Yerevan dialect

The Yerevan dialect (Armenian: Երևանի բարբառ, romanized: Yerevani barbar’) is an Eastern Armenian dialect spoken in and around Yerevan. It served as the basis for modern Eastern Armenian, one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian. Classical Armenian (Grabar) words, as well as native Armenian words which are not attested in Classical Armenian, compose a significant part of the Yerevan dialect's vocabulary.^[1] Throughout history, the dialect has been influenced by several languages, especially Russian and Persian, and loan words have significant presence in it today. It is the most widespread Armenian dialect today.^[2]

Historically, it was known as the Araratian dialect (Արարատյան բարբառ, Araratyan barbar’), referring to the Ararat plain where it is mainly spoken. In the 19th century, efforts were made to create a modern literary Armenian language. In 1841, the prominent Armenian writer Khachatur Abovian completed his novel Wounds of Armenia, which was written in the Yerevan dialect. The importance of the dialect grew in 1918, when Yerevan became the capital of the First Republic of Armenia. The Eastern Armenian language and the Yerevan dialect have been heavily influenced by the Russian language.^[3]

Today, the Yerevan dialect, which is the basis of colloquial Eastern Armenian,^[4][5] is spoken by nearly all native residents of Yerevan. In addition, virtually all dialects in Armenia, Republic of Artsakh and Georgia's Samtskhe-Javakheti region are influenced by the standardized form of the Yerevan dialect through the educational system.^[3] Most of the recent Armenian immigrants who have migrated to foreign countries since the late 1980s speak the Yerevan dialect.^[6]