Armenian (East)
Հայերեն խոսում են Հայաստանում:
Armenian, basically, is broken up into two main dialects. Western Armenian is spoken mostly by those of the Armenian diaspora: those residing in Jerusalem, Lebanon, the United States, Russia and so on. Eastern Armenian is spoken by those residing in Armenia, Iran and others of the diaspora and will be the language learned by LDS missionaries.
Armenian Help
My idea for this page is to offer some written help for each lesson I give on my podcast. This will be helpful to those who, like me, could use something to look at to help them along. First, however, I will offer something I haven’t recorded on a podcast: the alphabet. Click on “the alphabet” to access an Armeniapedia.org page with a great history on the Armenian alphabet.
Armenian Alphabet
Հայերենի Այբուբենը
The alphabet has 39 letters! There are a few letters that, I like to say, have buddies. They sound pretty similar to each other when heard by an American ear. Also, each letter has only one sound. In English, vowels have their long and short forms. Armenian letters have ONLY ONE pronunciation each and EVERY letter is pronounced in a word; there are no silent letters. I will do my best to give a small explanation with English phonetics. I’ll publish a podcast with the pronunciations, too. Also, these pronunciations are described in an “eastern dialect” way.
Ա ա a, as in August
Բ բ b, as in Bob
Գ գ g, as in gas
Դ դ d, as in dad
Ե ե yeh, as in yellow
(when at the beginning of a word)
eh, as in let
(when found in the middle of a word)
Զ զ z, as in zoo
Է է eh, as in let or enter
Ը ը uh, as is under
Թ թ t, as in tap
Ժ ժ zh, as in azure or genre
Ի ի ee, as in beat or Larry
Լ լ l, as in lap
Խ խ kh, a voiceless gargle
Ծ ծ tz, as in lights
Կ կ k, a hard k, mix between ‘g’ and ‘k’
Հ հ h, as in hard
Ձ ձ dz, just pronounce ‘d’ with a ‘z’
Ղ ղ gh, a voiced gargle, a French ‘r’
Ճ ճ tj or tch, a very hard sound
Մ մ m, as in mom
Յ յ y, as in yawn
Ն ն n, as in not
Շ շ sh, as in shock
Ո ո vo, as in vote
(when at the beginning of a word)
o, as in note
(when found in the middle of a word)
Չ չ ch, as in chase
Պ պ p, in between a ‘p’ and a ‘b’
Ջ ջ j, as in John
Ռ ռ rr, a rolling ‘r’
Ս ս s, as in sit
Վ վ v, as in visit
Տ տ t, a voiced t, between a ‘t’ and a ‘d’
Ր ր r, as in rope
Ց ց ts, as in cats
Ու ու oo, as in boot
Փ փ p, as in pat
Ք ք k, as in kit
և -yev, at the beginning of a word (this
is rare but ‘և’ is a word all alone - ‘and’
-ev, when found in the middle of a
word, Yerevan, for example
Օ օ o, as in O my goodness
Ֆ ֆ f, as in fat
Lesson 1 - Introductions and Greetings
(note: all accents are on the last vowel of a word: bar-Ev)
Hello - barev dzez
բարև ձեզ
informal - barev
What’s up? - eench ka
ինչ կա
also: eench ka, chka
ինչ կա, չկա
How are you? - eenchpes es
ինչպես ես
I am fine - yes lav em
ես լավ եմ
Pronouns
I - yes
you - doo
he, she, i - na
we - menk
you - dook
they - nrank
I - ես
you - դու
he, she, i - նա
we - մենք
you - դուք
they - նրանք
Lesson 2 - Present Tense and Some Adjectives
Adjectives and present tense examples:
I am good
Ես լավ եմ
Yes lav em
You are happy
Դու ուրախ ես
Doo oorakh es
He/she is good
Նա լավ է
Na lav eh
We are Armenian
Մենք հայ ենք
Menk hay enk
(‘hay’ means an Armenian person and is pronounced ‘high’)
You all are great
Դուք մեծ եք
Dook metz ek
They are pretty
Նրանք սիրուն են
Nrank seeroon en
Pronouns with ‘To Be’
verb endings
I am ______
Ես_________ եմ
You are______
Դու ________ես
He/she/it is ______
Նա_________ է
We are______
Մենք______ ենք
You are______
Դուք_______ եք
They are______
Նրանք_____ են
Language Lessons
Լեզվի Դասեր
Lesson 4: The Present Tense-SO EASY
Conjugation Steps
1. Choose your pronoun
2. Your verb goes after the pronoun
3. Chop off the -ալ (-al) or -ել (-el) from the verb
4. Attach -ում (-um) to the end of the verb
5. Place the appropriate present tense to be ending after the verb
I love - 1. yes
2. yes sirel
3. yes sir- el
4. yes sir-um
5. yes sirum em
Download this PDF to get a better look at the lesson.
Todays Verbs:
սիրել sirel - to love/like
գրել grel - to write
կարդալ kardal - to read
գնալ gnal - to go
հասկանալ haskanal - to understand
տեսնել tesnel - to see
Lesson 5: Present Tense Irregulars
ունենալ oonenal - to have
իմանալ imanal - to know
տալ tal - to give
գալ gal - to come
oonenal and imanal will fall into the same type of irregular conjugation:
I have - 1. yes
2. yes oonenal
3. yes oon- enal
4. yes oon-em
5. yes oonem
I know - 1. yes
2. yes git-em
3. yes gitem
*Imanal won’t be used in the present tense as mush as his buddy ‘git’
To negate, just add a ch- to the front of the verb:
I have - yes oonem
I don’t have - yes choonem
I know - yes gitem
I don’t know - yes chgitem
Today’s Vocab -
խանութ khanoot - store
շուկա shooka - market
ուտելիք ootelik - food
հաց hats - bread
գիրք girk - book
տուն toon - house
նամակ - namak - letter (that you send)
փող pogh - money
