After Means Neither Then nor the End

After work, you may perhaps pick your car, then go home to have dinner and, at the end of the day, catch a movie on TV.

If we were to ask a hundred people to translate the last sentence into Armenian,

1. They would probably agree that “the end of the day” is օրուան վերջը (orvan verche) (*), with verch meaning “end.”
2. Most of them would probably come up with the words յետոյ (hedo)—or its synonym ապա (aba), in case they were talking in a slightly fancier style—to translate “then.” However, we would find quite a few that would replace the Classical Armenian (krapar) form hedo with the more vernacular (even if also krapar-based) ետքը (yedke)(**) or use the word verch as if it were another synonym of hedo.
3. A few of them would use the word գործէն ետք (kordzen yedk) to say “after work,” with yedk as “after,” but an equal number would probably say kordzen hedo, and another equal number would say kordzen verch.

Items 2 and 3 already point to the existence of grey zones.

We know that:

1. Վերջ (verch), the same as “end,” is a noun;
2. Յետոյ (hedo), the same as “then,” is an adverb;
3. Ետք (yedk), the same as “after,” is a postposition; unlike English, Armenian has both prepositions and postpositions, namely, words placed before and after their complement.

What is the reason for these disagreements? In Classical Armenian, hedo functioned both as preposition and adverb (there was even an adverbial form յետոյ ապա, hedo aba, “after”). It was kept as an adverb in Modern Armenian, and it originated the postposition ետք/yedk (both յ-ետ-ոյ and ետ-ք come from the same root ետ, “back”).

Can we turn these grey zones into black and white ones? Yes, we can.

It is wrong to use verch instead of hedo and equally wrong to use verch or hedo instead of yedk. Here are the reasons:

1. The noun verch is only used together with a noun in genitive case of declension (սեռական հոլով, seragan holov). For instance: օրուան վերջը (orvan verche, “the end of the day”);
2. The adverb hedo is only used accompanying a verb. For example: Յետոյ՝ տուն կ՚երթաք ընթրիք ուտելու (Hedo`doon g’ertak entrik oodeloo, “Then go home to have dinner”).
3. The postposition yedk is used:

• After a noun in ablative case of declension (բացառական հոլով, patsaragan holov). For example: գործէն ետք (kordzen yedk, “after work”)
• After words that indicate time. For example: երկու ժամ ետք (yergoo jam yedk, “after two hours”).

(*) The widespread use of the declension -ուայ (-va), both in spoken and written language, is inaccurate in Western Armenian, even though it is standard in Eastern Armenian: in any circumstance, we can only say օրուան (orvan, “of the day”), տարուան (darvan “of the year”), ամառուան (amarvan “of the summer”), but not օրուայ, տարուայ or ամառուայ.
(**) In Eastern Armenian it is standard to use hedo instead of yedk, as in քնելուց յետոյ (kneloots hedo, “after sleeping”).

Odd “Armenian” Words

There are many words in our everyday usage that we assume to be Armenian, and they come down from generation to generation. This is how we find those same words used by people who have never set foot in an Armenian school and those who have finished an Armenian elementary or high school, both by people who barely speak Armenian and those who speak it as their primary language.

In the end, when people hear the actual Armenian equivalent of those same words, they are prone to complain: “You speak very pure Armenian,” “That’s a hard word,” “Nobody can understand you,” “Where do you find those words?” One may even wonder whether they show the same self-respect for the level of their English vocabulary.

Children may even become defensive and say, “I have learned this word at home,” or, if confronted with a repetitive series of common words they believe are “Armenian,” come to the bitter and self-defeating conclusion: “Have we really learned Armenian?"

Here is a randomly compiled list of frequent words that people “think” they are Armenian, only because they do not care to look for their actual origin or to make a real effort to enrich their vocabulary. The list is indeed extremely short, and does not claim to be a representative sample. But it may give an idea of where we stand.

“Armenian”	Armenian	English
զէվզէկ (zevzeg)	շատախօս (shadakhos)	charlatan
թոմաթէս (tomates)	լոլիկ (lolig)	tomato
իշտէ (ishde) (1)	ահա (aha)	there
հէչ/հիչ (hech/hich) (2)	բնաւ (pnav) / ոչինչ (vochinch)	at all, ever, anything
մահանայ (mahana)	պատրուակ (badrvag)	pretext
մաղտանոս (maghdanos)	ազատքեղ (azadkegh)	parsley
չօճուխ (chojukh)	պզտիկ (bzdig) / երեխայ (yerekha)	child
պաճանաղ (bajanagh)	քենեկալ (kenegal)	brother-in-law (*)
պայաթ (bayat)	օթեկ (oteg)	stale
պէլքի (belki)	թերեւս (terevs)	perhaps
պիլէ (bile) (3)	նոյնիսկ (nooynisg)	even
սալաթ (salat), սալաթա (salata)	աղցան (aghtsan)	salad
տահա (daha) (4)	դեռ (ter), տակաւին (dagaveen)	still
րէզիլ (rezil), քէփէզէ (kepezeh) (5)	խայտառակ (khaydarag)	shame
փաթաթէս (patates)	գետնախնձոր (kednakhntzor)	potato
փիս (pis)	գէշ (kesh), աղտոտ (aghdod)	bad / dirty
քի (ki)  (6)	թէ (te)/ որ (vor)	what / that
օրթալըխ (ortalekh) (7)	մէջտեղ (mechdegh)	middle

(1) For example: Իշտէ քեզի խելք (Ishde kezi khelk, “There you have an idea”), instead of Ահա քեզի խելք (Aha kezi khelk).

(2) For example: Հէչ չեմ գիտեր (Hech chem kider, “I don’t know at all”), instead of Բնաւ չեմ գիտեր (Pnav chem kider); Հէչ մտածե՞ր ես այդ մասին (Hech mdadzer es ayt masin?, “Have you ever thought about that?”), instead of Բնաւ մտածեր ես այդ մասին (Pnav mdadzer es ayt masin); Հէչ բան գիտե՞ս (Hech pan kides?, “Do you know anything?”).

(3) For example: Չեմ գիտեր պիլէմ (Chem kider bilem, “I don’t even know”), instead of Չեմ գիտեր նոյնիսկ (Chem kider nooynisg).

(4) For example: Ռեզիլ եղանք (Rezil yeghank, “We were ashamed”) or Քէփէզէ եղանք (Kepezeh yeghank), instead of Խայտառակ եղանք (Khaydarag yeghank).

(5) For example: Տահա չեմ գիտեր (Daha chem kider, “I still don’t know”), instead of Դեռ չեմ գիտեր (Ter chem kider) or Տակաւին չեմ գիտեր (Dagaveen chem kider):

(6) For example: Ես չեմ գիտեր քի ի՞նչ ըսեմ (Yes chem kider ki inch esem?, “I don’t even know what to say”), instead of Ես չեմ գիտեր թէ ի՞նչ ըսեմ (Yes chem kider te inch esem?); Կը խորհիմ քի... (Ge khorhim ki..., “I think that”), instead of Կը խորհիմ որ (Ge khorhim vor...).

(7) For example: Կեցեր է փողոցին օրթալըխը (Getser eh poghotsin ortalekhe), instead of Կեցեր է փողոցին մէջտեղը (Getser eh poghotsin mechdeghe)

(*) The Armenian term – which has no exact equivalent in English – refers to the relationship between the husbands of two sisters. The sister of a man’s wife is his քենի (keni), which makes the latter’s husband a kenegal.