Greek to Armenian: a missing article suffix does not always make the noun indefinite
Definiteness changes position inside the phrase
Greek normally places its definite article before the associated noun phrase, while Modern Eastern Armenian marks ordinary definite nouns with a suffix. Dum-Tragut describes the target article through the alternatives -ĕ and -n. A Greek-to-Armenian translation may therefore express familiar reference at the end of the target noun instead of through a separate preceding word. The changed position is grammatical, not evidence that a new item has replaced the original referent.
But translating every visible Greek article by adding that suffix would also be wrong. Greek articles occur with names, generic references and nominalized expressions as well as ordinary identified objects. The source article’s function must be established before the target construction is chosen. A statement about a whole class should not be narrowed to a particular previously mentioned set simply because both languages have something called a definite article.
Armenian case can block the article’s appearance
Dum-Tragut distinguishes semantic definiteness from the morphological ability to take the suffix. Instrumental, ablative and locative forms do not take the ordinary definite article in the described system. Thus a Greek phrase referring to a known place or an established source may become an Armenian case form without that suffix. Its familiar reference can remain intact even though the visible definiteness pattern differs.
The grammar also identifies inherited plural forms such as mardik, people, which do not combine with the definite article, including examples with semantically definite reference. A reader should consequently not diagnose every bare target noun as an indefinite mistranslation of a Greek article-bearing expression. First check the Armenian noun and case construction. Morphological restrictions can explain the absence without changing which people or place the sentence concerns.
A newly mentioned item and exactly one item remain different
For indefiniteness, Eastern Armenian can use a bare noun or the preposed mi, whose interpretation interacts with specificity and discourse. Dum-Tragut also discusses overlap between mi and the numeral meaning one, including the role of emphasis. A Greek indefinite article should therefore not automatically become an emphatic target statement that there is precisely one item rather than several.
The Greek pronoun lesson makes a related distinction among an indefinite pronoun, an article accompanying a noun and a numeral asserting a count, even where the forms look alike. That source distinction is valuable evidence for target interpretation. In an original Greek request for a chair, determine whether the speaker asks for an unspecified suitable chair or insists on one chair only. The Armenian wording should preserve that contrast while following its own article and numeral usage. Across both definite and indefinite phrases, interpret reference, quantity and grammatical construction separately: moving an article into a suffix is sometimes appropriate, omitting it may be required, and adding a numeral can introduce an unintended count.
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