Editing Armenian language (section)

== Status and usage ==
The short-lived [[First Republic of Armenia]] declared Armenian its official language. [[Eastern Armenian]] was then dominating in institutions and among the population. When Armenia was incorporated into the USSR, the [[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic]] made Eastern Armenian the language of the courts, government institutions and schools. Armenia was also [[Russification|russified]]. The current [[Republic of Armenia]] upholds the official status of the Armenian language. [[Eastern Armenian]] is the official variant used, making it the [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestige variety]] while other variants have been excluded from national institutions. Indeed, [[Western Armenian]] is perceived by some as a mere dialect.<ref name=Karamanian2019>{{Cite journal |last=Karamanian |first=Armen Samuel |date=2019-11-13 |title='He Wasn't Able to Understand What I Was Saying': The Experiences of Returnees' Speaking Western Armenian in 'Eastern' Armenia |journal=PORTAL Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies |volume=16 |issue=1–2 |pages=120–140 |doi=10.5130/pjmis.v16i1-2.6290 |s2cid=211676057 |issn=1449-2490|doi-access=free |hdl=10453/141096 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Armenian was also official in the [[Republic of Artsakh]]. It is recognized as an official language of the [[Eurasian Economic Union]] although Russian is the working language.

Armenian (without reference to a specific variety) is officially recognized as a [[minority language]] in [[Languages of Cyprus|Cyprus]],<ref name=CYP1/><ref name=CYP2/> [[Languages of Hungary|Hungary]],<ref name=HUN/> [[Languages of Iraq|Iraq]],<ref name=IRQ/> [[Languages of Poland|Poland]],<ref name=POL1/><ref name=POL2/> [[Languages of Romania|Romania]],<ref name=ROU/> and [[Languages of Ukraine|Ukraine]].<ref name=UKR/> It is recognized as a minority language and protected in [[Languages of Turkey|Turkey]] by the 1923 [[Treaty of Lausanne]].<ref name=Toktaş2006>{{Cite journal |last= Toktaş |first= Şule |date=2006 |title=EU enlargement conditions and minority protection : a reflection on Turkey's non-Muslim minorities |url=https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/42732 |journal=East European Quarterly |language=en |volume=40|issue=4 |pages=489–519 |issn=0012-8449|quote-page=514|quote=This implies that Turkey grants educational right in minority languages only to the recognized minorities covered by the Lausanne who are the Armenians, Greeks and the Jews.}}</ref><ref name=Bayır2013>{{Cite book |last=Bayır |first=Derya |title=Minorities and nationalism in Turkish law |date=2013 |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4094-7254-4 |series=Cultural Diversity and Law |location=Farnham|url=https://www.academia.edu/37557239| pages=89–90 |quote=Oran farther points out that the rights set out for the four categories are stated to be the 'fundamental law' of the land, so that no legislation or official action shall conflict or interfere with these stipulations or prevail over them (article 37). [...] According to the Turkish state, only Greek, Armenian and Jewish non-Muslims were granted minority protection by the Lausanne Treaty. [...] Except for non-Muslim populations - that is, Greeks, Jews and Armenians - none of the other minority groups' language rights have been ''de jure'' protected by the legal system in Turkey. }}</ref><ref name=HRWLanguageRights>{{cite book |title = Questions and Answers: Freedom of Expression and Language Rights in Turkey |publisher = Human Rights Watch |date = April 2002 |location = New York |url =https://www.hrw.org/news/2002/04/19/qa-freedom-expression-and-language-rights-turkey |quote=The Turkish government accepts the language rights of the Jewish, Greek and Armenian minorities as being guaranteed by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.}}</ref><ref name=Uzum2017>{{Cite journal |last1=Uzum |first1=Melike |last2=Demir |first2=Nurettin |date=2017-10-24 |title=Minority Language Education and Policy in Turkey: The Case of Cankiri Poshas |url=https://ugei-ojs-shsu.tdl.org/ugei/article/view/16 |journal=Journal of Universality of Global Education Issues |language=en |volume=4 |issn=2575-9388|pages=5–6|quote=In the Lausanne treaty, people of the republic were defined through a religion based definition, similar to the Ottoman concept of millet (nation). For example, the non-Muslim minorities such as Armenians, Greeks, and Jews were recognized as minorities, and their language rights were identified in articles 39, 40, and 41.}}</ref>

