Malatya dialect


The Malatya dialect of Western Armenian was traditionally spoken in the city of Malatya and nearby villages, extending as far south as Hüsni Mansur. This region formed part of the broader Armenian-speaking world in Anatolia, where distinct local dialects developed over centuries. Unlike areas farther north or west, the Malatya region marked the southern linguistic boundary of Armenian, beyond which Armenian ceased to be spoken. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the use of Armenian in Malatya began to decline due to displacement, assimilation, and the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

Phonetic features

The Malatya dialect is characterized by unique sound changes that set it apart from both neighboring and standard dialects of Armenian. These changes include shifts in consonants and vowels, with influences from nearby dialects such as Kharberd, Tigranakert, and Cilicia.
Malatya Armenian lost the contrast between certain voiced and voiceless stop consonants. However, because Adjarian's law was triggered before this sound change, the historical contrasts are reflected in Malatya Armenian as contrasts in vowels that follow them. For instance, where earlier stages of Armenian had, the corresponding word in Maltya Armenian would be ; where earlier stages had, Maltya Armenian instead has. Bert Vaux analyzes this change as involving the spread of an ATR feature from the consonant to the following vowel. Other linguists have disagreed with this analysis, suggesting that the outcomes in the Malatyan are better explained by the Adjarian's law being blocked by an earlier breathiness contrast.

Consonant changes

Voiceless stops become voiced :
  • Pʿari → Bari
  • Pʿantsʿə → Bardzrə
  • Kʿirkʿ → Girkʿ
Voiced stops become lenis or softer in articulation:
  • Tʿoṙ → Duṙ
  • Tʿanag → Danak

Vowel changes

E > A
  • Mantsʿ → Mets
  • Pʿar → Ber
  • Lar → Ler
I > I
  • Tsoṙin → Tsoren
  • Khilkʿ → Khelkʿ
U > O
  • Tʿoṙ → Duṙ
  • Čʿoṙ → Juṙ
  • Hoṙm → Hum
Ay > E
Mer → Mayr
  • Pʿed → Pʿayt
  • Eki → Aygi
Ay > A
  • Tsʿan → Dzayn
  • Lan → Layn
U > I
  • Akhpʿir → Aghbyur
  • Hērir → Haryur
  • Erin → Aryun
Oṙ... > O
  • Koṙ → Koyr
  • Loṙs → Loyis
  • Pʿon → Boyn
Eo > Tsʿeo
  • Tsʿeon → Dzyun
These phonetic features demonstrate the transitional nature of the dialect, combining traits of neighboring dialects while exhibiting unique developments.

Lexical Features

The vocabulary of the Malatya dialect shares similarities with other Western Armenian dialects but also includes borrowings and adaptations from Kurdish, Turkish, and Arabic, reflecting the region's multicultural environment.
Unlike its phonetics, the syntax does not show significant deviations from other Western Armenian dialects.
Comparison with Neighboring Dialects: The Malatya dialect is closely related to the dialects of Kharberd, Tigranakert, and Cilicia, but it also exhibits distinct characteristics:
Shared Features with Kharberd-Yerznga:
Unique vowel shifts such as U > I.
Distinct from Tigranakert:
Tigranakert lacks vowel changes like U > I, which are prominent in Malatya.
Purer Phonetics Compared to Cilicia:
Malatya’s phonetics are more conservative and less influenced by external changes compared to Cilician dialects such as Marash.

Preservation and Decline

The Malatya dialect, like many regional Armenian dialects, faced decline following the Armenian Genocide of 1915, which devastated the Armenian population in Anatolia. The few remaining speakers were displaced, and the dialect has since become functionally extinct. Today, it survives only in written records and linguistic studies.
After the genocide, the Armenians that lived in Malatia regrouped themselves in modern day Armenia in Nor Malatia, where the dialect was continued to be spoken.

Sample texts

The following is a story in Malatya Armenian:
The following is a story in the Adiyaman subdialect of Malatya Armenian: