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62-441: The Armenian Relief Society ( ARS ) ( Armenian : Հայ Օգնութեան Միութիւն, Հ.Օ.Մ. H.O.M. ), is an independent, nonsectarian , philanthropic society serving the humanitarian, social and educational needs of Armenians and non-Armenians alike. It operates as a non-governmental organization and has entities in 27 countries. In January 1910, renowned intellectual Khachatur Malumian (also known as Edgar Agnouni), upon arriving in

124-582: A campaign to raise funds to establish a hospital in the Republic of Armenia and to strive to bring together all existing charitable and philanthropic organizations under the same name, for the common cause of serving the Armenian nation. The activities of the second decade of the Armenian Red Cross are best defined by the reorganization and establishment of chapters across North America, Europe,

186-520: A consistent Proto-Indo-European pattern distinct from Iranian, and that the inflectional morphology was different from that of Iranian languages. The hypothesis that Greek is Armenian's closest living relative originates with Holger Pedersen (1924), who noted that the number of Greek-Armenian lexical cognates is greater than that of agreements between Armenian and any other Indo-European language. Antoine Meillet (1925, 1927) further investigated morphological and phonological agreement and postulated that

248-426: A large-scale education, cultural and social program world-wide. In the years following the fall of the Republic this was of high importance as the preservation of the Armenian identity was necessary. The ranks of the society were transformed into schools, where members were educated in principles of Armenian existence. Girl-Scout troops and young adolescent groups were founded alongside Armenian Red Cross chapters. By

310-468: A loan from Armenian (compare to Armenian եւ yev , ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi ). Other loans from Armenian into Urartian includes personal names, toponyms, and names of deities. Loan words from Iranian languages , along with the other ancient accounts such as that of Xenophon above, initially led some linguists to erroneously classify Armenian as an Iranian language. Scholars such as Paul de Lagarde and F. Müller believed that

372-425: A network of schools where modern Armenian was taught, dramatically increased the rate of literacy (in spite of the obstacles by the colonial administrators), even in remote rural areas. The emergence of literary works entirely written in the modern versions increasingly legitimized the language's existence. By the turn of the 20th century both varieties of the one modern Armenian language prevailed over Grabar and opened

434-479: A scholarship program, with emphasis on providing awards to students attending institutions of higher learning in Armenian education. Theater groups, choral societies and dance ensembles were formed in many communities. The Detroit ARS School was founded with funds generated by the ARS 60th Anniversary fundraising campaign. And among the important accomplishments of the ARS was the creation of its Summer Studies Program. For

496-661: A stronger volunteer force to establish schools, and colleges, trade/training centers, and youth camps. The international network of the ARC branched out with the increasing number of chapters and volunteers. In 1939 the organization launched its official publication the ARS Quarterly, which later became Hye Sird, and officially changed its name to the Armenian Relief Society . The relatively stable and self-sufficient state of Armenian communities, achieved during

558-607: A wider importance; health and relief activities were systematized. The year 1950 marked a new era for the pan-Armenian ARS family. Spread over all Diasporan communities and having acquired new experiences, strength, and talent, the ARS moved forward with increased momentum and renewed plans. In subsequent decades, existing ARS Social Service Centers were modernized and staffed with professionals; others were established in needed areas. The ARS explored new means to establish schools and initiate youth programs; efforts were also directed to improve existing educational programs. The ARS initiated

620-552: Is an independent branch of the Indo-European languages . It is of interest to linguists for its distinctive phonological changes within that family. Armenian exhibits more satemization than centumization , although it is not classified as belonging to either of these subgroups. Some linguists tentatively conclude that Armenian, Greek (and Phrygian ), Albanian and Indo-Iranian were dialectally close to each other; within this hypothetical dialect group, Proto-Armenian

