THE POSSIBILITY OF CLARIFICATION OF THE PERIOD OF SOME PHONETICAL CHANGES IN THE ARMENIAN LANGUAGE BY MEANS OF THE VAN (ARARAT-URARTU) CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS
The language of the cuneiform inscriptions of Van (Urartian) was the official written language of the Van Kingdom (Urartu). According to our opinion, the Armenian language is the basis of it and it contains a great number of Armenian word roots, morphemes (either native or of unknown origin) and Armenian names. The cuneiform inscriptions of Van date back to the 9-7th centuries B.C.; namely, they are older by 1000-1300 years compared with the first written texts of the Old Armenian language (Grabar). Needless to say, they may contain properties, inherent to the Armenian phonetic system of the time in question. Consequently, the comparison of the sounds of the Old Armenian language (further: OArm.) with those of the Biainian/Urartian becomes important, making possible to clarify the period of some historical phonetic changes of Armenian and to explain the status of the Armenian’s appropriate sounds more than 1000 years earlier of those evidenced in Grabar.
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