Hrach Martirosyan, Origins and historical development of the Armenian language 2014

Origins and historical development of

the Armenian language

Hrach Martirosyan

Introduction
1. Indo-European origins of Armenian
1.1 General
1.2 The PIE homeland and the dispersal
1.3 The place of Armenian in the Indo-European language family
1.4 Substrate
1.5 Lexical material
1.6 Preliminary conclusions
1.7 Chronological background: inherited and borrowed
1.8 The first millennium BC: Armenian and Urartian
1.9 The third and second millennia BC
1.10 Cultural excursus: “Dragon stones”
2. The development of the Proto-Indo-European phonemic system in Armenian
3. Archaisms and innovations of the Armenian nominal system
4. Archaisms and innovations of the Armenian verbal system
5. Onomastics
Supplement: Armenian dialects: archaisms and innovations
Reading

(1) Introduction
(2) As an Indo-European language, Armenian has been the subject of research for
about two hundred years.
 The high number of Iranian loans led scholars in the mid-19th century to
conclude that Armenian belonged to the Iranian group of Indo-European
languages.
 This opinion prevailed until 1875, when Heinrich Hübschmann proved that
Armenian is an independent branch of the Indo-European language family.
 The later decades are marked by two fundamental studies, namely
Hübschmann 1897 and Meillet 1936, as well as works by a number of other
scholars such as Pedersen and Lidén.

(3-5) The next phase of comparative-historical Armenian linguistics starting in the

1930s is notable for several fundamental works of the most outstanding figure in
Armenological disciplines, Hrač‘ya Ačaṙyan, who successfully maintained the high
standards of his great teachers, Hübschmann and Meillet. Of his works we should
mention especially:
 “History of the Armenian language” (AčaṙHLPatm 1940-1951),

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 Hrach Martirosyan, Origins and historical development of the Armenian language 2014

 Liakatar K‘erakanut‘yun (“Complete grammar”, AčaṙLiak 1952-2005),

 and especially his magnificent “Armenian Etymological Dictionary”
(HAB), originally published between 1926 and 1935.

(6) Ačaṙyan’s traditions have been continued by his pupils, such as Ēduard Ałayan
and Gevorg ahukyan. Especially valuable are “History of the Armenian language”
( ahukyan 1987) and the posthumously published “Armenian Etymological
Dictionary” ( ahukyan 2010).

(7) Some handbooks & studies on comparative Armenian linguistics:

Meillet 1936, Godel 1975, Clackson 1994, Olsen 1999, Kortlandt 2003, Martirosyan 2010.

(8) Ačaṙyan’s corpora roughly reflect the state of research in the 1940s. Since then:
 a large number of critical texts, concordances and dialect descriptions;
 voluminous corpora of inscriptions and colophons of Armenian
manuscripts;
 a large amount of lexicological and etymological examinations: corrections
and supplements to HAB, newly found words, revision of the philological
status of words, many new etymologies.

(9) One of the main tasks of comparative-historical Armenian linguistics is to newly

re-evaluate Ačaṙyan’s achievements, and to combine them with the huge amount of
new materials in order to create new corpora, such as:
 “History of Armenian Language and Culture”;
 “Linguo-Cultural and Etymological Thesaurus of the Armenian Language
and Culture (organized by semantic fields: sky, world, flora, fauna, kinship,
body parts, craft, arts, poetry, religion, etc.)”.
This work will benefit greatly from the possibilities presented by modern data
storage and processing techniques.

(10) Main shortcomings that can be observed in etymological studies is that scholars
often:
 neglect internal etymology;
 take poorly explained, or unexplained, choices between conflicting
etymologies.

(11) Examples from Mkrtč‘yan 2005 (Нерсес Мкртчян, Семитские языки и

армянский):
Derives the dialectal word p‘ɛtat ‘hoe, mattock’ from Akkadian petut ‘implement’.
 In fact, its derivation from Classical Armenian p‘aytahat / p‘aytat ‘wood-
cutter; axe, hatchet, mattock’ is impeccable.
Removes native (Indo-European) etymologies of a number of words, such as arawr
‘plough’ and erekoy ‘evening’ with no solid argumentation, replacing them with
Semitic explanations.
 In fact, the IE etymologies of these words are impeccable:
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 Hrach Martirosyan, Origins and historical development of the Armenian language 2014

PIE *h2rh3trom, cf. Gr. ἄροτρον, Lat. arātrum, MIr. arathar, Welsh aradr,
OIc. arðr, etc.;
PIE *h1regwos-, cf. Gr. ἔρεβος n. ‘the dark of the underworld’, Goth. riqis n.
‘darkness, twilight’, etc.

(12) In the last few decades an increasing usage of linguistic data in the study of
Armenian historical and cultural issues can be observed:
• ideas that violate the most elementary principles of philological and
etymological research;
• Armenian as cognate with or identical to a non-Indo-European isolated
language, such as Sumerian, Basque or Etruscan.
• Armenian as the Indo-European mother tongue or the mother of all
languages in the world.

►It is essential to:

• carry out some work towards popularizing some of the elements of
comparative-historical Armenian linguistics;
• write reviews on at least the most influential pseudo-scientific publications
and present them in academic journals, as well as in more popular media.

1. Indo-European origins of Armenian

1.1 General
(13) Armenian is genetically related to Indo-European languages such as Hittite,
Sanskrit, Avestan, Greek, Latin, Gothic, and Slavic. Lexical correspondences
belonging to basic vocabulary:
anun, dial. anum ‘name’: Gr. ὄνομα, Lat. nōmen, Skt. nāman-, Goth. namo
astɫ, asteɫ- ‘star’: Gr. ἀστήρ, Av. star-, Goth. stairno, Lat. stella, Hitt. ḫasterza
duṙn ‘door’: Skt. ār-, Gr. ϑύρα, Lat. foris, Welsh dor, Engl. door, OCS ьrь
dustr ‘daughter’: Skt. duhitár-, Gr. ϑυγάτηρ, Lith. ukt
kin, kanay- ‘woman, wife’: OAv. gənā- ‘woman’, Gr. γυνή, γυναι-, Goth. qino
kov ‘cow’: Skt. gaúḥ ‘cow, bull’, Latv. gùovs ‘cow’, OCS gov-ę-do
sirt ‘heart’: OCS srъ ьce, Lith. šir ìs ‘heart’, Goth. hairto ‘heart’
(14) Systematical and consequent phonological agreements:
An initial *s- drops: Arm. ałt ‘salt’ vs. Engl. salt ‘salt’; Arm. ewt‘n ‘seven’ vs. Skt.
saptá and Lat. septem, etc.
The PIE initial *p- yields Arm. h-, and the intervocalic *-t- drops:
hayr ‘father’: Skt. pitā, Gr. πατήρ, Lat. pater, OHG fater, Toch. B pācer
heru ‘last year’: Gr. πέρυσι, Dor. πέρυτι, Skt. parut ‘last year’
č‘or-k‘ ‘four’: Skt. plur. cátasras, Pers. čahār, Lat. quattuor, OCS četyre

(15-17) Even more significant are grammatical agreements. Here are two examples:

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 Hrach Martirosyan, Origins and historical development of the Armenian language 2014

(1) Arm. nominative hayr ‘father’ from PIE *ph2t r = Gr. πατήρ, Lat. pater;
genitive hawr from PIE *ph2tr-ós = Gr. πατρός, Lat. patris; instrumental har-b from
*ph2tr-bhi-, cf. Skt. dative plural pit -bhyas;
(2) Arm. present berem ‘to bring, bear’ from PIE *bher-e-: Skt. bhárati, Lat.
ferō, Gr. φέρω ‘to carry, bear’; 3sg aorist e-ber from PIE *é-bher-et = Skt. á-bhar-at,
Gr. ἔ-φερ-ε.

1.2 The PIE homeland and the dispersal

(18) Speakers of the Indo-European cognate languages once spoke the same
language, which we conventionally call Proto-Indo-European. Furthermore, they
once lived in a defined geographical area, the PIE homeland (Urheimat), the
location of which has not yet been established. The dispersal of PIE is dated to about
4000–3000 BC by most scholars and a few millennia earlier by the followers of the
Anatolian model.