682-561: Is clearly the dialect to be most closely related to Armenian. Eric P. Hamp (1976, 91) supports the Graeco-Armenian thesis and even anticipates a time "when we should speak of Helleno-Armenian" (meaning the postulate of a Graeco-Armenian proto-language). Armenian shares the augment and a negator derived from the set phrase in the Proto-Indo-European language * ne h₂oyu kʷid ("never anything" or "always nothing"),

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744-474: Is derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂r̥ǵipyós , with cognates in Sanskrit (ऋजिप्य, ṛjipyá ), Avestan ( ərəzifiia ), and Greek (αἰγίπιος, aigípios ). Hrach Martirosyan and Armen Petrosyan propose additional borrowed words of Armenian origin loaned into Urartian and vice versa, including grammatical words and parts of speech, such as Urartian eue ("and"), attested in the earliest Urartian texts and likely

806-415: Is not considered conclusive evidence of a period of common isolated development. There are words used in Armenian that are generally believed to have been borrowed from Anatolian languages, particularly from Luwian , although some researchers have identified possible Hittite loanwords as well. One notable loanword from Anatolian is Armenian xalam , "skull", cognate to Hittite ḫalanta , "head". In 1985,

868-626: Is the working language. Armenian (without reference to a specific variety) is officially recognized as a minority language in Cyprus , Hungary , Iraq , Poland , Romania , and Ukraine . It is recognized as a minority language and protected in Turkey by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne . Thraco-Macedonian Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include

930-466: The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (11–14th centuries) resulted in the addition of two more characters to the alphabet (" օ " and " ֆ "), bringing the total number to 38. The Book of Lamentations by Gregory of Narek (951–1003) is an example of the development of a literature and writing style of Old Armenian by the 10th century. In addition to elevating the literary style and vocabulary of

992-563: The Armenian genocide , mostly in the diaspora ). The differences between them are considerable but they are mutually intelligible after significant exposure. Some subdialects such as Homshetsi are not mutually intelligible with other varieties. Although Armenians were known to history much earlier (for example, they were mentioned in the 6th-century BC Behistun Inscription and in Xenophon 's 4th century BC history, The Anabasis ),

1054-641: The Greek language , the Armenian language, and the Indo-Iranian languages . Graeco-Aryan unity would have become divided into Proto-Greek and Proto-Indo-Iranian by the mid-3rd millennium BC. Conceivably, Proto-Armenian would have been located between Proto-Greek and Proto-Indo-Iranian, consistent with the fact that Armenian shares certain features only with Indo-Iranian (the satem change) but others only with Greek ( s > h ). Graeco-Aryan has comparatively wide support among Indo-Europeanists who believe

1116-643: The Indo-European homeland to be located in the Armenian Highlands , the " Armenian hypothesis ". Early and strong evidence was given by Euler's 1979 examination on shared features in Greek and Sanskrit nominal flection. Used in tandem with the Graeco-Armenian hypothesis, the Armenian language would also be included under the label Aryano-Greco-Armenic , splitting into Proto-Greek/Phrygian and "Armeno-Aryan" (ancestor of Armenian and Indo-Iranian ). Classical Armenian (Arm: grabar ), attested from

1178-542: The Mekhitarists . The first Armenian periodical, Azdarar , was published in grabar in 1794. The classical form borrowed numerous words from Middle Iranian languages , primarily Parthian , and contains smaller inventories of loanwords from Greek, Syriac, Aramaic, Arabic, Mongol, Persian, and indigenous languages such as Urartian . An effort to modernize the language in Bagratid Armenia and

1240-408: The 5th century to the 19th century as the literary standard (up to the 11th century also as a spoken language with different varieties), was partially superseded by Middle Armenian , attested from the 12th century to the 18th century. Specialized literature prefers "Old Armenian" for grabar as a whole, and designates as "Classical" the language used in the 5th century literature, "Post-Classical" from

