Մայրենի Լեզուի Պահպանումի Գաղտնիքը

22 comments

1. The preservation of our mother tongue.

   Is it surprising, I wonder, that I am responding to this very same article in the English language? No, I don’t think it is. I live in the UK and I hardly speak or write Armenian in my daily life, although I can read and write in my mother tongue (Western Armenian) and the Armenian spelling has never been my strongest point. However, not speaking Armenian has got nothing to do with the English language or Britain; I like them both very much. It is, nevertheless, life and circumstances that lead us to a status quo and we can go on blaming the media, this wonderful thing called The Internet and so on and so forth.

   Being a child of the Armenian Diaspora, I salute the Western Armenian which – despite its vulnerabilities being outside the motherland – has not been affected by the influx of foreign words. We, in the Diaspora, have had every reason and excuse to import into our written language words from Arabic, French, Greek, Farsi, to name but a few, but we never did. Whilst we have imported many words and phrases from these host nations into our spoken language, but I have yet to find ‘Armenianised’ foreign words as part of the Western Armenian language, unlike our motherland, the Eastern Armenian, the defender and the keeper of our language and culture, where I am sometimes baffled as to the meaning of words – a so-called Armenian word – only to refer to an English dictionary or sometimes a Russian friend to see what the hec that word meant.

   Why?

   Why can’t we use the exact Armenian words for words such as?

   ‘Gooldooragan’ = cultural = mshagootayin.

   ‘Sotzial’ = social = engerayin, or engervaragan.

   ‘Fakultet’ = faculty = gadgar or asbarez.

   ……….and the list goes on……and, sadly, it is a huge list….

   I used to pride myself at school back in my birth place of Lebanon for being able to read Armenian books both in the Western and Eastern Armenian languages and understand EVERYTHING without any difficulties. Now with the advent of internet and web TV and so on, I have difficulties understanding the news in our own Armenian – Eastern Armenian – language! There are many foreign and non-Armenian words already part of the language and being taken for granted as though Mesrob Mashdotz himself brought them into the language. Why?

   We were late, but better than never, to have Armenian as a choice on the internet and even as part of the Windows language selection, but it is there… thankfully, and we can write (and read) in Armenian if we choose to or if we are able to…….

   Coming back to the core of the topic and this article, yes, there are many ways that we can kill a language and it is time that we recognised some of the issues that both our languages – Western and Eastern – have and make them available to Armenians in whatever way possible.

   I salute Keghart for this wonderful site and for the quality of the Western Armenian language they publish in their pages (if only they could use a different Armenian font, though).

   Vatché

   1. Make Eastern “Armenian” Best Language Money Can Buy

      Vatche

      Thank you for the timely comment. On more than one occasion I also have commented in Keghart  regarding the intrusion of foreign words in Eastern Armenian that now appear to have become part and parcel of the Eastern Armenian.

      However, I had never thought and appreciated, to our credit, how resistant we have been in Diaspora against the intrusion of words from the languages of the host countries we live in.

      The Armenianized foreign words are what they are, foreign words for us in the Diaspora. Apparently our intellectuals have not made any headway in reversing this trend and outright purifying the language from these words.

      I have a solution I would like to propose, that  we make Eastern Armenian the best language Diaspora money can buy. Money works wonders and it also works wonders in Armenia. I propose that we in the Diaspora raise funds and "reward" the Armenian editors for each and every single foreign word that henceforth they legally commit not to use. Such as an Armenian paper in Armenia will be "rewarded" a $1000 or whatever if the editorial board makes a legal binding they will for example henceforth use, as you pointed out engerayen instead of sotsial and so forth and so on. I believe that will be money well spent and will have a lasting benefit.

      We also have to make amply clear that our donations to the Armenia Fund or any fund raising for that matter, will decline if not withheld, if appeals to us are made using Armenianized foreign words. Our generous donors from Diaspora should decline any ecclesiastical decree containing Armenianized words. We should not purchase books, brochures or anything else written for that matter that contain Armenianized words. We should demand that any brochure that pertains to tourism presented to Diaspora Armenians should be in Western Armenian. After all, common courtesy would dictate that as hail from Western Armenian. In short we need to attempt to make using Armenianized words hurtful to the pocket.