(19) PIE homeland (Urheimat): Various locations have been proposed (see the map,
Mallory 1989: 144):

(20) The archaeological material and the linguistic relationship between the Indo-
Iranian and the Finno-Ugric languages seem to favour the view according to which,
after the dispersal, the ancestors of the Indo-Iranian languages were once in contact
with those of the Finno-Ugric languages somewhere in the southern Urals. However,
this would make it hard to explain the close relationship between the Indo-Iranians
and Proto-Armenians, if the latter would have been in the Near East around the 3rd
millennium BC. Besides, even more impressive lexical correspondences between
Armenian and Greek, both shared innovations and substrate words especially in the
domains of agriculture and technical activities, imply a long and multistage stay of
Proto-Armenians in the regions not very far from the Black Sea.

(21) Therefore, even if one accepts the Near-Eastern origin of the Indo-Europeans, it
is hard to claim that the PIE dispersal took place in the Near East, and that the Proto-
Armenians stayed there all the time. Efforts have been made to reconcile the two
theories within a chronological framework implying two phases: an earlier stage (in
the Near East) and a later stage (north of the Caucasus mountains and the Black
Sea).
1.3 The place of Armenian in the Indo-European language family
(22) The linguistic evidence allows to draw the following preliminary conclusions
on the place of Armenian in the Indo-European language family. Armenian, Greek,
(Phrygian) and Indo-Iranian were dialectally close to each other or even formed a
dialectal group at the time of the Indo-European dispersal. Within this hypothetical
dialect group, Proto-Armenian was situated between Proto-Greek (to the west) and
Proto-Indo-Iranian (to the east).

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 Hrach Martirosyan, Origins and historical development of the Armenian language 2014

(23) There are a large number of connections between Armenian, Greek and Indo-
Iranian on the one hand (set A), and between Armenian and Greek on the other (set
B). The latter set of lexical agreements also involves European branches of the Indo-
European language family, a large portion of which should be explained in terms of
substrate rather than Indo-European heritage.
(24) Method
Archaic features and independent developments are not significant for determining a
close genetic relationship between two languages or dialects. Instead, one should
rely on shared innovations from the outset. The drawback with this method: there is
often (if not always) the possibility of independent innovations yielding similar
results. Nevertheless, the cumulative evidence decreases the likelihood of chance in
such cases.
(25) When an etymon is only found in two or three non-contiguous dialects, it may
theoretically represent an archaic PIE lexeme that has been lost elsewhere and is
thus not significant for our purpose.
But when an etymon appears in a few dialects that can be regarded as contiguous at
a certain stage, we should take it seriously even if the etymon has no PIE origin and
cannot be thus treated as a shared innovation in the genetic sense.
Two Indo-European dialects that were spoken in the same geographical area at a
period shortly before and/or after the Indo-European dispersal could both develop
shared innovations as a result of their interaction with neighbouring non-Indo-
European languages.
1.4 Substrate
(26) After the Indo-European dispersal Proto-Armenian would have continued to
come into contact with genetically related Indo-European dialects.
• Simultaneously, it would certainly also have been in contact with
neighbouring non-Indo-European languages.
• A word can be of a substrate origin if it is characterized by:
1. limited geographical distribution;
2. unusual phonology and word formation;
3. characteristic semantics (mostly: plant names, animal names, cultural words).

(27) The consonantal correspondences between substrate words in Armenian and

other languages are of two kinds:
(28) 1. archaic, matching the correspondences of the native Indo-European heritage:
• *-ri- > Arm. -rǰ- and *g/gw > Arm. k, e.g. Arm. anurǰ ‘dream’ vs. Gr.
ὄνε/οιρος, Arm. kamurǰ ‘bridge’ vs. Gr. γέφῡρα;

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 Hrach Martirosyan, Origins and historical development of the Armenian language 2014

• *k > Arm. s, e.g. Arn. siseṙn ‘chick pea’ vs. Lat. cicer ‘chick pea’, Arm.
siwn ‘column, pillar’ vs. Gr. ων;
• *ĝ > Arm. c, e.g. Arm. erbuc ‘breast of animals’ vs. Gr. φάρυγξ, gen. -υγος,
-υγγος ‘throat, dewlap’;
• *p- > Arm. h- or zero, e.g. Arm. aɫawni (*aɫawun), ea-stem ‘pigeon, dove’
vs. Lat. pa um s ‘wood-pigeon, ring-dove’ (*p h2-bh-ōn, gen. *-bh-n-os);
Arm. hec‘, gen. hec‘-i ‘felloe’, if from *pe k-s, cf. OHG felga, OEngl.
felg(e) ‘felloe’, etc.; Arm. ort‘, o-stem ‘vine’ vs. Gr. π(τ)όρθος ‘sprout’.
(29) 2. relatively young:
• *k > Arm. k, e.g. Arm. kaɫamax(i) ‘white poplar, aspen’ vs. Hesychian
αλαμίνδαρ ‘plane’; karič ‘scorpion’, dial. ‘crayfish’ vs. Gr. ᾱρίς
‘crayfish’;
• *p- > Arm. p, e.g. Arm. pal ‘rock’ vs. OIr. ail ‘cliff’ < *pal-i-, MIr. all <
*p s -, Gr. πέλλα ‘rock’;
• *s > Arm. s (unless these words have been borrowed from lost satəm-forms
in *k), e.g. Arm. sayl, i-stem and o-stem ‘wagon; Ursa Major and Minor,
Arcturus’ vs. Gr. σατίνη f. ‘chariot’ and Hesychian σάτιλλα· πλειὰς τὸ
ἄστρον, the constellation being regarded as a car (considered to be of
Phrygian or Thracian origin); Arm. sring ‘pipe, fife’ vs. Gr. σῦριγξ, -ιγγος f.
‘shepherd’s pipe, panpipe’, which is considered to be of Phrygian or
Mediterranean origin.
1.5 Lexical material
(30) I present the material in summarizing tables divided into semantic fields.
Wherever a lexical agreement is likely to be an innovation rather than an isolated
etymon, I mark it by shading.
(31) Table set A: Lexical isoglosses: Armenian, Greek and Indo-Iranian
(32) Table set B: Lexical isoglosses: Armenian, Greek, etc.
(33) Collation of the two sets
• Both sets have a roughly equal number of lexical agreements in the
semantic fields of, e.g., physical world, fauna, animal husbandry and
human body.
• As far as the domains of flora and agriculture are concerned, however, in A
we find zero and five lexemes respectively, whereas B has 13 lexemes for
each domain.
• Especially remarkable are sets of correspondences within a narrow
semantic group, e.g. the three designations of plants of the legume family,
all of Mediterranean origin: ṙn ‘pea, bean’, ospn ‘lentil’, and siseṙn
‘chick pea’. Interestingly, all three Armenian words display an additional -n
and belong to the an-declension class.

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(34) Another remarkable difference is that, in the domain of technical activities, set
A has lexemes with more general meanings, such as ‘bond’, ‘grave’ and ‘threshold’,
whereas B displays a number of specific technical terms such as ‘bridge’, ‘drying
implement’, ‘hinge’, ‘pillar’, ‘potter’s wheel’ and ‘rein’.
(35) Without Greek:
On the other hand, there are a number of lexical agreements between Armenian,
Balto-Slavic and Germanic or Celtic especially in the domain of physical world.
This might indicate that at a certain stage Armenian shared the same geographical
environments with European dialects.

