by hagop » 18 Aug 2009, 22:24
Friends,
As far as I know, no one had heard of Amatuni princes Hamam and Shapuh in recent centuries. Neither the Hemshinli (Muslim) nor the Hamshentsis (Christian) had any memory of them before there was an interest in ancient Armenian history books and their or translation into Western languages starting from 19th century. Only the place name Hamshen had remained but nothing else about the Amatuni family's connection with Hamshen. After the old histories became available, people discovered the Amatuni story. So, there is no way to know what these princes looked like. They didn't have coins minted in their name since they weren't kings. The existing manuscripts do not have their figures in them.
Most Hemshinli will say that they are Turks today even if some privately admit their ancestors were Armenians. Other Hemshinli will say they are neither Turks or Armenians, but when the situation is serious, they will says they are Turks. We have to understand that sometimes what they are saying isn't as important as when, where and how they are saying things. All the people living in Turkey are masters of survival. At the same time, the Hemshinli are highly assimilated in Turkey and nothing much separates them from the Turks and other groups there.
I don't find the Hamshen dialects (Hopa or Christian ones) to be very different than the standard Western Armenian. By definition, the dialects are supposed to be different than the "standard", whatever that standard is, sometimes more, sometimes less. There are other Armenian dialects that are difficult to understand for the Standard Western or Eastern Armenian speakers. The Hamshen dialects aren't weird dialects or some abnormal occurrence. For example, the dialect of Khtorjur near Hamshen (Hodecur to the Hemsinli) was very similar to that of the Hamshen group. I am sure there were other similar dialects like that I don't know about. Also, we are comparing apples and oranges here (a standard 21st century language that has been developing for a long time to a dialect that lost its connection to Armenian three centuries ago).
Just like the language, the music and other cultural elements changed with the Hemshinli over the centuries. The tempo of kochari changed to Black sea tempo; xius, xavits and abur remained but many other Black Sea fish, maize and cabbage dishes enter into their diet. But there isn't a complete replacement of the old with the new. I would say the changes are environment-based or need-based.