Grammar Notes Declension of Nouns (¶á۳ϳÝÝ»ñÇ ÑáÉáíáõÙÁ)
Armenian nouns as well as other substantive
parts of speech, such as pronouns,
adjectives, numerals, etc. when used in the
functions of nouns, are declined, which
means that their endings change according
to their function in the sentence.
The various forms that nouns take are
called
cases. There are seven cases in Modern Eastern Armenian.
These cases are used to
express different meanings and have different
roles in the sentence.
The basic distinctions are the following:
Nominative
the case of the subject
Genitive
used to indicate possession, this is the
possessive case
Dative
the case of the indirect object
Accusative
the case of the direct object
Ablative
shows from what or from whom the action originates
Instrumental
indicates the means by which an action is
performed
Locative
indicates the place where the action occurs.
Genetive Formation (ê»é³Ï³Ý ÑáÉáÇ Ï³½ÙáõÃÛáõÝÁ) We have already met the genetive forms of
the nouns ѳÛñ (Ñáñ)father and Ù³Ûñ (Ùáñ) mother. The more general way of genetive formation
for Armenian
nouns is with the help of the ending -Ç. Most Armeninan nouns make use of this
ending for forming the genetive, e.g.
Nouns defined by noun complements in the
genetive case are usually used with
the definite
article, e.g.
ÈáõëÇÝ»Ç ·ÇñùÁ Ýáñ ¿:Lusine's (the) book is new. ²ñ³ÙÇ å³åÇÏÁ ѳñÛáõñ ï³ñ»Ï³Ý ¿:Aram's (the) grandfather is one hundred years old.
Nouns in the genitive case may not be used
with the definite article, but may be
used with one of the possessive articles
ë or ¹. The possessive articles are added
after the genitive ending s, e.g. å³åÇÏÇë-my grandfather's.
** When two vowels appear next to each other
in Armenian as in the word ÈáõëÇÝ»ÛÇ, a joining
soundÛ is
pronounced between the two vowels, which
appears in writing only after the vowels
³ and á. After the other
vowels it is heard but not written, e.g.
the word ÈáõëÇÝ»Ç is pronounced as [ÈáõëÇÝ»ÛÇ].
The verb »Ù ‘to be' in the Past Forms of the Past Tense:
»ë¿Ç
es eyi
I was
Ù»Ýù ¿ÇÝù
menq eyink'
We were
¹áõ ¿Çñ
du eyir
You were
¹áõù ¿Çù
duq eyik'
You were
ݳ ¿ñ
na er
He/She/It was
Ýñ³Ýù ¿ÇÝ
nranq eyin
They were
Past Progressive(²Ýϳï³ñ ²ÝóÛ³É) The past progressive is formed by adding
the corresponding form of the verb »Ù in the past tense to
the progressive participle. »ë ëáíáñáõÙ¿ÇÙ»Ýù ëáíáñáõÙ¿ÇÝ ¹áõ ëáíáñáõÙ¿Çñ¹áõù ëáíáñáõÙ¿Çù ݳ ëáíáñáõÙ¿ñÝñ³Ýù ëáíáñáõÙ¿ÇÝ The past progressive may signify two types
of actions: 1.Repeated action in the past, in this meaning
it corresponds to the English simple past.
A sentece like »ë ëáíáñáõÙ¿Ç may be rendered in English as I studied or I used to study. 2.An action that was in progress in the past.
In this meaning it corresponds to the English
past progressive. So a sentence like »ë ëáíáñáõÙ¿Ç may be rendered in English as I was learning.
Exercise 5. What are the past progressive forms of the
following verbs. ϳñ¹³É, ·ñ»É, ·Ý³É,
·³É,
ï³É:
