MANIFESTATION OF PECULIARITIES OF THE DECLENSION SYSTEMS OF GRABAR AND MIDDLE ARMENIAN IN “HISTORY OF ARMENIA” BY KIRAKOS GANDZAKETSI

Abstract

The paper refers to the peculiarities of the declension system and its expression in
“History of Armenia” by the remarkable Armenian historian of the XIII century, Kirakos
Gandzaketsi. Before referring to the specifics of the declension system found in Kirakos
Gandzaketsi’s work, the overall grammatical picture of Classical Armenian (Grabar) and
Middle Armenian (Cilician Armenian) as well as the differences of the language development during the mentioned periods and the peculiarities of the declension systems are presented. Тhe expression of the latter in the mentioned work is discussed in detail. Even though Kirakos Gandzaketsi lived and worked in the period of usage of Middle Armenian, mainly the grammatical patterns of Classical Armenian are observed in his “History of Armenia”. The declension system is not an exception: in the mentioned piece the used words are mainly declined in compliance with the grammatical specifics of Classical Armenian. Being an author who lived and created in the mid-Armenian period, the historian, however, was guided by the grammatical patterns of Classical Armenian. In a certain sense, this has an explanation: Kirakos Gandzaketsi was a historian, and when referring to the specific historic period, should keep his work close to the spirit of the presented period and so to the peculiarities of that grammatical system. What refers to the declension system found in the discussed work, it should be noted that Kirakos Gandzaketsi followed the grammatical patterns of the declension system of Grabar. Throughout the work, the declension suffixes of Classical Armenian, the majority of which are preserved in Middle Armenian, are used. However, the declensions formed in Middle Armenian are not observed.