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GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Today, five to six million people speak Armenian (Grimes 1992), although the total population of the Republic of Armenia is only 3.5 million (ninety three percent of whom are ethnic Armenian). Thus, nearly half of Armenian speakers today live outside their historic homeland, primarily in Iran (370,000), Syria (299,000), Lebanon (235,000), Egypt (100,000), and the United States (175,000). Smaller communities, fewer than 40,000, are found in Canada, Cyprus, Greece, India, Israel, and Jordan. Somewhat larger communities, between 40,000 and 70,000 speakers, live in Turkey, France, and Iraq. Enclaves of speakers also reside in Georgia and Azerbaijan, especially the Nagorno Karabakh region (CIA 1992). Haieren and Ashkhari are Armenian terms for the language, although the latter is somewhat erudite.
The term Armenian can be used to refer to at least three different languages, each with its own dialects. It can refer to Classical Armenian (the older form of the language); Modern Western Armenian (developed in those regions of Armenia that are now Turkey and the variety spoken in the Diaspora); and Modern Eastern Armenian (the language of the Republic of Armenia).
LINGUISTIC AFFILIATION
Armenian forms an independent branch of the Indo-European language family (Comrie, 1981). Armenian is most closely related to Greek, but has many borrowed words from such Indo-Iranian languages as Pushto and Persian. In fact, during the very early periods of its classification, Armenian was erroneously considered an Iranian language because of its large number of Iranian loan words.
LANGUAGE VARIATION
Two standard dialects exist. Eastern Armenian is used in Armenia and in enclaves in Azerbaijan and Iran. Western Armenian is used by Armenians in Istanbul, Lebanon, Egypt, other parts of the diaspora, and formerly in eastern Turkey. Eastern Armenian has been influenced by two sets of Russian reforms and differs orthographically from Western Armenian; there are also phonological differences. Many regional dialect variations exist, e.g., Yerevan, Tbilisi, Karabagh, Istanbul (Djahukian 1986). Some local dialects are so different from both standard forms of the language that speakers of the standard forms have difficulty in understanding local dialects (Greppin and Khachaturian 1986). Otherwise, dialect differences are no greater than dialect differences within American English.
ORTHOGRAPHY
The Armenian alphabet was derived primarily from the Greek alphabet in the fifth century and consists of thirty eight (originally thirty six) letters. Although foreign influences have greatly changed the Armenian language (so much so that it has at times been thought of as a Persian dialect), Armenian's script is easily distinguished from Persian and Arabic writing. Soviet influence on the language also changed Armenian orthography and several letters characteristic of Classical Armenian (and the West Armenian dialect) are not used in East Armenian. Several transliteration schemes into English exist, (Greppin 1992) one is by the Library of Congress (Greppin 1977).
LINGUISTIC SKETCH
The sound system of Armenian is atypical of Indo-European languages in that it has ejective sounds. Ejectives are sounds made by using the vocal cords instead of the lungs to push out air. It is probable that these sounds were borrowed from neighboring Caucasian languages. Words are normally assigned word final stress.
Armenian has seven nominal cases. The language distinguishes two numbers, singular and plural, but there is no grammatical gender. The position of the indefinite article varies between Eastern and Western Armenian. In the Eastern variety, it precedes the noun, in the Western, it follows the noun. Every verb stem has two forms, called bases. One is used for the simple past tense and past participle; the other is used for all other tenses, moods, and participles. Word order in Armenian is subject-verb-object.
ROLE IN SOCIETY
Armenian is the official language in Armenia and is used in schools and by the media. Armenians of the diaspora have gained renewed interest in their homeland as a result of the Armenian revolution and the establishment of the Republic of Armenia. Although many Armenians of the diaspora do not intend to return to their Armenian homeland, they consider continued use of the language of critical importance to the maintenance of a unified Armenian sense of history and identity. Because many second generation Armenian immigrants in the United States have lost proficiency in their native language, attempts are being made to preserve their cultural heritage. Thus, the Armenian community in the United States has recently published many books that are intended to re-introduce Armenians to their mother tongue, generally the West Armenian dialect. In addition to textbooks, Armenian language newspapers are printed in Boston, Fresno, and New York. Thus the Armenian language learner in the United States has a rich diversity of language materials and cultural resources to draw from.
Armenia has a long literary tradition, with publishing centers in Yerevan, Istanbul, and Cairo. A fifth century classical form of the language, Grabar, is maintained by the Armenian church.
HISTORY
The scattered population of Armenian speakers--the diaspora--is the result of several historically significant events. During World War I, Armenians in Turkey suffered persecution and then genocide in 1915. From 1918 to 1920, those who resisted the Turks attempted to create an independent Armenian Republic but ultimately were unsuccessful. Historic Armenia was then divided up among the USSR, Turkey, and Iran while numerous Armenians fled to other parts of the world. These Armenians are the primary speakers of the West Armenian dialect. The Armenians who settled in Armenia and Iran were influenced by the USSR. By 1923, all the political power in Armenia was in the hands of the Soviet government and the East Armenian dialect was subsequently influenced by two sets of Soviet orthographic reforms.
ACADEMIC RESOURCES
Armenian is taught in eight institutions in the United States and Canada. There is also a Linguistics Institute of the Armenian Academy of Sciences in Yerevan, Armenia.
 

