Caucasian Languages I (Armenian, Georgian) A [ LGLOR1651 ]

The Georgian Syllabus, and morphology tables are available on the iCampus server.

- For the level I.1 none; a knowledge of the notions of Latin and/or Greek is useful, but not indispensable.
- For the level I.2, the course LGLOR1652 (level I.1).

An initiation into the structures and principal characteristics of the ancient Armenian and Georgian languages.

Alternately with LGLOR1652, this course is given to two distinct groups of students according to their level. The first term is devoted to Armenian,
the second to Georgian.

- For the level I.1 (beginners), it treats first the writing and reading of the two alphabets concerned, and then the basic notions of the declensions and conjugations.
- For the level I.2, it deepens the notions of morphology and deals with the notions of syntax.

The exercises (15h, 3 credits) in addition to the lectures consist of a series of exercises aimed at developing the grammatical and syntactical notions, and the apprenticeship of the reading of manuscripts.

Students attending this course during their preparatory year to the Master in Ancient Languages and Literatures (Oriental Languages) will receive specific guidelines enabling them to get in one year the necessary skills as required by the end of the two levels.

At the end of this course, which implies following the course LGLOR1652 also, the student will be capable of reading and translating, with help of the basic tools, ancient Armenian and Georgian texts of elementary or average difficulty. In order to achieve this goal, he will have acquired the basic notions of the nominal morphology (declensions) and of the verbal morpholy (conjugations) of Armenian and Georgian languages.

Evaluation is continuous, but an oral exam will be held at the end of the year: reading and translation of a text already seen in class, with explanations of the grammar.

Lectures. The students will be asked to do exercises.

The Armenian and Georgian languages belong to different linguistic systems, but to cultural and religious worlds the are partially identical.  The objects of the course are these two languages as they were used as from the 5th century A.D. in a geographical area including the Caucasus, but also the whole of the Middle East (the Byzantine world, the Christian Orient). The course initiates the students into the linguistic systems of ancient Armenian and Georgian, introduces them to the working materials (dictionaries, grammars, studies) and makes them capable of reading and understanding the original sources written in these languages. Particular attention is paid to the linguistic systems  in question (Indo-European in the case of Armenian, ergative Caucasian in the case of Georgian) and to a rapid comparison between the ancient and modern forms of these languages.  

For Armenian, the course is based on Robert Thomson's textbook, An Introduction to Classical Armenian, 2nd ed., New York, 1989.

For the Georgian, a syllabus in French will be provided.

The teacher calls together the students at the beginning of the year, to fix the timetable with them.