"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|իմ}} ''im'' "my, mine" || '''my, mine''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''min'')|| '''me-us''', '''-a''', '''-um''' etc. || ἐμ-ός, -ή, -όν '''em-ós''', '''-ē''', '''-ón''' etc. || {{lang|fa|من، ـم}} '''man,-am''' || मम '''mama''' || мой '''moy''' || '''mo''' "my, me" || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*h₁me-}}''' "my, mine"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|անուն}} ''anun'' "name" || '''name''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''nama'')|| '''nōmen''' || ὄνομα '''ónoma''' || {{lang|fa|نام}} '''nâm''' || नामन् '''nāman''' || имя '''im'a''' || '''ainm''' || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*h₃nom-n̥-}}''' "name"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|յոթ}} ''yotʻ'' ( ← եաւթն "eawtʻn") "seven" ||'''seven''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] seofon) ||'''septem''' || ἑπτά '''heptá''' || {{lang|fa|هفت}} '''haft''' || सप्तन् '''saptán''' || семь '''sem'''' || '''secht''' || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*septḿ̥}}''' "seven"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|ութ}} ''utʻ'' "eight" || '''eight''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''eahta'')|| '''octō''' || ὀκτώ '''óktō''' || {{lang|fa|هشت}} '''hašt''' || अष्ट '''aṣṭa''' || во́семь '''vosem'''' || '''ocht''' || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*oḱtṓw}}''' "eight"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|ինն}} ''inn'' "nine" || '''nine''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''nigon'')|| '''novem''' || ἐννέα '''ennéa''' || {{lang|fa|نه}} '''noh''' || नवन् '''navan''' || де́вять '''dev'at'''' || '''noí''' || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*h₁néwn̥}}''' "nine"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|տասը}} ''tas'' (<տասն "tasn") "ten" ||'''ten''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''tien'') ( ← [[Proto-Germanic language|P.Gmc.]] ''*tehun'')|| '''decem''' || δέκα '''déka''' || {{lang|fa|ده}} '''dah''' || दश '''daśa''' || де́сять '''des'at'''' || '''deich''' || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*déḱm̥}}''' "ten"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|աչք}} ''ačʻkʻ'' "eye" || '''eye''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''ēge'')|| '''oculus''' || ὀφθαλμός '''ophthalmós''' || [[Avestan]] 𐬀𐬱𐬌 (''aši'', "eyes")|| अक्षि '''akṣi''' || око '''oko''' (''archaic'') || || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*H₃okʷ-}}''' "to see"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|արմունկ}} ''armunk'' ''(<*h₂(e)rH-mo-+ -ուկն)'' "elbow"<br />||'''arm''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''earm "joined body parts below shoulder"'')|| '''armus''' "shoulder" || ἁρμός '''harmós''' "a joint" || {{lang|fa|ارم}} '''arm''' "arm" (archaic) || ईर्म '''īrma''' "arm" || рамя '''ram'a''' "shoulder" (''archaic'') || || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*h₂er-}}''' "fit, join (that which is fitted together)" 
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|ծունկ}} ''cunk'' "knee" || '''knee''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''cnēo'')|| '''genū''' || γόνυ '''gónu''' || {{lang|fa|زانو}} '''zânu''' || जानु '''jānu''' || || '''glún''' || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*ǵénu-}}''' "knee"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|ոտք}} ''otkʻ'' "foot, leg" || '''foot''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''fōt'')|| '''pēs, pedis''' || πούς, πόδος '''poús''', '''pódos''' || {{lang|fa|پا، پای}} '''pâ, pây''' "foot" || पाद् '''pād''' "foot" || || (Gaul. '''ades''' "feet") || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*pod-, *ped-}}''' "foot, leg"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|սիրտ}} ''sirt'' "heart"|| '''heart''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''heorte'')|| '''cor, cordis''' || καρδία '''kardía''' || {{lang|fa|دل}} '''del''' || हृदय '''hṛdaya''' || се́рдце '''serdce''' || '''cride''' || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*ḱerd-}}''' "heart"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|մուկ}} ''muk'' "mouse" || '''mouse''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''mūs'')|| '''mūs, mūris''' || μῦς '''mûs''' "mouse, muscle" || {{lang|fa|موش}} '''muš''' || मूष् '''mūṣ''' || мышь '''myš'''' || ||'''*múh₂s''' "mouse, muscle"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|կով}} ''kov'' "cow" || '''cow''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''cū'')|| '''bōs, bovis''' || βοῦς '''boûs''' || {{lang|fa|گاو}} '''gâv''' || गो '''go''' || говядина '''gov'adina''' "beef" || '''bó''' || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*gʷṓws}}''' "cow"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|շուն}} ''šun'' "dog" || '''hound''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''hund "hound, dog"'')|| '''canis''' || κύων '''kúōn''' || {{lang|fa|سگ}} '''sag''' || श्वन् '''śvan''' || сука '''suka'''{{efn|etymology debated, see [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/suka#Etymology]}} "bitch" || '''cú''' || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*ḱwṓ}}''' "hound, dog"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|ամիս}} ''amis'' "month" || '''moon, month''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''mōnaþ'')|| '''mēnsis''' || μήν '''mēn''' "moon, month" || {{lang|fa|ماه}} '''mâh''' "moon, month" || मास '''māsa''' "moon, month" || месяц '''mes'ac''' || '''mí''' || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*meH₁ns- }}''' "moon, month"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|ամառ}} ''amaṙ'' ( ← Proto-Armenian ''*sm̥h₂er-m̥'' <''*s(e)m-eh₂-'') "summer" ||'''summer''' ( ← OE sumor) || || || {{lang|fa|هامین}} '''hâmin''' (''archaic'') ||समा '''samā''' "season" || ||'''sam''' "summer" ||'''*semh₂-''' "summer, hot season"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|ջերմ}} ''ǰerm'' "warm" || '''warm''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''wearm'')|| '''formus''' || θερμός '''thermós''' || {{lang|fa|گرم}} '''garm''' || घर्म '''gharma''' "heat" || жарко '''žarko''' "hot" || '''geirid''' "warm (v)" || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*gʷʰerm-}}''' "warm"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|լույս}} ''luys'' "light" || '''light''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''lēoht "brightness"'')|| '''lūx''' || λευκός '''leukós''' "bright, shining, white" || {{lang|fa|روز}} '''ruz''' "day" || रोक '''roka''' || луч '''luč'''' "beam" || '''lóch''' "bright" || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*leuk-}}''' "light, brightness"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|հուր}} ''hur'' "flame" || '''fire''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''fȳr'') || (Umbrian '''pir''' "fire") || πῦρ '''pûr''' "fire" || || ||пожа́р '''požar''' "wildfire" || || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*péh₂wr̥}}''' "fire"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|հեռու}} ''heṙu'' "far" || '''far''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''feor "to a great distance"'')|| '''per''' "through" || πέρα '''péra''' "beyond" || {{lang|fa|فرا}} '''farâ''' "forward" || परस् '''paras''' "beyond" || пере- '''pere-''' "through", про- '''pro-''' "forth" || '''íre''' "further" || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*per-}}''' "through, across, beyond"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|լվանալ}} ''lvanal'' "to wash" || '''flow''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''flōwan'') || '''pluĕre''' "to rain" || πλύνω '''plúnō''' "I wash" || || प्लु '''plu''' "to float, swim" || плавать '''plavat'''' "swim" || '''luí''' "rudder" || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*pleu-}}''' "to flow, float, wash"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|ուտել}} ''utel'' "to eat" || '''eat''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''etan'')|| '''edō''' || ἔδω '''édō''' || || अद्मि '''admi''' || есть '''jest'''' || '''ithid''' || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*h₁ed-}}''' "to eat"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|գիտեմ}} ''gitem'' "I know" || '''wit''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''wit, witan "intelligence, to know"'')|| '''vidēre''' "to see" || οἶδα '''oîda''' || {{lang|fa|ویده}} '''vida''' "knowledge" || विद् '''vid''' || видеть '''videt'''' "see, understand" || '''adfet''' "tells" || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*weyd-}}''' "to see"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|գետ}} ''get'' "river" || '''water''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''wæter'')|| (Umbrian '''utur''' "water") || ὕδωρ '''húdōr''' "water" || '''bārān''' باران
"rain"
