Yerevan dialect

[1] Throughout history, the dialect has been influenced by several languages, especially Russian and Persian, and loan words have significant presence in it today.

[2] Historically, it was known as the Araratian dialect (Արարատյան բարբառ, Araratyan barbar’), referring to the Ararat plain where it is mainly spoken.

In 1841, the prominent Armenian writer Khachatur Abovian completed his novel Wounds of Armenia, which was written in the Yerevan dialect.

[3] Most of the recent Armenian immigrants who have migrated to foreign countries since the late 1980s speak the Yerevan dialect.

[9] Khachatur Abovian, who is considered the founder of the modern Eastern Armenian literary language, wrote in the Araratian dialect as he was born in Kanaker, a village near Yerevan (now a district of the city).

[8] According to prominent Armenian linguist Hrachia Adjarian's Classification des dialectes arméniens, in early 20th century the Yerevan dialect was spoken chiefly in the towns of Yerevan, Nork, Kanaker, Ejmiatsin, Oshakan and Ashtarak.

[15] Adjarian points out the fact that the Yerevan dialect was also spoken in the Havlabar district of Tiflis (Tbilisi) and in the Iranian city of Tabriz.

[16] According to linguist Ararat Gharibyan, the dialect was also spoken in the Vayots Dzor, Nor Bayazet, Lori and Spitak districts and formerly in Surmali and Kaghzvan.

[8] The Yerevan sub-dialect of the Araratian dialect was chiefly spoken in the neighborhoods and villages of Kanaker, Arinj, Jrvezh, Nork and Kond.

[19] Today, the Yerevan dialect is the main component foundation of standard spoken Eastern Armenian.

[8] The almost 160-year Russian and Soviet rule of Eastern Armenia (1828–1917, 1920–1991) had left its influence on the colloquial Armenian language.

[22] According to Razmik Markossian, in 1989, the Araratian dialect was spoken in 162 villages and 5 cities with the total of 275,000 speakers outside of Yerevan.