On a random Wednesday afternoon, discussing Armenian history with a colleague, I had this mind-boggling interest about the evolution of the Armenian language, which made me start researching and reading about it.
Why do we have 2 very different dialects: Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian? 🤔
Eastern Armenian is spoken in Armenia today and Western Armenian is widely spoken by diaspora.
Both Armenian dialects trace their roots back to classical Armenian (Grabar). Grabar was standardized in the 5th century, with the invention of the Armenian alphabet by Mesrop Mashtots. So Armenians were speaking Grabar… (or Mesrob Mashdots? in Grabar… or Krapar😅)
A divergence occurred in the 19th century, influenced by geopolitical factors.
Before the treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828, much of Armenia was under Persian and Ottoman control. After the Treaty of Turkmenchay which ceded parts of Eastern Armenia to Russia, and led by Russia influence, Eastern Armenian dialect started taking a more distinct form. Many Russian words, especially related to government, technology and modern life, were incorporated into the Eastern Armenian lexicon.
When Armenia became part of the Soviet Union in 1920, Eastern Armenian had become the official language of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. So Eastern Armenian was highly influenced by first the Russian Empire (1828-1917) and later part of the Soviet Union (1920–1991). Russian was a dominant language in all Soviet republics. There are speculations that Khachatur Abovian, a key figure in the development of modern Eastern Armenian, may have been working and influenced by Russians when promoting the use of vernacular Armenian in literature and education. Russian is still the first foreign language in Armenia today and the majority of the population only knows Russian as a foreign language.
That said, the core structure of Eastern Armenian is rooted from Grabar and highly influenced from Russia/Russian language. Eastern Armenian is approximately 200 years old.
Western Armenian started evolving also in the 19th century when Armenian populations in the Ottoman Empire were geographically and politically separated from those in the Russian controlled east. After the Armenian Genocide in the 1915 a large portion of Western Armenian speakers were killed or spread to countries such as Syria, Lebanon, France, US, Argentina and other parts of the world.
The Western Armenian grammar largely stayed faithful to Grabar in terms of structure, spelling and grammar.
In Syria and Lebanon, Arabic loanwords entered everyday speech, in France, French words, in the U.S., English loanwords became very common.
Despite these external influences, Western Armenian has remained relatively cohesive in terms of grammar and syntax, thanks to the concerted efforts of the Armenian diaspora to preserve their linguistic heritage.
But most importantly despite the divergence and the failed attempts to separate Armenians. Armenians today understand each other.
I personally hope to see a more united, free and independent Armenia, free from external influences.