1302-696: The ARF Red Cross. The first few years were devoted to planning and internal organization. The number of chapters grew rapidly, and by the first convention, held in May 1915 in Boston , Massachusetts, there were 33 registered chapters across the United States and Canada. This first convention, held during the First World War, discussed the immediate and most pressing issues of the time and ratified

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1364-618: The ARS Regions by making them autonomous entities within a pan-Armenian structure. Thus, the 59th ARS Convention held in 1979, ratified the revised ARS Bylaws and created the Armenian Relief Society of North America. This improved structure provided the opportunity for the ARS Central Executive, the international governing body, to pursue the wider Diaspora issues of the Armenian people by strengthening

1426-473: The ARS officially inaugurated its office in Washington, DC, which had been in operation since May 1994. It was created jointly by the ARS Central Executive, the ARS of North America, and the ARS of Western USA. At present, there are ARS Chapters in 27 countries around the world, functioning according to local governmental regulations applicable to charitable organizations . The Central Executive Office of

1488-545: The ARS, the 1970s were characterized by the Central Executive's concentrated efforts to promote Armenian education on the North American continent and to provide financial assistance to the newly created Armenian day schools in the United States and Canada. During the same decade, the ARS devoted much time and talent to the amendment of its bylaws, with the purpose of strengthening the internal functioning of

1550-708: The Armenian Relief Cross, the ARS Central Executive announced the reorganization of three chapters-at-large in Bulgaria . In October 1992, for the first time ever, the ARS held its International Convention (the 64th) in Armenia. Since then, Chapters have been organized in Russia, Sweden , Artsakh , Germany, Javakhk (Georgia), the United Arab Emirates , and Switzerland . On 2 March 1995,

1612-665: The Armenian Relief Society is located in the Hairenik Building in Watertown, Massachusetts . Armenian language Pontic Steppe Caucasus East Asia Eastern Europe Northern Europe Pontic Steppe Northern/Eastern Steppe Europe South Asia Steppe Europe Caucasus India Indo-Aryans Iranians East Asia Europe East Asia Europe Indo-Aryan Iranian Indo-Aryan Iranian Others European Armenian

1674-517: The Armenian Relief Society, women in Armenia functioned under the name of the "Armenian Red Cross". These women performed tasks in the Caucasus, Aderbadagan, Vasbouragan , Trebizond , Erzerum , Kharpert and other regions of Armenia. They cared for the wounded and provided food, shelter, clothing, and medicine to Armenian victims of pillage and plunder; in various locations, the ARC also attended to

1736-481: The Armenian language by adding well above a thousand new words, through his other hymns and poems Gregory paved the way for his successors to include secular themes and vernacular language in their writings. The thematic shift from mainly religious texts to writings with secular outlooks further enhanced and enriched the vocabulary. "A Word of Wisdom", a poem by Hovhannes Sargavak devoted to a starling, legitimizes poetry devoted to nature, love, or female beauty. Gradually,

1798-496: The Azerbaijani cities of Baku, Sumgait and Kirovabad. The ARS was the first among humanitarian organizations to provide funds to shelter the thousands of refugees. Moreover, within hours of the 1988 Armenian earthquake , ARS earthquake relief efforts were already underway. The ARS set its worldwide organizational network into motion and placed 80-years of experience at the service of the suffering people of Armenia, to help lessen

1860-467: The Hurro-Urartian and Northeast Caucasian origins for these words and instead suggest native Armenian etymologies, leaving the possibility that these words may have been loaned into Hurro-Urartian and Caucasian languages from Armenian, and not vice versa. A notable example is arciv , meaning "eagle", believed to have been the origin of Urartian Arṣibi and Northeast Caucasian arzu . This word

1922-477: The Middle East, and other parts of the world. The primary concentration of the ARC's efforts was on provision of emergency relief to refugees, establishment of dispensaries, and food and clothing distribution centers. Despite the difficult conditions in many Armenian Diaspora communities, the ARC did not limit its activities merely to the physical sustenance of Armenian refugees; it simultaneously implemented

