The Armenian alphabet was devised in the 4th century AD by Saint Mesrop Mashtots - or Mesrob Mashdots in Western Armenian - (Մեսրոպ Մաշտոց) in order to translate the Bible into Armenian. It originally consisted of 36 letters but it now has 38. Western Armenian does not use the և (yev) combination of letters that we learned about in lesson 1. Some of the pronunciations of Western Armenian are different as well. The Western Armenian pronunciations are easier for those used to speaking English, as Western Armenian does away with the tricky, unaspirated consonant sounds, pronouncing them voiced consonants instead.
The 38 letters of the Western Armenian alphabet are as follows:
Saturday 12 December 2015
LESSON 1B - THE WESTERN ARMENIAN ALPHABET
(1) Upper case: Ա, Lower case: ա, Name: ayp, Pronunciation: a in father, English transliteration: a
(2) Upper case: Բ, Lower case: բ, Name: pen, Pronunciation: p in pool, English transliteration: p
(3) Upper case: Գ, Lower case: գ, Name: kim, Pronunciation: k in kiss, English transliteration: k
(4) Դ, դ, ta, t in team, t
(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, lioon, l in lion, l
(13) Խ, խ, kheh, ch in German achtung, kh
(14) Ծ, ծ, dza, dz in ae, dz
(15) Կ, կ, gen, g in gas, g
(16) Հ, հ, ho, h in have, h
(17) Ձ, ձ, tsa, ts in Pizza, ts
(18) Ղ, ղ, ghad, r in French Paris, gh
(19) Ճ, ճ, jeh, j in jump, j
(20) Մ, մ, men, m in mother, m
(21) Յ, յ, hi, h in have and y in yes, h/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, beh, b in baby, b
(27) Ջ, ջ, cheh, ch in cheese, ch
(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, dioon, d in deal, d
(32) Ր, ր, reh, r in very (but with the tongue touching the roof of the mouth), r
(33) Ց, ց, tso, ts in Pizza, ts
(34) Ւ, ւ, hioon, v in vote, v
(35) Փ, փ, pioor, p in pool, p
(36) Ք, ք, keh, k in kiss, k
(37) Օ, օ, o, o in foil, o
(38) Ֆ, ֆ, feh, f in fish, f
(2) Upper case: Բ, Lower case: բ, Name: pen, Pronunciation: p in pool, English transliteration: p
(3) Upper case: Գ, Lower case: գ, Name: kim, Pronunciation: k in kiss, English transliteration: k
(4) Դ, դ, ta, t in team, t
(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, lioon, l in lion, l
(13) Խ, խ, kheh, ch in German achtung, kh
(14) Ծ, ծ, dza, dz in a
(15) Կ, կ, gen, g in gas, g
(16) Հ, հ, ho, h in have, h
(17) Ձ, ձ, tsa, ts in Pizza, ts
(18) Ղ, ղ, ghad, r in French Paris, gh
(19) Ճ, ճ, jeh, j in jump, j
(20) Մ, մ, men, m in mother, m
(21) Յ, յ, hi, h in have and y in yes, h/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, beh, b in baby, b
(27) Ջ, ջ, cheh, ch in cheese, ch
(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, dioon, d in deal, d
(32) Ր, ր, reh, r in very (but with the tongue touching the roof of the mouth), r
(33) Ց, ց, tso, ts in Pizza, ts
(34) Ւ, ւ, hioon, v in vote, v
(35) Փ, փ, pioor, p in pool, p
(36) Ք, ք, keh, k in kiss, k
(37) Օ, օ, o, o in foil, o
(38) Ֆ, ֆ, feh, f in fish, f
Pronunciation guide
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 Յ/յ is pronounced as h at the beginning of a word and as y in the middle of a word. It is silent at the end of a word.
The letter The letter Ւ/ւ on its own is pronounced as v but the combination of Ո/ո and Ւ/ւ is pronounced as ou (as in soup), eg. դուն (english transliteration: toun, meaning 'you'. Note: I have transliterated this sound as 'ou' rather than 'u' (as I did in the Eastern Armenian lessons) because the vowel sounds tend to be slightly more elongated in Western Armenian.
When ՈՒ/ու is followed by a vowel, it is pronounced the same as Վ/վ.
When ՈՒ/ու is followed by a vowel, it is pronounced the same as Վ/վ.
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