| उदन् '''udan''' "water" || вода '''voda''' "water" || '''uisce''' "water" || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|(*wodor, *wedor, *uder-) from *wed-}}''' "water"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|գործ}} ''gorc'' "work" || '''work''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''weorc'')|| || ἔργον '''érgon''' || ورز '''varz''' || || гора '''gora''' "mountain" (climbing is work)|| || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*werǵ-}}''' "to work"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|մեծ}} ''mec'' "big, great" || '''much''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''mycel "great, big, many"'')|| '''magnus''' || μέγας '''mégas''' || {{lang|fa|مه، مهست}} '''meh, mahest''' || मह '''maha''' || много '''mnogo''' "many" || '''maige''' "great, mighty" || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*meǵ-}}''' "great"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|ճանաչել}} ''čanačʻel''' ( ← *ծանաչել '''canačʻel''') "to recognize" || '''know''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''cnawan'')|| '''nōscere''' "to learn, recognize" || γιγνώσκω '''gignōskō''' "I know" || {{lang|fa|شناختن}} '''šenâxtan''' "to know" || जानाति '''jānāti''' "to know" || знать '''znat'''' "to know" || '''ad·gnin''' "to know" || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*ǵneH₃-}}''' "to know"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|մեռնել}} ''meṙnel'' "to die" || '''murder''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''morþor'')|| '''morī''' || βροτός '''brotós''' "mortal" || {{lang|fa|مردن}} '''mordan''' "death" || मरति '''marati''' || мереть '''meret'''' || '''marb''' "dead" || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*mer-}}''' "to die"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|միջին}} ''miǰin'' "middle" || '''mid, middle''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''mid, middel'')|| '''medius''' || μέσος '''mésos''' ||{{lang|fa|میان}} '''miyân''' || मध्य '''madhya''' || меж '''mež''' "between" || '''mide''' || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*médʰyos from *me-}}''' "mid, middle"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|այլ}} ''ayl'' "other" || '''else''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''elles "other, otherwise, different"'')|| '''alius''' || ἄλλος '''állos''' || || || || '''aile''' "other" ||'''*h₂élyos''' "other"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|նոր}} ''nor'' "new" || '''new''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''nīwe'')|| '''novus''' || νέος '''néos''' || {{lang|fa|نو}} '''now''' || नव '''nava''' || новый '''novyj''' || '''núae''' || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*néwo-}}''' "new"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|դուռ}} ''duṙ'' "door" || '''door''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''dor, duru'')|| '''foris''' || θύρα '''thúrā''' || {{lang|fa|در}} '''dar''' || द्वार '''dvāra''' || дверь '''dver''''|| '''dorus''' || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*dʰwer-}}''' "door, doorway, gate"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|տուն}} ''tun'' "house" || '''town''', '''timber''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''timber "trees used for building material, structure"'')|| '''domus''' || δόμος '''domos''' || '''mān''' مان
"house" Avestan: '''dąm''' 𐬛𐬄𐬨 
| दम '''dama''' || дом '''dom''' || ||'''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*domo-, *domu-}}''' "house"
|-
| {{wikt-lang|hy|բերել}} ''berel'' "to bring" || '''bear''' ( ← [[Old English|OE]] ''beran "give birth, carry"'')|| '''ferre''' "to carry" || φέρω '''phérō''' || {{lang|fa|بردن، برـ}} '''bordan, bar-''' "to carry" || भरति '''bharati''' "to carry" || брать '''brat'''' "to take" || '''beirid''' "carry" || '''{{lang|ine-x-proto|*bʱer-}}''' "to carry"
|}

== Sample text ==
Below is a sample text of Article 1 of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] in Armenian:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Article 1 of the UDHR |url=https://omniglot.com/udhr/ie-other.htm#armenian |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=omniglot.com}}</ref>
{|class="wikitable"
!Eastern Armenian
!Romanization
!Pronunciation
|-
|Բոլոր մարդիկ ծնվում են ազատ ու հավասար` իրենց արժանապատվությամբ և իրավունքներով: Նրանք օժտված են բանականությամբ ու խղճով, և պարտավոր են միմյանց նկատմամբ վարվել եղբայրության ոգով:
|Bolor mardik tznvum en azat u havasar irents arzhanapatvuthyamb yev iravunqnerov. Nranq ozhtvatz en banakanuthyamb u xghcov, yev partavor en mimyants nkatmamb varvel yeghbayruthyan vogov.