      I present this as a serious proposal for consideration.

   2. New Words

      Dear Vatche,

      I am Hayastantsi and I am very concerned about the purity and preservation of our language.

      1. We have a Terminology Committee (Terminabanakan Komite) in Armenia, which is responsible for approving or designing Armenian words for commonly used foreign ones. Unfortunately, the committee fails to perform its functions, and I doubt if it has tried to cooperate with the Diaspora. Such cooperation could be very helpful as the Diaspora has been living in foreign environment, trying to preserve our mother tongue.

      Instead of spending money to motivate newspapers to abstain from using the wrong words, as proposed in your post, it would be more useful to finance a research group that would perform the functions of the Terminology Committee, and would design a good dictionary/vocabulary. A Wiki-type open contribution technology could be very helpful in achieving such a goal within minimum time and at a fraction of the cost, allowing participation of all persons concerned–from Armenia and the Diaspora.

      2. If you watch Armenian TV, you would probably notice that they do not speak in Armenian. It is some kind of a new low-level slang, which is rapidly becoming common and is replacing our mother tongue. The use of such colloquial language in any printed material, on TV or radio should be forbidden by law.

      Moreover, the law should oblige state officials to use literary Armenian. Officials should be penalized for using colloquial language. I find it unacceptable that the Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan uses ozhandak bay “a” instead of the literary “e” (e.g. “anum a” instead of “anum e”).

      3. We should be reasonable about our efforts to find good Armenian translations for all foreign words. There are terms which would be difficult or impossible to translate. I remember in the early years of Armenia’s independence, Raphael Ghazarian ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafael_Ghazaryan) was addressing Parliament, explaining that the efforts to translate foreign words to Armenian should be reasonable. He joked, “It makes no sense to find Armenian replacements to such scientific terms as “electron”, “proton” or “bozone”, although it would be good to find a replacement to the last one”.

      Vahan

      1. Terminabanakan Komite

         Sireli Vahan,

         I am glad that you, much like your name, and others like you in Armenia are concerned in the preservation of the Armenian language and would like to shield our language from the intrusion of foreign words.
          

         Eastern Armenian will be the dominant Armenian language in the long run even in the Diaspora. Naturally, I do not mean to say the inner Diaspora-Russia and its immediate neighboring countries. However, it will be a loss if the Eastern Armenian continues to evolve along the track it was forced into due to the misguided Soviet policies.
          

         There is no discussion in absolutes, and it would be unreasonable to expect that all scientific terms and words be in Armenian. However, like the speaker in the Armenian Parliament, we should not be referring to such exceptions and extreme examples to mask the fundamental issue of the intrusion of foreign words in our language.
          

         That the committee, whose mission is or supposed to be the approval of Armenian words for commonly used foreign words, is called Terminabanakan Komite is itself a contradiction and does not inspire much confidence.
          

         I still stand by my proposal: make Eastern Armenian the best language Diaspora money can buy. 

         1. Further response…..

            Sireli Vahan and Vahe,

            Last night I watched "Yergir Hayotz" excerpts on YouTube and I couldn’t agree with you more.

            There was a time when I would turn the internet inside out to find Armenian TV channels and, indeed, TV channels from the motherland itself.  I had an immense curiosity to hear Armenian; to watch Armenian films, serials, TV shows. But whatever I managed to dig up, it turned out to be mainly newscasts, I was filled with anger when I started hearing those foreign words as though they were  an integral part of the Armenian (Eastern) language. Yes, you are correct, Vahan, Armenian TV is anything but Armenian.

            The very term “Terminology Committee” (Terminabankan Komite) եզրաբանութիւն-յանձնաժողով is problematic. How difficult is it to find the Armenian equivalents of such phrases? A quick search on the beautiful Nayiri on-line Armenian-English-Armenian dictionary gives the answer. I wonder if our linguists in Armenia are unaware of these words and they simply go along and indeed embrace the influx of foreign words. I might agree that with more complex technical (and modern) words we may find it easier to use them as such, but with words which our language is rich enough to handle, why do we use their foreign equivalents?

