Grammar Notes¶
Grammatical concepts we covered in this unit
- affirmative and negative present tense conjugations of կայ ("to be, in terms of existence")
- the two third-person forms (ան/ինք[ն/ը]; անոնք/իրենք)
- nominative case of all personal pronouns
- genitive case of all personal pronouns
- genitive with -ան
- postpositions as adjectives
- postpositions and articles
Affirmative and negative present tense conjugations of կայ ("to be, in terms of existence")¶
The defective verb կայ
Կայ is our penultimate special verb in the present tense, and it has six conjugations (though we mostly use the third-person singular [կայ] and plural [կան])! It's a verb that means "to be" or "to exist" depending on the context. You might be wondering: But didn't we already learn ըլլալ for "to be"? You're right! Ըլլալ is used for "to be" when we're not talking about existence or presence. So, look at the following examples:
- Խոհանոցը հոս է։ = The kitchen is here.
- Սենեակին մէջ ի՞նչ կայ։ = What is in the room? [As in: "What exists in the room?"]
- «Հայկ»ը հայկական անուն է։ = Հայկ is an Armenian name.
- Շատ հայկական անուններ կան։ = There are many Armenian names. [as in: "Many Armenian names exist."]
Կայ is a very unusual verb. In fact, it is "defective"—it does not have an infinitive. There are two tenses in which կայ can be used—the present tense to express current reality and the imperfect past tense. When used in any tense beyond the current-reality present and the imperfect, and in any mood outside of the indicative [telling facts] (such as the imperative [giving commands] or the subjunctive [talking about something that isn't yet or never was reality], this verb defaults to ըլլալ conjugations.
| կայ ("to be, in terms of existence") | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1st | կամ | կանք |
| 2nd | կաս | կաք |
| 3rd | կայ | կան |
To form the negative for կայ, add the չ- prefix on the affirmative conjugation.
| կայ ("to be, in terms of existence") | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1st | չկամ | չկանք |
| 2nd | չկաս | չկաք |
| 3rd | չկայ | չկան |
A note about singular/plural usage with կայ
If you're just asking "Are there any pillows on the couch?" (because you want to know what's there), you can use the singular form of բարձ with կայ. But if you want to say something like Շատ մեծ բարձեր կան (with an emphasis on how many big pillows there are), you can use the plural բարձեր with կան.
The two third-person forms (ան/ինք[ը/ն]; անոնք/իրենք)¶
In Western Armenian, there are two options when you're talking about third-person singular or plural persons. The pairs are the following:
- ան / ինք[ը/ն]
- անոնք / իրենք
And why is the ը / ն on ինք in brackets?
Well done noticing that! You will hear ինք, ինքը, and ինքն. They all mean the same thing ("he / she / it"), but we use ինքն when the word is followed by a word that begins with a vowel.
Why do we have these pairs? Unlike English where a sentence like "She gives an apple to her mother" can mean both "She gives an apple to [her own] mother" and "She gives an apple to [another person's] mother," Armenian clearly distinguishes between two third-person people, like so:
- Ինքը [իր] մօրը խնձոր կու տայ = She gives an apple to [her own] mother {note that here the իր is optional because it immediately follows ինքը}
- Ինքն անոր մօրը խնձոր կու տայ = She gives tanhe apple to [another person's] mother {note that here that ինքը changes to ինքն because it's followed by a vowel sound at the beginning of the next word}
- Արփին իր սենեակն է = Արփի is in her [own] room
- Արփին անոր սենեակն է = Արփի is in her [another third person's] room
So, when there are two third persons being discussed in one statement, your primary third person takes the ինք[ը/ն] form, while your secondary third person takes the forms associated with ան. If there are no other third persons (just one he/she/it), many speakers will use ան as the subject. Note the following examples:
- Ան լաւ է
- Ան պարել կը սիրէ
The same distinctions between ան and ինք[ը/ն] are maintained with the plural third-person pair: անոնք / իրենք.
