Mount Lebanon: a Model for Republic of Moutainous Karabakh

Vahe H Apelian

 

I have been an advocate of the historic Mount Lebanon as a model for the Republic of Mountainous Karabakh. My advocacy has driven by my remembrance reading Simon Vratsian “Republic of Armenia” in Lebanon over almost half a century ago – (after moving to the United States I donated the two copies of different editions I had to ALMA – Armenian Library and Museuam America, renamed as the Armenian Museum of America).

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation who ushered the nation into a republic of its own in 1918, did not have a free and independent Armenia as a goal when it embarked on its revolutionary path, The party adopted its grand vision for united, free and independent Armenia after the founding of first republic, during its 1919 world council. Simon Vratsian makes a note of it and states in his book that all Armenians wanted, was to have what Mount Lebanon in the Ottoman Empire had.

What was the historic Mount Lebanon?

 “The Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate (1861–1918, Arabic: مُتَصَرِّفِيَّة جَبَل لُبْنَان, romanized: Mutaṣarrifiyyat Jabal Lubnān; Ottoman Turkish: جَبَلِ لُبْنَان مُتَصَرِّفلِيغى, romanized: Cebel-i Lübnan Mutasarrıflığı)[a] was one of the Ottoman Empire's subdivisions following the Tanzimat reform. After 1861, there existed an autonomous Mount Lebanon with a Christian mutasarrıf, which had been created as a homeland for the Maronites under European diplomatic pressure following the 1860 Druze–Maronite conflict.” (Wikipedia). 

As stated, the historic Mount Lebanon enclave, was an autonomous region within the Ottoman Empire. The Sultan’s High Porte named its governors. The first and the last of these governors were Armenians, Daoud Pasha and Ohannes Pasha, respectively. The currency was the same as that of the Ottomans.

Why opt for such a status for Nagorno-Karabakh? 

It is evident that the world does not recognize the former Soviet Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast as a separate state. The world community recognizes the Republic of Mountainous Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. It is evident that Russia, the inheritor of the Soviet Union, does not support the once Soviet Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast as a separate state, although Russia has recognized Ossetia and Abkhazia, which had similar status in the Soviet Union,  as separate states and a few countries have recognized them as separate states.

It is also evident that Republic of Armenia has regarded recognizing the Republic of Mountainous Karabakh, the inheritor of the Soviet Kagorn-Karabagh Autonomous Oblast as a state, is untenable. Consequently, the Republic of Armenia, through all the administrations it had, did not recognize the Republic of Mountainous Karabagh as a state, although it presented Armenia as the guarantor of its security and granted the citizens of Artsakh all the privileges the citizens of Armenia have. The successive administrations of the Republic of Armenia also did not find it tenable to annex the Republic of Mountainous Karabakh / Artsakh as a district (marz) of Armenia.

After the catastrophic defeat of Armenia at the second Artsakh war, it is higley unlikely that the Republic of Armenia  could have recognized Artsakh other than accept the bitter reality of it being in Azerbaijan but assure the Armenians there, their rights. Without quarantining such rights, the prospects are very grim for them, as Vahan Zanoyan bared in his latest article titled “A Devil is in Every Detail.”

The Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate model makes room for Diaspora to get engaged in negotiating to make such a status for the Nagorno-Karabakh / Artsakh, attainable. It is highly unlikely that the government in Azerbaijan could be forced into accepting a status that is politically not tenable in their home, in Azerbaijan. It is highly unlikely that a government that is more conciliatory to Armenians can come to power in Azerbaijan, at least not in the near future. But the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate may have the potential of creating a win-win situation, whereby the Armenians, acknowledge Artsakh in Azerbaijan, and make a point that it is advantageous to Azerbaijan to accept such an arrangement, because this model of Azerbaijan treating its minority citizens, will reflect positively on its image on the world scene. Also, Azerbaijan will be a beneficiary because Armenians will continue visiting the historic Artskah / Nagorno-Karabakh. Diaspora charitable organizations will invest a lot of resources for the benefits of the residents of Artskakh Mutsaarifate in Azerbaijan. 

