Armenian writing stands out due to its interesting origins and the impressive number of people who speak this language of people. Their number reaches approximately 6-7 million people. The language has a rich history and interesting spelling.
The origin of Armenian writing
The Armenian alphabet was created by Mesrop Mashtots around 405-406. The language belongs to the Indo-European group, has a lively timbre and its own specific "temperament". In connection with its origin, the language regularly contacted the languages of Indo-European and non-Indo-European groups, which include the European (Romance, German), Slavic language groups. These contacts contributed to new changes in Armenian writing.
According to some sources, the development of the Armenian language began in the 7th century before the birth of Christ. The language has undergone multiple changes due to the intervention of the Urartians, Phrygians and Cimmerians.
Already in the VI century, for the first time there was a recorded mention of Armenia asterritories and peoples. The future independent country was mentioned as an area that was part of the territory of the former Persian monarchs.
The Armenian language is a transformation and unification of the language branches of Indo-European and non-Indo-European language groups. This is due to the centuries-old history of the country and the influence on the Armenian writing of other language groups, whose representatives invaded this territory.
The spread of the Armenian language
At the moment, the Armenian language is spoken primarily in Armenia (about 4 million speakers), in America (1 million), in France (250 thousand) and in countries such as Iran, Syria, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Lebanon, Argentina, Libya, Uzbekistan and others, where the number of speakers is relatively lower - from 200 thousand to 50 or less.
Periods of development of writing and literature
There are three periods:
Ancient. It lasted from the moment of its inception until the 11th century after the birth of Christ. Also called the Old Armenian period; the ancient period is the time of the beginning of the layering of other language groups on the Armenian language. According to the assumptions of modern scientists, the stratification arose at the time of the invasion of the territory of Armenia by a people whose language deviated from the Indo-European branch. There is a theory that Armenia is a Phrygian colony, which it became after the Cimmerians invaded the borders of the territory belonging to the Phrygyrians. Unfortunately, there is a very limitedthe number of sources written by chroniclers testifying to the development of the Armenian language, so it is difficult to know exactly how it evolved, whether there were ancient books in Armenian and so on
- Middle or Middle Armenian. It lasted for the XI-XVII centuries. At this time, the branching of languages into dialects and forms developed. This is due to the diversified direction of movement. This process continued for several centuries and left its mark on contemporaries.
- New. It was during this period that the alphabet arose, branched into the eastern and western versions, which are still used today. There are many dialects. The population of Armenia mainly uses the eastern version.
Armenian alphabet with character translation
The Armenian alphabet consists of 38 letters, nine of which are vowels. At the time of creation, the alphabet included 36 letters, including seven vowels, and later sounds such as "o" and the consonant letter Ֆ, meaning the sound "f", were added. When the alphabet was just beginning to develop, the Armenians, taking into account the experience of the Greeks and Phyricians, introduced the names of the letters, which makes it easier to memorize them.
The language was changed when the Bolsheviks (the second group formed after the collapse of the RSDLP into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks; supporters of the position of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin) engaged in the reformation of the alphabet, which began in 1921.
The innovations introduced by the Bolsheviks were not entirely competent. For example, the letter compound (or ligature) և was namedconsonant without a capital letter. The order of the letters in the dictionary was also violated. In this regard, a second reform was carried out in 1940. Despite the implementation of the mentioned changes, the native speakers of the Armenian language did not take them seriously. And they continued to use the Armenian language as they were already used to.
