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Language

     The official language of the Republic of Armenia is Armenian (Hayeren). Armenian is an independent branch within the Indo-European language family. The Armenian alphabet, consisting of 39 characters, was created in 405 AD by a monk named Mesrop Mashtots (the original alphabet had 36 letters; three additional letters were later added). The first literary work written with the new alphabet was the translation of the Bible from Greek. This translation has since been regarded as a masterpiece by many linguists. Over the centuries, the dialect into which the Bible was translated became the standard language—grabar, or Classical Armenian. Numerous literary works, both original and translated, were written in grabar during that period. Many works in Classical Greek, Latin, and other languages exist today only in their Armenian translations. A unique collection of priceless ancient documents is preserved in the National Depository of Manuscripts, the Matenadaran, in Yerevan.

     The first printed documents appeared in Armenia in the early 16th century. A century later, in 1662, an Armenian cleric, Father Voskan, was sent to Amsterdam by Catholicos Hakop to prepare for the printing of the Bible in Armenian. A few years later, the work, which involved casting Armenian letter types and producing wooden carvings for illustrations, was completed, and the first Bible in Armenian was printed in Amsterdam in 1666.

     Russian is also widely used. Major Western languages, such as Spanish, Italian, German, French, and especially English, are included in public school curriculums and are extensively taught in most colleges and universities.