Eduard Aghayan (; March 16, 1913December 29, 1991) was an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

linguist and philologist.

Career

Aghayan was born in

Meghri Meghri ( ; ) is a town and the centre of the Meghri Municipality of the Syunik Province in southern Armenia, near the border with Iran. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town was 4,580. According to the 2020 official estimate, Meghri's ...

and studied at a local primary school before working at a ''

kolkhoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz. These were the two components of the socialized farm sector that began to eme ...

'' as an accountant. In 1933 he was admitted to

Yerevan State University Yerevan State University (YSU; , , ), also simply University of Yerevan, is the oldest continuously operating public university in Armenia. Founded in 1919, it is the largest university in the country. It is thus informally known as Armenia's ...

(YSU), which he graduated in 1938 and completed his post-graduate studies in 1939. In 1941 he defended his ''

Candidate of Sciences A Candidate of Sciences is a Doctor of Philosophy, PhD-equivalent academic research degree in all the post-Soviet countries with the exception of Ukraine, and until the 1990s it was also awarded in Central and Eastern European countries. It is ...

'' thesis and his doctoral thesis in 1945. He was named professor in 1946. He worked at YSU from 1932 until his death. In 1948-50 he was dean of the philology faculty. Between 1956 and 1985 he was head of General Linguistics department, while in 1968-91 he served the head of the Center for Armenian Studies. He also worked at the Institute of Linguistics of the

Armenian Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia (NAS RA) (, ''Hayastani Hanrapetut’yan gitut’yunneri azgayin akademia'') is the Armenian national academy, functioning as the primary body that conducts research and coordinates acti ...

. In 1950-53 he served as its vice-director and from 1963 to 1993 he was head of the department of general and comparative linguistics at the institute. Since 1953 he was a corresponding member of the academy and became a full member (academician) in 1982. He died in Yerevan.

Research

Aghayan's research focused on general linguistics, the history of Armenian language and linguistics, comparative grammar, and

Armenian dialects The Armenian language has two standardized forms: Western Armenian and Eastern Armenian. Before the Armenian genocide and other significant demographic changes that affected the Armenians, several dozen Armenian dialects existed in the areas histor ...

. He is best known for his ''Explanatory Dictionary of Modern Armenian'' (Արդի հայերենի բացատրական բառարան), published in two volumes in 1976. It contains 136,000 words. It is the most comprehensive

Eastern Armenian Eastern Armenian () is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Western Armenian. The two standards form a pluricentric language. Eastern Armenian is spoken in Armenia, Russia, as well as Georgia, and by the Armeni ...

dictionary written in the

reformed Armenian orthography The Armenian orthography reform occurred between 1922 and 1924 in Soviet Armenia and was partially revised in 1940. Its main features "were the neutralization of classical, etymological writing and the adjustment of phonetic realization and writing ...

. His ''Introduction to Linguistics'' (Լեզվաբանության ներածություն) was originally published in Armenian in 1952 and was approved by Soviet Ministry of Education as a university textbook and was published in Russian (Введение в языкознание) in 1959. Aghayan also authored books on the grammar of

Classical Armenian Classical Armenian (, , ; meaning "literary anguage; also Old Armenian or Liturgical Armenian) is the oldest attested form of the Armenian language. It was first written down at the beginning of the 5th century, and most Armenian literature fro ...

(1964) and dialects (1984). He also edited the works of

Hrachia Acharian Hrachia Acharian (, reformed spelling: Հրաչյա Աճառյան; ; 8 March 1876 – 16 April 1953) was an Armenian linguist, lexicographer, etymologist, and philologist. An Istanbul Armenian, Acharian studied at local Armenian schools an ...

, his mentor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aghayan, Eduard 1913 births 1991 deaths Yerevan State University alumni Academic staff of Yerevan State University People from Meghri Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Armenian philologists Linguists from Armenia Linguists of Armenian Soviet Armenians Soviet philologists Linguists from the Soviet Union