1.6 Preliminary conclusions

(36)
• Armenian, Greek, (Phrygian) and Indo-Iranian were dialectally close to
each other or even formed a dialectal group at the time of the Indo-
European dispersal.
• Within this hypothetical dialect group, Proto-Armenian was situated
between Proto-Greek (to the west) and Proto-Indo-Iranian (to the east). On
the northern side it might have neighboured, notably, Proto-Germanic and
Proto-Balto-Slavic. After the Indo-European dispersal, Armenian developed
isoglosses with Indo-Iranian on the one hand and Greek on the other.
• The Indo-Iranians then moved eastwards, while the Proto-Armenians and
Proto-Greeks remained in a common geographical region for a long period
and developed numerous shared innovations. At a later stage, together or
independently, they borrowed a large number of words from the
Mediterranean / Pontic substrate language(s), mostly cultural and
agricultural words, as well as animal and plant designations.
1.7 Chronological background: inherited and borrowed
(37) The Armenian lexicon comprises three major layers:
(1) Indo-European heritage: 5th-4th millennia BC;
(2) late Indo-European and Mediterranean/European substrate: 3rd-2nd
millennia BC;
(3) loanwords from neighbouring languages, such as Caucasian, Anatolian,
Hurrian, Urartian, Semitic and especially Iranian: 2nd-1st millennia BC to the
present.
The first two layers belong to prehistoric times, whereas the third belongs to the
most recent period and is partially elucidated by historical records.

1.8 The first millennium BC: Armenian and Urartian

(38) For a long time it was the common opinion of scholars that speakers of
Armenian migrated into the Armenian Highlands after the fall of the Urartian
Empire in the 6th century BC. However, the presence of the Armenian language in

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 Hrach Martirosyan, Origins and historical development of the Armenian language 2014

the Armenian Highlands prior to the Urartian Empire is confirmed particularly by

Armenian loanwords in Urartian, such as:
(39)
• Urart. arṣi i- from Arm. arcui ‘eagle’ < *h2rĝipi -, cf. Skt. r ipy - ‘epithet
of an eagle’, m. ‘eagle’, etc.;
• Urart. abili-d(u) ‘to join, increase’ from Arm. awel- ‘to increase’ < *h3bhel-,
cf. Gr. ὀφέλλω ‘to increase, enlarge, augment, advance’;
• Urart. ṣûə c (w)ə] ‘(inland) sea’ from Arm. cov ‘sea’ possibly from *ĝ h-,
compare Ir. gó ‘sea’ (cf. Ir. bó vs. Arm. kov ‘cow’), perhaps also OIc. kaf
‘sea’, etc.;
• Urart. qaburzani ‘bridge’ vs. Arm. kamurǰ, a-stem ‘bridge’ from
*gʷ(e)m/ hurieh2 ‘bridge’, cf. Gr. γέφῡρα f. ‘bridge’.

(40) Armenisms in the Urartian language are not limited purely to lexical
correspondences.
►Morphology:
• Urartian me(i) reflects the Armenian prohibitive particle mi, which derives
from PIE *meh1, cf. Skt. mā, Av. mā, Gr. μή, Alb. mo, Toch. AB mā.
• Urartian conjunction e-’a ‘and, also, or’, (not known in Hurrian) may be
read e-wi and identified with Arm. ew ‘and, also’ < PIE *h1e/opi ‘by, at, on,
to’, cf. Gr. ἔπι, ἐπί ‘on it, at it, by, at the same time’, etc.
►Toponymy:
• Urart. uaraṣini ḫubi and Armenian Tuarac-a-tap‘
► KUREtiuni/Etiuḫi, a country attested in Urartian sources of the 9th to 7th centuries
BC, which basically corresponds with the Ayrarat province of Greater Armenia
• Diuṣini/Ṭiuṣini ‘Divine-born’, cf. Gr. Διο-γενής / Διο-γένης, Thrac.
Diuzenus, etc.
(41) Armenian giwł ‘village’ and Urartian ueli ‘crowd, army’
Urartian ueli ‘crowd, army’ from PArm. *wel-i- > *gel-i-: giwł ‘village’, gen. geɫ-ǰ <
*we -i-óh, etc.; cf. Gr. ἁλίη, Dor. ἀλία ‘assembly of people’, (ϝ)άλις adv. ‘in crowds,
in plenty’ < *u -i-s
● Semantic shift ‘crowd’ > ‘village’: cf. Skt. grama- ‘military host, village
community’, Pol. gromada ‘multitude, heap, village community’; Kurd. gund
‘village’ vs. Pers. gund ‘crowd, army’ (also Armenian gund).
(42) Urartian hieroglyphic script: Karagyozyan
A hieroglyphic inscription on a bronze vessel is read as Ur-sa-a (Rusa): interprets
the first sign as an ideogram meaning “horse”, Arm. ors. However:
• Arm. ors always means ‘hunt, catch’ or ‘hunted animal, game’, never
‘horse’.
• Xorenac‘i 2.61: Et‘ u y rs hecc‘is “If you mount for (or go) hunting” (i +
acc. purpose; cf. Xorenac‘i 2.9: hecanel yors ew i paterazmuns “to ride out
to hunt or to war”).
• Not related with English horse (from *k/k(e)rs-, cf. Lat. currō ‘to run’, OIr.
carr ‘vehicle’, MHG hurren ‘hasten’).
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(43) West Armenian horsak ‘midday’: Karagyozyan claims that the (alleged)
meaning ‘horse’ of Armenian ors developed to ‘sun’, which in turn yielded ‘midday’
This is a violation of the principles of internal etymology. In fact, WArm. horsak
‘midday’ is inseparable from: Polis ɔharsag, Adabazar ɔ arsag, Nor-Naxiǰewan
ɔrassag, Ṙodost‘o orarsag, etc., all meaning ‘midday’ and clearly reflecting
Classical Armenian ōr-hasarak, an actually attested compound of ōr ‘day’ and
hasarak ‘half’.
1.9 The third and second millennia BC
(44) We have seen that the presence of the Armenian language in the Armenian
Highlands in the beginning of the 1st millennium is undeniable. It is also possible
that it was also present in the 2nd millennium BC, albeit much harder to prove. Even
more difficult is the situation with the 3rd millennium BC. In the following sections,
I will briefly present a number of comments on this topic.
• aiaša- (attested in Hittite texts from the 14-13th centuries BC) vs. the
ethnonym hay ‘Armenian’.
► Etymologies of hay:
• 1) aiaša- (from PIE *h2eios- ‘copper, iron’; cf. Gr. χάλυψ ‘hardened iron,
steel’, the appellative of the Chalybes);
• 2) atti;
• 3) IE *poti- ‘master’.
(45) Ancient Armenisms in the Kartvelian languages
• Kartv. *ɣwin - ‘wine’ from PArm. *ɣweini - (cf. gini, gen. ginwoy) ‘wine’ <
PIE *ue/oi(H)no-: Hitt. uiian- c. ‘wine’, Gr. (ϝ)οἶνος m. ‘wine’, Lat. īnum
ī, n. ‘wine’, etc.
• Kartv. *ɣwi- ‘juniper’ from PArm. *ɣwi- (gi ‘juniper’) < *ui(H)-t-, cf. Gr.
ϝ τέα ‘willow’, etc.
• Georgian phoni, Mingr. phoni, etc. ‘riverbed’ from PArm. *ponth- (cf. Arm.
hun ‘ford, shallow, riverbed’ < PIE *pontH-) at an early stage before the
sound changes *-oN- > -uN- and *p- > *f- > h-.
• More examples of possible Kartvelisms can be found in ahukyan 1988, 2:
68-70.
(46) Ancient Armenisms in the Anatolian languages?
ahukyan (1988, 2: 85, see also 1: 70) treats a number of Hittite words as loanwords
from Armenian, such as:
• Hitt. luzzi- n. ‘forced service, public duty, corvée’ from Arm. luc ‘yoke;
burden of forced service and taxes, subjection; bondage’ (from PIE ‘yoke’,
cf. Skt. yugá-, Gr. ζυγόν, Lat. iugum, etc.; the initial l- has been explained
by influence of luc-anem ‘to unbind, loosen’).

1.10 Cultural excursus:

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(47) “Dragon stones” (Arm. išapak‘ar, composed of išap ‘dragon’ and k‘ar
‘stone’)

“Višap stones”
1. Map, designed by Anush Martirosyan and Tsovinar Martirosyan
2. Some “višaps”, drawn from Barsełyan 1967 by Rafayel Martirosyan
(48) Stone stelae found in high-altitude summer pastures in the northern and
northeastern regions of the Armenian highland (i.e. the historical provinces of Tayk‘,
Gugark‘, Ayrarat and Syunik‘). They are interpreted as monuments related to
mortuary rituals and belong to the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2200-1600 BCE). Some
are shaped in the form of a fish, on others the head and hide of a sacrificed bovid are
depicted, while a third class represents a combination of both previous types.
(49) The genealogical framework of the Vishap stones and their semantics is
complex and multilayered: Indo-European elements (compare the so-called “Head
and Hooves” ritual burial in Sredny Stog, Yamna, Catacomb, Srubna and other
cultures) have been combined with cultural features that are observable in other
Caucasian and Near Eastern traditions.

