Eastern Armenian (Armenian: արևելահայերեն, romanized: arevelahayeren) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Western Armenian. The two standards form a pluricentric language.
Eastern Armenian developed as a separate standard starting in the eighteenth century. It belongs to the -um branch of Armenian dialects (sometimes called the Eastern branch), distinguished by how the present tense is formed.
Armenians (Armenian: հայեր, romanized: hayer, [hɑˈjɛɾ]) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia. Armenians constitute the main demographic group in Armenia and constituted the main population of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh until their subsequent flight due to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive. There is a large diaspora of around five million people of Armenian ancestry living outside the Republic of Armenia. The largest Armenian populations exist in Russia, the United States, France, Georgia, Iran, Germany, Ukraine, Lebanon, Brazil, Argentina, Syria, and Turkey. The present-day Armenian diaspora was formed mainly as a result of the Armenian genocide with the exceptions of Iran, former Soviet states, and parts of the Levant.
Armenian is an Indo-European language. It has two mutually intelligible spoken and written forms: Eastern Armenian, today spoken mainly in Armenia, Artsakh, Iran, and the former Soviet republics; and Western Armenian, used in the historical Western Armenia and, after the Armenian genocide, primarily in the Armenian diasporan communities. The unique Armenian alphabet was invented in 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots.
Western Armenian (Western Armenian: Արեւմտահայերէն, romanized: Arevmdahayeren [ɑɾɛvmədɑhɑjɛˈɾɛn]) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly based on the Yerevan Armenian dialect.
Until the early 20th century, various Western Armenian dialects were spoken in the Ottoman Empire, predominantly in the historically Armenian populated regions of Western Armenia. The dialectal varieties of Western Armenian currently in use include Homshetsi, spoken by the Hemshin people; the dialects of Armenians in Kessab, Latakia and Jisr al-Shughur in Syria, Anjar in Lebanon, and Istanbul and Vakıflı, in Turkey (part of the "Sueidia" dialect). The Sasun and Mush dialects are also spoken in modern-day Armenian villages such as Bazmaberd and Sasnashen. The Cilician dialect is also spoken in Cyprus, where it is taught in Armenian schools (Nareg), and is the first language of about 3,000 people of Armenian descent.
Ayb (majuscule: Ա; minuscule: ա; Armenian: այբ) is the first letter of the Armenian alphabet. It has a numerical value of 1. It represents the [ɑ] sound in both variants of the Armenian language. This letter and the letter Ben (Բբ) are the two first letters in the Armenian alphabet and forms the etymology of the Armenian word այբուբեն (aybuben), meaning "alphabet." It is one of the letters originally created by Mesrop Mashtots in the 5th century.
Its prototype is considered to be the Greek letter α (alpha) with the upper arc cut off. A number of Armenian letters are formed in a similar fashion.
Classical Armenian (Armenian: գրաբար, romanized: grabar, Eastern Armenian pronunciation [ɡəɾɑˈpʰɑɾ], Western Armenian pronunciation [kʰəɾɑˈpʰɑɾ]; meaning "literary [language]"; also Old Armenian or Liturgical Armenian) is the oldest attested form of the Armenian language. It was first written down at the beginning of the 5th century, and most Armenian literature from then through the 18th century is in Classical Armenian. Many ancient manuscripts originally written in Ancient Greek, Hebrew, Syriac and Latin survive only in Armenian translation. Classical Armenian itself, in turn, was heavily influenced by the Iranian languages, in particular by Parthian.
Classical Armenian continues to be the liturgical language of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Armenian Catholic Church and is often learned by Biblical, Intertestamental, and Patristic scholars dedicated to textual studies. Classical Armenian is also important for the reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European language.
The Armenian language has two standardized forms: Western Armenian and Eastern Armenian. Before the Armenian genocide and other significant demographic changes that affected the Armenians, several dozen Armenian dialects existed in the areas historically populated by them.
Fedayi (Eastern Armenian: Ֆիդայի, romanized: Fidayi; Western Armenian: Ֆէտայի, Fedayi, Turkish: Ermeni milisleri, çeteleri, fedaileri, French: Fédaïs arméniens), also known as the Armenian irregular units, Armenian militia, or Armenian Hayduks were Armenian civilians who voluntarily left their families to form self-defense units and irregular armed-bands in reaction to the mass murder of Armenians and the pillage of Armenian villages by criminals, Turkish and Kurdish gangs, Ottoman forces, and Hamidian guards during the reign of Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, known as the Hamidian massacres. Their ultimate goal was always to gain Armenian autonomy (for Armenakans) or independence (for Dashnaks and for Hunchaks)–depending on their ideology and the degree of oppression visited on Armenians.
Some of the key fedayi figures also participated in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution that commenced during the same period, upon agreement of the ARF leaders.