Armenian Alphabet

Good Morning and Happy New Year!!!

The Armenian alphabet is an alphabet that has been used to write the Armenian language since the year 405 or 406. It was devised by Saint Mesrop Mashtots, an Armenian monk, and contained 36 letters. Two more letters, օ and ֆ, were added in the Middle Ages. Until the 19th century, Classical Armenian was the literary language; since then, the Armenian alphabet has been used to write the two modern dialects of Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian. The Armenian word for “alphabet” is այբուբեն aybuben (Armenian pronunciation: [ɑɪbubɛn]), named after the first two letters of the Armenian alphabet Ա այբ ayb and Բ բեն ben.

ORIGINS OF THE ARMENIAN ALPHABET
The origins of the Armenian alphabet were derived after the official adoption of Christianity by King Tiridates III in 301 AD. The difficult task of inventing the alphabet was assigned to Mesrob-Mashtotz whom the Armenian Church reveres among her saints.

St. Mesrob was born in the year 361 in the village of Hatzegatz in the province of Daron. In his early years, he learned both Greek and Persian and served in the Armenian Royal Court. Later, he decided to enter the ranks of the clergy and with some other young men, he went to preach in the province of Koghtn around 395 A.D. During this period he felt the great need of the Armenian people for an “Alphabet” of their own so he petitioned the Catholicos Sahag and together they requested the aid of King Vramshabouh.

(These are excerpts from the internet).

~ by Houry on January 1, 2010.