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By Professor Hovhanness I. Pilikian<\/p>\nBy Professor Hovhanness I. Pilikian<\/p>\n
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A dear friend of mine, Ara Dembekjian, an Armenian American investigative journalist, and a supreme writer in Arabic \u2013 his knowledge of literary Arabic (arabi-l fussha<\/em>) is greater than many of the Arab authors themselves \u2013 sent me\u00a0this hilarious video clip of Donald Trump speaking in Eastern Armenian, the language of the Republic of Armenia.<\/p>\n Most people are lucky to have one language, Armenians possess … two, both of equal literary weight \u2013 Western Armenian, the language of those who were genocided by the Ottoman Turks<\/em> in 1915, and that of the Iranian<\/em> and Caucasian Armenians<\/span><\/em> who were not touched by the criminal hands of the genociding Turks.\u00a0 Most Armenians understand both languages, but do not share the same culture, as their linguistic cultures express a different range of psychological and emotional history and life-experience.<\/p>\n This extremely funny video is a superb illustration of that point, I rush to share with your readers; technically, the dubbing is perfect<\/span><\/em>, absolutely remarkable!\u00a0 Moreover, in terms of the content, the psychology of the Armenians from Armenia is captured so perfectly<\/span><\/em> … obviously, the creators know their stuff very well, and I have no hesitation in calling it a work of sheer creative genius!<\/p>\n It is untranslatable and perfect in Eastern Armenian.\u00a0 In Western Armenian, we have a folk-expression, to emphasize the hilarity of a first-class joke, we say, khntal\u00ean m\u00e8rra<\/em> = dropped dead, from laughing too much!!<\/p>\n Unfortunately, I have to compromise some of its perfection for the non-Armenian public to let them enjoy its uniqueness, albeit in less perfection.<\/p>\n Eastern Armenians are famous for their khorrovads<\/em> = lamb shish-kebab, eaten with a plate of raw wild herbs, amidst what Armenians call kebab- music<\/em>, heard in the restaurants of Istanbul.<\/p>\n Unlike the Turkish modern version, the Armenian recipe dates back to its origins in Biblical times of the great Sacrifice<\/em> \u2013 the Passover sacrifice<\/strong> (in Hebrew Pesakh Korban<\/em> \u05e7\u05e8\u05d1\u05df \u05e4\u05e1\u05d7), the\u00a0Paschal<\/strong> Lamb, of the Old Testament<\/em> which commemorated the Exodus from Egypt = the freedom of the Hebrews from the Pharaoh\u2019s slavery…<\/p>\n In Yerevan (the capital city of Caucasian Armenia<\/span><\/em>) today, most weekends, lambs are still brought to Churches to be blessed and sacrificed, eaten with bitter herbs and matzo<\/em>-like breads … The Armenians, as the first Christians, do so of course with Jesus Christ<\/span><\/em> in their minds, as the Lamb of God<\/em>.\u00a0 In Soviet times, neighbours were happy to share their khorrovads<\/em> with even passers-by…<\/p>\n Most Soviet Armenians ended up in America, naturally carrying their time-old cultural customs with them.\u00a0 The Armenian Americans now seem to have gained fame in America with their Sunday khorrovads<\/em> as the Soviet Armenians had throughout the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n Thus Donald Trump is telling his Armenian electorate that, when elected President, he will get all Armenians into the White House<\/em> for (presumably) a Sunday khorrovads<\/em> on the lawn with davul<\/em> & zurna <\/em>(= drums, Turkish) = loud, ears-splitting mountain music!!<\/p>\n This is the first of his promises \u2013 feeding and feasting with Armenians and their khorovads. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n The Eastern Armenians (from the Soviet times) had a very warm and heart-warming expression (they still use in intimacy), tsav-t dan\u00e8m <\/em>= let me<\/strong> carry your pains away… followed by joghovurt jan<\/em> = dear, sweet people!\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018When I\u2019m elected, I shall raise the pensions of the old Armenian men and women, Granddads and grandmas \u00a0… but only of the Armenians!\u00a0 Not others … (implying that his Armenian kebab-audience<\/em> should not tell others about it, keep it their little secret, thus intensifying the warmth of his emotions exclusively for the Armenians..)<\/p>\n This is his second great promise, followed by the hilarious third, which sums up the Soviet Armenian version of the American dream, fantasized by most Soviet Armenians about America … owning a huge American car, Buick, Oldamobile <\/span><\/em>in olden times, but now a Mercedes<\/span><\/em> …<\/p>\n Trump promises to buy every Armenian American a Mercedes<\/span><\/em> … but not a new one, rather an adequate second hand cheapies, after all he does not have so much money, he says (very funny!) …<\/p>\n And his last fourth promise?<\/p>\n Still the most hilarious one, which could drop the Armenians dead laughing…<\/p>\n The gesture beautifully dubbed, the Armenian-speaking Trump promises his rally-audience to f… the mother of the T..urk…s … as his electoral rally specifically for the Armenians erupts into Kebab-music<\/em> reminiscent of Istanbul …<\/p>\n I have seen the video a dozen times, and can\u2019t stop watching it, and laughing my head off… how I regret that I cannot impart more of the flavour of the original, as the whole of the Eastern Armenian culture, old and modern, the Soviet psychological complexes historical and imaginary, modern capitalist Oligarch-fantasies are all there beautifully conceived and expressed most remarkably under less than a minute!!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Pure genius … It is worth knowing and being an Armenian, just to enjoy this minute of Armenian creative genius… which I hope I could extract and share a flavour of, with you …<\/p>\n