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1984-669: The Russian Empire), removed almost all of their Turkish lexical influences in the 20th century, primarily following the Armenian genocide . In addition to Armenia and Turkey, where it is indigenous , Armenian is spoken among the diaspora . According to Ethnologue , globally there are 1.6 million Western Armenian speakers and 3.7 million Eastern Armenian speakers, totalling 5.3 million Armenian speakers. In Georgia, Armenian speakers are concentrated in Ninotsminda and Akhalkalaki districts where they represent over 90% of

2046-459: The Russian and Ottoman empires led to creation of two separate and different environments under which Armenians lived. Halfway through the 19th century, two important concentrations of Armenian communities were further consolidated. Because of persecutions or the search for better economic opportunities, many Armenians living under Ottoman rule gradually moved to Istanbul , whereas Tbilisi became

2108-833: The Soviet linguist Igor M. Diakonoff noted the presence in Classical Armenian of what he calls a "Caucasian substratum" identified by earlier scholars, consisting of loans from the Kartvelian and Northeast Caucasian languages . Noting that Hurro-Urartian-speaking peoples inhabited the Armenian homeland in the second millennium BC, Diakonoff identifies in Armenian a Hurro-Urartian substratum of social, cultural, and animal and plant terms such as ałaxin "slave girl" ( ← Hurr. al(l)a(e)ḫḫenne ), cov "sea" ( ← Urart. ṣûǝ "(inland) sea"), ułt "camel" ( ← Hurr. uḷtu ), and xnjor "apple (tree)" ( ← Hurr. ḫinzuri ). Some of

2170-401: The United States, encouraged Armenian women to take a more active role in the service of the Armenian people. Thus, in a period of a ten months, Malumian organized the existing women's groups as a cohesive nationwide society. The number of chapters grew slowly, and by the date of its third Convention, there were 31 registered chapters across the United States and Canada. Prior to the founding of

2232-724: The activities of various chapters in the implementation of the decisions taken by the convention. The second convention convened in Boston on June 2, 1919. The first item was to welcome the creation of the Armenian Republic (May 28, 1918) and to formally recognize the Armenian Red Cross of the Republic. The convention also decided to change the society's name to the "Armenian Red Cross" (in Armenian) and "Daughters of Armenia" (in English). The 2nd convention also resolved to conduct

2294-472: The affected areas. The ARS mobilized its chapters and members worldwide to dispense medicine, clothing and food everywhere, to rescue refugees and prisoners of war. During the years stretching from 1930 to 1950, changing situations and new experiences further strengthened the internal structure of the ARS. Lebanon became a separate region and new entities joined the ARS family: Jerusalem ; Haifa ; Amman ; and South America. Programs in Armenian education took on

2356-401: The beginning of the 3rd decade the society's existence had grown to 10 regions which were affiliated with the U.S. headquarters: France, Greece , Thrace-Macedonia , Iraq , Iran , Bulgaria , Romania , Syria , Lebanon , and Egypt . The ARC had become a veritable stronghold for the preservation of the Armenian cultural identity. This marked the start of a new era for the organization, with

2418-434: The center of Armenians living under Russian rule. These two cosmopolitan cities very soon became the primary poles of Armenian intellectual and cultural life. The introduction of new literary forms and styles, as well as many new ideas sweeping Europe, reached Armenians living in both regions. This created an ever-growing need to elevate the vernacular, Ashkharhabar, to the dignity of a modern literary language, in contrast to

2480-438: The educational needs of the Armenian people. In September 1910, Khachadoor Malumian arrived in the United States for a tour of the Armenian communities around the country. Through his teachings, writings, and group discussions, he encouraged Armenian women to take a more active role in the service of the Armenian people. Thus, in a period of a few months, Agnouni organized the existing women's groups and through their union founded

