PARAMUS, NJ—The Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMAA) is proud to announce that a guidebook of Western Armenian orthography and punctuation has been published in Aleppo, Syria.
The newly printed volume, which is 156 pages, bears the title, “A Literary Inspired Stroll with the Letters of the Alphabet.” The author of the book is the renowned Syrian-Armenian writer, press contributor and pedagogic tiller, Levon Sharoyan.
By its nature, the volume, though it can be considered primarily a grammatical work, has been written in an accessible language and can be read like a perusal volume, for any Armenian who desires to improve the mastery of his mother tongue and get acquainted with the rules of her orthography. However, it will be useful specifically to Diasporan Armenian teachers, high school and college students and scholars of Armenological institutes.
The Prologue is signed by renowned Lebanese-Armenian Dr. Armenak Yeghiayan. “…[A]t first glance the present compilation seems to be a guidebook of the frequently encountered and seemingly insurmountable errors of Western-Armenian, but scarcely a few pages deep, the reader realizes, that besides acquiring an important orthographic fact, s/he has become aware also of numerous literary, historical, cultural tidbits, which s/he would have hardly had the opportunity to meet thus selectively and simultaneously gathered together, and at every step will be recompensed by a beautiful finding and a smart proposition,” he observes.
In his Foreword, Sharoyan explains that he undertook this task because during his long years of pedagogic activity, he has always painfully realized that candidates of graduation in the higher grades of Armenian secondary schools by overwhelming majority were unable to write their mother tongue in perfect orthography.
Starting exactly from this point of departure, Sharoyan undertook the preparation of this project. He skillfully fixated on 21 letters in the Armenian alphabet for the orthographic complications they caused. The score of letters, taken pair by pair, are those in the alphabet that within the orthographic system are homophonous of the consonants Բ-Փ; Գ-Ք; Դ-Թ; Հ-Յ; Ձ-Ց; Չ-Ջ; Ռ-Ր; Վ-Ւ and the vowels Ե-Է and Ո-Օ. The aim of the work is to remedy orthographical errors and point to ways that can help writers overcome common obstacles arising from homophonous letters.
The newly published book is not simply an orthographical guidebook, however. It has two other aspects: glossology and punctuation. The author deciphers the etymology of numerous homophonic words and expands on the secrets of their construction, leaving readers with very interesting discoveries. Punctuation is another area of focus, because the author believes it is not taught in a sufficient manner or with great urgency in our schools. The book devotes about 20 pages to the punctuation marks of the Armenian language. It explains in detail the rules and spheres of utility of each mark and provides numerous impressive examples for all of them.
In its centennial history, the AMAA has always and continually stood by the Armenian school and Armenian students and believes this newly published grammar book benefits the rebirth and vitality of Western Armenian. It would make a useful tool in the hands of our Armenian-speaking and Armenian-writing public.
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Նախ, պետք է “տառերով” գրուի, ոչ “տառերուն հետ”․․․․”հետ” միայն մարդ/անձ-ի պարագային կը գործածուի
Most importantly, where can I purchase a copy of the new book “A Literary Inspired Stroll with the letters of the alphabet”?
grigoriansiran@gmail.com