PARAMUS, N.J.—With the Armenian Missionary Association of America’s encouragement and sponsorship, a guidebook of Western Armenian orthography and punctuation, entitled “A Literary Inspired Stroll with the Letters of the Alphabet” was recently published in Aleppo, Syria. The author of the book is the renowned Aleppo-Armenian writer, press contributor and pedagogic tiller, Levon Sharoyan.
The volume, though by its nature can be considered primarily a grammatical work, has been written in an accessible language and can be read like a perusal volume, for any Armenian-born who desires to improve the mastery of his mother tongue and get acquainted with the rules of her orthography. However, it will be useful specifically to the Armenian teachers of the diaspora, students of the upper grades and scholars of Armenological institutes.
The main aim of the work is to remedy as far as possible our orthographical errors and point out ways to overcome the orthographical obstacles arising from homophonous letters. However, the book also has two other aspects: Glossology and Punctuation. About 20 pages of a 156-page book is devoted to the punctuation marks of Armenian, explaining in detail the rules and spheres of utility of each mark and providing numerous impressive examples for all of them.
The AMAA, which in its centennial history has always and continually stood by the Armenian school and the Armenian student, donated a copy of this book to each Armenian language teacher in their schools in North America (U.S. and Canada) with the belief that this newly published grammar book will benefit the rebirth and vitality of Western Armenian, and place a useful tool in the hands of our Armenian-speaking and Armenian-writing public.
If there are Armenian Schools in North America that have not received copies of this book for their Armenian language teachers, they may contact Louisa Janbazian at amaanews@amaa.org.
Individuals who are interested in this book can purchase a copy from the AMAA’s online bookstore.
Founded in 1918, the Armenian Missionary Association of America serves the spiritual, educational and social needs of Armenian communities in 24 countries around the world including Armenia and Artsakh. For additional information, you may visit www.amaa.org
