Armenian language

Armenian
հայերէն/հայերեն hayeren
Pronunciation	[hɑjɛˈɾɛn]
Native to	Armenian Highlands
Native speakers	8-12 million (ca.2001 – some figures undated)
Language family	Indo-European Armenian
Early forms	Proto-Armenian (reconstructed) Classical Armenian Middle Armenian Armenian
Standard forms	Eastern Armenian Western Armenian
Writing system	Armenian alphabet Armenian Braille
Official status
Official language in	Armenia Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
Recognised minority language in	Official (de jure) status: Cyprus Hungary Iraq Poland Romania Ukraine Semi-official or unofficial (de facto) status Samtskhe-Javakheti (Georgia) California (United States) Lebanon Turkey
Regulated by	Institute of Language (Armenian National Academy of Sciences)
Language codes
ISO 639-1	hy
ISO 639-2	(B)  (T)
ISO 639-3	Variously: hye – Modern Armenian xcl – Classical Armenian axm – Middle Armenian
Glottolog	arme1241
Linguasphere	57-AAA-a
The Armenian-speaking world:   regions where Armenian is the language of the majority
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The Armenian language (classical: հայերէն; reformed: հայերեն [hɑjɛˈɾɛn] hayeren) is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenians. It is the official language of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. It has historically been spoken throughout the Armenian Highlands and today is widely spoken in the Armenian diaspora. Armenian has its own unique script, the Armenian alphabet, introduced in 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots.

Armenian is an independent branch of the Indo-European languages. It is of interest to linguists for its distinctive phonological developments within that family. Armenian exhibits more satemization than centumization, although it is not classified as belonging to either of these subgroups. Some linguists tentatively conclude that Armenian, Greek (Phrygian), Albanian and Indo-Iranian were dialectally close to each other; within this hypothetical dialect group, Proto-Armenian was situated between Proto-Greek (centum subgroup) and Proto-Indo-Iranian (satem subgroup).