Armenian Slang & Idioms

[CatWoman]

It's interesting how "asam" has turned into "asim" among some parskahays who have spent too much time outside of Iran. Like "zangim" and "gnatsim". Otherwise the -am ending is popular in other verbs too: aram, taram, siram, keram.

Also classic in parskahay dialect is the verb "to be" conjugated as:

Yes am
Du as
Na/Inqn a
Menq anq
Duq aq
Nranq/Iranq an

Instead of em, es, e, enq, eq, en.

So you get: Yani du stur as arel? (You mean you bought this?)

Btw, Armenians from Esfahan and surroundings also use ka, as an exclamation often. Ka? (Really?); "ka du hur as etkan khosum?".

Sorry to disappoint you hun, but not all barskahays talk like that! OMG... I mean geughasik maybe... . I don't know ANYONE who says "stur" or "menq anq" or "dari/beri" lolllllll....And if you personally say "stur, endoor, etc" try to CORRECT YOURSELF

I was watching the civic auditorium new year's eve celebration on TV, and oh wow! Those people need to learn proper Armenian... I mean I couldn't stop laughing! Such a shame...

I hope I didn't sound mean...

[nairi]

I invite you to visit Peria Some even say "minq" instead of "menq".

[hyebruin]

[QUOTE=nairi]It's interesting how "asam" has turned into "asim" among some parskahays who have spent too much time outside of Iran. Like "zangim" and "gnatsim". Otherwise the -am ending is popular in other verbs too: aram, taram, siram, keram.

hmmm it's not exactly the past tense, i believe it's the subjunctive here..with zangim (zangei) and past tense---> zangam (zangetsi), gnatsim (gnatsi)... and i dont' think it's siram it's siratsim/siretsim (siretsi)

the whole 'm' attachment is imo a kind of a barsgahye genetic mutation brought on by living very closely with persians... seriously!

it's because in farsi the past tense in the first person has the 'm' attachment at the end, so for whatever reason? (convenience/habit/assimilation) armenians applied some farsi grammar to armenian??---this is just my own personal theory, but it's not so far fetched if you examine both languages

[nairi]

I guess it depends on who you listen to. I've heard both variations in similar contexts used among some of my cousins who were born and raised outside of Iran. Mostly I think they misheard something somewhere because as far as I can hear, their parents don't speak like that. Nor do they live in Armenian communities. I think my cousins in America got it from arevmtahays (they went to a Western Armenian school). My cousins here got it from ?? mishearing??

I have heard cousins say: "Gnatsim khanut u es aram". I swear. As for zangel, my American cousins and their friends don't even use that word. They use kanchel instead, and add a -am in the end: kancham.

[CatWoman]

I invite you to visit Peria Some even say "minq" instead of "menq".

haha! You don't have to visit Peria to find peresis! LOL, I mean nothing against them, they're actually very family oriented and nice... but when it comes to the way they talk, it's okay for the elderly to talk like that, but the young generation.... NOOO!

[EYYBABA23]

I agree. I'm a barskahye and hate it when the 10% talk like that, but I also don't like it when barskahyes get generalized as one group and then everytime the Pereztiz have to be the NMUSH!(THIS IS ONLY ABOUT THE WAY THEY TALK, SO DON'T THINK I'M BASHING YOUR PEREZINESS IF YOU ARE ONE)lol....One tenth of Barskahyes might talk like that if not less. And I agree that you can't change the way the elders talk, but the youngsters should never talk like that althought it's like impossible when the parents do talk with UNA CHUNA!

[Che_Ka]

Nairi: Interesting that your American cousins use "ganchel" (kanchel) instead of "zankel" (zangel). No doubt something else they picked up from the Arevmdahays at school.

The two words are similar to the difference between the British and American versions.

I rang = Yes zanketsi (zangetsi)
I called = Yes ganchetsi (kanchetsi)

[nairi]

Yeah, they probably just translate literally from "call". Just like "televisioni vra" (on tv).

Ey baba, most of the time I find these differences in dialects more fascinating than anything. Have you ever asked yourself why people speak different dialects? And how they became that way? Why diss those dialects and people? They're able to communicate fine. What more is a language good for?

[CatWoman]

Ey baba, most of the time I find these differences in dialects more fascinating than anything. Have you ever asked yourself why people speak different dialects? And how they became that way? Why diss those dialects and people? They're able to communicate fine. What more is a language good for?

I don't think he was dissing the people, but the way they talk. So since they can communicate fine, no need to correct themselves even though the way they communicate is wrong and illiterate, to say the least? It's like saying, why use knife, fork, and spoon when you can just eat with your hands and fingers? The whole purpose is to consume food right? hahaha

[nairi]

Who says it's wrong and illiterate? What is wrong and what is illiterate? Care to define?

And indeed, why use knife and fork when they are simply commodoties for the Victorians? We can just as easily eat with our hands. Did you know that eating rice with one hand without letting one grain fall is much more challenging than eating without elbows on a table? Just wondering..