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January 2019

The Story of ArmEnglish: How Language Varieties Emerge

It is a well known fact that communication has always played a vital role throughout human history. People communicate not only to transcend verbal messages but also to express their feelings, emotions and impressions. However, over the years the means and modes of communication have always evolved in response to many linguistic and extra-linguistic factors. Among the extra-linguistic patterns of language change and variation one should pay much importance to migration, which happen mainly due to severe living conditions and massacres.

1. The History of ArmEnglish

In 1915 during the Armenian Genocide many Armenians migrated to the USA. Appearing in a new country they started learning English and adapting it to their linguistic capacities. At the same time, they did their best to retain their mother tongue: Western Armenian. Whereas, another group of Armenians migrated to East Armenia

ArmEnglish_how_do_variaes_languages_merge(the latter was under the possession of Russia) and a new variety of Armenian emerged: Eastern Armenian. Because of the collapse of diplomatic relationships between the Soviet Union and the USA, Armenians were not able to communicate with each other. It lasted over 70 years. Over these times a new hybrid version of Armenian English emerged in the North America and in Anglo-Saxons world. Meanwhile in Soviet Armenia Eastern Armenia received a national status.

After the entire collapse of Soviet Union connections between both sides became more and more frequent. However, something lacked in that connection, and it was the distance. The process continued  until the last decade of the previous century when we just found us in the era of cyber communication. The latter has enabled human beings with different cultural and linguistic backgrounds to become more and more addicted to cyber communication, in other terms cyber-communication has become the best invention to bring people together to interact. Cyber-communication makes human interaction better to past. People have not to travel to vast distances. Communication takes place just in one domain. There is no territorial and linguistic barriers.

2. Do Western Armenians Use Another Variety of ArmEnglish?

Day by day online communications of both Armenians got closer. Eastern Armenians have noticed that many American Armenians make use of English in the domain of cyberspace (Social networking sites, blogs, social news sites, Video-sharing sites, discussion boards, etc) with Armenian mixtures. For Western Armenians cyberspace has become the potential platform for genuine, uncontrolled and conventional speech. They can write what they want, how they want, they can omit letters, shorten words and word-collocations, use as much Western Armenian words as they want, make some linguistic fusions, it is up to their choice. In a way cyberspace has become an online domain of communication of expressing group solidarity. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned that cyberspace has become a potential platform for unconventional spelling almost for every user. Let’s discuss some examples of ArmEnglish taken from twitter:

“@LoveHaileyAnne: “@WonHunned: “@__maaarrr__: “@WonHunned:

Hi” laves tsitik?” Vates vagrr?

“@KuklasSay: When a kukla gets mad she starts speaking Armenglish.

My Armenglish dictionary says tartzseneled it is a word. I’m so funny. Me and my mom are laughing so hard. 

Shia Labeauf has no chashak. Yeah, i used my Armenglish .

“yerkoohat touchdown…mikich impossible bayts…” lol my parents laugh at me and siblings for our armenglish but they do it too.

What do I do when I’m in bed bayts shoka yev tsarav mera and the water is downstairs #armenglish.

@dianadevitskaya I’m speaking ARMENGLISH AXCHIK JAN .

No one knows how excited I am for Kuku and aghi dzook this shapat geesher. #Armenglish

 

ArmEnglish

As the above mentioned examples (chashak-taste, yerkoohat-a pair, bayts-but, laves-how are you, tsitik-bird/lady, vates vagrr-Don’t you feel well enough, tiger/darling, bayts shoka yev tsarav mera-but it is hot, I thrive, axchik jan-you girl, kuku-doll, aghi dzook-salty fish, shapat geesher-Saturday night) illustrate that ArmEnglish is simply the mere combination of Western Armenian and English. One should note that Armenian words are written in Latin letters, not in Armenian.

Yet, there is no vivid illustrations and examples of grammatical deviations like in Spanglish, Honglish, Chinglish, Konglish. The deviations of ArmEnglish are only on the semantic, phraseological and lexical levels. However, it is worth mentioning that surveys carried out in English (-lishes) varieties clearly illustrate that in the second stage these varieties demonstrate certain grammatical variations.

3. ArmEnglish in Armenia

In reverse to Western Armenians, Armenians in their homeland developed another ArmEnglish. They have started communicating on different platforms of cyberspace using only English, however, written in Armenian letters. All the grammatical forms and categories, pronunciation, vocabulary are English, the only distinguishing peculiarity is that it is written only with Armenian letters. Here are some examples:

“Հեփի բրթդեյ դիըր Շերլին Սարգսյան”:) armenglish Happy Birthday dear Sherlin Sargsyan.

Հաու ար յու ? How are you?

Այ դոն‘թ Վոնթ թու լիվ ին դիս մադ ընդ ֆաքին փլենիթ էնիմոռ I don’t want to live in this mad and fucking planet any more.

ԱՅ ԴՈՆԹ ԼԱՅՔ ՖԲ… ԱՅՄ ՋԱՍԹ ՎԵՅՍԹԻՆԳ ՄԱՅ ԼԱՅՖ ՕՆ ԻԹ I don’t like FB… I am just wasting my life on it.

