Roslin Press Presents Armenian Adaptation of the Animated Series "Treasure Island"

Roslin Press has just announced the first-ever Armenian production of Osamu Dezaki’s anime rendition of the classic swashbuckling adventure, Treasure Island. This is an initiative the likes of which the Diaspora hasn’t seen in over a generation. To capture the spirit of the 21st century Diaspora and Armenia, the 26-episode series features a mix of characters speaking Eastern and Western Armenian. Thanks to the assistance of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, young Armenians from across the globe can now sail the seven seas with Jim Hawkins in his search for buried treasure.

Especially during the pandemic with all of us spending an unprecedented amount of time at home, finding high-quality Armenian entertainment for children has never been more important.

You Need Something to Transfer

Western Armenian is always engaged into various types of interactions, be them with different foreign languages or its sister variety, Eastern Armenian.



The latter has gone for a long time, and it became more and more prominent after the fall of the Soviet Union. Each variety borrows words and expressions missing from their core vocabulary. In the case of Western Armenian, the frequent use of information produced in Eastern Armenian brings certain words that become a sort of parasites.

Such is the case of the word փոխանցել (pokhantsel), which literally means “to pass from one to another,” and you translate it as “transfer.” For instance, when you make a money transfer, you call it դրամի փոխանցում (tramee pokhantsoom). You can also transmit information—from one source to the other—and call it տեղեկութեան փոխանցում (deghegootian pokhantsoom)

However, if you say something, you are communicating it. This is called հաղորդել (haghortel). For instance, a radio anchor who reads the news is making a news communication (լուրերու hաղորդում / looreroo haghortoom ).

The problem comes when you use pokhantsel instead of haghortel, something that did not happen decades ago. It is common to hear expressions of the type « Տիկինը փոխանցեց , որ ...» ( Deegeenuh pokhantsets, vor… “The lady transferred that…”), as if you were transferring something, when the actual expression should be « Տիկինը հաղորդեց , որ ...» (Deegeenuh haghortets, vor … “The lady communicated that…”).

This is a calque from Eastern Armenian, where people with deficient knowledge of the language, at their turn, are making a mistranslation from Russian. These days, you can unknowingly learn bits and pieces from a language spoken thousands of miles from you. Who knew?  

What'd You Say?

Garen Yegparian

 

Some days ago, I read Hagop Gulludjian’s article “Atabdatzman Yev Eendegrman Oogheenerov” (Ադապտացման եւ ինտեգրման ուղիներով) in Armenian. I marveled at how well this tongue-in-cheek piece presented one aspect of the problems challenging our continued use of the Armenian language, and I felt compelled to translate it. I asked for and received the author’s permission. Of course, any errors in translation are naught but my own.

A Generation of Silence: Why Armenian Schools Matter

Sevana Panosian

 

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.’ – Ludwig Wittgenstein

 

The Armenian Diaspora is slowly raising a generation of silence.

This statement may come as a shock, but it stems from the philosopher and linguist Ludwig Wittgenstein’s treatise on language where he states, “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.”

One Nation, How Many Aspects of Culture? Armenian Diversity

Nareg Seferian

 

Not too long ago, I had an “e-mail fight” with someone I don’t know.

To call it a “fight” would be an exaggeration. Rather, we had a heated discussion back and forth via e-mail, having found each other through a mutual acquaintance who wisely slipped out of the conversation.

The issue was Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian – specifically, whether or not there are two separate Armenian languages, or whether they are both versions of one language. There are other possibilities, and it could be the case that one may characterise Eastern and Western Armenian in more than one way at the same time. My correspondent was very confident to insist that there is only one Armenian language. My own position is to refer to the two as “sister languages”.

Questions on the Raison d'Etre of an Armenian School Education

This letter to the editor appeared in the June 1999 issue of the now-defunct "AIM" magazine in response to an editorial, "Questions on the Raison d'Etre of an Armenian School Education." A whole decade went on, but some of the issues raised in the letter seem relevant to us and, we hope, will look relevant to the readers.