Urartus are armenians?

I was reading of the history of Van and after Tushba suddenly Urartus are disapeared from the history page.

Where are they?are they Armenian now or Kurdish?

At first they were not.  The IE-speaking Armenians inhabited the western portion of historical Armenia until the Persian period.  Herodotus mentioned Armenia as divided into two tributary districts, the western one mainly inhabited by Armenians, while the eastern one was inhabited by Alarodians, Saspirians, and Matienians.  The Alarodians continued to bare the name of the Urartians.  The initial Armenianization of the peoples of eastern Armenia may have begun by about 400 BC, but a true Greater Armenia did not occur until about 90 BC with the reign of Tigran the Great.  It was sometime between these two dates when the Alarodians were completely assimilated by the Armenians.  The later classical geographers and historians no longer mention the Alarodians.

what is the origin of the armenians?Caucasian?or Indo-European?

i read that they may have been related to the phrygians, though no doubt sharukin would confirm or deny.

so there was groups of pre I/E people in their history then?

Alparslan1071 wrote: I haev a few colique and they are armenian.When they talk it s look like a language from onther world.very different and turkish armenians language is different than armenia homeland.they have also arabic and persian and tuekish words in their language.

     Those Arabic and Turkish words are used in slang by Armenians who speak Turkish and Arabic. There are Armenian equivalents for every word, and the proper Armenian language has no borrowed words. I'm not saying there is no outside influence, but the words are not borrowed outright, thats just slang.

     The reason that many Armenians (in our parents' generation) can speak fluent Turkish is because their parents were born in the Ottoman Empire, and Turkish was used as a 2nd language in the house even after they were exiled to the middle east. And they know Arabic because of the countries they grew up in. Thats why you hear some Armenians using Turkish and Arabic words while they speak Armenian (Armenians in America for example, mix English words while speaking Armenian, Armenians in Armenia use Russian words, etc.). But all these words have their proper Armenian equivalent.

     For example, many Armenians use the word "zeitun' (olive), which is a Turkish word. But there is an Armenian equivalent for that word which no one uses (tsitabudough). Chojukh (child) is also used, but in proper Armenian its Yerekha. You'll hear Lebanese Armenians use the word yalla a lot, when in Armenian its haydeh. Chakhmakh (lighter) is widely used, but in proper Armenian its Loutski or Gaydzkar. Those are just some examples.

     Edit: haydeh is Turkish, in Armenian I guess it would be ari. See how confusing it can be for us


Edited by ArmenianSurvival - 30-Jun-2006 at 12:56

Thats why armenians call their selves .Hye and their country is Hayastan