Constructing a medical lexicon: scribal practices in Armenian medical vocabulary

The curation of Armenian medical vocabulary from Late Antiquity to the early modern period reflects an intricate interplay between lexical borrowing and native word formation. Medical terminology entered Armenian mainly through Greek, Arabic and Persian. Each influenced scribal decisions based on factors such as semantic precision, syntactical compatibility and cultural relevance. Direct borrowings were often transliterated in accordance with phonological norms. Marginal glosses and commentary added pedagogical clarity. Medical concepts such as pharmacological compounds, anatomical parts and botany illustrate the linguistic continuity in the Armenian vocabulary. The resulting lexicon was neither passive adoption nor bulk translation, but instead a carefully synthesised glossary shaped by ideological and philological pressures. The Armenian medical language thus reveals the exigencies of scribes in mediating scientific knowledge, serving as a valuable case study in cross-cultural medical transmission and historical medical linguistics.