History of the Armenian alphabet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Armenian palaeography is a branch of palaeography[1][2] that examines the historical development of Armenian script forms and lettering. It also encompasses a description of the evolution of Armenian writing.[3]
The Armenian alphabet was devised in 405 in the cities of Edessa and Samsat by the scholar-monk Mesrop Mashtots.[4] As is the case with other writing systems worldwide, the graphic layout of Armenian letters has undergone some changes in over 1600 years.[5] The four principal graphic forms[6][7][8] of Armenian writing during the Middle Ages are Erkat'agir, Bolorgir, Notrgir and Shghagir.[9][10][11][12] The first of these is an all caps form, while the other three are minuscule forms of lettering.[13] The most prevalent forms were Erkat'agir and Bolorgir.[12] Within each of these forms, certain variations are possible.[14]