Armenian-Azerbaijani cultural relations are relations between two ethnic groups in terms of their language and culture.
Language Knowledge of Azerbaijani Azerbaijani was spoken among Tat-speaking Armenian communities along with the Tat language. The Armenian population of Kohna Khachmaz and Garajally was bilingual in Tat and Azeri. Armeno-Tats of Kilvar were often bilingual in Tat and Azeri and historically used the latter to communicate with Armenian-speaking Armenians as late as in 1912. The Iranian scholar B.V. Miller noted that back in 1912 an Armenian priest who did not know the Tat language was forced to preach sermons in Azerbaijani as it was more understandable for the "Armenian-Tat" population of the village Kilvar.Boris Miller. Tats: Their Settlement and Dialects. Azerbaijan Research and Study Society. Baku, 1929.
Azerbaijani and Turkish loanwords in Armenian and Armenian loanwords in Azerbaijani and Turkish
In 1995 Robert Dankoff released his book “Armenian Loanwords in Turkish” in which he established a corpus of 806 Armenian loanwords in Turkish (defining “Turkish” as the dialect continuum stretching from the Balkans to Azerbaijan). The book also shows phonological borrowings from Armenian and Armenian dialects into Turkish/Azerbaijani.
In the book "Relations of Peter the Great with the Armenian People", commenting on Armenian documents, G.A. Ezov noted that the documents were "written, for the most part, in the spoken Armenian language, using many Tatar words", and they can be used as materials for the study of dialects of Armenian language.Эзов Г. А. Сношения Петра Великого с армянским народом. — Типография Императорской Академии Наук, 1898.
In his 1902 book "The Turkish Loan Words in Armenian", the Armenian linguist and etymologist Hrachia Acharian listed loanwords from the Constantinople, Van, Nor Nakhichevan and Karabakh dialects, which were borrowed from the Turkic languages.John A. C. Greppin and Amalya A. Khachaturian; with an introduction by Gevorg B. Djahukian and an excursus by H. D. Muradyan. A handbook of Armenian dialectology. — Delmar, N.Y. : Caravan Books, 1986. — С. 11. — 253 с. — ISBN 0882060651.
According to the linguist and turkologist E.V. Sevortyan, some loanwords of Turkic origin are found in the works of Hovhannes Erznkatsi. As examples of these, Sevortyan includes "verurem" () and "aldurmush (), which are found in one of the couplets of the poem "The son of a priest or the daughter of a mullah". Sevortyan also mentions "yeri, yeri" () in Turkish, Azerbaijani as well as other Oghuz Turkic languages, and, possibly, "ayıb" ().Севортян Э. В. Тюркизмы у ранних армянских писателей // Институт языкознания Академии наук СССР. Структура и история тюркских языков / Отв. ред. Э. В. Севортян. — М.: Наука, 1971. — С. 274.
Literature Folk and ashug poetry
Hayren, an Armenian poetic genre has many similarities with Bayati and probably inspired it according to Armenian scientist M.Abeghyan. Vesfi-hal, Azeri genre of bayati related to fortune-telling has similarities with Armenian "can-gulum" in relation to how rituals performed and the volume of poems. Khachatur Abovian, Perch Proshian and Ghazaros Aghayan said that they used can-gulum and other forms of ashug poetry performed in Armenian and Azerbaijani folk ceremonies.Azerî (Türk) – Ermeni İlişkilerinin Tarihî ve Kültürel Boyutu Üzerine. Kâmil Veli Nerimanoğlu, Nazım Muradov.
Ekber Yerevanli collected Armenian and Azerbaijani fairy tales. He found many similarities between Azerbaijani and Shakamakhi Armenian fairy tales. Few Armenian stories had similarities to Azerbaijani and Turkish epics such as Kerem and Aslı, Ashiq QaribДаронян С. К. «Ашик-Кериб» Лермонтова и армянские записи сказания. — «Вестник общественных наук АН Армянской ССР», 1974. — № 4. — С. 79—92. and the Epic of Koroghlu. The Armenian epic David of Sassoun has many similarities with the Epic of Koroghlu.
