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Modern Western Armenian for the English-Speaking World
A Contrastive Approach
Dora Sakayan (Author)
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The book consists of 12 units. Each unit, in its turn, contains twelve sections:
I Dialogues
II Text
III New Words and Expressions
IV Thematic Groups of Words
V Grammar
VI Armenian-English Contrasts
VII Word Formation
VIII Pronunciation
IX Orthography
X Writing
XI Exercises
XII Proverbs
The Appendix includes additional texts and other useful tools for reference:
Gambits
Grammar Tables
Armenian-English Glossary
English-Armenian Glossary
Index
Each unit opens with dialogues, a short exchange of utterances used in a given situation, to promote oral skills for recurring life-settings, enabling students to interact in Armenian by carrying out fundamental speech acts.
In the first half of the book, all newly introduced Armenian words and texts are accompanied by a Latin-based transliteration to facilitate both the spelling and the pronunciation of Western Armenian words. This transliteration system takes into account not only graphic correspondences, but also phonetic subtleties of Armenian.
Although grammar (morphology and syntax) is treated as an important aspect in mastering the language, other linguistic areas also receive attention. Grammar in this book is not a goal in itself, but a means of achieving ""communicative competence.""
A special section on Armenian-English contrasts analyses particular structural differences between the two languages.
Each unit contains a special section, pronunciation, focusing on particular sounds, word accent, syllabification, etc.
To acquaint students with Armenian folklore, each unit includes a few Armenian proverbs with their English translation. These proverbs are thematically and structurally related to the main topic of each unit.
Cross references throughout the book and an index at the end of the appendix bring related linguistic materials together.
Writing is practiced throughout the first four units in which the 38 letters of the Armenian alphabet are introduced. Letters are presented as calligraphic samples along with their printed and transliterated counterparts.
Each unit concludes with exercises which aim for the development of communicative competence. To ensure the crucial shift from traditional third-person sentences - which are often isolated and unrelated - to ""I-and-you"" interactions, various forms of communicative exercises are introduced.
Along with the section of readings, grammar tables, and an extended Armenian-English and English-Armenian glossary with all Armenian entries transliterated, the appendix contains a collection of gambits. These are routine formulas or ""pre-fabricated"" parts used in everyday speech that are readily transferable to recurrent life-settings.
Dr. Dora Sakayan was born in Salonica (Greece). There she attended elementary and high school, subsequently completing her secondary education in Vienna (Austria). She received a Ph.D. in Germanic philology in 1965 from Lomonosov State University in Moscow. She worked at Yerevan State University for twenty years, including ten years as Chair of the Department of Foreign Languages. Since 1975, Prof. Sakayan has been living in Canada. She is a Professor of German Studies at McGill University (Montreal, Quebec).
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