Shi Xingyu: ‘I Am a Little Bit Armenian!’

An Armenian faculty was established at Beijing Foreign Studies University in 2019. There are 14 students now studying in the faculty with the help of two Chinese and one Armenian teacher. Besides, recently a friend who is interested in linguistics is also learning Armenian by himself and organizes a small group of people who are interested in the language. They are now starting to upload some learning materials onto Chinese websites.

It will be interesting to know your opinion as a philologist what the main challenges are for Chinese students studying Armenian?

Chinese and Armenian belong to different language families, which makes the two languages vary in many ways, such as the writing system, phonology, and also the grammar. The first challenge Chinese may face is the alphabet. At the very beginning of my Armenian courses at college, there were more than 20 students. After learning the alphabet, there were fewer than 10 students left. Once I taught my mother Armenian, she managed to write all the letters, but finally gave up when she realized that she could not read the printed ones, as they are different. Besides, Chinese may have problems with the pronunciation of certain letters, as some pronunciations do not exist in Chinese language. Another challenge for Chinese learners is the complicated grammar and the flexible structure of Armenian, for instance, there is no conjugation or declension in Chinese language.

You have translated Charents into Chinese – do you have any other translation plans?

I had great interest in the Armenian epic The Daredevils of Sassoun. In fact, there are already two translations into Chinese, but only a few people know. Both of them were translated from Russian. The old one is great, but in a language which was not widely used in today’s modern Chinese, while the other one is translated in more modern words but is not that good in quality. Also, while translating an epic, many hidden meanings need to be delivered to the readers, so I would like to translate a new version of the epic in Chinese with my knowledge in Armenian philology. However, it seems a super challenge for me, so I am not in a hurry. One Chinese scholar once said: “If you haven’t read enough books and hurry to write one, you are doing harm to the younger generation.” I think it can also be applied in translating, so I have to do my research in Armenian philology to prepare myself for this great task.

Besides, there are no Armenian language textbooks for Chinese learners. I am thinking of writing one. Also, I found what I have learned in the Armenian philology faculty is very interesting, but only available in the Armenian language. Therefore, I am also thinking of translating some academic books of Armenian philology or Armenian literature works into Chinese.

In one of your Facebook status posts, you wrote that you are “a little bit Armenian.” It is very touching to know.

There are few foreigners who speak Armenian, especially Chinese, so when I speak Armenian with local people, they are always very surprised. I remembered once a shop salesman said to me “makoor hay es” (“you are a pure Armenian”) after I talked with him in Armenian. I told this to an Armenian friend, he laughed and said that I was even more Armenian than him, because I learned the language in the Armenian philology faculty and I always used some literal words in spoken language. Also, due to my poor knowledge in Russian, I always use Armenian words as many Armenian just say Russian words instead. There is no deny that living in the country, learning the language and studying the literature have influenced me in many ways and make me more “Armenian” to some extent – “mi kich hay” (“a little bit Armenian”) in my words.