He was born on October 25, 1920, in the village of Mastara (Aragatsotn province). After graduating from the seven-year school in Mastara and the high school in Talin, he was admitted to the Linguistics and Literature Faculty of Yerevan State University in 1938.

He was drafted into the army in 1941 and participated in World War II until 1943, when he was seriously injured for the first time and demobilized. He graduated from the university in 1944 and completed his post–graduate studies in 1948. Barseghian defended his candidate (first Ph.D.) thesis in 1952 and his second Ph.D. thesis in 1981. He became an associate professor in 1981 and full professor in 1984.