History of the Armenian alphabet

[4] As is the case with other writing systems worldwide, the graphic layout of Armenian letters has undergone some changes in over 1600 years.

[5] The four principal graphic forms[6][7][8] of Armenian writing during the Middle Ages are Erkat'agir, Bolorgir, Notrgir and Shghagir.

The sections vary in length, ranging from one to six pages, and all address phonetic and other aspects of the 36 letters of the Armenian alphabet.

The most significant of the subsequent Armenian authors to engage with the subject of grammar were the 13th-century writers Vardan Areveltsi and Hovhannes Erznkatsi.

In addition to the aforementioned standard list of letters, these later authors also provided brief comments on the various fonts used to write in Armenian.

[15] Paleographic issues, particularly those pertaining to the classification of scripts, have been addressed in a multitude of works collectively referred to as manuals for scribes.

Among the earliest books to include references to the Armenian alphabet is Recueil d'anciennes écritures, compiled in 1566-1567 by Pierre Hamon [fr], secretary to King Charles IX of France.

The 21st sheet of this work contains an alphabet of Armenian origin, which Hamon states he copied from a collection at Fontainebleau.

In 1623, the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith published a brief Alphabetum Armenum, which included poorly written Armenian subheadings.

In 1711, Johann Schröder dealt with palaeographic issues in the section De Orthographia[17] of his work The Treasures of the Armenian Language.

[19] Mekhitarist Gukas Inchichian provides the most comprehensive analysis of the topic in the third volume of his Archaeological Description of the Armenian Land, published in 1835.

[23] The book provides a detailed account of medieval types of writings, including their historical nomenclature, chronology, and questions pertaining to palimpsests.

[24] This facsimile album contains 143 samples[25] of Armenian writing from the 5th to 18th centuries, produced on soft materials such as parchment, stone, or metal.

In this composition,[34] the signs are presented in the Old Armenian translation of the Art of Grammar by Dionysius Thrax, which was completed in the second half of the 5th century.

[43] Gamkrelidze posits that the letters of the Armenian script were the result of the original creativity of their creator, operating according to a certain principle.

The earliest[1] surviving example of Armenian epigraphy is the inscription of the feudal lord Saake Kamsarakan, carved on the temple in Tekor.

This inscription is dated to at least 490 CE,[46] which places it at the latest in the period of time following the death of Mashtots, the inventor of Armenian script.

[47] The inscription is not clearly dated,[48] but the second line mentions Catholicos John Mandakuni as the founder of the monastery, who held this position between 478 and 490.

The majority of scholars concur that Mashtots devised and employed a script analogous to the current designation of Mesrop's Erkat'agir.

[66] V. Calzolari and M. Stone propose that the original form of Erkat'agir must have been more skoropis and italicised, akin to the Greek and Syriac scripts of the period.

It is considered implausible that Mashtots and his disciples could have employed the laborious method of Erkat'agir to translate the Bible, a task that would have taken decades.

[67] More modern researchers tend to associate the term with an iron chisel used to carve the writing in stone inscriptions.

[10] In accordance with the accepted classification of writing theory, Erkat'agir and its variants are categorised within the all caps group of scripts.

[65][23] The hypothesis of the simultaneous existence of Erkat'agir and Bolorghir was put forth by Hovsepyan, one of the pioneering scholars of Armenian palaeography, in the early 20th century.

Muravyov does not rule out the possibility of the original existence of ordinary cursive writing at the same time as Erkat'agir, but, based on theoretical considerations, he considers it unlikely.

[79] Consequently, the Greco-Armenian papyrus serves as a pivotal point of reference for the investigation of the evolution of Erkat'agir into Bolorgir.

He identifies a select group of nine letters with the most disparate forms,[84] namely: Ա-ա, Ձ-ձ, Մ-մ, Յ-յ, Շ-շ, Չ-չ, Պ-պ, Ջ-ջ, Ց-ց.

Beyond this, bounded by another pair of imaginary lines at the top and bottom, are the outlying elements, which include arcs, tails, hooks, zigzags and others.

A number of specialists translate the term as "round writing",[77] although Bolorgir is formed by a combination of almost exclusively rectilinear elements.

[91][53] Notrgir was employed primarily for the transcription of informal texts, including colophons of manuscripts and clerical documents.