Learn Eastern Armenian online
INTRODUCTION
The Armenian language (called hayeren in Armenian) comes in two distinct flavours; arevelahayeren (which means Eastern Armenian) which is spoken in the Republic of Armenia, in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and by the Armenian communities in Iran and India; and arevmtahayeren (Western Armenian) which is spoken by Armenians living in Turkey and throughout the Armenian diaspora in Europe, the Middle East and North America although, owing to more recent waves of immigration, the eastern dialect is increasingly being spoken in the diaspora alongside the western. The differences between the two dialects are not great, and they are mutually comprehensible.
I think the western dialect has a very beautiful sound to it and it is also the Armenian which was spoken by my own ancestors, however I decided to concentrate more on learning Eastern Armenian because, as the official first language of what is now the internationally recognised Armenian state, its continued existence as a living language seems far more secure than that of Western Armenian.
These lessons, then, will be in Eastern Armenian.
If you have any comments to make regarding the contents of this website, please feel free to email me at andrew.suzmeyan@googlemail.com
LESSON 1 - THE ARMENIAN ALPHABET
The Armenian alphabet was devised at the beginning of the 5th century AD by Saint Mesrop Mashtots (Մեսրոպ Մաշտոց) in order to translate the Bible into Armenian. It originally consisted of 36 letters but it now has 38 plus one extra letter (the letter և) which is really a combination of two letters and is generally used as an abreviation for the Armenian word եւ meaning and. The 39 letters of the Armenian alphabet are as follows
Upper case Lower case Name Pronunciation English transliteration
(1) Ա ա ayb a in father a
(2) Բ բ ben b in baby b
(3) Գ գ gim g in gas g
(4) Դ դ da d in deal d
(5) Ե ե yech ye in yet ye/e
(6) Զ զ za z in zoo z
(7) Է է eh e in pet e
(8) Ը ը ut er in letter ë
(9) Թ թ toh t in team t
(10) Ժ ժ zheh s in leisure zh
(11) Ի ի ini i in ski i
(12) Լ լ liun l in lion l
(13) Խ խ kheh ch in German achtung kh
(14) Ծ ծ tsa ts in tsar ts'
(15) Կ կ ken k in sky k'
(16) Հ հ ho h in have h
(17) Ձ ձ dza dz in adze dz
(18) Ղ ղ ghat r in French Paris gh
(19) Ճ ճ cheh ch in church ch'
(20) Մ մ men m in mother m
(21) Յ յ hi y in yes y
(22) Ն ն nu n in number n
(23) Շ շ sha sh in sheep sh
(24) Ո ո vo vo in void vo/o
(25) Չ չ cha ch in cheese ch
(26) Պ պ peh p in spam p'
(27) Ջ ջ jeh j in joke j
(28) Ռ ռ rra rolled r in Scottish 'murder' rr
(29) Ս ս seh s in some s
(30) Վ վ vev v in vote v
(31) Տ տ tyun t in step t'
(32) Ր ր reh r in posh English 'very' r
(33) Ց ց tso ts in Pizza ts
(34) Ւ ւ u u in chute u
(35) Փ փ pyur p in pool p
(36) Ք ք keh k in kiss k
(37) (lower case only) և yev yev in tennis player Yevgeny Kafelnikov yev/ev
(38) Օ օ o o in foil o
(39) Ֆ ֆ feh f in fish f
Pronunciation guide
The letters Կ/կ, Պ/պ, Տ/տ, Ծ/ծ and Ճ/ճ are unaspirated sounds. That means that they should be pronounced without air escaping from your mouth! Practise by holding a piece of paper in front of your mouth and trying to pronounce the letters without the paper moving. The կ/Կ is similar to the normal English k but the sound is made slightly further back in the throat.
The letters Ք/ք, Փ/փ, Թ/թ, Ց/ց and Չ/չ are aspirated sounds and so should be pronounced with air behind them.
The letter Ե/ե is pronounced as ye at the beginning of a word and as e in the middle or at the end of a word.
The letter Ո/ո is pronounced as vo at the beginning of a word and as o in the middle or at the end of a word.
The letter Ր/ր is pronounced like the English r but with a slight tap of the tongue against the roof of the mouth. It almost sounds like the zh sound of the Armenian letter Ժ/ժ.
The letter Ւ/ւ on its own is pronounced as v but the combination of Ո/ո and Ւ/ւ is pronounced as u, eg. դու (english transliteration: du, meaning 'you').
LESSON 2 - SOME BASIC WORDS AND PHRASES
Here are some common Armenian words and phrases. In each case, the word or phrase has first been written in Armenian, followed by the English transliteration in yellow and then the meaning in green:
- Բարեւ Barev Hello
- Ինչպե՞ս ես Inchp'es es? How are you?
