Draft:Armenian profanity

Origin and mythological period

According to Elizabeth Muradyan, swearing has appeared in human speech since ancient times, being used in various fields. As in the case of Armenian, so in the case of many other languages, the origin of swearing is associated with ancestral beliefs related to fertility cults, in which the soil, genitals, and sexual intercourse were deified. This was associated with the fact that people were very dependent on the forces of nature.^[2]

In fact, according to Muradyan, "originally swearing arose as a ritual sacred language, in which magicians uttered their spells and hoped for a bountiful harvest. The main concepts of this language were associated with the male and female principles and their sexual relations. Thus, in the mentioned period, curses were symbolic imitations of the sexual act and the process of conception, performed for magical purposes, and were mainly associated with agriculture."^[2]

Ethnomusicologist, candidate of historical sciences, Hripsime Pikichyan's notes.^[4]

...profanity has a ritual nature and has taken a mandatory place in all rituals that anticipate fertility and birth: wedding, New Year, agricultural, etc. In agricultural rituals, the one who swears is portrayed as a divine guide, a divine sowing hero and is paired with the land. This is often used to explain the other functions of ritual swearing, which are perceived as an invincible force, prayer, charm.

After the adoption of Christianity

With the spread of Christianity in Armenia, as Elizabeth Muradyan notes, swearing moved into the zone of forbidden phenomena and acquired a negative connotation, since carnal pleasures began to be considered immoral phenomena. However, like pagan traditions and their elements, which had hardened over time among the people, swearing was not so easy to erase from people's memory. This is the reason why swearing remained in folklore and began to be widely used during certain celebrations as relaxing ritual elements, in some cases retaining their original meaning. For example, Hripsime Pikichyan testifies to the swearing used in the Horovels, which still retained their magical meaning.^[4]

When examining the published poetic texts of the poets, I noticed the hanging points found in different sections. Often, the words preceding and following them are not connected to each other, there are words or expressions directly related to the work process that allude to sexual behavior, descriptions of the woman's body, and even swear words. The most common are the motifs of hugging and kissing a young woman, carrying nearby furrows, "twisting the mind", "earning hard", which are both obvious and readable from the lines, and stem from the subtext. There are also hints of swearing at the women who "bring bread" and "delay the bread" to the participants of the plowing, and it is noteworthy that after such expressions, the exclamations "Զորանա՜ս, հոտաղ, զորանա՜ս... (Zoranas!, hotagh, zoranas!...)" are repeated.

Pikichyan continues.^[4]

...when the woman or girl bringing the bread moved far enough away, but still did not disappear from the farmers' sight, the matchkal would look after her and curse her. The woman did not hear the words spoken, but rather perceived the general content of the speech. In contrast, the sexual desire formulated as a curse by the matchkal was clearly heard by all the participants in the procession, who responded and joined in with him. And from the peaceful attitude of the traditionalist peasant towards this phenomenon, especially from the behavior of the blood-related men who joined in with the matchkal, it is clear that this is not a domestic incident, but an organized ritual reality. It is noteworthy that the woman who heard the curse, calling out under her breath "Lord God, I am guilty...", leaves, and if she is not cursed, she becomes angry and offended, which in different regions of Armenia is accompanied by a text with a similar formulaic axis, for example: "Ալ գութա՜ն, ալ գութա՜ն հոտաղ, մաճկալ լա՛լ գութան... (Al gutan! Al gutan! Hotagh, matchkal lal gutan...)" (Lori). And the word "լալ (lal)" has not only the meaning of dumb, but here it also acquires the meaning of being devoid of masculinity.

Thus, Muradyan concludes, the negativity of the tone and perception of swear words used in everyday speech in the Armenian language today is a result of Christian culture.^[2]

In 1788, in the draft of the Armenian constitution, Vorogayt Parats, published by the Indian-Armenian public figure Shahamir Shahamirian, Article 129 prohibited cursing anyone, whoever they may be.