A few Armenian and Azerbaijani ashugs wrote both in Armenian and Azerbaijani languages. Famous examples include Horomsime Akuletsi, Miran, Seyyad, Miskin Burcu, Hpvakim Markaryan and Shirin. The ustadnameh that Slave Artun was so good that it was included to Azerbaijani epics. According to Hummet Alizade, the first ustadnameh of epic "Novruz" and the second ustadnameh of epic "Tahir and Zohre" belonged to him. Dellek Murad, ashug of 17th century wrote qoshma, ustadnameh and qifilbends in Azerbaijani. He was considered ustad (master). Armenian ashug Naghash Hovnatan wrote the Armenian poem "Mayilem" which was popular among the Tatars(Azeris and other Turkic ethnic groups of the region).
Armenian ashug Sayat-Nova although many of his poems have been lost wrote 115 poems in Azeri and helped in the development of the Azerbaijani literature additionally to Georgian literature and his native Armenian literature. In addition, there is a poem where quatrains in Azerbaijani are intertwined with quatrains in Armenian, Persian and Georgian. It is possible that Sayat-Nova performed his songs in the Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian and Persian language in public, in and outside Tiflis and TelaviDowsett Ch. J. F. Sayat'-Nova: An 18th-century troubadour. A biographical and literary study. — Leuven: Peeters Publishers, 1997. — 505 p. — ISBN 978-9-068-31795-4. He continued Transcaucasian ashugs' tradition of writing in Karapapakh, Azeri, Armenian and Georgian which was well understood by Eastern Armenians and North Azerbaijanis.В.С.Налбандян. Певец человека и любви. — Л., 1982. — С. 7,8,25.
Modern literature In 1956, the Azerbaijani poet Mammed Rahim wrote the poem “Sayat-Nova”, in which he reimagined the last days of Armenian ashug Sayat-Nova and his tragic death.Очерк истории азербайджанской советской литературы. — М.: Издательство Академии наук СССР, 1963. — С. 459. — 570 с.
Inspired by the Armeno-Turkish Alphabet an Armeno-Azerbaijani Alphabet where Armenian letters are used to write the Azerbaijani language named Ermənbası(Երմէնբասը) exists.
Music
Armenian music is played among Azerbaijanis who adopted the Duduk, Zurna, Shvi and Sring. Azerbaijanis also have adopted the Armenian music genre of rabiz and many consider the Armenian vipasans who transformed into the gusans as the predecessors of the ashugs and ashug music which is widely popular in Azerbaijan. But likewise Azeri music is played among the Armenians, who have adopted the system of mugham and the instrument Azerbaijani Tar.: «The Iranian elements in the development of the Azeri tradition were numerous, as is shown by modern terminology (čahār meżrāb, bardāšt), as well as by certain pieces in the repertoire, recent gūša and maqām that have Iranian names (Bayāt-e Šīrāz, Šūštar, Delkaš, Šekasta-ye Fārs, Bayāt-e Qājār). Conversely, Azerbaijani elements are found in Iranian music, particularly in dance pieces (reng). (See also M. Rezvani, Le théâtre et la danse en Iran, Paris, 1962, p. 149.) Azeri art music is also played in other regions of the Caucasus, especially among the Armenians, who have adopted the system of maqām and the instruments kamāṇča and tār.» In the 1890s Sadigjan founded a musical ensemble which included prominent folk singers and musicians performing Azeri, Armenian and Georgian folk songs.Т. Садыгов. Бабам һаггында ешитдикләрим (азерб.) // Әдәбијјат вә инҹәсәнәт. — Б., 1984. — 27 aprel. Two girls participating in ensemble performed Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian dances.Ф. Шушински. Азәрбајҹан тарынын атасы (азерб.) // Әдәбијјат вә инҹәсәнәт. — Б., 1962. — 30 aprel.
