Via Jonathan Edelstein at The Head Heeb, a fascinating Al-Ahram supplement on the Armenian minority in Egypt. To steal Jonathan’s summary:


The supplement includes several articles, one of which, “Little Armenia” by Fayza Hassan, includes this paragraph on the dialect of the community:

The difference in dialects is often mentioned by Armenians who have visited Armenia. Aida Ostayan, who has been directing the Armenian programme on Radio Cairo for 30 years, explains: "The Armenians of Armenia were under Persian and Russian influence; they are the Eastern Armenians. We, on the other hand, lived in the Ottoman provinces and our roots are more European." Ostayan herself was born in Aleppo. "The language is really the same, but there are differences in accent (as in Egyptian Arabic and Lebanese for instance), and words have been borrowed from one or the other culture, which sometimes lead to confusion," she says.

I once visited the Armenian quarter of Aleppo and heard an Armenian priest chant from the Bible: quite an experience. Must learn Armenian one of these days…


  1. Super color scheme. will return in the near future. interesting site.
    mediterranean cruise | chinese food | mediterranean food | french food | bar restaurant |

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