Armenian is an Indo-European language with about 6.7 million speakers mainly in Armenia (Հայաստան [Hayastan]) and Nagorno-Karabakh, a de facto, though unrecognised, independent republic in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the South Caucasus. There are also Armenian speakers in many other countries, including Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Turkey, Iran, Cyprus, Poland and Romania.
Armenian is the offical language of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, and has official status as a minority language in Cyprus, Poland and Romania. Until the the early 1990s schools in Armenian taught in either Armenian or Russian, however after the collapse of the USSR, Armenian became the main medium of instruction and the Russian-medium schools were closed. In 2010 Russian language education was reintroduced in Armenia [source].
Not much is known about the Armenian language before it was first written in the 5th century AD, though the Armenians are mentioned in inscriptions dating back to the 6th century BC.
The type of Armenian spoken and written in the 5th century is known as Classical Armenian, or գրաբար (grabar - "literary"). It contains numerous loanwords from Parthian, and also from Greek, Syriac, Latin and other languages such as Uratian. Grabar continued to be used as a literary language until the late 19th century.
The Armenian used between about the 11th and 15th century is known as Middle Armenian, or միջին հայերեն (mijin hayeren), and contains more loanwords from Arabic, Turkish, Persian, and Latin.
The two main modern forms of Armenian emerged during the 19th century when the traditional Armenian homeland was divided between the Russian and Ottoman Empires. Western Armenian developed among Armenians who had moved to Constantinople, while Eastern Armenian developed among Armenians living in Tbilisi in Georgia. Many newspapers in each of the variants were published and many schools for each variety were set up. This resulted in widespread literacy and to an increase in the amount of literature written in modern Armenian, rather than in the classical language.
In the late 4th century AD, king Vramshapuh of Armenia asked Mesrop Mashtots, one of the officials in his chancellery and a prominent scholar, to create a new alphabet for Armenian. Before then, Armenian had been written with 'cuneiform' scripts, which was deemed unsuitable for religious works by the Armenian Church.
Mashtots travelled to Alexandria, where he studied the principles of writing and came to the conclusion that the Greek alphabet was the best alphabet in use at that time because there was an almost one-to-one correspondence between sounds and letters. He used this model to come up with a new alphabet, which he presented to the king when he returned to Armenia in 405 AD. The new alphabet was well-received and a new Armenian translation of the bible was published in 405 AD. Other literary works soon followed.
There are two standard forms of Armenian: Eastern Armenian, spoken mainly in Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Georgia and Iran; and Western Armenian, spoken by the Armenian diaspora in many countries. They are more or less mutually intelligible.
Transliteration
Bolor mardik c'nvowm en azat ow havasar irenc arjhanapatvowt'yamb ow
iravownqnerov. Nranq ownen banakanowt'yown ow xightw & mimyanc petq e'
eghbayrabar veraberven.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They
are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another
in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Tower of Babel in Armenian | Useful phrases in Armenian
Information about the Armenian language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_language
http://indoeuro.bizland.com/tree/balk/armenian.html
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/language/about/armenian.html
Online Armenian lessons
http://www.learnarmenian.com
http://www.cilicia.com/armo_lesson000.html
http://www.hyeetch.nareg.com.au/learn/intro.html
http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Armenian_Lessons
http://hayeren.hayastan.com
A guide to the Armenian alphabet (in Armenian, English and Russian)
http://www.menq.am/tarer_main.htm
Free Armenian fonts
http://www.wazu.jp/gallery/Fonts_Armenian.html
http://www.cilicia.com/armo8.html
http://www.armsite.com/software/
http://www.hayfonts.com
http://www.editum.com.ar/mashtots/html/download_fonts.html
Online Armenian transliterators and spell checkers
http://am.translit.us
http://tsca.natverk.org/cgi/armenian.pl
http://www.translitteration.com/transliteration/en/armenian-eastern-classical/iso-9985/
http://www.translitteration.com/transliteration/en/armenian-western/ala-lc/
Online Armenian dicitonaries
http://www.nayiri.com/search?l=en&query=&dt=EN_HY
http://translator.am/en/index.html
http://dict.menq.am/dictfl/flash.html
http://dictionary.hayastan.com/index.php
Armenian Electronic talking dictionaries
http://www.ectaco.com
Online Armenian radio
http://www.hairenik.com
http://www.armenialiberty.org/
http://www.radiovan.am
More Armenian links
http://www.armenianlinks.com
Armenian, Avestan, Bassa (Vah), Beitha Kukju, Carian, Carpathian Basin Rovas, Coptic, Cyrillic, Dalecarlian runes, Elbsan, Etruscan, Fraser, Georgian (Asomtavruli & Nuskha-khucuri), Georgian (Mkhedruli), Glagolitic, Gothic, Greek, Hungarian Runes, Irish, Khazarian Rovas, Korean, Latin, Lycian, Lydian, Manchu, Meroïtic, Mongolian, N'Ko, Ogham, Old Church Slavonic, Oirat Clear Script, Old Italic, Old Permic, Orkhon, Phrygian, Pollard Miao, Runic, Santali, Somali, Sutton SignWriting, Tai Lue, Thaana, Todhri, Uyghur
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