On Some Fundamental Differences between Western Armenian and Eastern Armenian Metrics

Abstract

The article examines a number of fundamental differences between Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian poetry, which became particularly evident in the mid-19th century. This was the period when the first steps were taken toward the artistic development of the spoken (New Armenian) language, and the phonetic, accentual, and pronunciation differences between the two branches of language were also clearly reflected in the forms of poetic speech. Syllabic verse, which was formed in the 10th-12th centuries, developed a number of principles that passed into the poetry of subsequent eras and were substantiated in the theoretical works of the Mkhitarists (Bagratuni, Hyurmuzian, Tiroyan, Khazikyan, and others). The main question that arose during that period was the meaning of stable stresses (constants) in the poetic line and their rhythm-forming function. The Mkhitarists considered it essential to emphasize articulation with stress, while Eastern Armenian poetry of the late 19th century had already abandoned this principle and attached greater importance to the equality of syllables and the syntactic independence of parts. These differences in the rhythmic structure of the two languages ​​did not go unnoticed and even have provided a pretext for unwarranted criticism by Western Armenians. One such example is A. Khazikyan's review (Bazmavep, 1899, No. 4), written on the occasion of a new collection of poems by Al. Tsaturyan. A comprehensive study of the two branches of Armenian poetry reveals that Western Armenian syllabic verse is, in a sense, an intermediate form, combining stress and syllabic principles. This is precisely why Western Armenian poetry is predominantly built on tetra- and trisyllabic parts, since the requirement for stable stress forces poets to use shorter parts, while Eastern Armenian poetry is more inclined to use pentasyllables.