Soviet period

As Elizabeth Muradyan cites, during the Soviet years in Armenia, swearing began to be used by the country's ruling circles in order to be close to the people and their language. In parallel, swearing served as a method of easing the tension of the totalitarian regime. In general, according to Muradyan, "swearing allows you to relieve the tension arising from the oppressive social, psychological, and political situation at the linguistic level. In addition, researchers have found that the moderate use of swearing contributes to the rapid recovery of patients. If we draw a parallel with similar studies conducted with people who have a regular sexual life, it becomes noticeable that in the case of the use of swearing, the replacement of the real phenomenon with the symbolic simply occurs."^[2]

By field of expression

Elizabeth Muradyan distinguishes a number of areas of expression of swearing in Armenian: swearing used in men's groups, leaders', bed-time, bohemian, everyday, and others.

• In men's groups, profanity creates a relaxed and intimate, friendly environment that facilitates communication.
• Leaders' profanity use is a manifestation of biological homosexual pressure on competitors.
• In animal groups, the dominant male interbreeds not only with females, but also with males in order to suppress them.
• Bed-time profanity performs two main functions: it removes obstacles to communication and increases potency (as well as the level of male sex hormones, androgens, in the body), but depending on the characteristics of the couple, it may be unacceptable.
• Bohemian swearing is common among actors, artists, journalists, and other creative professions. According to Muradyan, "in such an environment, men of the demonstrative-theatrical or hysteroid type, distinguished in psychology, who have feminine character traits, are often found. The swearing used in their speech is aimed at compensating for them. The abundant use of everyday swearing testifies to the state of society. It can be the result of political, economic, social, psychological uncertainty and crisis. In this case, a tendency to swear inappropriately appears".^[2]

By origin

Modern Armenian profanity can be divided into several groups according to their language of origin: Native Armenian, Georgian, and Turkish.^[5]

Պուց (puc')

Պուց (puc'), from Middle Armenian, carries the meaning of "vulva".^[7] According to Hrachya Acharyan's Armenian Root Dictionary, it is native Armenian, from the anglicized form bul-sk, derived from the root bul, meaning "to swell", whose descendant is the word պղպջակ (pġpǰak)^[7].

Կլիր (klir)

Կլիր (klir), a boy's condom from Armenian, carries the meaning of "penis",^[8] which, according to Stepan Malkhasyants, "is widely used in vulgar language, in swearing, as an expression of fearlessness, masculinity, contempt, rejection, meaning 'nothing'".^[9] According to Hrachya Acharyan's Armenian Radical Dictionary, the word has a coincidental similarity to the Kurdish word qəlir, meaning "dirt" or "dirtiness".^[8] According to Acharyan, the word has different phonological variants in a number of Armenian dialects^[8].

Քունել (k'unel)

Քունել (k'unel), carries the meaning of "to perform a sexual act", specifically "to fuck". According to Stepan Malkhasyants, "it is a very generalized swear word among the vulgar elements of the people, which is used not only for persons, but also for things and abstract concepts".^[10]

Unfortunately, non-native speakers (and even native speakers with poor commanding of Armenian) may misinterpret this word as "to sleep" instead of its genuine vulgar meaning, "to fuck", due to a false association with the similar-sounding verb քնել (k'nel, "to sleep").^[11]

Բոզ (boz)

Բոզ (or Բօզ; boz), an modern Armenian word, carries the meaning of "immoral, whore".^[12] It probably comes from Laz's ბოზი (bozi) or ბოზო (bozo),^[13] meaning "girl", "virgin", and/or "daughter".^[14][15][16] The Armenian language also has a unique spelling and etymology for the word, according to which the correct version is բօզ (boz), which is an abbreviation for the phrase բարոյական օրենքներից զուրկ (baroyakan orenk'neric' zurk), meaning "devoid of moral laws".

Գյոթ (gyot')

Գյոթ (gyot'), or Գյոթվերան (gyot'veran), is an Armenian synonym of the word ոռատու (voṙatu), meaning "irrigated" or "watered". It is an modern Armenian word that comes from the Turkish word göt (buttock). In Armenian, the word means "a man engaged in sacred sex with a passive role" in a narrow sense. In a broad sense, it means "homosexual man".^[5]

Գանդոն (gandon)

Գանդոն (gandon) is a rude, foul slang phrase that was imported from Russian into Armenian. It literally refers to a condom, but it is used to refer to a vile person. In order to disparage someone's character, the English word "condom" was distorted and translated into Russian slang.^{[citation needed]}

Ազիկ (azik)