I have been an advocate of this model right after the disastrous war at the cost of alienating friends. I also realize the intricacies and the difficulties for coming to a workable status. modeled after Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate.  I took the liberty to share with those who happen to read this blog, in its most simplistic, maybe idealized way. We know that we Armenians do not make the most tolerant society. As Mihran Kurtoglian also noted: “the sad thing is that we as a nation are in such a situation where it has become almost impossible to form or develop a public opinion on the domestic front through the newspaper, the Internet or broadcast information media.” Hence, not in Azerbaijan, but where? Remains in the air. 

If we are unable to bring about such a model to fruition, which more or less is what the Nikol Pashinyan government is pursuing, there remains for us to see what Russia ultimately has in store for its one-time Nagorno- Karabakh Autonomous Oblast.

 

Kessab: A 1909 report from Australia

On Friday 30^th July 1900, The Evening News Sydney published an article titled “Fire and Sword at Kessab – Thriling stories of Armenian massacres”. The Evening newspaper published in Sydney, Australia. It was published from 29 July 1867 to 21 March 1931. The report was reproduced in Horizon Weekly on April 10, 2014. 

1909 Kessab Sacked

"Mr. H. Martyn Gooch, the secretary of Evangelical Alliance has just received a long letter from the Rev. Stephen Van R. Trowbridge, containing some terrible revelations concerning the sack of Kessab, and the massacre of numbers of its inhabitants by armed Turks and Arabs (says the London “Daily Graphic” of June 19). The story is thrilling in its record of the bravery and endurance of men, women, and children, and throws, as may be expected, a sinister light on the action of ceratin officials and the savagery of the Moslums.

Kessab, says Mr. Trowbridge, was a thrifty Armenian town of about 8000 inhabitants, situated on the landward slope of Mount Cassius (Arabic, Jebel Akra), which stands out prominently upon the Mediterranean Sea Coast, half-way between Alexandretta and Latakia. It is now a mass blackened ruins. What must it mean to the 5000 men and women and little children who have survived a painful flight to the sea coast, and have now returned to their mountain home, only to find their houses sacked and burned! There were nine Christian villages which clustered about Kessab in the valleys below. Several of these have been completely destroyed by fire. All have been plundered, and the helpless people driven out or slain.

On Thursday evening, April 22, the Kessab scouts brought word into the town that great crowds of armed Turks and Arabs had gathered in the nearest Moslem village. It was an anxious night. Before daylight, Friday morning, rifle shots told of the evening’s advance. By three separate mountain trails, from the north, north-east, and east thousands upon thousands of armed Moslems came pouring up the valley. Their Martini rifles sent the bullets whisking into Kessab houses, while the shotguns of the 300 Christians, who were posted on the defence, could not cover the long range. It was a desperately unfair struggle, and the Kessab men realised their straits.

FLIGHT TO THE CLIFFS

The women and girls gathered up the little children on their backs and in their arms, headed along the west trail over the ridge towards Kaladouran, and clambered up into the cliffs and crevices which overlook the sun at an altitude of 5000 feet. Some in small groups, others entirely alone, hid themselves under the thorny underbrush or in the natural caves.

Towards evening the men had been compelled by the overwhelming odds to give up the defence. They fell back without any panic or noise. And the Turks and Arabs who rushed into the streets were so seized with the lust of plunder that they did not pursue the rearguard of the Christians.

One of the saddest experiences was that of Azniv Khanum, wife of the preacher in Kaladouran. Ten days before the massacre she had given birth to twin children, a little boy and girl. When the flight to the mountains took place, she had not the strength to climb with the others, so her husband hid her and their four children among the rocks near the edge of the village. The babies were wrapped in a little quilt, and the other children clung to their mother, while the father hid in a cave close by. Before long, Azniv Khanum and the children were discovered by the Turks. One of the plunderers snatched up the quilt, despite the mother’s entreaties. The two babies rolled out, one in one direction and one in another, over the rough stones.

Then the Turks rudely laid hold of the mother, and, holding a revolver against a breast, ordered her to become a Moslem. She bravely refused. “Then you are my slave,” he said and beat her with the flat of his sword. He commenced to drag her down in order to tie her on his horse. Her foot tripped, she fell, and rolled over and over for about eight yards. There she lay on the rocks, bruised and exhausted, in the hot sun. The Turk, seeing a chance to plunder, abandoned her. Afterwards other Turks took her money and her dress and shoes, and her little girl, about 4 years old. It is wonderful that she lived through it all. One of the little babies lived a week, the other about 10 days after that. When I was in Kaladouran we buried the little boy. It was a very touching service out under the trees.

