ABSTRACT
This Indo-European language is spoken by about 5 million in the Armenian Republic, in Georgia and elsewhere in the CIS; and, in a slightly different form, by about a million in several Middle Eastern countries (Turkey, Lebanon) and by emigre colonies throughout the world. This second form is known as Western Armenian; Eastern Armenian is the written and spoken language used in the CIS. The two forms are mutually intelligible, indeed very close to each other. Within Eastern Armenian the sub-dialectal system is very complex: Garibian distinguishes over 50 dialects, sub-divided into seven groups, according to the method used to form the present tense.