- շատ shat' many, much
- լավ lav good; well
- շատ լավ shat' lav very good; very well
- շնորհակալություն shnorhak'alutyun thanks
- շնորհակալ եմ shnorhak'al em thank-you (literally 'I am thankful')
- Շատ լավ եմ, շնորհակալ եմ Shat' lav em, shnorhak'al em I'm very well, thank-you
- բարի bari good; kind
- Բարի երեկո Bari yerek'o good evening
- Բարի լույս Bari luys good morning
- Բարի գալուստ Bari galust' Welcome!
- Բարի գիշեր Bari gisher Good night
- Ցտեսություն Tsët'esutyun (In many Armenian words there is an unwritten ը sound between two consonants. In this case, the word Ցտեսություն is pronounced as if it were written Ցըտեսություն) Goodbye
- Իմ անունը Անդրեաս է Im anunë Andreas e My name is Andreas (Andrew)
- Պարոն P'aron Sir; Mr.
- Տիկին T'ik'in Madame; Mrs.
- Օրիորդ Oriort (in some Armenian words the letter դ is pronounced like the letter թ) Miss
LESSON 3 - PLURAL AND DEFINITE/INDEFINITE ARTICLE
Plural
In Armenian, the plural is formed by adding the suffix եր (er) to the noun if it is a one syllable word or by adding the suffix ներ (ner) to the noun if it has more than one syllable.
Examples:
- տուն t'un house - տուներ t'uner houses
- գիրք girk book - գրքեր gërker books (the vowel ի drops out when a suffix is added to a word, and is replaced by an unwritten ը)
- շուն shun dog - շուներ shuner dogs
- սենյակ senyak' room - սենյակներ senyak'ner rooms
- սեղան seghan table - սեղաններ seghanner tables
Definite Article
The definite article is the letter ը (ë) added to the end of the noun if the last letter of the noun is a consonant. If the last letter of the noun is a vowel, then the definite article is formed by adding the letter ն (n) at the end of the noun. However, if the noun is followed by any of the words եմ, ես, է, ենք, եք, են, (verb 'to be', present tense) էի, էիր, էր, էինք, էիք, էին, (verb 'to be', past tense) or էլ (el, meaning also) [see succeeding lessons for all the preceding], then the letter ն is used for the definite article, even if the noun ends in a consonant.
Indefinite Article
The indefinite article is the word մի, which precedes the noun, for example: Մի գավաթ թեյ (mi gavat tey - a cup of tea). Often, however, the indefinite article is not used, as a noun which is not in the definite or posessive article is assumed to be indefinite.
LESSON 4 - VOCABULARY
As in Lesson 2, each word is written in Armenian, followed by the English transliteration in yellow and then the meaning in green.
- գավաթ gavat cup
- թեյ tey tea
- մահճակալ mahch'ak'al bed
- ննջել nënjel to sleep (verb)
- ննջասենյակ nënjasenyak' bedroom
- հայր hayr father
- մայր mayr mother
- եղբայր yekhpayr (in some words the letter բ is pronounced like the letter փ. Also, when followed by a consonant, the letter ղ is often pronounced like the letter խ) brother
- քույր kuyr sister
- տղա t'gha son, boy
- դուստր dust'ër daughter
- աղջիկ akhchik' (in some words, the letter ջ is pronounced like the letter չ) girl
- սիրել sirel to like/love (verb)
- գնալ gnal to go (verb)
- նավ nav ship
- գնացք gnatsk train
- տեսնել t'esnel to see/look at (verb)
- գտնել gt'nel to find (verb)
- հիվանդ hivand ill, sick
- հիվանդանոց hivandanots hospital
- մեծ mets' big
- ցուրտ tsurt' cold
- սեվ sev black
- ճիշտ ch'isht' right, correct
With Armenian words, the stress is always on the final syllable. If the definite or posessive article is added, this is not stressed, but the stress is still placed on the final syllable of the word, before the article, eg. գնացք (gnatsk - train), գնացքը (gnatskë - the train), հիվանդանոց (hivandanots - hospital) հիվանդանոցը (hivandanotsë - the hospital).
LESSON 5 - THE VERB 'TO BE' (PRESENT TENSE)
- ես եմ yes em I am
- դու ես du es you (singular) are
- նա է na e he/she/it is
- մենք ենք menk enk we are
- դուք եք duk ek you (plural/formal) are
- նրանք են nrank en they are
Examples:
- Տունը մեծ է t'unë mets' e The house is big
- Շունը սեվ է Shunë sev e The dog is black
- Ես ցուրտ եմ Yes tsurt' em I am cold
- Դու ճիշտ ես Du ch'isht' es You are correct
LESSON 6 THE VERB 'TO BE' (PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE)
- ես էի yes ei I was
- դու էիր du eir you (singular) were
- նա էր na er he/she/it was
- մենք էինք menk eink we were
- դուք էիք duk eik you (plural/formal) were
- նրանք էին nrank ein they were