Book Review: Jennifer Manoukian on Western Armenian Language Purism

Historian Jennifer Manoukian's new monograph "Purist Pursuits: Language, Global Ideas, and the Creation of Western Armenian in the Ottoman Empire" examines the origins of linguistic purism in Armenian discourse. The book traces how 18th and 19th-century European intellectual movements shaped attitudes toward Western Armenian, ultimately creating an ideological obsession with language "purity" that persists in diaspora communities today.

Manoukian argues that Standard Western Armenian was not an ancient, unchanging spoken language but rather a project driven by urban intellectuals responding to global trends. Before the Armenian Genocide, most Ottoman Armenians spoke regional dialects and mixed languages in daily life. The push to enforce formal written standards as spoken language occurred primarily in post-genocide diaspora settlements in Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt. While this effort successfully rebuilt Armenian identity, Manoukian contends it created lasting anxiety among speakers who internalize guilt over loanwords and informal speech.