The Armenian alphabet was devised in the 4th 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 (ե and ւ).
The 39 letters of the Armenian alphabet are as follows:
(1) Upper case: Ա, Lower case: ա, Name: ayb, Pronunciation: a in father, English transliteration: a
(2) Upper case: Բ, Lower case: բ, Name: ben, Pronunciation: b in baby, English transliteration: b
(3) Upper case: Գ, Lower case: գ, Name: gim, Pronunciation: g in gas, English transliteration: 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, ët, er in letter, ë
(9) Թ, թ, t'oh, t in team, t'
(10) Ժ, ժ, zheh, s in leisure, zh
(11) Ի, ի, ini, i in ski, i
(12) Լ, լ, lyun, 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, ghad, r in French Paris, gh
(19) Ճ, ճ, cheh, ch in church, ch
(20) Մ, մ, men, m in mother, m
(21) Յ, յ, yi, 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, ch'a, 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 very (but with the tongue touching the roof of the mouth), r
(33) Ց, ց, ts'o, ts in Pizza, ts'
(34) Ւ, ւ, yiun, u in chute, u
(35) Փ, փ, p'yur, p in pool, p'
(36) Ք, ք, k'eh, k in kiss, k'
(37) և(lower case only), 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
(2) Upper case: Բ, Lower case: բ, Name: ben, Pronunciation: b in baby, English transliteration: b
(3) Upper case: Գ, Lower case: գ, Name: gim, Pronunciation: g in gas, English transliteration: 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, ët, er in letter, ë
(9) Թ, թ, t'oh, t in team, t'
(10) Ժ, ժ, zheh, s in leisure, zh
(11) Ի, ի, ini, i in ski, i
(12) Լ, լ, lyun, 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, ghad, r in French Paris, gh
(19) Ճ, ճ, cheh, ch in church, ch
(20) Մ, մ, men, m in mother, m
(21) Յ, յ, yi, 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, ch'a, 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 very (but with the tongue touching the roof of the mouth), r
(33) Ց, ց, ts'o, ts in Pizza, ts'
(34) Ւ, ւ, yiun, u in chute, u
(35) Փ, փ, p'yur, p in pool, p'
(36) Ք, ք, k'eh, k in kiss, k'
(37) և(lower case only), 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 of a word.
The letter Ո/ո is pronounced as vo at the beginning of a word and as o in the middle of a word
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').
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