2542-580: The existence of the two modern versions of the same language was sanctioned even more clearly. The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (1920–1990) used Eastern Armenian as its official language, whereas the diaspora created after the Armenian genocide preserved the Western Armenian dialect. The two modern literary dialects, Western (originally associated with writers in the Ottoman Empire) and Eastern (originally associated with writers in

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2604-418: The following: fundraising to assist suffering Armenians world-wide; a clothing drive for Armenian refugees in the Caucasus; training of nurses to be sent to the war front to take care of the wounded; Armenian language courses for its membership; a membership drive; founding Armenian schools wherever chapters existed. A five-member Central Executive board, elected at the first convention took charge of coordinating

2666-425: The hypothetical Mushki language may have been a (now extinct) Armenic language. W. M. Austin (1942) concluded that there was early contact between Armenian and Anatolian languages , based on what he considered common archaisms, such as the lack of a feminine gender and the absence of inherited long vowels. Unlike shared innovations (or synapomorphies ), the common retention of archaisms (or symplesiomorphy )

2728-460: The impact of the disaster, to ensure their survival, and to help them reconstruct a better future. During the years that led to the independence of Armenia, the ARS worked diligently to reorganize its entity within Armenia, the Armenian Relief Cross, which announced its presence in August 1991, and held its first Regional Convention. Just a few weeks prior to the announcement of the establishment of

2790-470: The interests of the population at large were reflected in other literary works as well. Konsdantin Yerzinkatsi and several others took the unusual step of criticizing the ecclesiastic establishment and addressing the social issues of the Armenian homeland. These changes represented the nature of the literary style and syntax, but they did not constitute immense changes to the fundamentals of the grammar or

2852-434: The late 5th to 8th centuries, and "Late Grabar" that of the period covering the 8th to 11th centuries. Later, it was used mainly in religious and specialized literature, with the exception of a revival during the early modern period, when attempts were made to establish it as the language of a literary renaissance, with neoclassical inclinations, through the creation and dissemination of literature in varied genres, especially by

2914-567: The morphology of the language. Often, when writers codify a spoken dialect, other language users are then encouraged to imitate that structure through the literary device known as parallelism . In the 19th century, the traditional Armenian homeland was once again divided. This time Eastern Armenia was conquered from Qajar Iran by the Russian Empire , while Western Armenia , containing two thirds of historical Armenia, remained under Ottoman control. The antagonistic relationship between

2976-458: The new challenges of a new era. The Fund for Armenian Resources was created, to be used in emergencies. The worldwide network of the organization was expanded and strengthened. The ranks of the ARS were rejuvenated and developed, raising the standards and image of the organization. In the late 1980s, soon after the Artsakh ( Karabakh movement ) began, whole Armenian communities were uprooted from

3038-403: The now-anachronistic Grabar. Numerous dialects existed in the traditional Armenian regions, which, different as they were, had certain morphological and phonetic features in common. On the basis of these features two major standards emerged: Both centers vigorously pursued the promotion of Ashkharhabar. The proliferation of newspapers in both versions (Eastern & Western) and the development of

3100-541: The official status of the Armenian language. Eastern Armenian is the official variant used, making it the prestige variety while other variants have been excluded from national institutions. Indeed, Western Armenian is perceived by some as a mere dialect. Armenian was also official in the Republic of Artsakh . It is recognized as an official language of the Eurasian Economic Union although Russian

3162-639: The oldest surviving Armenian-language writing is etched in stone on Armenian temples and is called Mehenagir . The Armenian alphabet was created by Mesrop Mashtots in 405, at which time it had 36 letters. He is also credited by some with the creation of the Georgian alphabet and the Caucasian Albanian alphabet . While Armenian constitutes the sole member of the Armenian branch of the Indo-European family, Aram Kossian has suggested that

