Armenian Language & Literature Unified Exam flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Վերջակետ (Armenian full stop)

The Armenian sentence-final punctuation mark written as ։, a single vertical stroke with two dots that resembles a colon. It ends declarative sentences where English uses a period.

Հարցական նշան (՞)

The Armenian question mark, a small curved stroke placed above the last vowel of the interrogative word rather than at the end of the sentence, so the mark sits over the stressed vowel of the question word.

Armenian alphabet letters

The Armenian alphabet has 38 letters: 7 vowels (ա, ե, է, ը, ի, ո, ու) and 31 consonants. It was created in 405 CE and is used for both Classical and Modern Armenian.

և ligature

The Armenian sign և is a ligature of the letters ե and ւ, pronounced 'ev' and meaning 'and'. It functions as a word but is not counted among the 38 letters of the alphabet.

Դարձվածք (phraseological unit)

A fixed, reproducible combination of words whose meaning is not the sum of its parts, e.g. ձեռք լվանալ ('to wash one's hands' = to disclaim responsibility). It functions as a single lexical unit.

Homonym

A word identical in sound and usually in spelling with another word of unrelated meaning; Armenian սեր means both 'love' and 'offspring'. Homonyms differ from polysemous words, whose meanings are historically related.

Paronym

One of two words that are similar in sound or spelling but different in meaning; confusing them is a common lexical error. Paronyms differ from synonyms, which share a core meaning.

Նեոլոգիզմ (neologism)

A newly coined word or a new meaning given to an existing word, created to name a new object or concept. Neologisms may enter ordinary vocabulary or remain occasional, style-bound usages.

Armenian case system

Eastern Armenian nouns and pronouns distinguish seven grammatical cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, instrumental and locative. Case is marked by endings, so word order need not signal grammatical roles.

Definite article -ը/-ն

Armenian marks definiteness with a suffix rather than a separate word: -ը after consonants and -ն after vowels, as in տունը 'the house' and տղան 'the boy'.

Armenian verb moods

Eastern Armenian distinguishes five moods: indicative (սահմանական), imperative (հրամայական), subjunctive/optative (ըղձական), conditional (պայմանական) and necessitative (հարկադրական). Mood is shown by endings and particles.

Plural suffix -ներ/-եր

The default Armenian plural suffix is -ներ (սեղան→սեղաններ); a restricted group of nouns takes -եր (ծառ→ծառեր), often with a stem change (տուն→տներ).

Armenian word order

Neutral declarative Armenian sentences normally place the verb last, in subject–object–verb order. Because case endings mark grammatical relations, other orders are possible and are used to shift emphasis.

Ստորադաս նախադասություն

A dependent clause that fills a role in the main clause: subject, predicate, object, attributive or adverbial. It is joined by conjunctions such as որ, եթե, երբ and is usually set off by a comma.

Negation with չ-

Armenian negates verbs with the proclitic չ-, written together with the verb form: չեմ ('I am not'), չգնաց ('he did not go'). Prohibition instead uses the separate particle մի՛ with the imperative.

Grabar (Classical Armenian)

The classical literary language of Armenian, fixed by the 5th-century translations, with a rich case system and synthetic verb. It remained the written standard into the 19th century, long after it ceased to be spoken.

Աշխարհաբար (Ashkharhabar)

The vernacular Modern Armenian that replaced Classical Armenian as a literary medium from the 17th to the 19th centuries. It has two written standards: Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian.

Armenian language family

Armenian is an independent branch of the Indo-European family with no close living relatives; it is not related to Georgian or Turkish. Its phonology shows such changes as Indo-European *p becoming h word-initially.

Koryun

Fifth-century Armenian writer, pupil of Mesrop Mashtots, and author of the Life of Mashtots (Վարք Մաշտոցի), the earliest original Armenian biography and a primary source on the invention of the alphabet.

Նարեկ (Book of Lamentations)

The mystical poem of prayers by Grigor Narekatsi (10th century), a long cycle of penitential chapters that is the central work of medieval Armenian religious literature and is still read in the Armenian Church.

Yeghishe

Fifth-century historian and author of On Vardan and the Armenian War, which narrates the 451 Battle of Avarayr and the martyrdom of Vardan Mamikonyan, blending history with rhetorical, almost dramatic prose.

Sayat-Nova

Eighteenth-century Armenian ashugh (minstrel-poet), born Harutyun Sayatyan in Tiflis, who composed songs in Armenian, Georgian and Turkic. His lyrics combine folk forms with courtly and mystical themes.

Khachatur Abovyan

Armenian writer (1809–1848), founder of the modern literary language, whose novel Wounds of Armenia (1841) was the first major work written in Ashkharhabar and the first Armenian novel.

Raffi

Pen name of Hakob Melik-Hakobian (1835–1888), Armenian novelist whose historical works, including Սամվել, Դավիթ Բեկ and Խենթը, made the national-liberation past a vehicle for patriotic ideas.

Hovhannes Tumanyan

Armenian poet and writer (1869–1923) whose works include the poem Անուշ and the retelling of the epic David of Sassoun. He drew on village life, folklore and folk speech.

Hagop Baronian

Ottoman-Armenian satirist and playwright (1843–1891), founder of Armenian comedy, whose plays Ազգային ջոջեր and Մեծապատիվ մուրացկաններ mock the social climbing of Constantinople's Armenian bourgeoisie.

Yeghishe Charents

Armenian poet (1897–1937), a leading modernist and author of Երկիր Նաիրի. Celebrated at first, he was purged under Stalin and died in prison; his rehabilitation became a symbol of artistic freedom.

Paruyr Sevak

Armenian poet (1924–1971), best known for The Unsilenced Belfry (1959), a long poem on Komitas and the Armenian Genocide that broke Soviet-era silence on the subject.

William Saroyan

Armenian-American prose writer (1908–1981) born in Fresno, author of My Name is Aram and The Human Comedy, whose work blends optimism with the immigrant experience of Armenian families in California.

Metaphor

A trope that transfers a name to another object on the basis of similarity, as when a person is called a lamb. Unlike simile, metaphor does not use explicit comparison words such as 'like'.

Anaphora

A stylistic figure in which the same word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of successive clauses or verse lines, producing emphasis and rhythm; its counterpart, repetition at the ends, is epiphora.

Thesis statement

The single sentence, usually placed at the end of the introduction, that states the main claim of an essay and forecasts the argument that the following paragraphs will support with evidence.