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First: You never even responded to the conciliatory idea I put forth in my last post.
Now…
How dare you make such an inflammatory post like that! Amot kezi. AMOT!
I don’t even know where to begin.
I am not a “Beirutsi Armenian.” I do not have any relatives from Beirut. My family is from Syria. I prefer using the umbrella term “Arevmdahay.”
Why do we overclaim our Armenianness? WHY DO WE OVERCLAIM OUR ARMENIANNESS?! Um, hello?! Every single “Beirutsi Armenian” is a descendant of a Genocide survivor. And unlike Genocide descendants who were part of the Nerkaght Movement, none of the “Beirutsi Armenians” ever moved back somewhere that is called Armenia. They never again lived somewhere where the daily language was Armenian. EVERY DAY they have had to deal with assimilation. EVERY DAY they have had to live amongst odars. But, oh, inch meghk kordzer enk menk chankernis tapelov menk mer azkuh, mer lezoon, mer mshagoutyuh bahelou. Amot kezi.
My best friend is Hayastantsi. I learn her dialect, she’s learned mine (she went to school with me). Get off your high horse.
As for Western Armenians being bewildered by the Eastern Armenian dialect. Let me put this in another perspective for you. I am the perfect example of this. The only dialect I ever heard until I was, maybe 16 or 17, was the standard Western Armenian dialect. Any Hayastantsis or Barsgahays at school spoke Western Armenian. We have no relatives in either Armenia or Iran. I had never heard Eastern Armenian – ever. I think the first time I had to converse with someone who spoke EA was when my best friend’s mom invited me to my friend’s sweet 16 party. I had no idea what she was talking about.
Now, switch to Eastern Armenians in Armenia. A significant portion, perhaps the majority, of Armenians from Armenia have some kind of connection to Western Armenia. Either their parents were born in Syria or Lebanon, or their grandparents were from some city in Western Armenia. As my friend can attest to, in many Hayastantsi families, there is a familiarity with the Western dialect because it exists within the family. My friend’s grandparents were from Lebanon and Syria, and she still has relatives in Iraq. She hears Western Armenian at family functions, etc growing up.
The overwhelming majority of Western Armenians have little to no connection to the Eastern dialect.
Also, in Armenia, you are bombarded with so many LIVING (gentani) regional dialects. In the Western Armenian world, all the regional dialects are dead, and all you have is a single standard dialect. We’re not used to hearing Armenian in any form besides the standard form that every Western Armenian speaks. Armenians in Armenia are used to hearing so many different dialects, INCLUDING WESTERN DIALECTS.
THESE ARE THE REASONS WHY IT IS SO DIFFICULT FOR ‘US’ TO UNDERSTAND ‘YOU’ YET MUCH EASIER FOR ‘YOU’ TO UNDERSTAND ‘US.’
I don’t condone or understand making fun of Eastern Armenian. However, I’ve never experienced any WA speaker make fun of EA. In my experience, it’s been the other way around.
Now onto your point about Western Armenian teachers and textbooks. You inspired me to dig up my high school Armenian textbooks. I found them.
Printed in 1994 by Hamazkayin is either my 10th or 11th grade Armenian literature textbook. The cover is missing, so I can’t give you a title. Lo and behold, why this textbook includes Yeghishe Charents’ “Kovk Hayasdani” – and, gasp, it doesn’t include the changes that you speak of.
Let’s see: page 209 of this book. Looky there. Verse 2, line 1: “mer yerginkuh.” Verse 2, line 3: “anhuirungal.” Perhaps this version you have had typographical errors. Or someone simply typed it down from memory, and had remembered it wrong. I see no reason that Western Armenian teachers would change them. It’s not like it makes the poem any more accessible to Western students. Oh, but of course not. Western Armenian teachers are stupid, and they just want to ruin Eastern Armenian. That’s the only explanation.
And as for Verse 2, line 4 – Apparently your exquisite education in Armenia forgot to mention that in original orthography (spelling), “hnamya” is not spelled like that, but as “hnameay.” Since Western Armenians have kept the original spelling, they spell it “hnameay.”
Furthermore, you think we didn’t read Eastern Armenian? My other textbook I found is called “Arti Hay Kraganootyoon.” Part One is “Arti Arevmdahay Kraganootyoon” and Part 2 is “Arti Arevelahay Kraganootyoon.” We covered both. The dialects were not negotiated. The entire Part saves the original Eastern dialect. The only thing that was changed was the spelling. It is all in original spelling. It gets rid of the Soviet spelling. Oh, and you know what? In the 11th grade, I performed a one-man play in Eastern Armenian. And my script was a photocopy of one from Yerevan; it used Soviet spelling.
Our Armenian teachers were, and continue to be, experts in the language. How dare you question their intelligence. Instead of appreciating the fact that they have dedicated their lives to teaching our precious language to a new Diaspora generation, you post such vile words. I can’t say it enough: amot kezi.