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3224-503: The organizational prerequisites, also became a separate ARS Region. During the long civil war in Lebanon, the Armenian Relief Cross of Lebanon, in cooperation with the ARS Central Executive, took it upon itself to tend to the physical and emotional wounds of the Armenian community in that country. In the 1980s, having revitalized itself with a new and dynamic organizational structure, the ARS set out with brisk and lively strides to tackle

3286-837: The pan-Armenian activities and programs of the ARS, leaving the coordination of the activities of the Chapters in the US and Canada to the North American Regional Executive. A few years later, following the general guidelines of the ARS Bylaws, The ARS of Western USA was formed to represent the Western US chapters of the Society effective July 1984. Similarly, in 1990 the Canadian chapters, having already met

3348-483: The parent languages of Greek and Armenian were dialects in immediate geographical proximity during the Proto-Indo-European period. Meillet's hypothesis became popular in the wake of his book Esquisse d'une histoire de la langue latine (1936). Georg Renatus Solta (1960) does not go as far as postulating a Proto-Graeco-Armenian stage, but he concludes that considering both the lexicon and morphology, Greek

3410-407: The path to a new and simplified grammatical structure of the language in the two different cultural spheres. Apart from several morphological, phonetic, and grammatical differences, the largely common vocabulary and generally analogous rules of grammatical fundamentals allows users of one variant to understand the other as long as they are fluent in one of the literary standards. After World War I ,

3472-570: The population. The short-lived First Republic of Armenia declared Armenian its official language. Eastern Armenian was then dominating in institutions and among the population. When Armenia was incorporated into the USSR, the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic made Eastern Armenian the language of the courts, government institutions and schools. Armenia was also russified . The current Republic of Armenia upholds

3534-436: The representation of word-initial laryngeals by prothetic vowels, and other phonological and morphological peculiarities with Greek. Nevertheless, as Fortson (2004) comments, "by the time we reach our earliest Armenian records in the 5th century AD, the evidence of any such early kinship has been reduced to a few tantalizing pieces". Graeco-(Armeno)-Aryan is a hypothetical clade within the Indo-European family , ancestral to

3596-468: The similarities between the two languages meant that Armenian belonged to the Iranian language family . The distinctness of Armenian was recognized when philologist Heinrich Hübschmann (1875) used the comparative method to distinguish two layers of Iranian words from the older Armenian vocabulary . He showed that Armenian often had two morphemes for one concept, that the non-Iranian components yielded

3658-519: The terms he gives admittedly have an Akkadian or Sumerian provenance, but he suggests they were borrowed through Hurrian or Urartian. Given that these borrowings do not undergo sound changes characteristic of the development of Armenian from Proto-Indo-European , he dates their borrowing to a time before the written record but after the Proto-Armenian language stage. Contemporary linguists, such as Hrach Martirosyan , have rejected many of

3720-498: The third decade of the ARS, was again shaken, this time by the outbreak of the Second World War. Once again, war, conscription crisis, and hardships created unforeseen circumstances and needs. Establishments were damaged by bombardment: there was lack of food and medicine which gave rise to diseases in many Armenian communities. Once again, the Armenian Relief Society took on the responsibility of providing emergency relief to

3782-405: Was situated between Proto-Greek ( centum subgroup) and Proto-Indo-Iranian ( satem subgroup). Ronald I. Kim has noted unique morphological developments connecting Armenian to Balto-Slavic languages . The Armenian language has a long literary history, with a 5th-century Bible translation as its oldest surviving text. Another text translated into Armenian early on, and also in the 5th-century,

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3844-682: Was the Armenian Alexander Romance . The vocabulary of the language has historically been influenced by Western Middle Iranian languages , particularly Parthian ; its derivational morphology and syntax were also affected by language contact with Parthian, but to a lesser extent. Contact with Greek, Persian , and Syriac also resulted in a number of loanwords. There are two standardized modern literary forms, Eastern Armenian (spoken mainly in Armenia) and Western Armenian (spoken originally mainly in modern-day Turkey and, since

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