Հրաչեայ Աճառեան (1876, Պոլիս – 16 ապրիլ 1953, Երեւան)
Hratchia Adjarian is the greatest Armenian linguist; his specialty: the Armenian Language and its dialects. He is rightly considered the founder of Armenian dialectology. He arrived in Paris is 1895 and attended the linguistics courses in the Sorbonne and other institutions. He was selected a member of the Paris Linguistic Society in 1897. In 1909, under the directorship of Antoine Meillet, he received his doctoral diploma.
His publications in French:
«Croisements de mots en arménien» (Cross-breeding of Words in Armenian), Mémoires de la Société de Linguistique (Reports of the Linguistic Society) - n° X, Paris, 1898.
«Etude sur la langue laze» (A Study of the Laz Language), Mémoires de la Société de Linguistique - n° X, Paris, 1898.
«Les explosives de l’ancien arménien» (The Explosives in Ancient Armenian), La Parole ou Revue internationale de Rhinologie, Otologie, Laryngologie et Phonétique expérimentale (The International Word or Review of Experimental Rhinology, Otology, Laryngology and Phonetics), Paris, 1899.
«Gutturales issues de semi-occlusives par dissimilation» (Guttural Issues of Semi-occlusives by Dissimilation), Mémoires de la Société de Linguistique - n° XIV, Paris, 1906-08.
«Étymologies arméniennes» (Armenian Etymology), Mémoires de la Société de Linguistique - n° XV, Paris, 1908-1909.
«Classification des dialectes arméniens» (Classification of Armenian Dialects), Champion, Paris, 1909.
«Recueil de mots kurdes en dialecte de Novo-Bayazet» (Compendium of Kurdish Words in the New-Bayazet Dialect), Mémoires de la Société de Linguistique - n° XVI, Paris, 1909-11.
«Étymologies arméniennes» (suite-continuation), Mémoires de la Société de Linguistique - n° XX, Paris, 1918.
«Étymologies arméniennes», Revue Études Arméniennes, III, Librairie Paul Geuthner, Paris, 1923.
His primary Armenian works:
Հայերէն արմատական բառարան (Root Dictionary of Armenian), Ա. հրատ. (1st edition), 1926-1935:
Լիակատար քերականութիւն Հայոց լեզուի՝ համեմատութեամբ 562 լեզուներու (Comprehensive Grammar of the Armenian Language, Compared with 562 Languages), 12 հատոր (12 volumes), Հայկական ՍՍՌԳԱ հրատ. (SSRGA Publishing), Երեւան (Yerevan):
Հայոց անձնանունների բառարան (Dictionary of Armenian Personal Names), 5 հատոր (5 volumes), Ա. հրատ. (1st edition), 1942-1962:
Հայոց լեզուի պատմութիւն (History of the Armenian Language), 2 հատոր (2 volumes), 1942-1962:
Մ. Մաշտոցի եւ գրերու գիւտի պատմութեան աղբիւրները ու անոնց քննութիւնը (The Sources of the History of M. Masdots and the Discovery of the Alphabet and their Examination), 1907:
Հայոց գրերը (The Armenian Alphabet), 1925:
As well as catalogs of ancient manuscripts.
Translated by Y.K.
Անթուան Մէյէ (11 նոյ. 1866, Մուլէն - 21 սեպտ. 1936, Շաթօմէյան)
Following Hübschmann, Meillet was the linguist of international standing who accorded Armenian its correct position and value. Armenian was at the center of his interests. It’s worth noting also that he was H. Adjarian’s beneficent teacher.
First a student of Carrière, he attended Hübschmann’s lectures, then went to Vienna, to the Mkhitarist monastery, where he learned Armenian fundamentally with Fr. Dashian, 1890-1891. Subsequently, he travelled to Tbilisi, the center of Eastern Armenians, and Ejmiatzin, after which to the Venice Mkhitarist monastery, where he became a member the St. Lazar academy.
1902-1906 he was a professor of Armenian at the Paris École des langues orientales (School of Oriental Languages) and in 1906 was appointed lecturer in comparative grammar at Collège de France, where he remained for 30 years. As a result of his studies, he was associated with Indo-European languages from the beginning, and in 1903 had already published his monumental Introduction to the Comparative Study of Indo-European Languages. Among his lectures, he published Le Slave commun (Common Slavic), 1914, Grammaire du vieux perse (Grammar of Old Persian), 1916, Caractères généraux des langues germaniques (The General Characteristics of Germanic Languages), etc.
Demanding and reserved as a scientist, he was, however, a warm Armenophile and participated in all sorts of organizations beneficial to Armenians, as well as becoming an active member of the Armenian National Delegation.
With Charles Diehl and Frédéric Macler, he was the founder of La Revue des Études Arméniennes (Review of Armenian Studies), which lasted 10 years.
Of note is his main opus on the Armenian language, first published in 1903, in Vienna, and later again in 1962, in Lisbon, to date an authoritative work.
Translated by Y.K.
Եոհան Հայնրիխ Հիւպշման (1 յուլիս 1848, Էրֆուրթ, Գերմանիա — 20 յունուար 1908, Ֆրայպուրկ, Գերմանիա)
German linguist, founder of Armenology in Germany.
He received his education in various German cities, specializing in Semitic and Oriental languages. In March 1874 he went to the Venice Mkhitarist monastery, where he mastered Armenian. In 1875 he presented his dissertation at the Leipzig University, and in 1876 he was appointed professor in Iranian languages in Leipzig, and in 1877 at the Strasbourg University in comparative philology.
Since 1875 the center of his studies was the Armenian language. It was he who provided the final proof that Armenian was an independent branch of the Indo-European group of languages, and not a subsidiary dialect of the Iranian or Arian branch. This theory of his encountered passionate opposition at first, but today is part of the scientific field. It’s not surprising that he has earned the admiration of Armenians. Unfortunately, though, only the first part of his Armenian Grammar, entirely devoted to etymology, has been published. With its accurate observations and conclusions, this opus remains a fundamental guide to this day. His other works are The Topographical Names of Ancient Armenia, and many other works Das indogermanische Vocalsystem (The Phonetic System of Indo-Germanic), Etymologie und Lautlehre der ossetischen Sprache (Ossetian Etymology and Phonetics), and Persischen Studien (Persian Studies). It most also be noted that he was H. Adjarian’s teacher.
He died and was buried in Strasbourg.
Translated by Y.K.
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