            I have yet another suggestion: why don’t we start here, with Keghart.com.  Whenever there is an article or a publication in Eastern Armenian, let the editor of Keghart  edit those foreign words into Armenian. If this presents a copyright issue, the editor can insert next to those words their Armenian equivalents in brackets. Perhaps the authors of such articles might learn some Armenian in the process.

            I wonder what would Hovhannes Toumanian, Raffi, Krikor Zohrab, Silva Gaboudigian, Nar-Tos, Barooyr Sevag, to name but a few, would think of the state of our mother tongue today.

             Vatché

             

             

            1. Armenian Language

               Dear Vatche and Vahe,

               Thank you for your comments.

               1. It was valid to note that, by definition, the state Terminabanakan Komite could not perform the functions for which it was created until it renamed itself Ezrabanakan Handznazhoghov.

               2. Thank you for referring to Nayiri On-line http://www.nayiri.com/. It’s a useful link. However, I still think we all could benefit from creating a Wiki-based dictionary. It would require minimum financing and time. It would also enable the contributions of Armenians from all over the world, and ensure long-term enhancement.

               By the way, many people may find useful also the Google Translate http://translate.google.com/ (although it contains some crazy things like this: http://translate.google.com/#en|hy|leader.)

               Our compatriots may also be interested to learn that there is now an Armenian Virtual College http://avc-agbu.org/ that teaches Armenian language, history and culture over the Internet.

               3. Although I speak Eastern Armenian, I cannot agree with the idea of making the Eastern Armenian the best language Diaspora money can buy. Eastern and Western Armenian have their pros and cons:

               – Western Armenian sounds nicer and more literary to me, like classical music, while Eastern Armenian sounds more colloquial and easier to “colloquialize”.

               – The abbreviated small letter “ev” is not used in Western Armenian, which is very logical. “Ev” is similar to ampersand (“&”) and it should not appear in Armenian alphabet, as it is against of the principles used by Mashtots (each letter should correspond to a unique sound, which cannot be produced by a combination of other letters). Use of the krtshatagir “ev” in computerized texts creates a mess. The capitalizing of the single letter “ev” should be replaced by two letters. It messes up the standard sorting and searching functions. (There is also a problem with the letter “u” in Eastern Armenian, but at small letter “u” has its similar capital letter.)

               – Some consonants are pronounced differently in Western and Eastern Armenian. It is more logical to pronounce name “Hakob” as “Hakob” rather than “Hagop” and “Keghart” spelled by me as “Geghard”. I bet most Englishmen would pronounce my preferred spelling more correctly.

               So, there are pros and cons in each, and it’s not so obvious to me that Eastern Armenian is better.

               4. I think all Armenians concerned about the purity of our mother tongue should lobby certain legislative changes that would prevent it from being destroyed. Armenian people and Armenian language have survived very difficult times and it would be a shame if lose it.

               Best regards,

               Vahan

            2. Contradiction in Terms

               It is more logical to pronounce name “Hakob” as “Hakob” rather than “Hagop” and “Keghart” spelled by me as “Geghard”. I bet most Englishmen would pronounce my preferred spelling more correctly.

               Vahan, why logical? I  have heard that in Eastern Armenian you differentiate between how strong the ք and գ  should be pronounced. To me, or to us who speak Western Armenian, you make them both sound like կ (g). This is something I do not understand. If one is supposed to be pronounced ‘softer’ than the other, then what happens to the letter կ? How should that be pronounced? Why do you use the word ‘logical’ in pronouncing it as Hakob instead of Hagop.

               You are changing the whole alphabetical sounding system here – the way we were taught as speakers of West Armenian. I really can’t make sense in ignoring the Յակոբ and pronouncing it with a ‘K’ instead of the ‘G –Յագոբ or Յաքոբ. Why? So, you convert the two K’s that we have in the alphabet into some sort of  G and then the G into some sort of K. I would argue the same with Keghart or Geghart and the list goes on… I am not even arguing about the T here which you have made it into a D – Geghard. So, how would you pronounce the real Armenian D?