The derogatory label known as ազիկ (azik), is directed to Azerbaijan people, which originated from the Russian term а́зик (ázik). The slur has gained popularity during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, where it was used in online content alongside the anti-Azerbaijani sentiments.^[17][18]

Ախպար (axpar)

This word originally meant "brother," but was used by "native" Armenians to mock repatriating diaspora Armenians, particularly those who came to Soviet Armenia after World War II. The word is a dialectal form of եղբայր (yeġbayr), meaning "brother", and the slur emerged from the social and political tensions between the "locals" and the newly arrived, often Western Armenian-speaking, immigrants.^[19][20] Another term for this is Հոսհոս (hoshos), which is directed to Western Armenians especially from Constantinople.^[21]

Ջհուդ (ǰhud)

Ջհուդ (ǰhud) originated in Middle Armenian from the Persian word جهود (johud).^[22]

The term was traditional for "Jew" in Armenian, but it eventually took on a negative meaning and is now commonly used as a derogatory or ethnic slur. The word's transformation from a common identifier to a slur is a linguistic development that has also been noted in the history of comparable terms in other languages, including Russian^[23] or Ukrainian.

Սոխ (sox)

The phrase is used as a derogatory nickname for Russians and is seen as offensive. It is a synonym for the common Armenian word for Russian called ռուս (ṙus), but carries a pejorative meaning.

Although the precise source of the slur is unknown, common theories attribute it to the vegetable's powerful smell or appearance^[24]:

• Association with food: One popular reason for the term's origin is that some people believe Russians eat a lot of foods that contain onions, which leaves a stench.
• Architectural simile: According to a different explanation, the phrase can be related to the onion-shaped domes that are typical of Russian Orthodox churches.

Its use is now acknowledged as a derogatory ethnic term, regardless of its exact origin. Two other terms for this include սպիտակ Թուրք (spitak t'urk) and ճերմակ Թուրք (čermak t'urk), which both literally mean "white Turk".

Տուտուց (tutuc')

Տուտուց (tutuc') is a word that literally means "fool", "nitwit", or "jackass", and is directed to Georgian people.^[25] Not much is known about its history.

Գյավուր (gyavur)

The term գյավուր (gyavur) is a widely recognized ethnic and religious slur used to mean "infidel" or "non-Muslim", similar to English's giaour.^[26][27]

The epithet, which is extremely insulting and disparaging, was mostly used in the former Ottoman Empire to refer to non-Muslims, especially Christians like Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians, and Assyrians.

Its contemporary meaning frequently implies negative traits like as "merciless" or "uncivilized", and in a Turkish context, it can be used generally to characterize Westerners or non-Turks (those who do activities that are deemed "non-Turkish").

Պապամոլ (papamol)

Պապամոլ (papamol) is an Armenian religious slur that means "papist". It is used disparagingly to refer to a Roman Catholic, implying that their loyalties lie primarily with the Papacy in Rome.

The word originates from the combination of the Armenian word պապ (pap), meaning "father" or "pope", the interfix ա (a), and the suffix -մոլել (-molel), which means "deluded" or "infatuated".^[28]

Similar to the English insult mentioned at the top, the phrase refers to people who practice Catholicism instead of the predominant Armenian Apostolic Church, which is the national church of the Armenian people. The historical religious divisions among Christian denominations are the source of the term.^[29]

Literature

Elizabeth Muradyan conditionally divides Armenian writers into five main groups in terms of their use of profanity and their attitude towards it.

• The first group of Armenian writers absolutely refrains from using profanity, since even if they really wanted to, it would be difficult to use them, based solely on the type of their literature (for example, children's writers).
• The second group tries not to use profanity at all, limiting their linguistic tools for the sake of language purity.
• Representatives of the third group write texts full of profanity, based on the nature and stylistic features of their works.
• Authors of the fourth group simply “decorate” their texts with profanity in order to look fashionable, to be close to the language of life, or because they cannot express themselves in any other way.
• Representatives of the fifth group have texts with and without profanity, depending on the specificity of the material.^[2]

In modern Armenian literature, works with profanity can be found in the works of actor and humorist Sergey Danielyan^[33] poetess Violet Grigoryan, and exiled writer Vahe Avetyan.