Armenian   An Indo-European language whose alphabet was invented by the scholar-preacher Mesrop Mashtotz (c. 361-440 C.E.) in order to facilitate the translation and transmission of the Bible, a growing body of Armenian liturgical literature, and the writings of the Syriac and Greek church fathers.  The Armenian Church, through its biblical manuscripts, provides important early versional evidence of the biblical texts, and has produced some of the most beautifully illuminated manuscripts of the Bible as well.   Bible (the following are studies rather than critical texts of the Armenian Bible) Alexanian, J. M.  "The Armenian Gospel Text from the Fifth through the Fourteenth Centuries."  In Medieval Armenian Culture (ed. T. J. Samuelian and M. E. Stone; Chico, California: Scholars Press, 1984. Cowe, C. E.  "Biblical Studies and the Armenian Bible, 1955-1980."  Revue Biblique 89 (1982) 99-113. Stone, Michael E., ed  Armenian and Biblical Studies, Supplementary Volume to Sion 1.  Jerusalem: St. James Press, 1976.   Dictionary Petrosean, Matateay.  New Dictionary: Armenian-English.  Beirut: Librairie du Liban, 1974?   Concordance Stone, Michael E.  Concordance and Texts of the Armenian Version of IV Ezra, Oriental Notes and Studies 11.  Jerusalem: Israel Oriental Society, 1971. Weitenberg, Joseph J. S.  Parallel Aligned Text and Bilingual Concordance of the Armenian and Greek Versions of the Book of Jonah, Dutch Studies in Armenian Language and Literature 1.  Atlanta/Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1992.   Grammar Thomson, Robert W.  An Introduction to Classical Armenian, 2d ed.  Delmar, New York: Caravan Books, 1989. © 2017 Catherine Murphy, Associate Professor cmurphy@scu.edu   Dept of Religious Studies, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA 95053