In terms of the use of a unified vernacular Armenian language, Armenian intellectuals of the early 18 th century had become keenly aware of a need for a common Armenian language capable of uniting a widespread diaspora. For ethno-national communities outside the homeland, however, a common language and/or religion are the major markers of collective identity, as in the case of diasporic Armenians, Chinese, Greeks, Indians, Jews, Sikhs, and Tibetans. With modernity and secularization, ethno-identities have incorporated socioeconomic and political-territorial contexts into their conceptualization of identity. Hence, the idea that nationalism is a strictly secular ideology does not apply to Armenians for whom religion plays an important role many Armenian ethno-symbols are religious in nature.
The first Armenian periodical to use an amalgam of classical and vernacular Indo-Armenian dialect, and which was printed in the Armenian alphabet, was published in India. While the language of the Church and the clergy was not completely abandoned, the vernacular began to be used.
The process of standardizing the vernacular languages happened in the 18 th and 19 th centuries. However, most Iranian Armenians did not master classical Armenian due to an emphasis on fluency within the host nation, which encouraged a form of Armenian vernacular. For the Armenian diaspora, the clergy have been positioned as the guardians of classical Armenian.
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