Armenian Language Dictionaries

Dec 21, 2020 in Armenian Language

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According to nairi.com there are around 70 Armenian language monolingual dictionaries available in print. Here you may find the full list of all Armenian monolingual and multilingual dictionaries

New Dictionary of the Haykazian Language

Published in 1836-1837 (Venice, Saint Lazar publishing house) The New Dictionary of Haygazian Language (Նոր բառգիրք Հայկազեան լեզուի) is a two-volume comprehensive dictionary of Classical Armenian - Grabar compiled by three Mkhitarist scholars Gabriel Avedikian, Khachatur Surmelian and Mkrtich Avgerian. The authors dedicated over half a century to complete this endeavour.

The material of the dictionary is based on original and translated manuscripts of the 5–17th centuries. The authors used around 1000 manuscripts of the Mkhitarist Order library. As an explanatory dictionary, the meanings and the explanations of each word are accompanied by examples from original texts in chronological order. 

The New Dictionary of Haygazian Language consists of 2235 pages - each page includes three columns and it has around 57.000 entries. It presents the word stock of Classical Armenian in its real state, together with grammatical descriptions, semantic explanations, set expressions (idioms), specifying examples taken from various sources, parallel translations from other classical languages, mentions of the source of borrowing. 

The great value of the dictionary is that it illustrates the equivalents of headwords with numerous languages, such as Greek, Latin, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Assyrian, Hebrew, etc. 

Armenian philologist Norayr Byuzandatsi edited and enriched the New Dictionary of Haygazian Language and in the 1990s, thanks to Martiros Minasian’s efforts it was republished in Geneva. 

Armenian Language Summer School (4-8 weeks) course cover image

From Jul 07, 2024 to Aug 30, 2024

Yerevan, Armenia

Armenian Etymological Dictionary  

Armenian Etymological Dictionary (Հայերեն արմատական բառարան) is a seven-volume monumental work created by Hratchya Acharyan (1926-1935, Yerevan). 

The dictionary presents a complete list of 11.000 root words and 5.095 roots in the Armenian language with explanations, grammatical information and etymology. Each word of the dictionary is discussed through five separate sections. 1. Lexicology, 2. Etymology, 3.History of Etymology, 4. Dialectal words, 5. Loanwords from Armenian. The lexicological section provides the root of a word, the declensional and conjugational forms of that root, the meanings and its definitions, examples of usages of that word, other words derived from it and finally, its spelling. Etymology and etymological history sections touch upon the origin of roots, and various observations on that issue. 

The second edition of the Armenian Etymological Dictionary was published 1971-79 in four volumes.

Armenian Explanatory Dictionary

Stephanos Malkhasyants spent over 20 years (1922-1944) to complete the 4 volume Armenian Explanatory Dictionary (Հայերեն բացատրական բառարան) providing an exhaustive vocabulary list of Classical Armenian, Middle Armenian, and Modern Armenian words, as well as an exploration of the numerous dialects spoken by Armenians.

The current edition (1944-1945) consists of 120.000 words. Each page includes three columns presenting the Armenian vocabulary beginning from the 5th-century up to the literary language and dialects of modern times, borrowings from different periods, the origin of the roots, appropriate examples of meanings, grammatical indices. The dictionary won the Stalin Prize in 1946.

The second edition of the Armenian Explanatory Dictionary was published in 1955-1956 in Beirut and the third edition was published in 2010 in Yerevan.

Modern Armenian Explanatory Dictionary 

Modern Armenian Explanatory Dictionary (Արդի հայերենի բացատրական բառարան) is one of the most comprehensive Eastern Armenian dictionaries compiled by Eduard Agayan in 1976 (Yerevan).

Aghayan demonstrated a comprehensive and deep knowledge of the word structure of the Armenian language, accomplished the various grammatical and stylistic notes, successful explanations of terms and ambiguous words, and extensive revelations of meaning. The dictionary includes over 135.000 headwords and 11.000 phraseological units. Each page consists of three columns, and both volumes together have 1642 pages.

A brief version of the Modern Armenian Explanatory Dictionary was published in 2014, Yerevan (1328 pages).

Dictionary of Armenian First Names 

Authored by Hrachya Acharyan the Dictionary of Armenian First Names (Հայոց անձնանունների բառարան) was published in 1942-1962 by the Yerevan State University Publishing House. This five-volume exhaustive work includes all the names used in the Armenian language.

The author used over 800 multilingual sources and 50 various manuscripts to explain the etymology of each proper name providing the relevant types in several other languages.

The Dictionary of Armenian First Names (all 5 volumes) has 3155 pages.

Explanatory Dictionary of Armenian Language Synonyms

Published in 1967, Explanatory Dictionary of the Armenian Language Synonyms (Հայոց լեզվի հոմանիշների բացատրական բառարան) is compiled by Ashot Sukiasyan. 

It contains more than 83.000 words and phrases in Classical Armenian, Middle Armenian, Eastern and Western Armenian and the synonyms are provided with explanations of the words.

The dictionary won the President's Prize of the Republic of Armenia In 2004.

Armenian Language Summer School (4-8 weeks) course cover image

From Jul 07, 2024 to Aug 30, 2024

Yerevan, Armenia

Dictionary of Toponyms of Armenia and Adjacent Regions 

Dictionary of Toponyms of Armenia and Adjacent Regions (Հայաստանի և հարակից շրջանների տեղանունների բառարան) is a 5 volume work compiled by Tadevos Hakobyan, Stepan Melik-Bakhshyan and Hovhannes Barseghyan in 1986-2001 (YSU Publishing House). The scholar team spent over 40 years to complete the five-volume dictionary based on multilingual sources and various valuable materials, even secret Soviet maps. 

The material of the dictionary consists of over 140.000 toponyms of historical Armenia, including Cilicia and 150 historical maps. Each page has three columns, and all volumes together have 4814 pages.

In 2003, the Dictionary of Toponyms of Armenia and Adjacent Regions received the RA President's Award for Development of Humanistic Values.

Armenian Orthographic-Orthoepic-Terminological Dictionary

Armenian Orthographic-Orthoepic-Terminological Dictionary (Հայերեն ուղղագրական-ուղղախոսական-տերմինաբանական բառարան) is a monolingual Armenian dictionary compiled by Hovhannes Barseghyan. It was published in 1973 (Yerevan, ‘’Luys’’ Publishing House).

The dictionary provides the comprehensive orthographic vocabulary of  Modern Armenian as well as scientific terms and examples from several dialects spoken by Armenians. This dictionary includs over 152.000 words. 

Dictionary of Middle Armenian

The two volume monolingual dictionary of Middle Armenian (Միջին հայերենի բառարան) was created by Ruben Ghazaryan and Henrik Avetisyan. It was published by Yerevan State University Publishing House in two volumes in 1987 and 1992.

The authors compiled the words, styles and phrases in literary Middle Armenian that have been used independently and translated in poems in the 12th-16th centuries as well as the loanwords from Greek, Persian and Arabic. The thesaurus is explained through over 200 medieval sources and manuscripts.

The Dictionary of Middle Armenian presents around 23.000 words - each page has two columns and both volumes together have 841 pages.

The second edition was published in 2009 (Yerevan).

Comprehensive Explanatory Dictionary of the Armenian Idioms

Petros Bediryan spent over half century (1958-2011) to create the most comprehensive explanatory dictionary of  Armenian idioms (Հայերեն դարձվածքների ընդարձակ բացատրական բառարան). 

This dictionary contains 25.310 phrases in Western and Eastern Armenian both literary and dialect vocabulary. 

The material is compiled from the works of 774 Armenian authors (from Sayat-Nova up to our days), 130 periodicals and media of the Republic of Armenia and Armenian Diaspora. The meaning and explanation of each phrase is given together with the original context. The phraseological unit is discussed as a fixed ready-made unit with a partially or completely transferred meaning. 

The Comprehensive  Explanatory Dictionary of the Armenian Idioms was published by Yerevan State University Publishing House in 2011.