All the tradesmen’s shops and merchants’ storehouses in Kessab are burned. In fact, the whole market is in ashes. The Roman Catholic and Protestant churches are completely burned. The latter was a spacious building seating a congregation of 1800. The American mission residence, occupied by Miss E. M. Chambers, was burned; so also the Girls’ High School, the Boys’ Grammar School, and the Protestant parsonage.

Unfortunately, our space is too circumscribed to give the whole of this graphic letter. But it must be stated that the Evangelical Alliance, as in the past is forwarding financial assistance to the surviving Armenians, who have in many cases lost everything."

 

 

 

Resilient Kessab: In three pictures

Missakian-Churukian Cultural Center in kessab

Missakian-Churukian Cultural Center is in the heart of Kessab, the town. It was a vibrant cultural center before the sack of Kessab by Islamist extremists who attacked Kessab from Turkey, plundered and sacked for the next 86 days, until June 15, 2014. When the Kessabtsis returned from their exile in city of Latakia and elsewhere on June 15, 2014, they found the Missakian center still smoldering. They would soon find out that Kessab and the surrounding villages was sacked and plunder completely and the loot was hauled to Turkey and hence to beyond.

Recently I came across the picture of the Missakian cultural center restored. It stands as a testament to the resiliency of Kessab who carved a living in that mountainous land during the past few centuries. 

The three pictures below show the Missakian Cultural Center before the sack, at the sacking and presently restored to its pristine condition.

Missakian-Churukian Cultural Center in down town Kessab BEFORE THE SACKING  of Kessab on March 21, 2014

Missakian-Churukian Cultural Center in down town Kessab DURING THE SACKING of Kessab on March 21, 2014

Courtesy Father Nareg Louisiana

Missakian-Churukian Cultural Center in down town Kessab RESTORED. Picture  courtesy Ali Monty.

p.s.   A comment from the benefactor's daughter, on September 6, 2023

Missakian Center before March 21, 2014.
Second from right is Khajag Apelian who has been missing while serving the Syrian Army.

Sipan: Not only a mountain

Vahe H. Apelian

In memory of my high school classmates Vahe Kludjian, Vahe Injejikian, Melkon Soukiassian, Hovig Kurkjian, Rita Shamlian. We remember them as we celebrate the centennial of the Armenian Evangelical College, we graduated in 1965, at the semi centennial of the Armenian Genocide.

 

“Mount Sipan is situated on the northern shore of Lake Van. The real height of the mountain is 4058 instead of the previously known 4434 meters which is incorrect. There are several extrusive formations on the peak which is covered by meadows. According to ancient Armenian Legends, Sipan is the symbol of Hayk and Nemrut is the Symbol of Bel. The German geographer Maurice Wagner (1813-1887) called Sipan “Proud Mountain” for its majesty.” (Armenian Geography)

Sipan is also the name of yearbook of the Armenian Evangelical College (AEC) in Beirut. It is the first Armenian high school in Lebanon, the survivor of the Armenian Genocide founded in 1923. I do not know when Sipan was first published as the high school’s yearbook. It was pretty much established when I graduated in 1965. The last yearbook was recently published and posted on line. Its cover, along with the cover of the 1965 yearbook, the year our class graduated, are depicted above.

Sipan is also the name of the evening school the students of AEC founded. Many of its graduates had left Lebanon by 1978 because of the impending civil war.  I was among them. I left Lebanon in 1976 as another U.S. immigrant. The bonds among its former students remained strong in the New World and culminated in founding of the Armenian Evangelical College Student Association of America. I remember the founding. It was at the spur of the moment in doctor Ara Manougian’s house in Paramus, NJ. He had invited us for a pool party. It was then that a committee came about. I remember Ara Manougian, the late Sona Hamalian, Berjouhy Barsoumian, Vatche Baghdigian as the members of the committee with the Seta and Khoren Nalbandian, who had taught in the school, and Hagop Kasparian who was its principle, acting as advisors. It is mostly through the efforts of these former students and faculty that an evening school was started on the premises of the Armenian Presbyterian Church, in Paramus, NJ. The intent was to have an evening long schooling for our children. We  named it Sipan after our high school’s yearbook.

