Sunday 6 January 2008

LESSON 4 - VOCABULARY

As in Lesson 2, each word is written in Armenian, followed by the English transliteration and then the meaning.

- գավաթ * gavat' * cup
- թեյ * t'ey * tea
- մահճակալ * mahchakal * bed
- ննջել * nënjel * to sleep (note the unwritten ը sound between the first two letters)
- ննջասենյակ * nënjasenyak * bedroom
- հայր * hayr * father
- մայր * mayr * mother
- եղբայր * yekhp'ayr (in some words the letter բ is pronounced like the letter փ. Also, when followed by a consonant, the letter ղ tends to be pronounced like the letter խ) * brother
- քույր * kuyr * sister
- որդի * vorti * son
- տղա * tgha * boy
- դուստր * dustër * daughter
- աղջիկ * akhch'ik (in some words, the letter ջ is pronounced like the letter չ) * girl
- սիրել * sirel * to like/love
- գնալ * gnal * to go
- նավ * nav * ship
- գնացք * gnatsk' * train
- տեսնել * tesnel * to see
- գտնել * gtnel * to find (verb)
- հիվանդ * hivand * ill, sick
- հիվանդանոց * hivandanots * hospital
- մեծ * mets * big
- ցուրտ * ts'urt * cold
- սեվ * sev * black
- ճիշտ * chisht * true, correct

With Armenian words, the stress is always on the final syllable. If the definite 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 (gnatsk'ë - the train), հիվանդանոց (hivandanots' - hospital) հիվանդանոցը (hivandanots'ë - the hospital).

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 * tun * house, տներ * tner * houses (the vowel combination ու in the final syllable of a word sometimes drops out, and is replaced by an unwritten ը, when a suffix is added)
- գիրք * girk' * book, գրքեր * grk'er * books (the vowel ի in the final syllable of a word sometimes drops out, and is replaced by an unwritten ը, when a suffix is added)
- շուն * shun * dog, շներ * shner * dogs
- սենյակ * senyak * room, սենյակներ * senyakner * rooms
- սեղան * seghan * table, սեղաններ * seghanner * tables

Definite Article
The definite article is the letter ը (uh) 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 a word which begins with a vowel, then the letter ն is often used for the definite article, even if the noun ends in a consonant.

Indefinite Article
The indefinite article is the word մի (mi), which precedes the noun, for example: Մի գավաթ թեյ (mi gavat' t'ey - a cup of tea). Often, however, the indefinite article is not used, as a noun which is not in the definite article is assumed to be indefinite.