Teacher
About the language
Armenian is an Indo-European language, with its earliest attested documentation dating to the creation of a dedicated alphabet in the early fifth century CE.
Classical Armenian (also known as Old Armenian or Grabar) represents the first well-documented stage of the Armenian language, which constitutes an independent branch within the Indo-European family. It exhibits a rich morphological system, characterized by a complex case paradigm encompassing multiple grammatical cases and a highly elaborated verbal system. Its lexicon integrates a substantial core inherited from Proto-Indo-European alongside numerous loanwords, particularly from Greek, Syriac, and Middle Persian, reflecting the intense cultural interactions that characterized the Caucasus and Near Eastern regions during Late Antiquity.
For over a millennium, Classical Armenian functioned as the principal vehicle for literary and ecclesiastical expression, serving as the medium for a significant portion of early Armenian literature—most notably during the so-called « Golden Age » (fifth to seventh centuries). Although it ceased to function as a spoken vernacular by the medieval period, it continues to serve as the liturgical language of the Armenian Churches to the present day and remains indispensable for scholarly investigations into the linguistic and cultural history of Armenia.
Requirements
None. Knowledge of Latin and/or Greek and/or Syriac/Aramaic can be useful but are not a prerequisite.
Course programme
The aim of this intensive course is to offer the students an introduction into the grammar of the ancient Armenian language (Grabar) so that at the end they should be able to translate simple sentences and texts.
References and resources
A syllabus will be made available to the students.