This article is one of a series that deals with the transliteration of foreign proper names into Armenian (the way to transcribe foreign names in Armenian characters).
The first part of the series was devoted to the Middle Eastern languages (Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Azerbaijani); see Armen Michaelian, «The Principles of
Transliterating Foreign Proper Names into Armenian, Part | - Middle Eastern Languages» [in Armenian], Haigazian Armenological Review, vol. 40, Haigazian University Press, Beirut 2020, pp. 341-364. The second part of the series deals with two classical languages, ancient Greek and Latin; see Armen Michaelian, «The Principles of Transliterating Foreign Proper Names into Armenian, Part I| - Classical Languages (Ancient Greek and Latin)» [in Armenian], Bazmavep, year CLXXVIII, Venice 2020, 304-336.
The present, third part of the series is devoted to the transliteration of names of French origin. The principle of transliteration is based (as in the whole series) on classical Armenian spelling, definitely ruling out the "Cilician" transliteration on one side and the "Soviet" one on the other. Unlike that of ancient Greek and Latin, the transliteration of French proper names is not stabilized in Armenian due, on the one hand, to the influence of the Western pronunciation of Armenian dialects, and, on the other hand, to the influence of the Russian language on Eastern Armenian.
After a reminder of the phonological and orthographic principles of Armenian transliteration mentioned in the first articles of the series, the author scrutinizes the most problematic French sounds and phonemes and confirms or proposes (based on numerous examples) a coherent and principled transliteration for each of them. It is especially underlined that French transliteration is of capital importance, given that French provides not only proper names coming from France, Belgium, Switzerland or Quebec but also those coming from all over the world where the French were the first to transcribe many vernacular languages to which Armenian language cannot immediately have access.
The series of articles will continue with other important languages such as English, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Hindi, Chinese, Japanese, etc.
The problem of transliteration of foreign proper names is more than painful for Armenians. Unlike ancient times, when Armenian was united, today a foreign word is transliterated into Armenian in three or four ways, due to the lack of canonized laws. The study is the first section of a series of articles examining the principles of transliterating various languages into Armenian. The author defines transliteration and its purpose, stating that whatever the principles and methods of transliteration, the final sounds and phonetics should not be alien to the Armenian ear and contradict the phonetic principles of the Armenian language. He notes that while transliterating one need to pay more attention to the laws of the borrowing language than to staying close to the sounds of the source language.
This study is dedicated to four Middle Eastern languages, Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Azerbaijani. The principles adopted in this study give priority to the historically established traditional transliteration of classical Armenian, which is also adopted in different scientific circles of Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora. The transliteration of consonants follows the rules of the classical three-level phonetic system of the Armenian language. Using several subtleties, the author proposes a set of norms regarding a united transliteration for the above mentioned four languages.
The author notes that the canonization of transliteration is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that cannot be resolved individually. It is a long process which contributes to the strengthening and consolidation of the Armenian language. The author suggests that these issues should be approached publicly, with the joint efforts of specialists in various sciences, and that principles of transliteration should be developed, published and handed over to state language control bodies and language inspectorates. Eventually, the latter should take on the task of transforming the decisions into normative mandatory laws.