 The Sipan Armenian school is now run by its former students and has become a landmark of sorts as far as an Armenian evening school in America is concerned. This coming Friday evening, on September 8, 2023, as was always the case since its founding, the school will start its classes in the 45th anniversary of its founding,  in the facilities generously made available for the school by the board of trustees of the Armenian Presbyterian Cnurch in Paramus NJ.

*****

The former students of the Armenian Evangelical College (AEC) in the U.S. will be celebrating the centennial of its founding during September 29 to October 2, 2023 weekend, in Los Angeles. The dates are inclusive.  It’s world-renowned former student Noubar Afeyan will be the key speaker of the event. Those who continue to live in Lebanon already celebrated the centennial in four successive events.

The students of my graduating class who are in the United States will be attending the centennial celebration of the school. As we celebrate the centennial, we remember our classmates who are no long with us.

Below are the pictures of the 1965 graduating class students with the motto each chose.

 

Unraveling: The first and the most recent president of Artsakh

Vahe H. Apelian

LtoR: Artur Mkrtchyan, Mountainous Republic of Nagorno Karabagh Coat-of-Arms, 
Arayik Harutunyan. Courtesy Garo Konyalian

In his thought provoking yet sober analysis of the unfolding situation in Artsakh, Vahan Zanoyan wrote: “. Nagorno Karabakh is a democratic country, and the people of Nagorno Karabakh have a deep-rooted tradition of living freely. Freedom and dignified living are not only a way of life, but an essential national value. Azerbaijan, on the other hand, is a dictatorship which has been ruled by the same family for three decades. By contrast, in the past 29 years, Nagorno Karabakh has had 4 different democratically elected Presidents.”

In stating the 4 different democratically elected presidents of Artsakh, Vahan Zanoyan has the following in mind Robert Kocharian (1994-1997), Arkady A. Ghoukassian (1997-2007), Bako S. Sahakyan (2007-2020), and Arayik Harutyunyan (21 May 2020 - 1 September 2023).

Before the designating a person as the president of the Mountainous Republic of Nagorno Karabagh, there was the Chairman of the Supreme Council who de facto  occupied the office that came to be the presidency of the republic. The first to be elected to that position of responsibility was a promising young man whose name was Artur Mkrtchyan. He was elected to that position in 1992, at the age of thirty-three.

Artur Mkrtchyan was born in 1959 in the village of Ukhtadzor in the Hadrut District of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast.  After graduating from the village secondary school in 1976, he furthered his education, in Yerevan, Moscow and in 1988 defended his PhD thesis. He was a member of ARF. His untimely death is moured with a profound sense of loss as the first de facto president of Artsakh.

“Mkrtchyan was killed in his apartment in Stepanakert under mysterious circumstances on 14 April 1992. While an initial report by the NKR's interior minister, Armen Isagulov, stated that Mkrtchyan had been killed by unknown "gunmen," a later official report described his death as accidental. In 2019, former commander of the NKR's army, Samvel Babayan, claimed that Mkrtchyan's death was a suicide․ No one has ever been prosecuted in connection with his death. He was succeeded by Georgy Petrosyan as acting chairman of the Supreme Council. Mkrtchyan had two children. In 2020, Mkrtchyan was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Artsakh.” (Wikipedia) 

The most recent president of Republic of Artsakh is Arayik Harutunyan. I quote Wikipedia: “Harutyunyan was born in 1973 in Stepanakert, then capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, part of the Azerbaijani SSR in the Soviet Union. He became a student at the Yerevan State Institute of Economy in 1990. Two years later, in 1992, he joined the armed forces of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (the Republic of Artsakh) and took part in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.[3] His older brother, Samvel, died in combat during the war. After the war, he transferred from the Yerevan State Institute of Economy to the Artsakh State University Faculty of Economics and graduated in 1995. Three years later, in 1998, he completed his post-graduate studies at Artsakh State University…. Harutyunyan participated in and won the 2020 Artsakhian general election, thereby becoming the fourth President of Artsakh……. On 31 August, Harutyunyan announced his resignation as president of the Republic of Artsakh.”

At this crucial junction, President Arayik Harutunyan should not have resigned. I also mean to say that the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh, not only should not have accepted his resignation but should have rallied in support of Arayik Harutunyan to continue on remaining as the president the people of Artsakh elected, until the clarification of the status of Nagorno Karabagh / Artsakh. Apparently burdened by the tremendous weight of the inhumane blockade, the government of the Artsakh is wobbling. 

Prior to his resignation, Arayik Harutunyan passed a legislation, whereby authorizing the National Assembly appoint the next president. Consequently, with a stroke of pen, the presidential system of governance in Artsakh was changed to a half-baked parliamentary system, impeding the possibility of holding the presidential election which was to take place in 2025.

What was also disturbing to me was the welcoming reaction to his resignation from some in the Diaspora in the Armenian social media, and particularly reading it in the ARF press - in Hairenik and in Aztag Daily - in a posting of an article on the very same day -  August 31, 2023 – Arayki Harutunyan announced his decision to resign. The article heralding Arayik Harutunyan’s resignation, likened it to a snow ball that the author expects will roll down the hill and take with it Nikol Pachynian’ government and  hold  the principles “accountable”, but surely sparing him The title of the article is “THE NEW SNOWBALL SHOULD NOT MELT - ՆՈՐ ՁԻՒՆԱԳՆԴԱԿԸ ՊԷՏՔ ՉԷ ՀԱԼԻ).  The author is Sarkis Mahserejian, a feature in theArmenian ARF press. The editor of the Hairenik daily has made it clear to the readers that that article is one of the Hairenik Weekly’s principal articles -   Գլխաւոր Յօդուածներ. The editor has capitalized the notification but I chose not. 

It is disturbing indeed that the editors of Hairenik Weekly and Aztag Daily made room to this article at this time from Sarkis Masherejian, who is a well-known voice that almost every week colors the Armenian ARF press with his relentless attacks on the prime minster Nikol Pachinyan and his government from his abode in Los Angeles he rarely leaves, or should I say steps out. Sarkis is wondering whether Arayik Harutunyan and his associates will remain in Artakh or will find a door to leave Arstakh packing - “Ա. Յարութիւնեան եւ գործակիցներ պիտի մնա՞ն Արցախ, թէ դուռ մը պիտի գտնեն հեռանալու անկէ….

Arayik Harutunyan noted that he will be staying in his birthplace. He was on the front line in Artsakh but not in Los Angeles.

In this modern age, we are indeed witnessing the unraveling of the tumultuous Republic of Mountainous Karabakh / Artsakh, regrettably to the apparent rejoicing of the misconstrued. 

A Language Beehive: Bourj Hammoud (7) – Two agglutinative languages.

Courtesy Garo Konylian

Introduction

This blog is my abridged translation of Dr. Armenag Yeghiayan’s last Sunday weekly mailing as an addendum to his sequel tilted “Language Beehive: Bourj Hamoud” (Լեզուական Փեթակ՝Պուրճ Համուտ). It is number 32. He had mailed it yesterday on Sunday September 3, 2023. He has been mailing such articles, along with his Wednesday weekly mailings that tend to be criterial of the quality and correctness of the Armenian language, the pundits be they editors, columnists, use. Along with the critic, he has a weekly Armenian language test. He has been doing both with an astonishing regularity for several years. 

I noted earlier that he has titled his last Sunday mailing as “Addendum – Մնացորդած). It will be my seventh, and probably the last translation from his “Language Beehive: Bourj Hamoud” sequel. Subsequently he had another where he expanded on the Turkish language. The latter sequel constituted 20, if not more, weekly mailings. I did not translate any of the segments he mailed weekly from that sequel. It is linguistic and it did not lend itself for translation. However, the sequel made more than ever evident that Dr. Armenag Yeghiayan is a master linguist not only of the Armenian but also of the Turkish language, although he is a dentist by profession and was my math teacher during my last year in Sourp Nshan Armenian school, in 1962 when he was studying dentistry in the French St. Joseph University in Lebanon.

His last mailing is about agglutination and he may expand on that aspect of the Armenian and Turkish languages further, but I will not attempt to translate. 

What are agglutinative languages?

“Agglutinative languages form words through the combination of smaller morphemes to express compound ideas. Each of these morphemes generally has one meaning or function and retains its original form and meaning during the combination process.”  (Wikipedia)

In Armenian such languages are called Gtsagan (կցական). The word is derived from the verb “Gtsel – Կցել», which means: “To join, to joint, to attach, to unite, to stitch, to tie, to bind, to fasten, to annex.” (Source: Mesrob G. Kouyoumdjian, A Comprehensive Dictionary Armenian-English. Beirut: Atlas Press (1970): p. 383).