Now go educate yourself.
Now…
How dare you make such an inflammatory post like that! Amot kezi. AMOT!
I don’t even know where to begin.
I am not a “Beirutsi Armenian.” I do not have any relatives from Beirut. My family is from Syria. I prefer using the umbrella term “Arevmdahay.”
Why do we overclaim our Armenianness? WHY DO WE OVERCLAIM OUR ARMENIANNESS?! Um, hello?! Every single “Beirutsi Armenian” is a descendant of a Genocide survivor. And unlike Genocide descendants who were part of the Nerkaght Movement, none of the “Beirutsi Armenians” ever moved back somewhere that is called Armenia. They never again lived somewhere where the daily language was Armenian. EVERY DAY they have had to deal with assimilation. EVERY DAY they have had to live amongst odars. But, oh, inch meghk kordzer enk menk chankernis tapelov menk mer azkuh, mer lezoon, mer mshagoutyuh bahelou. Amot kezi.
My best friend is Hayastantsi. I learn her dialect, she’s learned mine (she went to school with me). Get off your high horse.
As for Western Armenians being bewildered by the Eastern Armenian dialect. Let me put this in another perspective for you. I am the perfect example of this. The only dialect I ever heard until I was, maybe 16 or 17, was the standard Western Armenian dialect. Any Hayastantsis or Barsgahays at school spoke Western Armenian. We have no relatives in either Armenia or Iran. I had never heard Eastern Armenian – ever. I think the first time I had to converse with someone who spoke EA was when my best friend’s mom invited me to my friend’s sweet 16 party. I had no idea what she was talking about.
Now, switch to Eastern Armenians in Armenia. A significant portion, perhaps the majority, of Armenians from Armenia have some kind of connection to Western Armenia. Either their parents were born in Syria or Lebanon, or their grandparents were from some city in Western Armenia. As my friend can attest to, in many Hayastantsi families, there is a familiarity with the Western dialect because it exists within the family. My friend’s grandparents were from Lebanon and Syria, and she still has relatives in Iraq. She hears Western Armenian at family functions, etc growing up.
The overwhelming majority of Western Armenians have little to no connection to the Eastern dialect.
Also, in Armenia, you are bombarded with so many LIVING (gentani) regional dialects. In the Western Armenian world, all the regional dialects are dead, and all you have is a single standard dialect. We’re not used to hearing Armenian in any form besides the standard form that every Western Armenian speaks. Armenians in Armenia are used to hearing so many different dialects, INCLUDING WESTERN DIALECTS.
THESE ARE THE REASONS WHY IT IS SO DIFFICULT FOR ‘US’ TO UNDERSTAND ‘YOU’ YET MUCH EASIER FOR ‘YOU’ TO UNDERSTAND ‘US.’
I don’t condone or understand making fun of Eastern Armenian. However, I’ve never experienced any WA speaker make fun of EA. In my experience, it’s been the other way around.
Now onto your point about Western Armenian teachers and textbooks. You inspired me to dig up my high school Armenian textbooks. I found them.
Printed in 1994 by Hamazkayin is either my 10th or 11th grade Armenian literature textbook. The cover is missing, so I can’t give you a title. Lo and behold, why this textbook includes Yeghishe Charents’ “Kovk Hayasdani” – and, gasp, it doesn’t include the changes that you speak of.
Let’s see: page 209 of this book. Looky there. Verse 2, line 1: “mer yerginkuh.” Verse 2, line 3: “anhuirungal.” Perhaps this version you have had typographical errors. Or someone simply typed it down from memory, and had remembered it wrong. I see no reason that Western Armenian teachers would change them. It’s not like it makes the poem any more accessible to Western students. Oh, but of course not. Western Armenian teachers are stupid, and they just want to ruin Eastern Armenian. That’s the only explanation.
And as for Verse 2, line 4 – Apparently your exquisite education in Armenia forgot to mention that in original orthography (spelling), “hnamya” is not spelled like that, but as “hnameay.” Since Western Armenians have kept the original spelling, they spell it “hnameay.”
Furthermore, you think we didn’t read Eastern Armenian? My other textbook I found is called “Arti Hay Kraganootyoon.” Part One is “Arti Arevmdahay Kraganootyoon” and Part 2 is “Arti Arevelahay Kraganootyoon.” We covered both. The dialects were not negotiated. The entire Part saves the original Eastern dialect. The only thing that was changed was the spelling. It is all in original spelling. It gets rid of the Soviet spelling. Oh, and you know what? In the 11th grade, I performed a one-man play in Eastern Armenian. And my script was a photocopy of one from Yerevan; it used Soviet spelling.
Our Armenian teachers were, and continue to be, experts in the language. How dare you question their intelligence. Instead of appreciating the fact that they have dedicated their lives to teaching our precious language to a new Diaspora generation, you post such vile words. I can’t say it enough: amot kezi.
Now go educate yourself.
Just kidding.
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