Arsen Aydinian (, born

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, January 19, 1825 – died

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, July 21, 1902) was an

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

n Catholic priest, linguist, grammarian, and master of ten languages.

Work

Arsen Aydinian contributed immensely to

n linguistics and grammar. He was from the Viennese

Mekhitarist The Mechitarists, officially the Benedictine Congregation of the Mechitarists (), is an Armenian Catholic monastic order of pontifical right for men founded in 1701 by Mekhitar of Sebaste. Members use the postnominal abbreviation CAM. The order ...

Order, and spoke both classical and modern Armenian. He was Abbot General of the Viennese

Order. In 1887, he was the leading figure in the establishment of the official journal, ''Handes Amsorya'', where he published many articles on linguistics. However, Aydinian’s biggest achievement was ''Knnakan kerakanutiwn ashkharhabar kam ardi hayeren lezvi'' (Critical grammar of the vernacular or modern Armenian language), published in 1866. It remains a highly important achievement in Armenian linguistics till this day. This book was especially significant due to the fact that the Armenian people at large were demanding the use of a more vernacular language in the literature and arts. This was a breakthrough since Classical Armenian was the language mainly associated with priesthood and high-ranked members of society.

References

External links

Critical Grammar of Vernacular or Modern Armenian - Part ICritical Grammar of Vernacular or Modern Armenian - Part IICritical Grammar of Vernacular or Modern Armenian - Part III (Orthography, Pronunciation, and Metrics)
1825 births 1902 deaths Writers from Istanbul Mekhitarists Armenian abbots Superiors general Armenian scholars Armenians from the Ottoman Empire Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Austria-Hungary Armenian expatriates in Austria Clergy from Istanbul 19th-century Christian abbots {{ArmenianCatholic-clergy-stub