Often I encounter arguments that Armenian is in fact not an Indo-European language. The claims assert that the regular correspondences between Armenian and PIE are too unrealistic, too rare and too irregular. The basic vocabulary is quite different, including the numerals up to ten and words for relatives. The existing correspondences may be explained by Persian borrowings or by a distant genetic relation between the languages through a pre-Indo-European super-family (that is, Euroasiatic/Nostratic, or even earlier).
So, are there solid arguments to prove that Armenian is in fact Indo-European?
Some Armenian words compared to Lithuanian, Latin and Sanskrit:
- Lith. and Skt. sūnus (son) Arm. ordi
- Lith. and Skt. avis and Lat. ovis (sheep) Arm. ochxari
- Lith. dūmas and Skt. dhūmas and Lat. fumus (smoke) Arm. c'owx
- Lith. antras and Skt. antaras (second, the other) Arm. myows
- Lith. vilkas and Skt. vṛkas (wolf) Arm. gayl
- Lith. ratas and Lat. rota (wheel) and Skt. rathas (carriage). Arm. aniv
- Lith. senis and Lat. senex (an old man) and Skt. sanas (old). Arm. c'erowk
- Lith. vyras and Lat. vir (a man) and Skt. vīras (man, hero). Arm. tghamard
- Lith. angis (a kind of snakes) and Lat. anguis (snake) Arm. o'd'
- Lith. linas and Lat. linum (flax, compare with English 'linen') Arm. vowsh
- Lith. jungiu and Lat. iungo (I join) Arm. harakic linel
- Lith. gentys and Lat. gentes (tribes) and Skt. jánas (genus, race). Arm. cegh
- Lith. mėnesis and Lat. mensis and Skt masa (month) Arm. amis
- Lith. dantis and Lat. dentes and Skt dantas (teeth) Arm. atam
- Lith. and Skt. naktis and Lat. noctes (night) Arm. gisher
- Lith. sėdime and Lat. sedemus (we sit) and Skt. siedati (sits). Arm. nstel
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