Armenian has no close relatives among the known Indo-European languages. Its nearest neighbour was Phrygian.

It is generally accepted that Armenian was used in the Balkans before becoming established in its historical territory. Tradition dates this to 800 BCE and Herodotus (Histories, VII) calls the Armenian contingent in Xerxes' army "Phrygian colonists".

The name "Arminiya" appears in an inscription of 600 BCE. It is certain that by 500 BCE Armenian speakers were firmly established in their historical domain. There are grounds for their identification with the Mushki who occur in the Assyrian record and are credited with a muster of 20000 combatants.

The contemporary Georgian name for Armenian speakers is Sa-Mekki which relates to Mysia and Moesia. The Armenians seem to have disrupted and replaced the powerful kingdom of Uratu centered on Lake Van.

The first texts written in Armenian are from the fifth century CE.