               Why would most Englishmen prefer this or that spelling? Why should I change my language as to how an Englishman or an American would ‘prefer’ to spell it? First of all, they have no idea about the Armenian spelling and should not even express any preference. We tell them how a word is spelled or pronounced.  I would always insist writing an Armenian surname as – ian instead of the Eastern Armenian style of -yan. Why? Because -yan should only be applied if the preceding letter is a vowel: simple English grammar.

               I was watching just now on Ojax site (Օճախ)about the life of Armenians in Holland, sponsored or promoted by the Diaspora Ministry of Armenia, and in the very film where the father of the family is trying to teach his son to speak Armenian, the parents themselves (Eastern Armenians) were using a host of foreign words in the very Armenian that they spoke and wanted to teach to their young son??? Contradiction in terms, I would say Vahan. Don’t you think so?

               Merojax.TV

               Vatché

                

            3. Keghart or Geghard

               "… and “Keghart” spelled by me as “Geghard”. I bet most Englishmen would pronounce my preferred spelling more correctly." Vatché
               
               Dear Vatché,
               
               I partially agree with you. Probably I am one of those lucky ones who have been exposed both to Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian. To my understanding Western Armenian has preserved the classical spelling but over time the pronunciation of individual letters (characters) has changed, whereas the Eastern Armenian (Armenia) has preserved our pronunciation but lost the classical spelling for a variety of reasons. Note that The Iranian-Persian Armenians have preserved the spelling.

               Four years ago when Keghart (Geghard) was launched I struggled with the problem of which spelling to employ. Being a Western Armenian, eventually I settled for Keghart, because գ western Armenians pronounce as k in English and դ as t.

               My last name Աբրահամեան, for example, Western Armenians pronounce as Aprahamian and not Abrahamian. The latter I consider to be the correct way. That’s why I followed the accepted transliteration and asked my name to be written as Abrahamian in the passport. There was a problem though with my first name which is written Dikran and not Tigran, because it would have sounded awkward for Western Armenians.

               Incidentally, Գեղարդ (Keghart, Geghard), as you know, means spear or lance ( նիզակ, տէգ).

               Paregamoren (Baregamoren),

               Dikran (Tigran)

            4. Any language we can keep alive is for the benefit of the nation

               To conclude this topic, the West thinks or has been given the impression that the Egyptian Arabic is the purest Arabic compared to all others because of its size (or perhaps because Egypt happens to be the Hollywood of the Middle East). I do not agree with this concept. Similarly, it is not always right to think that the Armenian language spoken and written in Armenia is always the correct one. Just because it is the motherland, it does not have to follow that we have to accept everything about the Eastern Armenian language.

               I also feel  and see, painfully, that within the TV channels outside Armenia, the Western Armenian seems to have been an indesirable language and there are no presenters or even programmes in the Western Armenian language whilst the majority of the Diaspora is comprised of Western Armenians. Why is this discrimination? The only Western Armenian TV channel – ATV – (not sure if it is still in operation) and a great sounding radio station – Sevan – seem to come out of Lebanon.

               Any language we can keep alive is for the benefit of the nation and let us not aleinate one language over the other – they are both Armenian in their own right and should remain so for as long as we can.

               I would hate to see Western Armenian disappear into extinction and, by the same token, I would also hate to see the Eastern Armenian taken over by foreign words and phrases.

               We’ve got work to do.

               Keghart, well done for a great site!

               Vatché

            5. Transliterations, etc.

               Dear Vatche,

               Thank you for your comments.

               Unfortunately, I did not fully understand your arguments about Armenian consonants, probably because I am an Eastern Armenian.  My logic was simple: as I understand Latin letter "k" is normally pronounced closer to "k" in Eastern Armenian and "g" in Western Armenian, and Latin letter "g" is normally pronounced closer to "g" in Eastern Armenian and "k" in Western Armenian.  I am glad Dikran Abrahamian has made his own comments about the spelling of "Keghart".

