Dolma and plaki, on a cold, rainy, October day…

Vartan and I are doing a trial lesson for one of the online one-on-one Armenian classes tonight… We’ve been falling behind on learning the language and feeling pretty discouraged. It’s hard for us to commit to in-person classes, because someone always has to be home with the baby. Hoping the online, more custom coaching will be effective and not too expensive…

My Mom is moving, and downsizing from the home I grew up in into a small townhouse in the center of Boston.

We’ve been going through her basement for weeks, moving sentimental things from her basement to mine, and sorting through 30 years worth of books, tools, linens, candles, etc. It’s been kind of emotional, actually. But we’ve come across a few unexpected treats, like this drawing of an Armenian cross! I’ve already posted the outline of this to the blog, but was really happy to find the colored-in version. This greeted guests at the front of the church at our wedding, and I had a lot of fun making it. I’d love to draw more of them when I have some free time…

Now we’re starting to get into the tough stuff. These letters don’t have easy equivalent shapes in the English alphabet, so you’ll need to get a little more creative with how you’re learning them.

Some of the tips & tricks I talk about in this blog post really helped: Top tips for learning the Western Armenian alphabet

As usual, I’m writing some specific mneumonic ideas below. If you have others, please share in the comments!

Here we go:

Armenian	Handwriting	Pronounced
չ		Ch
խ		Kh
ծ		Dz
շ		Sh

1. չ = ch, ch’, like “watch” or “cheese”
   • To me, this letter looks sharp and cut off, so it lends itself to a harsh sound, like “ch.”
   • When it’s typed or written, the main body of the letter is lower than most other Armenian letters. It’s short, and “ch”
2. խ = kh, like German “Bach,” or Armenian “Khatch” (cross).
   • It helped me to think of this letter as an adaptation of Իի (ee), which you’ve already learned. You just add an extra squiggle on the end, to make it խ. So I thought of this one as “eeekkhhh.”
   • “Pig” in Armenian is “khoz.” I thought the խ looked a little bit like a curly pig’s tail.
   • “Trchoonuh khent eh!” (“The bird is crazy!”) Khent = խենթ = crazy — See trchnakir doodle below, with it’s crazy squiggly neck.
3. ծ = dz, ads (as in advertisements)
   • This letter was brutal, and still trips me up. I ended up just memorizing this one.
   • ծառ = tree. dzee tree.
4. շ = sh, like “shoot,” or “shop”
   • I thought this one looked like a fiSH hook.
   • The capital for this letter looks like the capital “T” in the New York TimeS font
   • When you’re handwriting this letter, it’s actually quite smooth, and you can imagine saying “shh” gently as you write it.
   • Looks like a 2. You need 2 shoes.

Try reading:
էշ
չար
լից
ծայր
խուլ
ախ
ոչ
այլ
ծախս
ծառ
խաչ
խաչի
խաչիւս
սուրբ խաչիւս
ցաւ
խաշ
էած
ցած
սառ
ցեց
արդ
լաց
սարօ
դաս
հաց
հայ
լարէ
լռէ
ծայր
լից
ցոլէ
սէր
արի
բեր
բարի
աւեր
բախէ
բախէ
բայց
բարբառ
բացի
դառ
դալար
եարս
դեւ
դուռ
ելեւել
եռալ
երաշխ
երես
երեւելի
երեւիլ
ծախէ
ծէս
ծուխ
ծոց
ծոյլ
Հայր

CONGRATULATIONS!
You now know 19 Armenian letters and 3 dipthongs!
You’re halfway there.

Homework:
Find an Armenian book or newspaper and write out 10 words that contain ONLY letters that you have learned so far.

Access the rest of the lessons in this series here:

• Introduction to Western Armenian Alphabet Posts
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 1A: You CAN Learn to Read Armenian
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 1B: E, E, E
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 2: False Friends
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 3A: Odd Couples
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 3B: Alien Beings
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 4A: Look Alikes
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 4B: M & N
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 4C: An important letter (and more practice reading)
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 5A: Sound Alikes
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 5B: The Last Few Letters
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 5C: Bonus Letters

Bishop Daniel Findikyan gives the Sunday sermon on the occasion of the Feast of Holy Etchmiadzin, June 23rd in Watertown, Massachusetts. #bbCDiocese #bocdiocese #easterndiocese #DanielSrpazan #StJamesWatertown

Powerpoint lesson here: Alphabet3: Alien Beings and Odd Couples

For the next alphabet lesson, we’re actually going to go on a tangent and learn some “odd couples.” I don’t know if these are technically diphthongs or monophthongs, but it doesn’t really matter. These “odd couples” usually fall in the middle of a word, and are most often pronounced like this:

There are some exceptions to these pronunciations, as you can see. This Wikipedia page on Classical Armenian Orthography actually has much more detail on the exceptions and spelling if you’re interested.

• ու = [u], oo = like “boo”
  ուր = oor = “where”
  Similar to the English vowel in the word shoo. (Usually “oo,” but ու = “ov” when preceded by a consonant and followed by a vowel, like նուէր, “nver,” meaning “gift.”)
  Just “ու” on its own means “and.” ես ու դու ― es u du ― me and you
• այ = eye
  մայր = [majɾ] = “mother”
  Similar to English my, when at the start or middle of a word (usually).
  Note that a polysyllabic word ending in <այ> is pronounced /ɑ/ (the <յ> becomes silent)
• ոյ = ooy
  քոյր = [kujr] = “sister”
  Similar to French grenouille (frog).
  ոյ = uy before consonant; ոյ = oy before vowel; ոյ = o final silent he

Test yourself:

Access the rest of the lessons in this series here:

• Introduction to Western Armenian Alphabet Posts
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 1A: You CAN Learn to Read Armenian
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 1B: E, E, E
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 2: False Friends
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 3A: Odd Couples
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 3B: Alien Beings
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 4A: Look Alikes
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 4B: M & N
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 4C: An important letter (and more practice reading)
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 5A: Sound Alikes
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 5B: The Last Few Letters
• Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 5C: Bonus Letters