2. The development of the Proto-Indo-European

phonemic system in Armenian
(50-53) The Armenian alphabet and the phonemic system

Ա ա a 1 α Ժ ժ ž 10 Ճ ճ č 100 Ռ ռ ṙ 1000 ρ
Բ բ b 2 β Ի ի i 20 ι Մ մ m 200 μ Ս ս s 2000 σ
Գ գ g 3 γ Լ լ l 30 Յ յ y 300 Վ վ v 3000
Դ դ d 4 δ Խ խ x 40 Ն ն n 400 ν Տ տ t 4000 τ
Ե ե e 5 ε Ծ ծ c 50 Շ շ š 500 ξ Ր ր r 5000
Զ զ z 6 ζ Կ կ k 60 κ Ո ո o 600 ο Ց ց c‘ 6000
Է է ē 7 η Հ հ h 70 Չ չ č‘ 700 Ւ ւ w 7000 υ
Ը ը ə 8 Ձ ձ j 80 Պ պ p 800 π Փ փ p‘ 8000 φ
Թ թ t‘ 9 θ Ղ ղ ł 90 λ Ջ ջ ǰ 900 Ք ք k‘ 9000 χ

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 Hrach Martirosyan, Origins and historical development of the Armenian language 2014

Հ.-ե. Հայ. Հ.-ե. Հայ. Հ.-ե. Հայ.

labials *p հ-/Ø-, -ւ-, (ս)պ *b պ *bh բ, -ւ-
dentals *t թ, -ւ-/-Ø-, (ս)տ *d տ *dh դ
palatals *k ս *ĝ ծ *ĝh ձ, զ
labiovelars *kw ք/չ *gw կ/ճ *gwh գ/ջ
*s+K ց
sibilant *s հ-/Ø-, ս(C)
laryngeals *h1 Ø-/ե- *h2 հ-/ա- *h3 հ-/ա-
liquids *r (ե/ա)ր-, -ր/ռ- *l (ե/ա)ղ-, -լ/ղł-
nasals *m մ *n ն, -մ(P)
semivowels *i ի՛/Ø-՛ *u ու՛/Ø-՛
*i Ø, (R)ջ *ṷ գ-, -գ/ւ-, -ւ
vowels *e ե, ի(N) *a/h2 ա *o ո, ու(N)
* /eh1 ի *ā/eh2 ա *ō/eh3 ու
diphthongs *ei է *ai այ *oi է (այ?)
*eu ոյ *au աւ (օ) *ou ու (այ?)

(54) Accent; vowel mutations

An inherited Indo-European musical accent changed into an intensity accent which
was fixed on the prehistoric penultimate syllable. This was followed by apocope of
the posttonic vocalic elements (leaving the accent in final position) and by syncope
in pretonic position, e.g. gen.sg. *sirtíyo > *sirtí > s(ə)rti ‘of the heart’.

Certain vowels change according to their position on a stressed or a non-stressed

syllable.
1. The vowels i and u disappear (become an unwritten Ə ǝ):
• sírt ‘heart’, gen. srt-í
• súrb ‘pure, clean; holy’, gen. srbóy, srbém ‘I clean’
2. The vowel ē, etymologically *ei, a diphthong) becomes i:
• s r ‘love’, gen. siróy, sirém ‘I love’
3. The diphthongs oy [pronounced as /uy/]) and ea [pronounced as /ya/]) become u
and e, respectively:
• lóys /lúys/ ‘light’, gen. lusóy
• leárd /lyárd/ ‘liver’, abl. i erd

(55) PIE laryngeals: PIE *HV- (H = any laryngeal, V = any vowel)

PIE Arm. Hitt. Skt. Av. Gr. Lat.

*h1e- (*e-) e- e- a- a- ε- e-
*h2e- (*a-) ha- ḫa- a- a- α- a-
*h3e- (*o-) ho- ḫa- a- a- ο- o-
*Ho- (*o-) o- a- a- a- ο- o-

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(56) PIE *h1e-

*h1es-mi, *h1es-si, *h1es-ti ‘to be’: Arm. em, es, ē, Hitt. šmi šši šzi, Skt. ásmi ási
ásti, OAv. ahmī, Gr. εἰμί, εἶ (Dor. ἐσσί), ἐστί, Lat. sum es est, OCS esmь, OLith.
esmì, etc.
(57) PIE *h2e-
*h2en-: Arm. han, o-stem (gen. han-o-y), han-i, wo-stem (hanw-o-) ‘grandmother’,
Hitt. ḫanna- ‘grandmother’, Gr. ἀννίς ‘mother-in-law’, Lat. anus ‘old woman’, Lith.
anýta ‘husband’s mother’, etc.
*h2erh3-uer/n-: Arm. harawunk‘ ‘sowing, seeds; sowing-field; arable land’, Gr.
ἄρουρα f. ‘tilled or arable land; pl. corn-lands, fields’; Skt. ur rā- f. ‘arable land,
field yielding crop’, Av. uruuarā- f. pl. ‘food plant, plant, ground covered with
plants, flora’; MIr. arbor, nom.pl. arbanna, OIr. gen. arbe ‘grain, corn’, etc.
*h2éu-i- (genitive *h2u-éi-s) ‘bird’: Arm. haw1, u-stem ‘bird; rooster; hen’, Lat. avis,
-is f. ‘bird’, cf. Gr. αἰετός < *awi-etos m. ‘eagle’, Skt. váy-, nom. éḥ/ íḥ, acc. vím,
gen. éḥ, nom.pl. yaḥ, ins.pl. í hiḥ m. ‘bird’, YAv. vaii- m. ‘bird’, etc.
*h2eu -: Arm. haw2, o-stem, u-stem ‘grandfather, ancestor’, Hitt. ḫuḫḫaš
‘grandfather’, Lat. avus ‘grandfather’, OIr. aue ‘grandson’, Goth. awo
‘grandmother’, Lith. avýnas ‘maternal uncle’, OPr. awis ‘id.’, Russ. uj, Pol. wuj
‘maternal uncle’, SCr. āk, etc.
(58) PIE *h3e-
*h3eui- ‘sheep’: Arm. *hovi- ‘sheep’, CLuw. hāui-, Skt. ávi-, Gr. ὄ ς, ὄ ος and οἰός,
Lat. ovis, Toch. B ā(u)w ‘ewe’ and eye, etc. Preserved in Arm. hoviw, a-stem
‘shepherd’ < *h3eui-peh2-, a compound of PIE *h3eui- ‘sheep’ and *peh2(s)- ‘to
protect, pasture’: OCS pasti ‘to pasture’, Lat. pāscō ‘to pasture’, Hitt. paḫš- ‘to
protect’, etc.; for the compound, cf. Skt. g -pā- m. ‘herdsman’ < ‘*cowherd’,
avi-pā - ‘shepherd’.
*h3edos-: Arm. hot, o-stem ‘smell, odour’, Gr. ὀδμή ‘smell’, Lat. odor, ōris m.
‘smell, scent, odour; perfume’, etc.
(59) PIE *HC- (H = any laryngeal, C = any consonant)
The so-called “prothetic vowel”, viz. Gr. ἀ- (and ὀ-) and Arm. a-, Gr. ἐ- and Arm. e-
vs. zero in other languages, is now interpreted as a vocalized reflex of PIE initial
laryngeal followed by a consonant.
(60) PIE *h1C-
*h1regw-e/os-, s-stem neuter: Arm. erek, old gen. erekoy (note erek-oy, i-stem
‘evening’, and a few derivatives based on *ereko-r-), ere/ik-un ‘evening’, Skt.
rájas- n. ‘space, air; space between heaven and earth’, synonym of ant rikṣa- (cf.
also rájas- n. ‘dust, mist, vapour, gloom, dirt’, rajasá- ‘unclean, dark’, OAv. ra iš- n.

