Vocative strategies and accent in Armenian: synchrony and diachrony

Abstract

The vocative, the case of direct address, is a form used for calling out and attracting or maintaining the addressee’s attention. It is not represented in Classical Armenian as an independent case category (§ 1b). At different stages of Armenian the vocative is often characterized by initial accentuation, which is comparable to other Indo-European traditions (§ 2). Accented vocative particles are used both in Classical Armenian and dialects (§ 3). Mostly in dialects, several words, particularly kinship terms and anthroponyms, take endings, one or a few of which may be regarded as relics of older vocative case endings (§ 4). In the Armenian dialects of Syria, one finds a few kinship terms the vocatives of which are compounds with ayr ‘man’ or tikin ‘mistress, lady’ (§ 5)