Western Armenian is the main language of the [[Armenian diaspora]], and is the [[medium of instruction]] in the majority of [[Armenian-language schools outside Armenia]].<ref name=Karamanian2019/> In particular, although Armenian has no legal status in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], as of 2010 Armenian was the main language of instruction in 144 state-funded schools in the [[Samtskhe-Javakheti]] region.<ref>{{cite news|title=Javakhk Armenians Looks Ahead to Local Elections|url=http://asbarez.com/78867/georgias-armenian-minority-looks-ahead-toward-local-elections/|access-date=26 May 2014|newspaper=[[Asbarez]]|date=31 March 2010|quote=Javakheti for use in the region's 144 Armenian schools&nbsp;...}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Mezhdoyan|first=Slava|title=Challenges and problems of the Armenian community of Georgia|url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/MinorityIssues/Session5/statements/ItemV/3.%20EuropeanArmenianFederationJustice%20andDemocracy.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/MinorityIssues/Session5/statements/ItemV/3.%20EuropeanArmenianFederationJustice%20andDemocracy.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|publisher=European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy|access-date=26 May 2014|location=Tbilisi|date=28 November 2012|quote=Armenian schools in Georgia are fully funded by the government&nbsp;...}}</ref> The curriculum in Lebanon allows Armenian schools to teach Armenian as a basic language.<ref>{{cite web|title=Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 44 of the Convention. Third periodic reports of states parties due in 2003: Lebanon|url=http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/45377eb00.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/45377eb00.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|publisher=[[Committee on the Rights of the Child]]|access-date=26 May 2014|page=108|date=25 October 2005|quote=Right of minorities to learn their language. The Lebanese curriculum allows Armenian schools to teach the Armenian language as a basic language.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Sanjian|first=Ara|title=Armenians and the 2000 Parliamentary Elections in Lebanon|url=http://www.groong.org/ro/ro-20000907.html|work=Armenian News Network / Groong|publisher=[[University of Southern California]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140526153117/http://www.groong.org/ro/ro-20000907.html|archive-date=26 May 2014|quote=Moreover, the Lebanese government approved a plan whereby the Armenian language was to be considered from now on as one of the few 'second foreign languages' that students can take as part of the official Lebanese secondary school certificate (Baccalaureate) exams.}}</ref> In [[California]], home to a large [[Armenian American]] community, various [[California executive branch|state]] government agencies provide Armenian translations of their documents, including the [[California Department of Social Services]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Armenian Translations |url=http://www.cdss.ca.gov/cdssweb/PG25.htm |publisher=California Department of Social Services |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140526153235/http://www.cdss.ca.gov/cdssweb/PG25.htm |archive-date=26 May 2014 }}</ref> [[California Department of Motor Vehicles]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Վարորդների ձեռնարկ [Driver's Manual] |url=https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/wcm/connect/09a5b933-9869-4504-ac90-fe54366771b3/dl600A.pdf?MOD=AJPERES |publisher=California Department of Motor Vehicles |year=2016 |access-date=October 29, 2016 |archive-date=January 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180112155947/https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/wcm/connect/09a5b933-9869-4504-ac90-fe54366771b3/dl600A.pdf?MOD=AJPERES |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[California superior courts]].<ref>{{cite web |title=English/Armenian Legal Glossary |url=http://www.saccourt.ca.gov/general/legal-glossaries/docs/armenian-western-legal-glossary.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.saccourt.ca.gov/general/legal-glossaries/docs/armenian-western-legal-glossary.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |publisher=Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento |access-date=26 May 2014 |date=22 June 2005}}</ref> In the city of [[Glendale, California|Glendale]], there are some street signs in Armenian.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rocha |first=Veronica |title=New Glendale traffic safety warnings in English, Armenian, Spanish |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/01/glendales-new-traffic-safet-signs-in-english-armenian-and-spanish.html |access-date=26 May 2014 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=11 January 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Aghajanian |first=Liana |title=Intersections: Bad driving signals a need for reflection |url=http://articles.glendalenewspress.com/2012-09-04/opinion/tn-gnp-0904-intersections-bad-driving-signals-a-need-for-reflection_1_luxury-cars-car-accident-bad-drivers |access-date=26 May 2014 |newspaper=Glendale News-Press |date=4 September 2012 |quote=...&nbsp;trilingual street signs in English, Armenian, and Spanish at intersections&nbsp;... |archive-date=25 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525141440/http://articles.glendalenewspress.com/2012-09-04/opinion/tn-gnp-0904-intersections-bad-driving-signals-a-need-for-reflection_1_luxury-cars-car-accident-bad-drivers |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In Lebanon, Syria and Iran, Armenian communities were given greater autonomy than Assyrian, Kurdish, and other communities. In practice, Armenians were the only ethnic minority group in these countries allowed to teach their language in schools.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tK2GMRf-sY |title=How Syrian-Armenians Preserved Western Armenian |date=2020-05-31 |last=Rerooted Archive |access-date=2024-10-12 |via=YouTube}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016 |title=Armenians, Kurds in Lebanon hold on to their languages |url=https://thearabweekly.com/armenians-kurds-lebanon-hold-their-languages |access-date=October 12, 2024}}</ref> In [[Languages of Iran|Iran]], article 15 of the [[Constitution of Iran|constitution]] allows the use of "regional and tribal languages" in the mass media as well as within the schools. However, these languages do not receive formal status and are not officially regulated by the authorities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yesiltas |first=Ozum |date=2016-07-02 |title=Contested Notions of National Identity, Ethnic Movements And Democratization in Iran |url=http://publications.tlu.ee/index.php/stss/article/view/255 |journal=Studies of Transition States and Societies |language=en |volume=8 |issue=1 |doi=10.58036/stss.v8i1.255 |issn=1736-8758}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Riazi |first=Abdolmehdi |title=Decolonisation, Globalisation |chapter=6. The Four Language Stages in the History of Iran |date=2005-07-04 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234705882 |pages=98–114 |access-date=2023-10-07 |publisher=Multilingual Matters |language=en |doi=10.21832/9781853598265-008 |isbn=978-1-85359-826-5}}</ref> [[Iranian Armenians]] are de facto the only non-Persian ethnic group in Iran enjoying this right, with private schools where Armenian is the medium of instruction.<ref>{{cite web |title=Legal Aspects of Education in Mother Language for Iranian Azerbaijani Students |url=https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=30582350 |website=eLIBRARY.RU|language=en|pages=284–294|year=2017}}</ref>