Mesrop Mashtots

Mesrop Mashtots was an Armenian monk and linguist who created the Armenian alphabet around 405 CE, enabling the development of Armenian-language literature and scholarship.

Armenian alphabet: The writing system devised for the Armenian language in the early fifth century. Mashtots’s alphabet gave Armenian speakers a script suited to their language.
Armenian language: An Indo-European language spoken chiefly in Armenia and by Armenian communities worldwide. Mashtots designed a writing system to represent its sounds.
Christianization of Armenia: The adoption of Christianity in Armenia in the early fourth century and its establishment as the kingdom’s religion. A Christian Armenian community needed scripture and worship in its own language.
Koryun: A fifth-century Armenian monk and author of a biography of Mesrop Mashtots. His account is a major source for Mashtots’s life and the alphabet’s creation.
Armenian literature: Literature written in Armenian, including religious, historical, poetic, and modern works. The new script enabled a sustained written literary tradition.
Armenian phonology: The sound system of Armenian, including its consonants, vowels, and patterns of pronunciation. Representing Armenian sounds shaped the alphabet’s letter inventory.
Armenia in Late Antiquity: The history of Armenia during the later Roman and early medieval periods. Mashtots worked amid political division between neighboring empires.
Moses of Khoren: An Armenian historian traditionally associated with a history of Armenia written in the fifth century. His work belongs to the literary tradition fostered by Mashtots’s script.
Armenian Apostolic Church: An ancient Christian church that developed in Armenia and follows its own liturgical traditions. Armenian scripture and worship became more accessible through the alphabet.
Writing system: A set of signs and conventions used to represent language in written form. The Armenian alphabet is a purpose-built system for recording speech.

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