Short armenian grammar
 

Simple Present:

 

to get the negative for of simple present tense in armenian you should add "ch" at the begining of the 2nd part of verb, and in negative you use 2nd part before 1st, ok?

 

for example:

 

i go=yes gnum em.    i don't go=yes chem gnum.

you go=du gnum es.    you don't go=du ches gnum.

she/he goes=na gnum e.   she/he doesn't go=na che gnum.

(with she/he negative it'll be better to use "chi", but "che" is also right)

 

we go=menk gnum enk.   we don't go=menk chenk gnum.

you go=duk gnum ek.    you don't go=dum chek gnum.

they go=nrank gum en.    they don't go=nrank chen gnum.

 

 

armenian verbs:

 

armenian verb's part

  |                |

past          present

 

except verb in armenian we use verb part...it shows time, who and how many people do the action...

 

singilar present          

1 verb + em           

2 verb + es

3 verb +e

 

plural present

1 verb + enk           

2 verb + ek

3 verb +en

 

singilar past          

1 verb + ei           

2 verb + eir

3 verb +er

 

plural past

1 verb + eink           

2 verb + eik

3 verb +ein

 

and now i'll explain how the verb changes

1 in past you miss the "el" or "al" at the end of infitituev and add "el"

2 1 in present you miss the "el" or "al" at the end of infitituev and add "um"

 

for example now the verb to speak=hosel

Present:

Yes hosum em.

du hosum es.

na hosum e.

 

menk hosum enk

duk hosum ek

nrank hosum en

 

past:

yes hosum ei

du hosum eir

na husum er

 

menk hosum eink

duk hosum eik

nrank hosum ein

 

to get the negative for you put the  verb part before verb and add "ch" before the verb past

 

Present:

Yes chem hosum .

du ches hosum .

na che hosum.

 

menk chenk hosum

duk chek hosum

nrank chen hosum

 

past:

yes chei hosum

du cheir hosum

na cher husum

 

menk cheink hosum

duk cheik hosum

nrank chein hosum

 

now try to make that with verb to do=anel    ok?

 

t first: you must use second part of verb near 1one,  for example

if you wanna say

"i like you"="yes havanum em kez" ok?

"i talk to you"="yes hosum em ko het" ok?

understand?

 

now your second mistake .

here are all pronouns:

 

i=yes,  me=inj,  my=im,  mine=im[ae]

you=du,  you=kez,  your=ko,  yours=kon[ae]

she=na,  her=nran,  her=nra,  hers=nran[ae]

he=na,  him=nran,  his=nra,  his=nran[ae]

we=menk,  us=mez,  our=mer,  ours=mer[ae]

you=duk,  you=dzez,  your=dzer,   yours=dzer[ae]

they=nrank,  them=nranc,  their=nranc,  theirs=nranc[ae]

Enter supporting content here

ainu lesson ,4

I want to..

English Sound Ainu
What do you want to eat? Hemanta ee rusuy ya?
I want to eat candy. Topenpe ke rusuy
What do you want to drink? Hemanta eku rusuy ya?
I want to drink tea. Oca kuku rusuy
I want to go home soon. x Tane kuhosipi rusuy
I want to rest because I am tired. Kusinki kusu kusini rusuy

If..