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 Hrach Martirosyan, Origins and historical development of the Armenian language 2014

‘darkness’), Gr. ἔρεβος n. ‘the dark of the underworld’, Goth. riqis/z n. ‘darkness,
twilight’, OIc. røkkr n. ‘darkness’ < PGerm. *rekwiz-.
(61) PIE *h2C-
*h2le/o(u)pek-: Arm. aɫuēs, gen. aɫues-u ‘fox’, Gr. ἀλώπηξ, -ε ος ‘fox’, Skt. pāś -
probably ‘fox’, etc.
*h2reu-i-: Arm. arew, u-stem, old gen. areg ‘sun; sunlight; life’: Areg k‘aɫak‘ ‘the
city of the Sun’ (Gr. ‘Ηλίου πόλις, e.g. Genesis 41.45, 50), areg, gen. aregi ‘the 8th
month’, areg ‘eastern’, areg-akn ‘sun’, etc.; Skt. ravi- m. ‘sun, sun-god’
(Upaniṣad+), ravi-putra- m. ‘son of the Sun’ (K haka-Br hma a); cf. also Hitt.
ḫaru(ua)nae-zi ‘to become bright, get light, dawn’.
*h2ster- ‘star’: Arm. astɫ, gen. asteɫ ‘star’, Hitt. ḫaster(a)-, nom. ḫasterza c., Gr.
ἀστήρ, -έρος, pl. ἀστέρες m. (also old coll. ἄστρα), Skt. nom.pl. tāraḥ (the absence of
the s- is unexplained), instr. st - hiḥ, Av. star- m., Lat. stella f. ‘star’, Goth. stairno,
etc.
(62) PIE *h3C-
*h3neid-: Arm. anicanem, 3sg.aor. an c ‘to curse’ < PIE sigm. aor. *h3neid-s-, anēc-
k‘ ‘curse, imprecation’, Skt. ned-: pres. níndati, aor. nin iṣur, desid. nínits- ‘to
revile; to blame; to mock’, YAv. 1sg.pres.act. nāismī ‘to curse’ (prob. from *nāi -s-
mi), Gr. ὄνειδος n. ‘reprimand, abuse’, Lith. níe ti ‘to despise’, etc.
*h3néh3-mn PD n-stem ‘name’ > PArm. *anuwn > anun, gen. anuan ‘name’ (dial.
also anum, anəm), obl. *h3nh3-mén- (> *anumán > dial. *anum-): Hitt. āman n.,
HLuw. álaman- n., Lyc. a man-, Skt. nāman- n., MPers. NPers. nām, Gr. ὄνομα,
-ατος n., Lat. nōmen, -inis n., Goth. namo, OCS imę, etc.

3. Archaisms and innovations of the Armenian nominal

system
(63) Accusative pl. -s
Classical Armenian accusative plural ending -s < PIE *-ns, with a regular loss of the
nasal; e.g. eris < PIE *trins: Goth. þrins, cf. nom. ere-k‘ ‘three’ from PIE *treies
‘three’: Skt. tráyas, Gr. τρεῖς, etc.

Note also ar-s from PIE acc.pl. *anrns vs. nom. ayr ‘man’ < PIE *h2n r: Gr. ἀνήρ,
etc.

(64) Archaic genitives

aṙn from *arnos < *anros < PIE *h2nr-ós: Gr. ἀνδρός; cf. nom. ayr ‘man; husband’
< PIE *h2n r: Gr. ἀνήρ, etc.
hawr from PIE *ph2tr-ós: Gr. πατρός, Lat. patris; cf. nom. hayr ‘father’ < PIE
*ph2t r: Gr. πατήρ, Lat. pater
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k‘eṙ from PIE *suesr-ós, cf. nom. k‘ yr < PIE *suesōr ‘sister’
Note also PIE gen.sg. *-osyo-: Skt. -asya, Gr. -οιο, Arm. -oy, etc.
(65) Instrumental
Arm. instrumental ending -w / -(m)b derives from PIE *-bhi, cf. instr.pl.: Skt. -bhis,
Av. - īš, OPers. - iš; dat.abl.pl.: Skt. -bhyas, Av. - yō; Homeric Greek attests -φι- as
a marker of the ablative, instrumental and locative in both singular and plural
markers; cf. also Lat. dat.abl.pl. -bus, OIr. dat.pl. -b, etc.
eri-w- < *tri-bhi: Skt. dat.abl.pl. tribhyás; cf. nom. ere-k‘ ‘three’ from PIE *treies:
Skt. tráyas, Gr. τρεῖς, etc.
har-b from *ph2tr-bhi-: Skt. dative plural pit -bhyas; cf. nom. hayr ‘father’ < PIE
*ph2t r: Gr. πατήρ, Lat. pater;
jer-b continues *je(h)ar-b < *ĝhesr-bhi vs. nom. jeṙ-n ‘hand’ from *ĝhes-r-; note the
analogical instr. eṙ-am-b
k‘er-b derives from *sues-r-bhi, cf. PIE nom. *suesōr ‘sister’ > Arm. k‘ yr (*-ehō- >
*-e(h)u- > -oy-).
(66) Noun inflection: gorc ‘work’, sirt ‘heart’, cov ‘sea’

o-stem i-stem u-stem

Sg N gorc sirt cov
Acc (z)gorc (z)sirt (z)cov
GD gorcoy srti covu
Abl i gorcoy i srt i cov
I gorcov srtiw covu