 An example of such a word would be Mary Poppins’ famous “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”. That word is nonsensical word because the European or Western languages do not agglutinate, claims Dr. Yeghiayan. But in languages that can agglutinate, such as Armenian and Turkish, such long words, made of distinct words can be formed. Each component of the word retains its original meaning and come together to form a word that expresses each, culminating in the agglutinated word that gives their cumulative meaning, such as in Armenian, “Եւրոպականացածներուններով-Yevrobaganantsnerov”, which means “with those who have been  Europeanized”. The two words in the attached display are from examples Dr. Armenag Yehgiayan gave in a letter to me explaining agglutinative languages. In Armenian Gtsagan (կցական) languages.

*****

The text: Armenian and Turkish languages.

“Armenian and Turkish languages, having coexisted for more than 800 years, would have inevitably influenced each other. In this segment, we will refer to two phenomena.

a) Those that seem to have been developed in Armenian at the instigation of Turkish,

b) Those that have come about by the copying Turkish.

And it seems that the harvest is aplenty.

Arsen Aydinian wrote: “As far as we know, there is no language among the known languages ​​that had surrendered to foreigners so much, transformed, and ultimately denied of itself so much, as was the Armenian of our last centuries. A language that has exhibited this level insensitivity would have been considered a crime." (Arsen Aydinian, Examining Grammar, "Nakhashavigh", 1866, p. 232

Arsen Aydinian and Hrachia Acharian equally emphasize, in particular, about borrowing words, which had greatly affected Armenian. According to Acharian, there came a time when their number reached 4,000. Borrowing this number of words, implied a completely self-destructive language, and that's how Armenian had become. The Turks easily understood the Armenian spoken around them.

However, the situation has not always remained the same. Favorable national and political conditions, changed that. Particularly the birth of the Mkhitarian Order, and also the establishment of the Western Armenian schools and the press from the end of the 18th century and the first years of the 19th century, gave rise to an awakening. They made possible the gradual shaking off the terrible rust that had darkened the Armenian language through the centuries.

Acharian confirms that this massive dust was polished and cites the few such words that continued lingering in the second volume of his study titled “The History of the Armenian Language”.

We can proudly cite Arsen Ardinian, who also wrote: “As far as we know, there is no other language among the known languages ​​that rid itself of foreign language to keep it pristine and cares about its national character as much as the Armenian.”

In stating that, we have in mind especially the Western Armenian that shaped itself by our classical educators such as Garabed  Utudjian, Arpiar Arpiarian, Krikor Zohrab, Taniel Varoujan, as well as contemporary educators such as Vahe Vahian, Vahan Tekeyan, Shavarsh Nartouni, Vazken Shoushanian, Peniamin Tashjian and others. 

Of course, I have in mind the literary language in the press, in dictionaries, in schools, from where the Turkish language was expelled so consistently. But the situation was different among the masses who settled in Middle Eastern countries and elsewhere after the genocide. Their spoken language paid tribute to Turkish for a long time.

*   *   *

During the review (in reference to the sequel about the Turkish language), we saw styles and constructions of Turkish language that we emphasized are strikingly similar to the Armenian. From the first glance it becomes evident that the two languages are agglutinative languages.

The Turkish remains unequaled in agglutinating, but the remarkable ability of the Armenian to construct such words, has pushed linguists to confirm that our language is the only Indo-European language that agglutinates. We do not refer to the classical (biblical-Krapar) Armenian that had little resources to agglutinate. but to the vernacular Armenian’s extraordinary flexibility to form agglutinated words.

The question arises. what is the role of the Turkish in agglutination in the Armenian language?  Can it be said that Armenian language owes its agglutination to the Turkish? The Turks interacted with other peoples, such as Arabs, Greeks, Assyrians, as much as with the Armenians. Why is it that their languages did not keep pace with the Turkish language while the Armenian did?  This speaks of some kind of ingenuity that was hidden in Armenian language that manifested itself and evolved, baited by the Turkish and with the aim of imitating it. The tolerance of the Armenian language was the fertile soil for the ability of the Armenian language to agglutinate.