               Re the Latin transliterations of Armenian names, I fully agree with you.  The correct and traditional spelling was to use "ian" after the consonants and "yan" only after the vowels.  Although in my passport and on credit cards my name is spelled with "y", in all other places i spell my last name with "i". 

               I don’t know who was the state official that made the decision about Armenian transliterations, but he/she either was illiterate or was trying to differentiate between Eastern and Western Armenians. 

               By the way, the Armenian Ministry of Interior is a real joke!  Guess how they spell name "Juan" in Armenian?  While the rest of the world name "Juan" is pronounced "Խուան", it is transliterated/translated by the Ministry as "Ջուան".  It’s a nonsense, and thare are lots of other crazy examples like this.  The foreigners are laughing at us… Hope sooner or later this issue will be fixed.

               Best regards,

               Vahan

            6. Illuminating Discussion
               This is what I was traying to say, Vahan. The name Գոհար in Eastern Armenian is pronounced as Gohar and anything that is ‘K’-sounding is pronounced as G in Eastern Armenian. We would pronounce this name as Kohar and not Gohar. In other words, what is the difference for East Armenians between Ք  and Գ? I was wondering how would you pronounce the կ itself? That was all. Sorry if I confused you.

               Thank you for all your inputs Vahan, Vahé and Dikran (Keghart). This has been an illuminating discussion.

               Vatché

            7. Eastern pronunciation

               Dear Vatche,

               You are right.  Eastern Armenians pronounce "Ք" as aspirated English "K" (or "C" in some words). For example, "key" or "call".  "Գ" is pronounced as "G" in "golf". "Կ" is pornouced as unaspirated "K" (can’t find a good example, unfortunately). 

               I hope this hellps. Best regards,

               Vahan

            8. Eastern pronunciation (2)
               This web-page may be helpful: http://www.101languages.net/armenian/consonants.html

            9. Spelling

               One more quick somment:

               "Ojax" is another crazy spelling.  Unless you are active in Eastern Armenian blogosphere, you would not know that Armenian letter "խ" is often transliterated to Latin "x" because it is pronounced as Russian "x" 🙂

               Vahan

2. A Relevant Commentary from Asbarez Daily

   Western Armenian in Peril: UNESCO’s Recognition and the Question of Contemporary Literature in the Exilic Language

3. Further Response

   Dear Vahan and Vahe,

   Last night I watched "Yergir Hayotz" excerpts on YouTube and I couldn’t agree with you more.

   There was a time when I would turn the internet inside out to find Armenian TV channels and, indeed, TV channels from the motherland itself. I had an immense curiosity to hear Armenian; to watch Armenian films, serials, TV shows. But whatever I managed to dig up, it turned out to be mainly newscasts, I was filled with anger when I started hearing those foreign words as though they were an integral part of the Armenian (Eastern) language. Yes, you are correct, Vahan, Armenian TV is anything but Armenian.

   The very term “Terminology Committee” (Terminabankan Komite) եզրաբանութիւն-յանձնաժողով is problematic. How difficult is it to find the Armenian equivalents of such phrases? A quick search on the beautiful Nayiri on-line Armenian-English-Armenian dictionary gives the answer. I wonder if our linguists in Armenia are unaware of these words and they simply go along and indeed embrace the influx of foreign words. I might agree that with more complex technical (and modern) words we may find it easier to use them as such, but with words which our language is rich enough to handle, why do we use their foreign equivalents?

   I have yet another suggestion: why don’t we start here, with Keghart.com. Whenever there is an article or a publication in Eastern Armenian, let the editor of Keghart edit those foreign words into Armenian. If this presents a copyright issue, the editor can insert next to those words their Armenian equivalents in brackets. Perhaps the authors of such articles might learn some Armenian in the process.

   I wonder what would Hovhannes Toumanian, Raffi, Krikor Zohrab, Silva Gaboudigian, Nar-Tos, Barooyr Sevag, to name but a few, would think of the state of our mother tongue today.

