“Privacy” en arménien ?

From Institute Director, Salpi Ghazarian

Are you surprised that there’s not an Armenian word for privacy?

My colleague Gegham Mughnetsyan, Chitjian Researcher Archivist, asked that question on Twitter and received nearly 100 responses. Most of them commiserating…especially these days, understanding full well that words are born of experiences and situations, and well… we can say solitude, we can say loneliness, but privacy…. There doesn’t seem to be an exact word for that concept.

Still, the search was fun. And telling.

That’s one of the things that the Institute’s Deputy Director does each day.  Months ago, Shushan Karapetian started presenting a WORD OF THE DAY teaser, searching for connections. We now have nearly 5 dozen of these 2-minute spots packed with curiosities and wisdom. The words, their meanings, their roots connect the world to Armenians and connect Armenians to their past in the most fun and immediate way. No wonder some of them are viewed as many as 1000 times on Instagram.

And even these days, Shushan, together with Gegham (archivist-researcher turned producer) continue to produce them because – when in our lifetime have words been more important? From the check-in calls to your loved ones, to the chats across town by cousins separated by lockdown, to parsing the news, understanding this new vocabulary – words are all we’ve got to connect us. 

You can watch past Word of the Day clips here on YouTube.  Watch, share, learn, laugh. Our little daily gifts to you.

Look for an email from us soon about two new programs– for Armenia and the Diaspora – programs that both test our resilience and strengthen it.

And also read about our great cohort of student workers. We’re so lucky to have them (and, frankly, as I remind them, they’re lucky to have us and YOU.)

— Salpi