The defining moment in the history of ancient Armenian grammatical thought was the translation / adaptation of the Technē Grammatikē by Dionysios Thrax, probably realised in the 6th century. Before that, occa­sional references to grammatical issues and notions could be found in writings of different genre, but after that, numerous commentaries on the Technē ap­peared. These were col­lected for the first time in the 11th century by Grigor Ma­gistros, and, more than a century later, by Yovhannēs Erznkac‘iPlowz, who tried to surpass his pre­de­ces­sor by compiling a better manual, free from the for­mer’s limitations. 

Up until the 17th century, composing a grammatical treatise in Armenian es­sentially meant writing a commentary on Dionysios Thrax’s text, as well as on previous commentaries. The only exception was a grammar book written by Yov­­hannēs K‘ṙnec‘i in the 14th century, in a milieu that was significantly in­fluenced by Western culture thanks to the efforts of the Fratres Unitores.

In the 1600s the situation changed. Several grammar books were written – by Armenians and foreigners alike – which described the language based on the logical and grammatical framework provided by Latin. These texts were either translated from Latin – as is the case with the work of Oskan Erewanc‘i – or commissioned by institutions linked to the Catholic Church, such as the Amb­ro­siana library of Milan, which published Francesco Rivola’s work, or the Con­gre­­gation de Propaganda Fide of Rome, which did the same for those of Cle­mens Galanus and Yovhannēs Holov. These institutions also published some Ar­menian dictionaries: notably, the Ambrosiana published Rivola’s, and Pro­pa­ganda, Deodato Nierszesovics’s and later Jacques Villotte’s.

The Armenian linguistic production of the 17th century was influenced by the notion of 'grammatisation' (as defined by Sylvain Auroux), then widespread in Europe, according to which any language must be described through – and equipped with – two chief instruments, a grammar book and a dictionary.