   Vatché

4. Երբ բոլոր պատասխանները անգլերէն են, լեզուն կիսամահ է…

   No Comment

   1. Not so!

      Թորոս, այսպիսի բան միայն Հայաստան ապրողը կրնայ ըսել՛

      you are in Canada now, if you really feel that ‘much’ Armenian, why don’t you migrate to Armenia??

5. Eastern & Western Armenian

   Friends,

   The argument between our Eastern v.s.Western Armenian and its shortcomings HP is mute. In my opinion those languages will die in the next 100 years or so in the Diaspora. Our Armenian language will survive only and only in Armenia and Artsakh where there is no other dominantr foreign language.

   USA, France, or any other country where Armenians reside will loose their language. How many of my American -Armenian friends remember 1960s and 70s when one could hardly hear Armenian spoken in our churches. It only saw a rebirth after the Middle East turmoils when a new flux of Armenians came to the USA.

   Today sermons are given 80% in English and maybe 20% in Armenian. I wonder, is it the same in France? Some older Diasporans still speak Armenian but the younger generation?

   Any kind of Armenian with Russian or foreign words would be OK in my view as long as a modicum of Armenian language is practiced….or would you prefer to go the way Polish or Hungarian Armenians  did ? Where are they…Oh..yes..there are vestiges of Armenians in Poland, they even have  produced some generals…that were honored by Pols ..but the rest…NONE LEFT…..that is the future of the Diaspora…I am very pessimistic…If we follow what we did in the past, the inevitable will happen…the writing is on the wall.

   Therefore, let’s stop the merits of Eastern and Western Armenian and try to perpetuate it .even with broken language…….if we can…

   1. A Language Issue Conference

      “We’ve got work to do”comments Vatche. Indeed we have work at our hands and leadership of Keghart may be best to organize a conference addressing the issue of the intrusion of foreign words in our vocabulary. The issue is complex of course. For the moment let us set aside the issue of grammar but concentrate on the issue of the intrusion of foreign words in the language.

      Prominent Armenian linguists, such as Hagop Cholakian from Aleppo and others may be invited guests with an open forum for those who are interested in the issue and willing to contribute to finance such a conference in Armenia.

      Marc, the issue of the intrusion of foreign words in our vocabulary is not meant to safeguard the Armenian language in Diaspora as much as to retain the purity of the language in Armenia and Artsakh that are in the long run the only bet for us to preserve our language. The way the Eastern Armenian language, which is bound to be the predominant language, is evolving, may in the long run result in a disconnect in understanding and appreciating the literature of Khatchadour Apovian for an example.

      1. I agree with you

         Vahé,

         I agree with you wholeheartedly. It serves us no good when we forecast  doomsday for the Armenian language. I am proud of the Western Armenian and I do very much enjoy hearing and reading Eastern Armenian, but the Eastern Armenian of our novelists, poets and not this so-called modern Eastern Armenian which is becoming more of an Anglo-Russian concoction.

         Yes, as it has been suggested, Keghart can be the leader in the cleansing process of the language.

         Vatché

   2. Armenian language, etc.

      Mac said "let’s stop the merits of Eastern and Western Armenian and try to perpetuate it .even with broken language…….if we can…"

      If we let it break, it will not perpetuate.  A little country like Luxembourg having a small population, vast majority of which are foreigners, is promoting Luxembourgish language… French and German as used as the two other official languages, but Luxebourg make a great effort to preserve and popularize Luxembourgish.  

      We should not allow polluting our mother tongue.

      I should also say that in my opinion Armenia has made a great mistake after declaration of independence. At that time most of the Armenian population was fluent in Russian.  There were lots of Russian schools, etc.  Unfortunately, our politicians were trying to extirpate Russian, instead of considering the knowledge of Russian language as an important asset and preserving that asset.  (Ideally, one should read Tolstoy and Dostoevskiy in original language.  No translation can be as good as the original.)

      I think, we, Armenians, have a unique talent for destroying what we had in the past.  When Armenia was adopting Christianity, we have destroyed all pagan monuments with the exception of Garni.  After declaring independence, we have extirpated Russian…

      Will we learn to recognize and preserve our assetts?

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