#hamshen

One of the factors that determined the direction of the developing Hamshen Armenian identity and culture was the constant flow of information betweent them and their 'ethnic core', i.e. other Armenians. Armenian schools and the church stimulated such connection. Another factor of their development was undoubtedly the level of their integration into the polyethnic environment of the Pontus. It is important to remember that, counting all ethnic groups, the Hamshen Armenians made up only 3.4-5% of the total population of the Pontus. In all other areas where Armenians were living, they made up a significantly higher percentage of the population. It is clear that out of the all the ethnic groups with whom they shared the highly diverse Pontus region - Greeks, Turks, Laz, Circassions, Georgians, and others - Hamshen Armenians had very few partners for sustained cultural contact. Paradoxically, Turks provided the most likely partners. Pontic Greeks were so to a much lesser degree, with other ethnic groups of the Pontus completely unsuitable. However, only all the mentioned conditions taken as a whole to explain the phenomenon of the spread of Turkish features in the culture of the Hamshen Armenians. For example, some elements of the Hamshen Armenian technology such as different types of agricultural tools were similar to their Turkish equivalents in each place of the Pontus. But the case of language could be more complicated. The majority of Trabzoncik speak Turkish far better as well as Standard Western Armenian while their sub-dialect is composed of fewer Turkish borrowings. Conversely, Canik-Orduyecik rarely use literary Armenian or Turkish language, however usually their speech is highly colored with Turkish words, frequently phonetic adapted, as well as Turkish phraseological cliché. By the way, it is namely the Canik district where a massive immigration of Turkic peoples had begun significantly earlier than in other parts of the Pontus, and where consequently Turkish culture planted deeper roots.

Was there ever an incident when a Hamshen was arrested just for saying that he/she was of Armenian extraction? No one wanted to risk an answer. Harun spoke of an incident in 1982 when an ASALA activist had been arrested. They showed him on TV and the guy spoke a few words in Armenian. In an open-air cafe a Hamshen named Tahsin Alper said, “Geez, the guy is one of us.” Alper was thrown in jail just for uttering the word “us”. Alper was a heavy drinker and died years ago.

Bert Vaux theorizes that Homshetsma can allow us a glimpse of "pure" Armenian since: a) it is not a written language and therefore has not undergone influence from classical or literary dialects. b) it retains archaisms found in classical and middle Armenian.