When was the Armenian alphabet created by Mesrop Mashtots?
The Armenian alphabet was created in the year 405 by Mesrop Mashtots. This event marked the first time the Armenian people had a written language of their own.
Questions about Armenian language
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What are the two main dialects of the Armenian language today?
The two main dialects are Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian. Eastern Armenian is the official language of the Republic of Armenia, while Western Armenian is the dominant dialect of the diaspora.
How many words from Proto-Indo-European are known to exist in the Armenian language?
Only around 1,500 words from Proto-Indo-European are known to exist in the Armenian language. This scarcity makes the reconstruction of Proto-Armenian a formidable challenge for linguists.
What year did the Armenian Genocide occur and how did it affect the language?
The Armenian Genocide occurred in 1915 and decimated the Western Armenian-speaking population. This event scattered survivors across the globe and led to the diaspora's adoption of Western Armenian as a symbol of their lost homeland.
Does the Armenian language have grammatical gender?
The Armenian language has no grammatical gender, not even in pronouns. It uses a feminine suffix to denote female nouns without affecting the grammatical structure of the sentence.