Գոյականներու յոգնակին (յոգնակերտում)
Abstract
This is the first scientific attempt to standardize the pluralizing of nouns, and generally words that identify an object, in Western Armenian, a topic which has been overlooked and has led to diverse and unacceptable practices. The study tries to clearly differentiate and categorize words according to their structural features: a) monosyllabic words as well as multisyllabic simple words, b) complex words which have a monosyllabic or multisyllabic second constituent. The latter are the basic material of this study. The author divides the complex words with a multisyllabic second constituent into two groups: 1) multisyllabic second constituents which identify an object, 2) multisyllabic second constituents which have adverbial features. These eventually help us discern whether to use the pluralizing եր or ներ suffix. The author examines and discusses an extensive list of words which constitute the most often used words in Western Armenian. He expects using these words as templates will enable individuals to orient themselves and pluralize according to the norms. Still, there is, however, a set of words which lack any norms of pluralization and are practiced according to personal perceptions. So far these have escaped the possibility of following any rules of pluralization. One may optimistically state, however, that time will offer solutions for these.