Armenian alphabet

The Armenian alphabet was created around 404 to 406 by Mesrop Mashtots, a monk and former royal scribe, with the support of the Catholicos Sahak and King Vramshapuh.¹ Its purpose was religious. A written Armenian made it possible to translate the Bible, and a translation movement began soon after Mashtots returned to court with the new letters.¹

How it was made

The oldest account is The Life of Mashtots, written by Mashtots’s own pupil, Koriun. Koriun tells how Mashtots first looked to a Syrian bishop named Daniel, who had a script that might serve. After about two years it proved unable to represent all the sounds of Armenian, and Mashtots turned to Greek models and to a Greek scribe, Ropanos, working at Samosata.¹²

First use

The first text written in the new script was a verse from the Proverbs of Solomon on the pursuit of wisdom.² The Bible was translated over the following years, first from Syriac sources and then revised against Greek ones, and the translation became the foundation of Armenian literature.¹

Letters and later changes

Two letters were added in the Middle Ages, ō (օ) and f (ֆ).¹ The alphabet is used today for both Eastern Armenian, the official language of Armenia, and Western Armenian, spoken chiefly in the diaspora.

Other scripts

Mashtots is also credited with alphabets for the Georgians and the Caucasian Albanians.¹