English Sound Ainu
I hope it would be fine tomorrow. Nisatta sirpirka yak pirkap!
One part of a poetry below
I would be wind.., I would be bird.. Rera ta kune,... cikap ta kune,...
If I could be, ki wa ne yakun
I could meet my lover in this day. Kuyupo tananto or ta kunukar oka!

dic.
Ainu English
e- you
e eat (foods)
ki do (something)
ku- I
ku drink (beverage)
kusu in order to, because
ke < ku-e
sini take rest
sirpirka fine
sinki tired
- ta - oka (It means hope which is unlikely to realize)
tananto or ta today (It is used in verse. In usual sentense,"tanto")
tane already,no longer
cikap bird
topenpe candy
nisatta tomorrow
nukar meet (person)
ne be,become
hemanta what
hosipi go home
ya (It means question)
yak (It means condition)
yakun in case,if
yupo lover (It is used in verse to man. To woman,"tures". In usual sentense,it means older brother)
rusuy want to
rera wind
wa and
pirka good
-p (It nominalizes verb which is completed by vowel. By consonaunt, "-pe")

ainu language lesson 6

My name is..

English Sound Ainu
What is your name? Erehe mak aye?
My name is ______ Kurehe anakne ______ ne
How old are you? Epaha hempakpe an?
I am Twenty eight years old Kupaha anakne tupesan pa ikasma hotne pa ne

note Let's practice with your name and years

You see "Number"


I come from..

English Sound Ainu
Where do you come from? Hunak wa eek?
I come from Sapporo Sapporo wa kek
Do you come alone? Sinen ne eek?
I come with mother Hapo turano kek
Where do you go to tomorrow? Nisatta hunak un earpa?
I go to Biratori Biratori un karpa
Please go with me! Entura wa enkore!
Let's go! Uturano payean ro!
(To leave men)
Good bye!
Apunno paye yan!

note Let's practice with your places


dic. Number
Ainu English
a- somebody
-an we
anakne (It present subject)
apunno peaceful
arpa go(It is singular form. cf.;paye)
e- you
ek come
en- me
hempakpe how many
hunak where
karpa < ku-arpa
kek < ku-ek
kore give (them goods)
ku- I
mak how
ne be,become
ne (It means situation. cf.;sinen ne)
nisatta tomorrow
pa year
paha (one's) year
paye go(It is plural form. cf;arpa)
re name
rehe (one's) name
ro (It means temptation)
sinen one parson
sinen ne alone
tura bring (them) with
turano together with
un to (place)
uturano together
wa from (place)
wa and
ye tell

Water please!

English Sound Ainu
Water please! Wakka enkore
Chopsticks please! Pasuy enkore
Bowl please! Itanki enkore
Two bowls please! Tu itanki enkore
Here you are. x O


Please help me!

English Sound Ainu
Please put me up! x Enrewsire wa enkore
Please help me! Enkasuy wa enkore
Please take me with you! Entura wa enkore
Please wait for me! Entere wa enkore
Please show me! Ennukare wa enkore
Please tell me! Ennure wa enkore
Please say it again! Na arsuyne ennure wa enkore
Ok Pirka wa


dic.
Ainu English
arsuyne once
en- me
itanki bowl
kasuy help (them)
kore give (them goods)
na more
nukare show (them goods)
nure make (them) listen
o Here you are
pasuy chopsticks
pirka good
rewsire put (him) up (It is singular form)
tere wait (them)
tu two
tura bring (them) with
wa (the word soften them voice)
wakka water

Let's go!

English Sound Ainu
Let's go! Uturano payean ro!
Let's eat! Uturano ipean ro!
Let's talk about! Ukoisoitakan ro!
See you again! Suy unukaran ro!


Why don't you..?

English Sound Ainu
Why don't you drink water? Wakka eku hike makanak ne wa?
Why don't you wait a moment? Na atere hike makanak ne wa?

dic.
Ainu English
a- we (It is used with transitive verb. cf;-an)
-an we (It is used with intransitive verb. cf;a-)
e- you
ku drink (beverage)
hike which (person do)
makanak how
na more
ne be,become
paye go(It is plural form)
ro (It means proposal)
suy times
tere wait (them)
ukoisoitak talk with
unukar meet
uturano together
wa (the word soften them voice)
wakka water