Բնագիրը՝

 

Հայերէնն ու թրքերէնը (ա)

         Այս երկու լեզուները գոյակցած ըլլալով աւելի քան 800 տարի անխուսափելիօրէն պիտի ներգործէին իրար վրայ: Զանց ընելով այս փոխադարձութեան մէջ թրքերէնի կրած ազդեցութիւնները՝ հայերէնէն, այստեղ պիտի անդրադառնանք երկու  երեւոյթներու.

         ա) այնպիսիներուն, որոնք հայերէնի մէջ զարգացած ըլլալ կը թուին թրքերէնի դրդումով,

         բ)  եւ այնպիսիներուն, որոնք յառաջացած են թրքեէնի  պատճենումով: 

         Եւ կը թուի, թէ բաւական  փարթամ է  բերքը:

         «Չկայ , որչափ գիտենք , ծանօթ լեզուաց մէջ լեզու մը ՝ որ այնչափ օտարութեանց անձնատուր, այնչափ կերպարանափոխ եղած, վերջապէս այնչափ ինք զինքն ուրացած ըլլայ, ինչպէս մեր վերջին դարերուն Հայերէնը... լեզուի մը այս աստիճան Հասնիլը՝ ճաշակագէտ զգացողութեան առջեւ անզգայութիւն եւ բանականութեան ատեանին առջեւն անտարակոյս ոճի՜ր մը համարուելու է» (Արսէն Այտընեան, Քննական քերականութիւն, «Նախաշաւիղ», 1866,  էջ 232):

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         Այտընեան եւ Աճառեան հաւասարապէս կը շեշտեն մասնաւորաբար բառային փոխառումնրը, որոնք շնչահեղձ ըրած են հայերէնը: Ըստ Աճառեանի՝ եղած  է պահ մը, ուր անոնց թիւը հասած է մինչեւ 4.000-ի. արդ, այս թիւով փոխառութիւնը կ’ենթադրէ բոլորովին ինքնակորոյս լեզու մը, եւ այդպէս ալ եղած է հայերէնը իր կարգ մը կիրարկութեանց մէջ, քանի   թուրքերը դիւրաւ հասկցած են իրենց շուրջ խօուող հայերէնը:

         Սակայն իրերու վիճակը   միշտ նոյնը չէ մնացած. ազգային ու քաղաքական պայմաններու  նպաստաւոր դասաւորումով յառաջացած  զարթօնքը, որ կը բնորոշուէր մասնաւորաբար  Մխիթարեան ուխտի ծնունդով ,  այլեւ արեւմտահայ դպրոցի  ու մամուլի հաստատումով  18-րդ դարու վերջերէն եւ 19-րդ դարու առաջին տարիներէն սկսեալ, կարելի եղած է հայերէնի վրայէն հետզհետէ թօթափել այն ահաւոր ժանգը, որ խաւար դարերը կուտակեր էին մեր ազգային լեզուի վրայ:

         Եւ Աճառեան կը հաստատէ, որ այդ ահարկու ժառանգը,  հետզհետէ տեղի տալով, իր  օրերուն կը հաշուէր մօտաւորապէս  170 բառ, որոնց ցուցակը կը գտնենք  անոր «Հայոց լեզուի պատմութիւն»-ի բ. հատորի մէջ (էջեր 275−279):

         Սակայն այս ցանկը եւս վերջնական չէ. ուշի-ուշով կարդալով զայն՝ կը նկատենք, որ ներկայ տուեալներով անկէ մնացած են ընդամէնը հետեւեալները՝ ալոճ, բուխերիկ, դդմաճ, ելակ, երշիկ, զիլ, թաղար, խամաճիկ, խոզակ, տոպրակ, տրմուղ, քութէշ, − եւ այսքան միայն. ութ-ինը դարու տէր եւ ստրուկի համակեցութենէն ժառանգ մնացած են  ընդամէնը տասնեակ մը բառեր. այս պատուաւոր արդիւնքին առթիւ մենք կրնանք հպարտութեամբ նմանակել  Այտընեանի խօսքը եւ ըսել.  

