Also Known As:
Hamshen, Hamschen, Homshetsma, Hemşince
Dialects & Varieties
Homshetsma: The Language of the Homshetsma, The language of the Armenians of Hamshen
Vaux, Bert. 2007. Homshetsma: The Language of the Homshetsma, The language of the Armenians of Hamshen. In Hovann H Simonian (ed.), The Hemshin: History, society and identity in the Highlands of Northeast Turkey. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-7007-0656-9
Vulnerable
20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
"relatively large numbers"
Native Speakers Worldwide
Speakers
Native or fluent speakers:
No results found.
Second-language speakers and learners
No results found.
Semi-speakers or rememberers
No results found.
Children:
No results found.
Young adults
No results found.
Older adults
No results found.
Elders
No results found.
Ethnic or community population
No results found.
Year information was gathered
No results found.
Comments on speakers
"One eastern Hemshinli noted that when he lived in Istanbul, his Armenian friends from Kayseri referred to his speech variety as ‘bird language’. It is interesting to note in this context that some Armenian groups use the term ‘bird language’ to refer to secret languages."
Location and Context
Countries
Turkey; Georgia; Russia
Location Description
"[Eastern Hemshinli/Homshetsik] live in the province of Artvin (with smaller numbers dispersed elsewhere in Turkey, Central Asia and Europe)... Northern Homshentsik, the descendants of non-Islamicized Hamshen Armenians formerly of the provinces of Samsun, Ordu, Giresun and Trabzon, [now] live in Georgia and Russia."
Government Support
No results found.
Institutional Support
No results found.
Speakers' Attitude
No results found.
Other Languages Used By The Community
None
Number of Other Language Speakers:
None
Domains of Other Languages:
None
Writing Systems
Standard orthography:
No results found.
Writing system:
Turkish-based
Other writing systems used:
No results text.
Comments on writing systems:
"In 1995 a native speaker and [Bert Vaux] designed an orthographic system for Homshetsma – which up until that time had possessed only a spoken form."
Recent Resources
This video is about the Turkish citizens fighting for their endangered language and culture!
This is a great video narrated in Homshesti Language about the culture and how they migrated years a