The Imperative in Classical Armenian from a Typological and Historical Perspective.

Abstract

It is a common knowledge that the Imperative has a special form mainly for the second person singular in Classical Armenian, showing a variety of formations and sometimes doublets (especially, in the mediopassive inflection. cf. իմա­նամ, ացայ – իմա՛/իմա՛ց/իմացի՛ր, լուանամ, ացայ – լուա՛/լուացի՛ր, խօսիմ, եցայ – խօ­սեա՛/խօ­սեա՛ց). Based on a synchronic and diachronic analysis of the relevant evidence from Classical Armenian, an assumption is made that the same aorist stem (with the stem-final -c^c having been dropped in polysyllabic -c^c-aorist stems) was initially employed as a 2^nd sing. imperative in both active and mediopassive inflection after the loss of post-tonic syllables in Pre-Written Armenian. Later, the polysyllabic -c^c-aorist stem with the analogically restored final-c^c as well as the root/-c^c-aorist stem plus the ending -ir (ի՛ր) came to be used in the meaning of the 2^nd sing. mediopassive imperative in order to differentiate between active and mediaopassive imperative forms, and partly due to system pressure and analogical extension. Therefore, the active forms of the 2^nd sing. imperative of a number of middle/mediopassive verbs in Classical Armenian (cf. նստիմ, նստայ – նի՛ստ, դառ­նամ, դար­ձայ – դա՛րձ, լուանամ, ացայ – լուա՛ etc.), should be regarded as relict forms retained owing to the high frequency of use.