Pl N g rck‘ sirtk‘ c k‘
Acc (z)gorcs (z)sirts (z)covs
GD gorcoc‘ srtic‘ covuc‘
Abl i gorcoc‘ i srtic‘ i covuc‘
I gorco k‘ srtiwk‘ covuk‘
(67) Armenian o-stems
k‘un, o-stem ‘sleep’ < *su p-no-: Skt. svápna- m. ‘sleep, dream’, Av. xvafna- m.
‘sleep, dream’, Gr. ὕπνος ‘sleep’, Lat. somnus ‘sleep’, Lith. sãpnas ‘dream’, OCS
sъnъ ‘sleep’, etc.
gin, o-stem ‘price, purchase price’ < *ues-no-: Skt. vasná- n. ‘purchase price’, Lat.
num n. in the formula num are ‘to put up for sale’, cf. Gr. ὦνος ‘purchase
price’ and the verbal form in Hittite, uāš- ‘to buy’.
gorc, o-stem ‘work, labour’ (cf. gorcem ‘to work, labour; to make, produce’) <
*ue/ rĝ m: Gr. ϝέργον n. ‘work, labour, work of art’, OHG werc ‘work’, Av. ərəz-
‘to do, work’, etc. The vocalism of Arm. gorc is taken from the verb gorcem, an old
iterative (cf. Goth. waurk and waurkjan vs. OEngl. werk, OHG werc, Gr. ϝέργον,
etc.).
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erg, o-stem ‘song; poem; playing (music); scoffing song’ (cf. ergem ‘to sing; to play
a musical instrument’) < *h1erkw-o-: Skt. thematic noun arká- m. ‘ray, light, shine;
song, magic song’; cf. PIE *h1erkw-/*h1rkw-: Hitt. ārku-zi, arku- ‘to chant, intone’;
Skt. root noun c- f. ‘song of praise, poem, stanza, verse’, árcati ‘to sing; to praise;
to shine’, Toch. A yärk, B yarke ‘worship, reverence’, probably also OIr. erc ‘sky’.
(68) Armenian a-stems
am, a-stem ‘year, age’ < *s(e)m-eh2-: Skt. s mā- ‘year, season’, cf. YAv. ham-, OIr.
sam, etc. ‘summer’.
hoviw, a-stem ‘shepherd’ < *h3eui-peh2- (cf. Skt. g -pā- m. ‘herdsman’ <
‘*cowherd’, avi-pā - ‘shepherd’) = PIE *h3eui- ‘sheep’ (CLuw. hāui-, Skt. ávi-,
Lat. ovis, etc.) + *peh2(s)- ‘to protect, pasture’ (OCS pasti ‘to pasture’, Lat. pāscō
‘to pasture’, Hitt. paḫš- ‘to protect’, etc.)
(69) Armenian n-stems
anun, gen. anuan ‘name’, dial. *anum < PIE *Hneh3-mn, obl. *Hn(e)h3-men-: Hitt.
āman n., HLuw. álaman- n., Lyc. a man-, Skt. nāman- n., Pers. nām, Gr. ὄνομα,
-ατος n., Lat. nōmen, -inis n., Goth. namo, OCS imę, etc.
aṙn ‘wild ram’ (acc.pl. z-aṙin-s) < PIE *h1rs-en- ‘male, male animal (bull, stallion,
ram)’: Gr. ἄρσην, -ενος, Att. ἄρρην adj. ‘male’, Av. aršan- m. ‘man, male’, OPers.
aršan- ‘male, hero, bull’, cf. Skt. rṣa h - m. ‘bull’.
gaṙn, in/an-stem: gen. gaṙin, instr. gaṙam-b, nom.pl. gaṙin-k‘, gen.dat.pl. gaṙan-c‘
‘lamb’ < PIE *urh1 n, gen. *urh1no-: Skt. úran-, nom. úrā, acc. úraṇam m. ‘lamb’,
NPers. barra ‘lamb’ < PIr. *varn-aka-, Gr. ἀρήν m., ϝαρην ‘lamb’, πολύ-ρρην-ες
‘possessing many lambs’ < IE *-urh1-n-, etc.
(70) Armenian ł- and r-stems
astɫ, gen. asteɫ, instr. asteł-b ‘star’ < PIE *h2ster- ‘star’: Hitt. ḫaster(a)-, nom.
ḫasterza c., Gr. ἀστήρ, -έρος, pl. ἀστέρες m. (also old coll. ἄστρα), Skt. nom.pl.
tāraḥ, instr. st -bhiḥ, Av. star- m., Lat. stella f. ‘star’, Goth. stairno, etc.
dustr, gen. dster, gen.pl. dster-c‘ or dster-a-c‘, instr.pl. dster-aw-k‘ ‘daughter’ < PIE
*dhugh2-t r ‘daughter’: Skt. duhitár-, Gr. ϑυγάτηρ, Lith. ukt , etc.
(71) Relics of the PIE neuter in Armenian
• PIE heteroclitic *-(u)r/n- declension: nom. *péh2ur, gen. *ph2uén-s n.
‘fire’: Hitt. paḫḫur, gen. paḫḫuenaš, Gr. πῦρ, πῠρός, OHG fuir, Goth. fon <
*puōn. The old nominative in *-r: Armenian hur fire’, thematicized (gen.
hr-o-y, instr. hr-o-v), but also an archaic instrumental hur-b.
• Next to this: PIE oblique stem *ph2u(e)n- > Armenian *hun- in hn-oc‘
‘oven, furnace’.
• Further development of the -(u)r/n- paradigm in Armenian: asr, gen. asu
‘wool, fleece’, barjr, gen.sg. barj-u, gen.pl. barjan-c‘ ‘high’, etc.
• Arm. artasu-k‘, a-stem (gen.pl. artasu-a-c‘) ‘tear’ from * r ku-: Gr. δά ρυ
n., OHG zahar (beside trahan), etc. The Armenian plural stem *artasu-a-
may reflect an old neuter plural * raku-h2.

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4. Archaisms and innovations of the Armenian verbal

system
(71) Present indicative paradigm of PIE *bher- ‘to bring, bear’. Note the loss of
intervocalic *-t- in 3sg. *bhér-e-ti > Arm. *berey(i) > er .

Proto-IE Armenian Sanskrit Greek Gothic OCS

1sg *bhér-o-h2 berem h rāmi φέρω baira berǫ
2sg *bhér-e-si beres bhárasi φέρεις bairis ereši
3sg *bhér-e-ti er bhárati φέρει bairiþ beretъ
1pl *bhér-o-me- eremk‘ h rāmas(i) φέρομεν bairam beremъ
2pl *bhér-e-te(-) er k‘ bháratha φέρετε bairiþ berete
3pl *bhér-o-nti beren bháranti φέρουσι(ν) bairand berǫtъ

(72) Present indicative paradigm of PIE *h1es- ‘to be’.

Proto-IE Arm. Hitt. Skt. Greek Latin Gothic OCS

1sg *h1és-mi em šmi ásmi εἰμί sum im jesmь
2sg *h1és-si es šši ási εἶ / ἐσσί es is jesi
3sg *h1és-ti šzi ásti ἐστί(ν) est ist jestъ
1pl *h1s-mé- emk‘ smás ἐσμέν sumus sijum jesmъ
2pl *h1s-té- k‘ sthá ἐστέ estis sijuþ jeste
3pl *h1s-énti en ašanzi sánti εἰσί(ν) sunt sind sǫtъ

(73-74) Nasal presents: k‘anem

*l(e)ikw- ‘to leave’: Arm. k‘anem, 3sg.aor. e- ik‘ ‘to leave’, Skt. rec-, pres. riṇ kti,
Gr. λείπω, λιμπάνω, Lat. inquō, īquī. PIE nasal-infixed present *li-n-kw- was
remodeled to *likw-n- > Arm. pres. k‘anem.

PIE Greek Armenian

Present *li-n-kw- λιμπάνω vs. λείπω k‘anem
Thematic aorist *é-likw-et ἔλιπε e- ik‘
Imperative *líkwe λίπε ik‘

(75) *bheg- ‘to break’, nasal pres. *bh-n-eg-: Arm. bekanem, 3sg.aor. e-bek , Skt.
bhañj-, bhanákti ‘to break’
*h2er- ‘to fix, put together’: Arm. aṙnem, 3sg.aor. ar-ar ‘to make’: Gr. ἀραρίσ ω,
aor. ἤραρον ‘to fit, equip’, etc.
*dheh1- ‘to put’: Arm. dnem, 1sg.aor. e-di, impv. di-r, Skt. hā-, Gr. τίϑημι, etc. Arm.
dnem = *di- + pres. suffix *ne- seen in e.g. aṙ-ne-m vs. aor. ar-ar- ‘to make’. The
3sg.aor. e-d derive from *é-dheh1-t: Skt. hāt.

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 Hrach Martirosyan, Origins and historical development of the Armenian language 2014

*prk-ske/o- (sk-present) ‘to ask’: Arm. harc‘anem, 3sg.aor. e-harc‘, Ved. prcchami,
Lat. p scō. Arm. 3sg.aor. e-harc‘ < them. impf. *e-prk-sk-et: Skt. prcchat; Arm.
impv. harc‘ vs. Skt. prcch .

(76) *h2r-nu-: Arm. aṙnum, 1sg.aor. aṙ-i, 3sg.aor. aṙ ‘to gain, obtain, win, take,
grasp’, Gr. ἄρνυμαι, aor. ἀρόμεν ‘to win, gain’, probably also Av. ərənauu- ‘to grant,
allot, provide’.
*pleh1-: Arm. lnum or lnanim 3sg.aor. e- ic‘ ‘to fill, be filled’ (cf. li ‘full’, li-r, i-
stem ‘plenitude’), Gr. πίμπλημι, -αμαι ‘to fill’, πλήρης ‘full’, πλέως, Lat. p re ‘to
fill’, Skt. pari ‘to fill’, pres. píparti, *píprati, etc. For the aorist e-li-c‘ < *e-p -ske,
with *-ske/o- added to the old root aorist *p -(s)-, cf. Ved. prās, Gr. ἔπλησε.
*ṷes-nu-: Arm. z-genum, 3sg.aor. zge-c‘-a-w ‘to put on clothes’, Gr. ἕννυμι ‘to
clothe’; cf. Hitt. ueš- ‘to be dressed’, Skt. váste ‘to be clothed, wear’, etc. Note Arm.
z-gest, u-stem, i-stem, o-stem ‘dress, garment, clothes’ from *ṷes-ti-: Lat. vestis, is f.
‘garments, clothing; clothes; cloth’, Goth. wasti ‘garment, dress’.
*gwher- ‘warm’: Arm. ǰeṙnum or ǰeṙanim, 1sg.aor. ǰeṙ-a-y ‘to be/become warm,
burn’ < *gwher-nu-, cf. *gwhr-n(e)u-: Skt. ghrṇ ti ‘to glow, light’, etc. Arm. aor.
ǰeṙ-a- from sigm. aor, *gwher-s-.