Now these two versions of ArmEnglishes are competing. Both of them are actively used by many Armenians.

However, one should take into consideration, that this kind of fusions are the primary elements of forming a language variety.

According to Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics: a variety is a generic term for a particular coherent form of language in which specific extralinguistic criteria can be used to define it as a variety. For example, a geographically defined variety is known as a dialect, a variety with a social basis as a sociolect, a functional variety as jargon or a sublanguage, a situative variety as a register. Here we deal with sociolects, because the specific criteria is social class i.e. ethnicity.

English has many varieties like Spanglish, Hinglish, Chinglish, Khorglish etc. Many of them are thoroughly observed, however there are varieties of English which are on the process of development like ArmEnglish (Armenian+English). It should be mentioned that ArmEnglish is on its first phase of development. And we hope that in near future ArmEnglish will develop more rapidly and will officially be recognized by foreign linguists.

What are your favorite ArmEnglish phrases?

 

Find out more:

  1. Barseghyan L. (2013) On Some Aspects of Internet Slang, Yerevan State University Press.
  2. Bussman H. (1996) Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics, Routledge.
  3. Hornby S.(1984) Oxford Student’s Dictionary of Current English: Oxford University Press.
  4. www.facebook.com
  5. www.twitter.com

Social Entrepreneurship: 4 Must-Knows about SEs

What is social entrepreneurship?

Read this article, if you have heard about social entrepreneurship and want to understand the concept behind. Look through it, if you wonder what is the difference of social entrepreneurship with doing business?

 1. Social entrepreneurship vs. business

Social entrepreneurship is a kind of entrepreneurship/business that aims at solving social problems through entrepreneurial practices – creating a competitive product, selling it in market, generating revenues, etc. Business activities and existence in the market is the driving force of the company. It ensures its financial standing, thus contributing to the solution of social problems.

The primary purpose of this kind of businesses is the solution to a social problem. Profit comes second.

Traits of Social Entrepreneur

2. How businesses do it better?

But how business methods have appeared to solve social problems?

There are numerous benevolent organizations, charities that have very long tackle social inequalities and poverty. It is also government function to deal with these problems. How businesses do it better? Benevolent organizations have reached to an understanding on poverty reduction on long run, which can simply be put this way: “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”.

Business practices and competition are the driving force that will make people work hard and build their well-being by themselves.

3. Types of Social Enterprises (SE)

Social entrepreneurship in Armenia is very often associated with non-profit and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the way they earn money for their mission. However, there are numerous kinds of organizations coming from different spheres, that can be considered social enterprises, from for-profits to non-profits.

Non-profits have long tackling social problems, and motivation of doing business comes from the willingness of those organizations no more be reliant on external funding and focus on their mission.

types of social entrepreneurship

There are also different legal types of SEs that many countries adopt by law and define their work. These legal types are adopted and put into action based on country specifics, and consider several factors, such as traditions, society structure, types of successful unions, societal needs and problems, etc.

There is no adopted concept or legal form of SE in Armenia. Companies in our country, who distinguish themselves as social enterprises, operate both as business entities (mainly LLCs) and as foundations and NGOs.

However, there is no evidence that legal forms limit SE efforts and service to public good.

4. How to determine social enterprises?

Are there specific characteristics? Yes, there are. However, opinions vary among scientists and entrepreneurs.   

Below, see several factors, that I consider very important to be called a social enterprise. My thoughts come from extensive research of academic disputes and analysis of exemplary social enterprises.

  • The purpose of the company. It should aim to have primarily social benefit purpose and lead all actions to reaching the social mission. It can be easily determined from the way how company positions itself on the eyes of public and how it brings real solution to the social problem.
  • Innovative and new way of doing things. It is very distinguishable for social enterprises to find some new ways to reach their social aims, bringing and merging the opportunities existing, as well as creating new ones. It can be seen in the way company organizes its work, reaches its stakeholders  and offers its services and/or products. SEs have more methods of work and resources than businesses or NGOs do separately. For instance, voluntary efforts, governmental support and cheap money can be used to finance an SE, which is not the tool of a traditional business. SE can benefit from such resources, however, it should be capable of operating successfully in a market as an enterprise and generate the money for its existence and ultimately for the solution of the social cause.   
  • Social value creation should be inherent in all the parts of the business’ value chain, i.e. its customers, employees, stakeholders, with respect to society and nature. 
  • Income generation activities should eventually lead to profit. Who owns the profit of social enterprise? Companies should decide to reinvest the substantial part of their profit to social enterprise. That is the main approach.
  • Social enterprises are to be inclusive in terms of letting stakeholders be part of every works inside social enterprises. Eventually, it is their problem, and stakeholders are to be part of social problem solution for themselves.

 As you can see, there are no strict requirements or boundaries. These are all matters of decisions to take to succeed, which in its turn is dependent on external factors: the social problem it chooses, the level of economic development in the country, culture etc.

Being a social enterprise is a matter of decision to be taken in internal level. Social Entrepreneurship is all about conscious choice toward the social purpose, which is truly a hard one.

What are some of the social enterprises in Armenia that you would recall?