|[bɔˈlɔɾ mɑɾˈdik t͡sənˈvum ɛn ɑˈzɑt u hɑvɑˈsɑɾ iˈɾɛnt͡sʰ ɑɾʒɑnɑpɑtvuˈtʰjɑmb jɛv iɾɑvuŋkʰnɛˈɾɔv ‖ nəˈɾɑŋkʰ ɔʒtˈvɑt͡s ɛn bɑnɑkɑnuˈtʰjɑmb u χəʁˈt͡ʃɔv jɛv pɑɾtɑˈvɔɾ ɛn miˈmjɑnt͡sʰ nəkɑtˈmɑmb vɑɾˈvɛl jɛʁbɑjɾuˈtʰjɑn vɔˈɡɔv ‖]
|-
!Western Armenian
!Romanization
!Pronunciation
|-
|Բոլոր մարդիկ կը ծնուին ազատ եւ հաւասար իրենց արժանապատուութեամբ եւ իրաւունքներով: Իրենք օժտուած են բանականութեամբ ու խիղճով, եւ պարտաւորուած են միմեանց հանդէպ եղբայրութեան ոգիով վարուիլ:
|Polor martig gė dznvin azad yev havasar irents arzhanabadvuthyamp yev iravunqnerov. Irenq ozhtvadz yen panaganuthyamp u xighjov, yev bardavorvadz yen mimyants hantèb yeghpayruthyan voqiov varvil.
|[pɔˈlɔɾ mɑɾˈtig gə d͡zənˈvin ɑˈzɑd jɛv hɑvɑˈsɑɾ iˈɾɛnt͡sʰ ɑɾʒɑnɑbɑdvuˈtʰjɑmp jɛv iɾɑvuŋkʰnɛˈɾɔv ‖ iˈɾɛŋkʰ ɔʒtˈvɑd͡z jɛn pɑnɑgɑnuˈtʰjɑmp u χiʁˈd͡ʒɔv jɛv bɑɾdɑvɔɾˈvɑd͡z jɛn miˈmjɑnt͡sʰ hɑnˈtɛb jɛχpɑjɾuˈtʰjɑn vɔkʰiˈɔv vɑɾˈvil ‖]
|}

{|class="wikitable"
!English translation
|-
|All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|Language}}
* [[Armenian PowerSpell]], electronic text corrector
* [[Armenian Sign Language]]
* [[Auguste Carrière]]
* [[Classical Armenian orthography]]
* [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages#Languages protected under the Charter|European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]]
* [[Languages of Armenia]]
* [[Language families and languages]]
* [[List of Indo-European languages]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==Footnotes==
{{reflist|33em}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book
| last          = Dolatian
| first         = Hossep

| title         =  Adjarian's Armenian dialectology (1911): Translation and commentary 
| url           = https://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/385
| format        = PDF
| year          = 2024
| publisher     = Language Science Press
| location      = Berlin
| isbn=978-3-96110-489-5 }}
*{{cite book
|last=Dum-Tragut
|first=Jasmine
|year=2009
|title=Armenian: Modern Eastern Armenian
|publisher=[[John Benjamins Publishing Company]]
|place=Amsterdam
|oclc=593240232
|isbn=978-90-272-8879-0 
|series=London Oriental and African language library
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Fortson
|first=Benjamin W. 