(77) Aorist

mnam sirem nayim t‘ołum

‘to stay, wait’ ‘to love’ ‘to look at’ ‘to let, permit’
Sg mnac‘i sirec‘i nayec‘ay t‘ołi
mnac‘er sirec‘er nayec‘ar t‘ołer
mnac‘ sireac‘ nayec‘aw (e)t‘oł
Pl mnac‘ak‘ sirec‘ak‘ nayec‘ak‘ t‘ołak‘
mnac‘ē/ik‘ sirec‘ē/ik‘ nayec‘ayk‘, -aruk‘ t‘ołē/ik‘
mnac‘in sirec‘in nayec‘an t‘ołin

Sg moṙanam anc‘anem cnanim ǰeṙnum

‘to forget’ ‘to pass’ ‘to beget’ ‘to get warm’
moṙac‘ay anc‘i cnay ǰeṙay
moṙac‘ar anc‘er cnar ǰeṙar
moṙac‘aw (ē)anc‘ cnaw ǰeṙaw
Pl moṙac‘ak‘ anc‘ak‘ cnak‘ ǰeṙak‘
moṙac‘ayk‘, -aruk‘ anc‘ē/ik‘ cnayk‘, -aruk‘ ǰeṙayk‘, -aruk‘
moṙac‘an anc‘in cnan ǰeṙan

(78-79) Aspects of historical phonology and morphology

Intriguing cases where phonological, morphological and/or word-formative issues
seem to be interwoven. A typical example is the initial y-:
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 Hrach Martirosyan, Origins and historical development of the Armenian language 2014

• prefix y- from PIE *h1en- ‘in’: y(-h)atanem vs. hatanem ‘to cut’ (cf. Lat.
in-cī ō ‘to cut into, engrave’ from cae ō ‘to hew, cut’); *h1en-h3 rĝhi-
‘testicled, uncastrated, male (ram or buck)’ > Arm. y-orj, i-stem ‘male
sheep, ram’ and Gr. ἔν-ορχις ‘provided with testicles’, cf. ἔν-ορχ-ος, ἐν-όρχ-
ης also ‘buck’;
• phonological explanation: yisun ‘fifty’ vs. hing ‘five’; probably: PIE
*penkw k mth2 ‘fifty’ > PArm. *hingisun : *(h)i(ŋ)isun > *(h)i-ísun > *i-y-
ísun (y- is perhaps a glide);
• morphological explanation: y-aṙnem (aor. stem y-ari, imper. ari) ‘to rise,
arise, wake, resurrect’, < PIE *h3r-i- ‘to rise’: Hitt. arai-i / ari- ‘to rise,
arise, lift; to raise’, Lat. orior, -īrī, ortus ‘to rise’, Skt. ar- ‘to set in motion,
move; to arouse, excite’, Gr. ὄρνυμι. Armenian *y-ar-i- and impv. *ari
derive from *h3r-i-; *y-ar- (vs. imperative *ar-) is probably from redupl.
pres. *Hi-H(e)r- > PArm. * īyar- > *(i)yar-, cf. Skt. íyarti (next to ar-).

5. Onomastics
(80) Place names
An Indo-European etymology of an Armenian toponym can be considered more or
less reliable if it meets at least three or four of the following requirements:
 (1) the toponym is reliably attested in Classical Armenian and/or foreign
sources;
 (2) its antiquity is guaranteed by attestations from cuneiform sources of the
first half of the first millennium BC;
 (3) it contains an Armenian appellative of Indo-European origin;
 (4) it contains an unattested appellative that can be phonologically derived
from an Indo-European etymon;
 (5) the semantics of the appellative is compatible with the concrete type of
a given toponym;
 (6) the semantic basis is confirmed by other data, e.g. by other names of the
place;
 (7) the IE etymon is found in toponyms in other IE languages.

(81) A few possible examples:

• K ɫ (cf. Urart. Qulbi-tarrini) from PIE *gwolbho- ‘womb’: Skt. gárbha-,
Av. garəβa- ‘womb’, cf. Gr. δελφύς, δολφός ‘womb’, Δελφοί.
• Gis, gen. Gis-o-y (a village in Uti-k‘), from PIE *u(e/ )ik-: Skt. íś-
‘settlement’, MPers. vis ‘manor-house, village’, OCS ьsь. For the
semantics, cf. Agarak . Note also Urart. URUUiše and URUUiši(ni).
• erm, the Bohtan-su; ǰerm ‘warm(th)’ derives from PIE *gwhermo-, cf.
Γερμ- < Thracian *germo-, Dacian Germi-sara (both with thermal springs).
• Sim (a famous mountain in Sasun) < PIE *kieh1mo-, cf. Skt. śyām - ‘black,
dark’, yāmā name of a river, Av. Siiāmaka- name of a mountain, Lith.

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š mas ‘blue-grey’. Mountains are frequently named ‘dark’ or ‘black’. Note

the other name of Sim, namely Sev-sar, lit. “Black-mountain”.
(82) Place names in the 3rd and 1st millennia BC
The toponymical studies concerning these periods are mainly based on superficial
similarities and lack thorough etymological treatment.
►V. Xač‘atryan 2012
• URUAparḫu a comp. of Armenian apar/ṙ ‘rock’ and xul ‘deaf’;
• URUAlatarma/e vs. Arm. a k‘ ‘depth, abyss’ and tarm ‘group’;
• URUMararḫa vs. Arm. mar ‘master’ (only in Čaṙəntir, and is an Aramaic or
Syriac borrowing) and Hitt. arḫa ‘border’;
• URUMezzari vs. Arm. mec ‘great’ and ari ‘valiant, brave’
►Karagyozyan 1998:
• KURṶiṭeruḫi > Gugar-k‘;
• KURAṭezaine > Arkaz;
• URUḪundur > Č‘awn ur;
• Vač‘ur from Bexur, reflecting Indo-Eur. *ues-r ‘spring (season)’

(83) Personal names

The most remarkable achievement in this field is Ačaṙyan’s dictionary of personal
names (5 vols, 1942-62).
(84) Armenian anthroponyms with underlying native (Indo-European) appellatives
include:
• Arew m. ‘Sun’,
• Dustr f. ‘daughter’ (cf. Duxt/t‘ar, Iranian),
• Eznik m. (ezn ‘ox, bullock’),
• Eł ayr(ik) m. ‘brother’,
• Ən ak/k‘ m. (inj ‘panther, leopard’),
• Koriwn m. ‘cub, whelp’,
• Hawuk m. (haw ‘bird, rooster’, cf. also haw ‘grandfather’),
• Lusik m., later f. (loys ‘light’),
• Mrǰiwnik m. (mrǰiwn ‘ant’).

(85) Theoretically, these names may originate directly from Indo-European,

although this is hard to prove. The probability increases if the Armenian name:

 derives from an Indo-European etymon that underlies anthroponyms also in

cognate languages, e.g.:
Arǰuk m., a hypocoristic form of arǰ ‘bear’, cf. Lat. Ursula ‘little bear’,
note also Arm. Aršak m., an Iranian loanword;
Arew m. from arew ‘sun’, cf. Skt. ravi- m. ‘sun’, which is also found as a
masculine anthroponym.

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 Hrach Martirosyan, Origins and historical development of the Armenian language 2014

 is synchronically opaque, e.g. Hawroy, probably from IE *ph2tro- (cf. Arm.

hayr ‘father’, gen. hawr), compare Greek anthroponyms with πατρο-;
 is attested in ancient sources of the Urartian and earlier periods, e.g. Aram
(cf. Skt. Rāma-) vs. Urartian Aramu / Arame/a.

