Indo-European Languages
Armenian Family
Carol Justus and Jonathan Slocum
The earliest Armenian texts are fifth century AD translations of the Bible written in a unique script whose closest affinities are with the script used to write Georgian, a non-Indo-European language of the Caucasus, and into which early Christians also translated the Bible from Greek.
Due to close relations between Iranian and Armenian peoples, both geographically and historically (Iranian kings ruled Armenia at various times in history), Armenian has borrowed so many words from Iranian that scholars once thought Armenian belonged to the Iranian branch of Indo-European. We know now, however, that Armenian constitutes a separate Indo-European branch.
Today many Armenians have dispersed across the globe, but their language has endured in two separate dialects, one in Armenia under the influence of the former U.S.S.R., and the other in western Turkey. The capital of Armenia today is Yerevan, near Mt. Ararat which holds a prominent place in Armenian lore.
Recommended Reading
- Mallory, J.P. & Douglas Q. Adams, eds. 1997. Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. London and Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. (As the name suggests, a large encyclopedia; cf. "Armenian Language" article)
See Online:
- Classical Armenian Online (language lessons);
- Indo-European Languages: Evolution and Locale Maps;
- Web Links re: Armenian (language & history).