|year=2004
|title=Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction
|place=Malden
|publisher=Blackwell Publishing
|series=Blackwell textbooks in linguistics
|isbn=978-1-4051-0316-9
|oclc=863202575
|edition=1st
}}
* {{citation
 |last=Hübschmann 
 |first=Heinrich 
 |year=1875 
 |title=Über die Stellung des armenischen im Kreise der indogermanischen Sprachen 
 |url=http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/lrc/iedocctr/ie-docs/lehmann/reader/Chapter12.html 
 |journal=Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Sprachforschung 
 |volume=23 
 |pages=5–42 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051221170107/http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/lrc/iedocctr/ie-docs/lehmann/reader/Chapter12.html 
 |archive-date=2005-12-21 
}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Livshits |first=Vladimir |date=2006 |title=Armeno-Partho-Sogdica |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/ic/10/1/article-p77_6.xml |journal=Iran and the Caucasus |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=77–86 |doi=10.1163/157338406777979412 |issn=1609-8498|url-access=subscription }}
* {{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of the languages of Europe |year=2005|orig-year=1998 |publisher=Blackwell |isbn=978-0-631-19286-2 |last=Price |first=Glanville |edition=1st |location=Oxford}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite book |last=Achaṛean |first=Hrachʻeay H. |date=1909 |title=Classification des dialectes arméniens |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5MoDAAAAIAAJ |language=fr |location=Paris |publisher=Honoré Champion |oclc=5018723}}
* {{Cite book |last=Clackson |first=James|author-link=James Clackson |year=1994 |title=The Linguistic Relationship Between Armenian and Greek |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nnStQgAACAAJ |edition=1st |series=[[Philological Society|Publications of the Philological Society]] |location=Oxford |publisher=Blackwell |isbn=978-0-631-19197-1 |oclc=30701694 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Holst |first=Jan Henrik |date=2009 |title=Armenische Studien |location=Wiesbade, Germany |publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=978-3-447-06117-9 |language=de}}
* {{Cite book |last=Mallory |first=J. P. |author-link=J.P. Mallory |date=1989 |title=In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology and Myth |location=London |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-27616-7 |oclc=24710469}}
* {{Cite thesis |last=Nielsen |first=R. T. |date=2023 |title=Prehistoric loanwords in Armenian: Hurro-Urartian, Kartvelian, and the Unclassified Substrate |url=https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/handle/1887/3656151 |type=PhD |location=Leiden, Netherlands |publisher=Leiden University |hdl=1887/3656151}}
* {{Cite JIPA |last=Seyfarth |first=Scott |last2=Dolatian |first2=Hossep |last3=Guekguezian |first3=Peter |last4=Kelly |first4=Niamh |last5=Toparlak |first5=Tabita |date=April 2024 |onlinedate=2023-10-09 |title=Armenian (Yerevan Eastern Armenian and Beirut Western Armenian) |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=445–478 |doi=10.1017/S0025100323000130 |soundfiles=yes}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Vaux |first1=Bert |author-link=Bert Vaux |date=1998 |title=The Phonology of Armenian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CfVjAAAAMAAJ |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |isbn=978-0-19-823661-0 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Vaux |first1=Bert |author-link=Bert Vaux |date=2002 |chapter=The Armenian Dialects of Jerusalem |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/300620 |editor-last1=Stone |editor-first1=Michael Edward |editor-link1=Michael E. Stone |editor-last2=Ervine |editor-first2=Roberta R. |editor-last3=Stone |editor-first3=Nira |title=Armenians in Jerusalem and the Holy Land |series=Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Armenian Studies |location=Leuven, Belgium |publisher=Peeters Publishers |isbn=978-90-429-1078-2}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* [https://haylib.am Haylib - A free library of courses, books, videos and other resources to help you learn Armenian]
* [https://powerspell.am Armenian PowerSpell]
* [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/armenia-iv ARMENIA AND IRAN iv. History, discussion, and the presentation of Iranian influences in Armenian Language over the millennia]
* [http://nayiri.com/ Nayiri.com] (Library of Armenian dictionaries)
* [http://dictionaries.arnet.am/ dictionaries.arnet.am] Collection of Armenian [[XDXF]] and [[Stardict]] dictionaries
* [https://magaghat.ai/grabar Grabar] (Brief introduction to Classical Armenian also known as Grabar)
* [https://բառարան.հայ բառարան.հայ] – Armenian dictionary

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