Refrain from transliteration, respect the Mother Tongue – Pashinyan’s call on Day of Online Armenian Typing

15:06, 7 February, 2019

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 7, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has urged online users to type in Armenian letters and refrain from transliteration on the internet.

“Dear countrymen, since 2012 February 7 is marked as the Day of Armenian Typing Online at a civil initiative. In this context almost every day is a February 7 for me and I would like to urge you to type Armenian texts in Armenian letters online,” Pashinyan said on Facebook, referring to his active use of social media accounts where he almost exclusively types in Armenian letters.

“This is a more respectful approach not only to our national genius Mesrop Mashtots, but also all those online users who are reading your posts,” Pashinyan said.

Mesrob Mashtots was an early medieval Armenian linguist, theologian, statesman and hymnologist. He is best known for inventing the Armenian alphabet c. 405 AD.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS