Homshetsi

Infobox Language
name = Homshetsi/Homshetsma
nativename = Հոմշեցի/Հոմշեցմա
familycolor = Indo-European
fam2=Armenian
fam3=Western Armenian
states = Russia, Turkey, Georgia (Abkhazia), Armenia, and Central Asia.
script = Armenian alphabet, modified Turkish alphabet

Homshetsi (Հոմշեցի) or Homshetsi lizu ("the Hamshen language") is an archaic Western Armenian dialect spoken by the Eastern group and the Northern group of Hamshenis. It is practically a dialect and mutually intelligible with Armenian. However, due to its speakers' distinct profile, it is widely regarded as an "ethnic language". It is not a written language and a slightly modified Turkish alphabet in Turkey and Armenian alphabet (by Christian immigrants from Hamshen who refer to the language as Homshetsma (Հոմշեցմա)) in Russia and Abkhazia are used for limited purposes. A sub-dialect is spoken in Eşmekaya (Ardala) village in Hopa.

External links

* [http://www.uwm.edu/~vaux/hamshen.pdf "Hemshinli: The Forgotten Black Sea Armenians"] by Bert Vaux
* [http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~lingpub/misc/bert/ethno.pdf "Ethnographic Materials from the Muslim Hemshinli"] Various samples of Homshetsi
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20070310142543/http://www.hopaninsesi.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=119&Itemid=211 "Gertak" (We Are Going), a poem in Homshetsi, with Turkish translation] from the website "Voice of Hopa"