KeghartBeirut-born Karekin Dickran (1945-2012) was an artist, polymath, amateur etymologist, Armenologist, a student of semiotics, mythology, and ancient Armenian pictographs– among other disciplines and pursuits. A “Trchnotz Pouyn” (Birds’ Nest), Jbeil, Lebanon student, he studied art in Denmark where he eventually settled. A passionate patriot with an original mind, he corresponded with Keghart Editor Jirair Tutunjian from 2005 until 2012 mostly about Armenian etymology and Dickran’s series “The Genesis of Civilization”. Starting with this issue, we will intermittently publish abridged and edited selections from the prolific artist’s informative emails to Mr. Tutunjian. We begin with his observations about Sanskrit, European languages and Armenian.—Editor.
Jirair,
Continuing with my explanation about the similarities and links between Armenian and European words, here are some samples from my “dictionary”. This is part I. I will provide more examples in future letters.
I believe ‘Sanskrit’ is an Armenian word. It is Sans-krit. It means Surp-Kir (Krapar, surp zkir).
Armenian Zgaits and the German Zeitgeist are the same word. Zeitgeist is a German expression meaning “the spirit of the age/time”, literally translated as “time (Zeit) spirit (Geist)”. Zeit in Armenian is zjam meaning time, and Geist in Armenian is Gaids which means spark, flash of fire. Thus Armenian Zjamgaids refers to The Spirit of Now and can be used to refer to the spirit of the past, present and any future events. Bear in mind we are very old nation!
Armenian Or meaning to dawn the [day], is the root of Latin or, orior meaning to dawn. Armenian Or is connected to Armenian Ar.ev meaning the sun. A can change to O as Ar/Os indicating to arise, to come out or forth, to break or start a day. Or in Armenian means day, daytime, light. In Greek ornumi, ornuo, mean to arise. English aurora means dawn. French aura means to ray. It’s connected to the Armenian Os.gi meaning gold. Aureloe means luminous coronet. In Greek-Latin Or is sungod. From the Armenian Or is derived the Orient which is rooted in the Armenian sun god AR which is the basis of all concepts of gods attributes as the brightest shining Being. Danish gry is connected to ghru meaning shine, ray, beam or gleam. Danish or.et refers to be damaged by the heat of the sun. Or.et is connected to Old Danish ar[r]meaning scar.
There is also a connection between Aya, Haya and Ayk. Ayk meaning dawn is related to Osgi gold. IE (Indo-European) awks- Nostratic etymology meaning gold, Latin aurum. Other Italic (ausom) and gols in Tokharian
Armenian dag/dak and Danish dag and English day/daeg. Armenian dak/dag means warm. It refers to the warmth of the sun in the middle of the day and of dag. It is the root of a range of Indo-European (IE) languages for day. In Proto IE it is agh, dagh. Old Indian ahar meant day; daha-h (burning heat). Some linguists believe the English day is a corrupted form of the Old English daeg or it is from the Germanic daqa-z which is connected to the Armenian daka-tz meaning warmed up.
Armenian burbur/purpur, Danish boble, English bubble. It is an onomotapoeia echoing the bob-bob sound bubbles make. The English blob (drop) is a related word. The bur means to blow up, to swell as in Greek bubone. Bubonic plague.
As I said above, Orient is connected to the Armenian Ori.on (Orion). Medzamor and old Armenian Or-hi-an [Edessa/Orrheonis] were important religious centres and astronomical observatories where temples were found for iron, gold and other smelting refineries. Medzamor observatory recorded data based on the observation of Orion belt [including Sirius and Orion-Hayk. In ancient time Armenia was also known as Aratta probably the first state in the world known for its metallurgy and gold. The Sumerian azaggi (gold) was a form of azagga (precious or more precisely precious metal). The more specific word for gold was guskin, with which the Armenian oski must be connected. All evidence confirms Armenia was also the birthplace of silver, brass, and iron refinery, and her riverbeds and mines were the source of ancient gold.
Jirair,
Testifying to ancient Armenia’s advances in mining, here is the text from Sumerian literature which I mentioned to you in my previous letter: “Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta” by J.A. Cunningham, G., Robson, E., and Zolyomi, Oxford , 1998.
“In order to please the gods, Enmerkar plans to build a lavish temple in Uruk. There was only one big problem: Enmerkar had none of the precious stones and metals he needed to decorate the temple. But Aratta, located in the mountains, was famous for its gold and precious stones, and it was to the lord of Aratta that Enmerkar turned to… My sister, let Aratta fashion gold and silver skillfully on my behalf for Unum. Let them cut the flawless lapis lazuli from the blocks, let them…the translucence of the flawless lapis lazuli…build a Holy Mountain…Let Aratta build a Temple brought down from heaven your place of worship, the Shrine E-Ana; let Aratta skillfully fashion the interior of the holy japer, your abode; may I, the radiant youth, may I embrace there by you…Let the people of Aratta bring down for me the mountain stones from their mountain…This Great Mountain range Aratta is a Tree grown high to the sky; its roots form a net, and its branches are a snare. It may be a sparrow but it has the talons of an Anza bird or an Eagle. The barrier of Inane is perfectly made and is impenetrable. Those Eagle talons make the blood of the enemy run from the Bright Mountain…”
Next time I will talk about the relation between the Armenian ‘Phil’, the Danish ‘puts/pose’ and the English ‘puff’. Also about the similarity of the Armenian ‘brag/bay-u-sac, the Danish Sake, and the English sack/bag.
Parvener,
Karekin
Keghart
Keghart