         − Չկայ, որչափ գիտենք, ծանօթ լեզուներու մէջ լեզու մը, որ այնքան օտարաբանութիւնը թօթափած ըլլայ, այնքան անաղարտ պահէ իր դիմագիծը եւ գուրգգուրայ իր ազգային հարազատութեան վրայ, որքան հայերէնը:

         Առ այս նկատի ունիմ մասնաւորաբար այն արեւմտահայերէնը, որ  ձեւաւորուեցաւ մեր դասականներով՝ Կարապետ Իւթիւճեաններով, Արփիար Արփիարեաններով, Գրիգոր Զոհրապներով, Դանիէլ Վարուժաններով, այլեւ բիւրեղացաւ նորագոյններով՝ Վահէ-Վահեանով, Վահան Թէքէեանով, Շաւարշ Նարդունիով, Վազգէն Շուշանեանով, Բենիամին Թաշեանով եւ ուրիշներով:

         Անշուշտ  նկատի ունիմ գեղարուեստական գրականութիւնը, մամուլը, բառարանները, դպրոցները, ուրկէ թրքերէնը այնքան հետեւողականութեամբ վտարուեցաւ:  Քիչ մը  տարբեր էր պարագան այն զանգուածներուն, որոնք Եղեռնէն ճողոպրած հաստատուեցան մերձարեւելեան երկիրներու մէջ եւ այլուր, եւ որոնց խօսակցական լեզուն երկար տուրք տուաւ թրքերէնին, սակայն ժամանակին հետ այնտեղ եւս փոխուեցաւ եւ շատ փոխուեցաւ  կացութիւնը:

         Այսքանը... բառապաշարի մակարդակին:

         Կացութիւնը  տարբեր է լեզուական ՝ ձեւաբանութեան, ոճաբանութեան  ու շարահիւսութեան  մակարդակներուն վրայ:

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         Մենք յընթացս այս յօդուածաշարքին տեսանք թրքրերէնի այնպիսի ոճեր ու կառոյցներ, որոնց առթիւ շեշտեցինք ցայտուն նմանութիւններ հայերէնին հետ:

         Առաջին գծի վրայ կու գայ երկու լեզուներու ցուցաբերած կցականութիւնը:

         Թրքերէնը ըստ ինքեան անհաւասարելի կը մնայ, սակայն հայերէնն ալ  իր կարգ մը ուշագրաւ  կցումներով  մղած է լեզուագէտները հաստատելու, որ մեր լեզուն հնդեւրոպական միակ   կցական լեզուն է: Այստեղ կ’ակնարկուի ոչ այնքան գրաբարին, որ կցական շատ խեղճ միջոցներ ունէր, որքան աշխարհաբարի մէջ անոր ցուցաբերած արտակարգ ճկունութեան:

         Հիմա հարց կը ծագի. ի՞նչ է դերը թրքերէնի՝ հայերէնի ցուցաբերած  կցականութեան մէջ: Կարելի՞ է ըսել, որ հայերէնը թրքերէնին կը պարտի  իր այս յատկութիւնը: Սակայն թրքերէնը ուրիշ ժողովուրդներու՝ արաբներու, յոյներու, ասորիներու հետ ալ շփուեցաւ այնքան, որքան հայերու հետ, ինչո՞ւ անոնք կցականութեան ոչ մէկ յատկանիշ վաստակեցան, եւ միայն հայերէնն է, որ  քայլ պահեց թրքերէնի հետ:  Այս  կը խօսի ինչ-որ ներունակութեան մը մասին, որ թաքնուած ունէր հայերէնը եւ ի յայտ եկաւ ու  զարգացաւ թրքական խայծով, թրքերէնին  նմանելու մարմաջով: Առանց  նման ներունակութեան ստեղծած պարարտ հողին՝ այդ կցականութիւնը չէր կրնար ինքնակոչ պատուաստուիլ հայերէնին:

armenag@gmail.com                                  Արմենակ Եղիայեան  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                           

                           

                           

 

White checkmates in three moves

 

I saw the above chess set up. Both players have positioned themselves well. Both have the same number of pieces on the board, 13. The blacks have lost a bishop for a pawn but have positioned themselves strategically. But it's the whites term and it checkmates the blacks in three moves. This is how it goes

Move  1: The white Queen at H3 takes the black Pon at H7. Check !

Move 2: The black Queen at G8 takes the white King at H7. 

Move 3: The white Knight at E4 goes to F6, Check! Black Queen H6 or H8

Move 4: White Rook E3 to H3, check mate !