Lexical-Semantic Variations of Mayr ('Mother') in Armenian Dialects: A Comparative Linguistic Analysis

This study investigates the linguistic features of the fundamental kinship term 'mother' (mayr) across Armenian dialects. Synthesizing data from the “Dialectological Atlas of the Armenian Language” (DAA) and other sources, the research analyzes the etymology, semantic evolution, phonetic manifestations, and geographic distribution of dialectal variants. Our analysis reveals a two-layered structure within these terms. Alongside the consistent preservation of the native Indo-European root mayr (méh₂tēr), dialects incorporate universal child/diminutive forms (e.g., mam, nan, etc.) and terms derived from semantic shifts (e.g., hars, azi). This investigation reaffirms the role of dialects as repositories of linguistic archaisms and illuminates the interplay between universal linguistic mechanisms and localized language development.