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The Yerevan dialect (Armenian: Երևանի բարբառ Yerevani barbař) is an Eastern Armenian dialect spoken in and around Yerevan. Classical Armenian (Grabar) words compose significant part of the Yerevan dialect vocabulary. Throughout the history, the dialect was influenced by several languages, especially Russian and Persian and loan words have significant presence in it today. It is the most widespread Armenian dialect today.
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Historically, it was known as Araratian dialect (Արարատյան բարբառ), referring to the Ararat plain where it is mainly spoken. In the 19th century efforts were made to create a modern literary Armenian language. In 1841, the prominent Armenian writer Khachatur Abovian completed his Wounds of Armenia novel that was written in Yerevan dialect. The importance of its dialect grew in 1918, when Yerevan became the capital of the First Republic of Armenia. During the Soviet period (1920-1991), the Eastern Armenian language and the Yerevan dialect were heavily influenced by the predominant Russian language and by the late 1980s the Russification was considered harmful to the future of Armenian.
Today, the Yerevan dialect, which is the basis of colloquial Armenian is spoken by at least 1 million people who live in Yerevan. In addition, virtually all dialectics in the Republic of Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Georgia's Samtskhe-Javakheti region are influenced by the Yerevan dialect through the educational system. Most of the recent Armenian immigrants, who have migrated to foreign countries since the late 1980s, speak the Yerevan dialect.
Historical
The first known written work in the Yerevan dialect dates back to the 13th century by Vardan Bardzaberdtsi: "Ամենու սիրտն հետ քեզ լաւ են, եւ քեզ աղօթք են առնում." The 17th century Armenian merchant from Nakhichevan, Zak'aria Aguletsi (c. 1630-1691), who kept a diary, also wrote in Yerevan dialect, though with some influence of his local dialects. One of the first written sources of the Araratian dialect are Արհեստ համարողության (Arhest hamaroghutyan, Art of Arithmetic), published in Marseille in 1675 and Պարզաբանություն (Parzabanut'yun, Simplification) published in Venice in 1687.
The historical dialect spoken in Yerevan was usually referred to as Araratian, because Yerevan is located in the Ararat plain. The Araratian dialect was widespread, with rich vocabulary and pronunciation similar to the Classical Armenian. These factors gave the dialect of the future Armenian capital a special status. It was used as a basis for the literary Eastern Armenian language. According to Prof. Jahukyan, the Araratian dialect had received a dominant position due to geographic, historical, linguistic reasons and was used for inter-dialectal communication.
Khachatur Abovian who is considered the founder of the modern Eastern Armenian literary language, wrote in Araratian dialect as he was born in Kanaker, a village near Yerevan then and a district of Yerevan now. Abovian's famous 1841 novel Wounds of Armenia is the first recognized work in modern Eastern Armenian. The Araratian dialect was later contributed by Mesrop Taghiadian (1803–1858), and alumni of Lazaryan School, Nersisyan School, and several Shushi schools, including Gevorg Akhverdian (1818-1861), Kerovbe (1833-1889) and Raphael Patkanian (1830-1892), but it is widely acknowledged that the Araratian dialect was "made perfect" by Khachatur Abovian.
Area spoken
According to prominent Armenian linguist Hrachia Adjarian's Classification des dialectes arméniens, in early 20th century the Yerevan dialect was spoken chiefly in the towns of Yerevan, Nork, Kanaker, Ejmiatsin, Oshakan and Ashtarak. Adjarian points out the fact that the Yerevan dialect was also spoken in the Havlabar district of Tiflis and in the Iranian city of Tabriz.
According to Prof. Laribyan, the dialect was also spoken in the Vayots Dzor, Nor Bayazet, Lori and Spitak districts and formerly in Surmali and Kaghzvan. Prof. Haykanush Mesropyan of the Armenian State Institute of Linguistics claims that Lori is the largest region where the Araratian dialect is spoken. It should be noted that the Araratian dialect was not and is not homogeneous but has sub-dialects that can be distinguished locally within the dialect area. The Yerevan sub-dialect of the Araratian dialect was chiefly spoken in the neighborhoods and villages of Kanaker, Arinj, Jrvezh, Nork and Kond. Yerevan's Nork district, which was a separate village until the 1920s, was considered the cradle of the Yerevan dialect.
The Araratian dialect has been relatively stable throughout the history, although the dialect had some influence in Lori (from Karabakh and Tiflis) and Gavar (from Mush). Bayazet variant usually considered a sub-dialect, although some linguists argued it was a distinct dialect.
Modern
Today, the Yerevan dialect is the main component foundation of standard spoken Eastern Armenian. It is now more of a sociolect as it has lost the previous geographic limits and has been "fixed" by the standard Eastern Armenian. The Yerevan dialect now has some differences from the original Araratian dialect; in particular, it has been "cleaned" from other dialectal and foreign (Persian, Arabic, Turkish, and Russian) loan words.
The almost 160-year Russian and Soviet rule of Eastern Armenia (1828-1917, 1920-1991) had left its influence on the colloquial Armenian language. In everyday life, many Russian, Persian, Turkish, Arabic, and other loan words are used. During the Soviet era, the Moscow-based authorities encouraged the Soviet Armenian elite to "free Armenian from Arabic, Turkish and Persian influences." By the late Soviet period in Armenia, Russian was "widespread and derivatives were formed from Russian using native affixes", meanwhile Russian also served as a medium through which European terms entered into Armenian.
According to Razmik Markossian, in 1989, the Araratian dialect was spoken in 162 villages and 5 cities with the total of 275,000 speakers outside of Yerevan.
There is a tendency of increased significance of the Yerevan dialect within Armenia. Generally, Armenian television channels use the Yerevan dialect instead of the standard Armenian, especially in their entertaining shows, which causes them to be criticized by linguists.
In Yerevan, the local dialect is seen as superior compared to provincial dialects. Even if the provincial dialect words are much closer to standard Eastern Armenian, they are seen as "village language".
Dialectal features
The chart below presents the pronunciation of the words "this way", "that way" and "other way" in standard Eastern Armenian, Yerevan dialect and Karin dialect as spoken in Armenia's second largest city Gyumri.
Phonetics
The Yerevan dialect pronunciation is similar to that of Classical Armenian. It has three degrees of consonants:
Foreign influence
Since 1828, when Yerevan was captured by the Russian forces, Eastern Armenian have seen great influx of Russian words into colloquial Armenian. Today, "some Armenian words are never heard in spoken Armenian, the Russian equivalent being used instead." Russian words are often pronounced as they are in Russian, but with stress on the last syllable as in Armenian.
Some of the most common ones are listed below.
For centuries, the current territory of the Republic of Armenia was part of the Persian empire. From the 18th century to 1828, the Erivan khanate occupied the city of Yerevan and its surrounding areas. As a result of long-time Persian control, today Persian words still have considerable presence in both literary and colloquial languages.
Other languages also have some influence on the spoken Armenian. Below are some foreign words commonly used in Yerevan.
Famous speakers
Notable people who spoke and/or wrote in Yerevan dialect: