A distinct branch of the Indo-European languages is Armenian. Armenian, although it is not categorised as belonging to any of these subgroups, shows more satemization than centumization. Linguists tentatively conclude that Armenian, Greek (and Phrygian) and Indo-Iranian were dialectally similar to one another; Proto-Armenian was placed between Proto-Greek (centum subgroup) and Proto-Indo-Iranian within this hypothetical dialect group (satem subgroup).
Armenia was a monolingual republic little later than the 2nd century BC. With a 5th-century Bible translation as its oldest extant book, its language has a long literary tradition. Historically, its vocabulary has been affected by the languages of Western Middle Iranian, especially Parthian, and to a lesser degree by Greek, Persian, and Syriac. There are two uniform modern forms of writing, Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian, which are mutually intelligible to most contemporary dialects. The old Armenian homeland was split once more in the 19th century. This time, the Russian Empire invaded Eastern Armenia from Qajar Iran, while Western Armenia remained under Ottoman control, comprising two-thirds of historical Armenia. The antagonistic relationship between the Russian and Ottoman empires culminated in the development of two distinct and distinct worlds in which Armenians lived. Two large clusters of Armenian communities were further consolidated halfway through the 19th century. Many Armenians living under Ottoman rule eventually migrated to Istanbul because of persecution or the search for better economic opportunities, while Tbilisi became the centre for Armenians living under Russian rule. Rather quickly, these two cosmopolitan cities became the principal poles of intellectual and cultural life in Armenia.
Armenians living in both regions were reached by the emergence of modern literary types and styles, as well as many new innovations sweeping Europe. This generated an ever-growing need for the dignity of a new literary language to elevate the vernacular. In the typical Armenian regions, various dialects prevailed, which had many morphological and phonetic features in common, distinct as they were. Two big criteria have arisen on the basis of these characteristics.
Western standard: The migration of refugees to Istanbul from various parts of the traditional Armenian homeland crystallised the typical elements of regional dialects, paving the way for a writing style that demanded a learning curve that was shorter and more agile than Grabar. Eastern standard: The primary elements of Eastern Armenian, based in Tbilisi, Georgia, were provided by the Yerevan dialect. The Modern Eastern was more realistic and usable for the masses in certain respects than Grabar, comparable to the Western Armenian version. The presence of the two contemporary forms of the same language was sanctioned even more explicitly after World War I. The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (1920–1990) used Eastern Armenian as its official language, while the Western Armenian dialect was retained by the diaspora formed after the Armenian Genocide.