Azerbaijani mugham singer Sattar skillfully performed Armenian and Georgian songs contributing to Armenian and Georgian literature.Сәттар / Под ред. Дж. Кулиева. — Азербайджанская советская энциклопедия: Главная редакция Азербайджанской советской энциклопедии, 1984. — Т. VIII. — С. 399. In a little-known note (Poems. SPb., 1855, p. VII, note) about Sattar, Polonsky says:
The duduk, a folk instrument of Armenian origins is also present in Azerbaijani music.
Dance
The place of origin for the dance Uzundara is often believed to be Nagorno-Karabakh (also known as Artsakh).Языкознание: большой энциклопедический словарь / Под ред. Г. В. Келдыша. — Большая Российская энциклопедия, 1998. — С. 563. — 671 с. In the collection "Azerbaijani folk dances" it is suggested that the Uzundara dance spread among the Karabakh Armenians as a result of living in close proximity to the Azerbaijanis.Алмасзаде и др., 1959, с. 6: «Например, очень популярный в Азербайджане женский танец «Узундара» широко распространён и в Армении. Это объясняется тем, что, будучи танцем невесты, танец «Узундара» зародился в Карабахе. Узундара — название длинного ущелья в Карабахе. В своё время по этому ущелью провожали невесту. Известно, что в Карабахе вместе с азербайджанцами живёт много и армян. Естественно, что благодаря этому танец «Узундара» широко распространён и среди армянского народа. In turn, the Azerbaijani researcher K. Hasanov noted that “the Armenians also claim the authorship of this dance”.Гасанов, 1978, p. 9: «Армяне также претендуют на авторство этого танца. Это объясняется тем, что в Карабахе, где находится ущелье Узундэрэ, живет много армян». A relevant theory suggests that Armenians from Erzerum, brought the song to the Caucasus during the Ruso-Turkish Wars of 1828 making it popular in Eastern Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Ceyrani dance is Azerbaijani and Armenian solo dance.Касимов К. А. Народы Азербайджанской Советской Социалистической Республики. Азербайджанцы. Народное творчество. Народные танцы / Под редакцией Б.А.Гарданова, А.Н.Гулиева, С.Т.Еремяна, Л.И.Лаврова, Г.А.Нерсесова, Г.С.Читая. — Народы Кавказа: Этнографические очерки: Издательство Академии наук СССР, 1962. — Т. 2. — С. 161—163. The Armenian version of the dance is widespread in Karabakh and Zangezur.Ткаченко Т. С. Народный танец / под ред. Н. И. Львова. — М.: Искусство, 1967. — 656 с.
Mirzayi is an Armenian and Azerbaijani female dance. Traditionally, it is performed in weddings. It can be performed both by women and men. Different Armenian varieties of the dance recorded in Shirak region are also known as Old Mirzayi and Tarakyama-Mirzayi.Арутюнян А. Ширакские танцевальные мелодии в записях А. Брутяна (арм.) // ՀՀ ԳԱԱ Շիրակի հայագիտական հետազոտությունների կենտրոն. Գիտական աշխատություններ. — 2012. — Հ. № 15. — Էջ 143–147.
Shalakho,Katherine St. John, Lloyd Miller, Mahera Harouny. Radif-e raqs: collection of dance sequences of the Persian tradition. — Society for Preservation and Propagation of Eastern Arts, 1987. — С. 127. — 310 с. Halay and Kochari dances are performed by many nations including Armenians(Shalakho and Kochari originate in Armenia) and Azeris. The Armenian Kochari has been included to the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding of UNESCO in 2017. Azerbaijani Kochari along with tenzere has been included to the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding of UNESCO in November 2018 as versions of Yalli dance. Azerbaijani dance Yally was influenced by Armenian and Kurdish dances.Гасанов К.Н. Азербайджанский народный танец. — М.: Искусство, 1978. — С. 89.
Visual arts There is an opinion about the similarity of statues of horses popular in Azerbaijani, Kurdish and Armenian cemeteries with the custom of putting a stuffed horse over the grave.Президюм АН. Казахской ССР. Вестник, Выпуски 7-12. — Издательство Академии наук Казахской ССР, 1986. — С. 77.