How did the Yerevan and Tbilisi dialects shape Eastern Armenian?

By the 19th century, a movement emerged to develop a modern standard Armenian language that was accessible for education and public use, as the classical language, Grabar, had diverged significantly from the spoken dialects.1

Eastern Armenian, historically referred to as the Armenian of Russia, was established as a modern standard by utilizing the dialects of Yerevan and Tbilisi as its foundation. This process involved creating a modified version of these dialects to serve as a literary and educational vehicle.12

The influence of these dialects was particularly prominent in literature; for instance, the celebrated dramatist Gabriel Sundukian wrote his comedies—which portrayed contemporary society—primarily in the dialect of Tbilisi. To standardize the language, both Eastern and Western varieties were purged of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish loanwords, which were replaced with vocabulary derived from Grabar. This development helped bridge the gap between the archaic written form and the diverse spoken varieties, ultimately shaping the modern Eastern Armenian language used today in Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Iran.213