- Իրենք իրենց մօրը խնձոր կու տան = They give an apple to [their own] mother
- Իրենք անոնց մօրը խնձոր կու տան = They give an apple to [another person's] mother
- Անին ու Արփին իրենց սենեակն են = Անի and Արփի are in their [own] room
- Անին ու Արփին անոնց սենեակն են = Անի and Արփի are in [another plural third person's] room
To sum it up
Armenian is a language where you can distinguish between multiple third-person subjects. So, in English, when we say "She is looking for her mother," there is some confusion about which third person is doing the action. In Armenian, you can mark a primary third person (or group), and they will be marked by ինք[ը/ն] and իրենք, especially if there are multiple third-person subjects in a single sentence. Usually if a personal pronoun is going to be used, the first usage will be ան or անոնք, which will then be replaced by ինք[ը/ն] and իրենք when more third-person subjects arrive on the scene. Oftentimes, ինք[ը/ն] and իրենք refer to a person or people just mentioned in a prior statement. For now, just know that Armenian can clarify things more than English does!
Another thing to note here: Many speakers choose to use ան with animals or inanimate objects, though sometimes you'll find out a lot about how much importance someone gives to an animal or inanimate object by choosing to use ինք[ը/ն].
Nominative case of all personal pronouns¶
The nominative case is the base form of nouns. The nominative is the case of the subject and answers the questions who? or what?. Your chart is now complete!
| 1st | ես | մենք |
| 2nd | դուն | դուք |
| 3rd | ան / ինք[ը/ն] | անոնք / իրենք |
Genitive case of all personal pronouns¶
The genitive is the case of possession. It answers the questions whose? and of what?. With this unit, we completed the chart for personal pronouns by adding the possessive adjectives and suffixes for everyone.
| 1st | [իմ] ___ս | մեր ___ը/ն |
| 2nd | [քու] ___դ | ձեր ___ը/ն |
| 3rd | անոր / իր ___ը/ն | անոնց / իրենց ___ը/ն |
Genitive with -ան¶
There are a few special words that take special forms in the ՝genitive՝ and ՝dative՝ cases. One of those words that we learned in this unit is տուն, which has the genitive/dative form of տան. Other words that take this special dative form (where the word is transformed instead of taking a suffix) are the following:
- աղջիկ → աղջկան
- դուռ → դռան
- լեռ → լեռան
- ձուկ → ձկան
- մուկ → մկան
- շուն → շան
- տուն → տան
Postpositions as adjectives¶
Remember that the genitive is the case of possession. It answers the questions whose? and of what?.
Armenian uses the genitive -ի in places that English-speakers do not expect. In English, where "tea" does not change when describing "cup" in "tea cup," there isn't much to do. In Armenian, we modify the first noun that is functioning as some sort of adjective. This is called a genitive of complement. Note the following examples:
- սուրճի գաւաթ = coffee mug
- թէյի դգալ = teaspoon
- ջուրի շիշ = water bottle
The same sort of thing is happening with postpositions used as nouns, which if we're being specific, are functioning in the form of the genitive. Postpositions (that are associated with genitive or ablative cases with the words they modify) can be used as nouns. In these situations, most postpositions use the genitive -ի form. Note the following examples:
- վերի յարկը = the top floor
- քովի սենեակը = the nearby room
Where English would not modify the adjective in any way when describing "top floor," Armenian does!
Postpositions and articles¶
Postpositions that are associated with the genitive case can be nominalized, as in, they can take possessive and definite article suffixes. Look at the list below:
- Մեր ետեւը նկար կայ
- Քովս կու գայ
- Սեղանին վրան է [but Սեղանին վրայ չէ]
- Անկողինին տակը աղտոտ է [and some speakers will even say Անկողինին տակն աղտոտ է for vocalic harmony]
- Ո՞ւր է → Դիմացը
The rules in general about definite articles with postpositions that are associated with the genitive case are the following:
- Definite article always added: When responding to a question by giving just the postposition (or just the noun + postposition)
- Definite article usually added: When the postposition is followed by affirmative current reality conjugations of ըլլալ (է, եմ, etc.)
What about the postpositions that aren't associated with the genitive form?
Postpositions with ablative, instrumental, or dative forms do not take the possessive and definite article suffixes. Examine the examples below:
- Իր տունը մեր տան մօտ է
- Իր սենեակը սենեակէդ հեռու է
For more information about the use of articles with postpositions in Western Armenian, consult pages 120–121 of Kevork Bardakjian and Robert Thomson's A Textbook of Modern Western Armenian or pages 140–141 of Fr. S. L. Kogian's Armenian Grammar (West Dialect).