(86) Mythological lexicon

Native Armenian theonyms replaced by those of Iranian origin. The Iranian
divinities do not always fully match their Armenian namesakes functionally.
• Pre-Christian Armenian state pantheon: mainly theonyms of Iranian origin:
Aramazd, Vahagn, Mihr, Tir, Anahit, perhaps also Nanē.
• The only deity of the state pantheon with a native Armenian name is Astł-ik
(astł ‘star’ from PIE *h2ster- ‘star’).

(87) A few examples of native Armenian mythonyms, possibly inherited from PIE:
• Ayg ‘Dawn Goddess’ (Van, Moks etc. ɛk‘ in wedding ritual songs) from
PIE ‘Dawn Goddess’ (Skt. uṣ s-, Gr. ἕως, Lat. aurōra, etc. all deified);
*h2(e)us(s)i > *aw(h)i - > ayg ‘dawn’.
• Andndayin Ōj, the Abyssal Serpent, cf. Skt. Áhi- Budhnyà-; the Armenian
Abyssal tree (andndayin caṙ) and the Rigvedic Cosmic tree (RV 1.24.7) are
located in ‘bottomless space, abyss’, Arm. an-dund and Skt. a-budhná-
from *n-bhudhno-.
• Arew, gen. Areg- ‘Sun God’ (Movsēs Xorenacʻi 2.8 and folkloric texts);
Arm. arew/g- ‘sun’ and Skt. ravi- m. ‘sun, sun-god’ (Upaniṣad+) derive
from *h2reu-i-, an Armeno-Aryan poetical or sacred (marked) designation
of ‘sun’ replacing the PIE profane (unmarked) word for ‘sun’, *seh2ul-.

Supplement
(88) Armenian dialects
The foundations of Armenian dialectology were laid by Hrač‘ya Ačaṙyan: Armenian
dialectology (1911, cf. 1909), Armenian dialectological dictionary (1913).
(89) Dialectal words: old or new?
►Archaisms: methodology
• Arm. dial. anum vs. ClArm anun ‘name’ from *anuwn < PIE *h3neh3-mn
‘name’ has been treated as a reflection of older *anumn. Methodologically
more cogent: -m- from oblique *anVman-, cf. paštawn vs. gen. pašt-aman
‘service’.
►Internal treatment comes first
• Łarabaɫ rɛk‘nak (vs. Classical aregakn ‘sun’) has been treated as an
archaic reflex of the IE proto-form allegedly with an initial *r-. In fact,
rɛk‘nak is a marginal form; note iərík‘nak, iəríhynak, ərɛk‘nak, əríhynak.
Regular reduction of the initial pretonic syllable in polysyllabic words in
Łarabaɫ: a(r)celi ‘razor’ > cíli, asaran c‘ ‘oil-mill’ > səran c‘.
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 Hrach Martirosyan, Origins and historical development of the Armenian language 2014

(90) Reading
1. Դու կաս եւ մնաս: Du kas ew mnas.
2. Աստուած կայ եւ մնայ յաւիտեան: Astuac kay ew mnay yawitean
3. Արամ ծնանի զԱրայն Գեղեցիկ: Aram cnani zArayn Gełec‘ik.
4. Գամ եւ առնում զձեզ առ իս: Gam ew aṙnum z ez aṙ is.
5. Եւ գնաց Տուբիա կնաւ իւրով: Ew gnac‘ Tu ia knaw iwr .
6. Հայեցաւ նա ի բարձանց: ayec‘aw na i ar anc‘.
7. Դու արարեր զերկինս և զերկիր: Du ararer zerkins ew zerkir.
8. Եւ առ ի պտղոյ նորա եւ եկեր: Ew aṙ i ptł y n ra ew eker.
9. Նա եբեր նմա գինի: Na eber nma gini.
10. Եւ զարծաթն իմ եբեր Ew zarcat‘n im e er.

Glossary
(for personal pronouns, see the table below)

aṙ prep. ‘at, near, next to, by, before’

aṙnum ‘to receive, take, take away, ravish, rob’
astuac ‘God’
arcat‘, o-stem ‘silver; money, wealth’
barjr, gen.sg. barj-u, gen.pl. ar anc‘ ‘high, elevated; height, elevation’
berem ‘to bring’
gam ‘to come’
gełec‘ik ‘pretty, handsome’
gini ‘wine’
gnam ‘to go, depart, repair’
e-, augment: 3sg.aorist
erkin, i-stem ‘sky, heaven’
erkir, a-stem ‘earth; land’
ew, conj. ‘and; also’
hayim ‘to look’
iwr ‘his own, etc.’ (refl. pron.)
kam ‘to be, exist; to stand, remain; to stop, stay, wait’
kin, gen. kn ǰ, instr. knaw or kanamb ‘woman; wife’
mnam ‘to saty, wait’
yawitean ‘eternally, perpetually; eternity, perpetuity’
-n definite article ‘the’
ptuł, o-stem ‘fruit’
utem, 1sg.aor. keray ‘to eat’

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 Hrach Martirosyan, Origins and historical development of the Armenian language 2014

Personal pronouns

Sg N es ‘you’ du ‘you’ na ‘he, she, it’

Acc (z)is (z)k‘ez (z)na
G im k‘ nora
D inj k‘ez nma
Abl yin n i k‘ n i nman
I inew k‘ew novaw

Pl N mek‘ uk‘ n k‘a

Acc (z)mez (z)jez (z)nosa
G mer jer n c‘a
D mez jez n c‘a
Abl i m nǰ i nǰ i n c‘an
I mewk‘, meawk‘ ewk‘, eawk‘ n k‘awk‘

I thank you for your attention!

HRACH MARTIROSYAN (Leiden University)

hrch.martirosyan@gmail.com

Selected literature
Ačaṙyan, H. 1971-79. (HAB), Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran, in 4 vols (second edition).
Yerevan: University Press.

Beekes, Robert S. P. 2010. Etymological Dictionary of Greek (with the assistance of Lucien
van Beek). 2 vols. Leiden: Brill.

Clackson, James 1994. The linguistic relationship between Armenian and Greek. Oxford,
Cambridge: Blackwell (Publications of the Philological Society; 30).

Gilibert A., Bobokhyan A., Hnila P. 2012. Dragon stones in context: The discovery of
high-altitude burial grounds with sculpted stelae in the Armenian mountains. In: Mitteilungen
der Deutschen Orient Gesellschaft 144: 93-132.

Lamberterie, Charles de 1992. Introduction à l’arménien classique. In: LALIES 10 (Aussois,

1988-1989): 234-289.

Lamberterie, Charles de 2013. Grec, phrygien, arménien: des anciens aux modernes. In:
Journal des Savants (janvier-juin 2013): 3-69.

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 Hrach Martirosyan, Origins and historical development of the Armenian language 2014

Mallory, J. P. 1989. In search of the Indo-Europeans: language, archaeology and myth.

London: Thames and Hudson.

Mallory, J. P. & Adams, D. Q. 1997 (eds.), Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture. London,

Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.

Mallory, J. P. & Adams, D. Q. 2006. The Oxford introduction to Proto-Indo-European and

the Proto-Indo-European world. MOxford: Oxford University Press.

Martirosyan, Hrach K. 2007. Mediterranean-Pontic substratum words. In: Aramazd:

Armenian journal of Near-Eastern studies, vol. 2: 88-123.

2009. Armenian mawr ‘mud, marsh’ and its hydronymical value. In: Aramazd: Armenian
journal of Near Eastern studies, vol. 4.1: 73-85.

2010. Etymological dictionary of the Armenian inherited lexicon. Leiden, Boston: Brill.
(Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 8).

2012. European and Mediterranean substrate words in Armenian. In: Etymology and the
European lexicon: 14th Fachtagung of the Indogermanische Gesellschaft (17-22 September
2012, University of Copenhagen). Abstracts: 75-76.

2013. The place of Armenian in the Indo-European language family: the relationship with
Greek and Indo-Iranian. In: Journal of language relationship (Вопросы языкового родства)
10: 85-137.

Prepar. The ‘farn’ of mountainous spring, the Dawn goddess and the ritual of head and hide
within the semantic framework of the Višap stones. In preparation.

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