Some new trchnakir projects

Finally got some time to myself last night, and had some fun starting a few new art projects.  I just picked names out of our church bulletin, because they list name remembrances every week, and I have this idea that maybe I’ll sell some of these at the church bazaar next year.  I posted it to my personal Facebook page, and someone said she’d BUY one for her son, Joey!  So I got started on that too.

I go through phases with these, but it’s a lot of fun to come up with creative ideas for letter shapes, and patterns for the birds.  I use real-life birds, bugs, butterflies, snakes as inspiration for my patterns (see Pinterest board), rather than doing more traditional Armenian art styles.  Oh well.  It’s fun :-).

If anyone WANTS one for their kiddo, family, whatever, let me know!  It’ll be a good opportunity for me to practice, and figure out how to frame/ship them.

Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 5B: The Last Few Letters

First read: Introduction to the Western Armenian Alphabet Posts

You can find the specific (slightly edited) Powerpoint lesson here: Alphabet Lesson 5, The Last Few Letters

Armenian alphabet tutorial, Lesson 5

We’re in the home stretch! Here are the last few letters, and tips for how to remember them:

Armenian տ կ պ ճ ը ժ
Pronounced d g b j uh jh/zh
  • տ = [d], d = like “duh” or “day”
    • Pronounciation note: In Eastern Armenian, this is a “t.” If you pronounce it somewhere between the two, people will know what you mean.
    • This letter is SaD. The capital looks like a capital S, but it falls over! Sad.; Looks like the English letter “S,” – Sun starts with S – the sun gives you vitamin D. S = D.
  • կ = [ɡ], g = like “go”
    • Similar to English letter g but open on top
    • Pronounced like “k” in Eastern Armenian. Can be heard as a hard “g” sound, or soft “k” sound, like “candle” or “kale.”
  • պ = b = like “bee”
    • Like letters BE in English but rotated counterclockwise 90 degrees.
    • Looks like bear claws, grrr!
  • ճ = jeh = like “jet” or “joke”
    • Like a Jester’s hat
  • ը = [ə], ë, ĕ, uh = like “urn,” “about” (shwa), “early,” or “uhhhhh…”
    • I imagine this letter shape as if the sound was the shape. Wouldn’t you draw “uhhh” or “ugggh” this way?
  • ժ = jh, zh = like the sound in “pleasure” or Zhivago
    • Looks similar to ճ, or an exaggerated version of the letter j… (but mostly I just had to memorize this one)
    • Measuring tape

Let’s read:
տէր
տեառն
տիրոջ
յաւիտեանս
տուր
տեղւոջս
տոմար
տօն
տուն

կերէք
երկինք
կամք
կարօ

կացցուք
կնիք
կենդանի
կենդանարար
կեցո
կեանս
կեանք

կարապետ
պատարագ
պատիւ
երկիր պագեսցուք
պատրաստ
պատուական (Simple rule: When ու is followed by a vowel, oo becomes v. Bad-va-gan not bad-oo-a-gan.)
պարգեւ
պիղծ
պղծութիւն

ճաշ
ճաշակեցէք
աճեցուցանեմ
ճգնաւոր
ճրագ

ընկեր
ընկալ
ընդունելի
ըստ

CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve learned the Western Armenian Alphabet!!
(though there are a few bonus letters, stay tuned…)

Access the rest of the lessons in this series here:

Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 5A: Sound Alikes

First read: Introduction to Western Armenian Alphabet Posts

You can find the specific Powerpoint lesson here: Alphabet Lesson 5, The Last Few Letters

Armenian alphabet tutorial, Lesson 5

One very effective way of learning letter shapes in a new language is to group the letters by ones that sound alike. Because of influences from other cultures and languages over the years, Western Armenian has more of these “sound alike” letters than Eastern Armenian does. In Eastern pronunciation, or from other dialects, there are very subtle differences in the way the letters are said. But don’t get hung up on that when learning the basics… you can always learn that level of detail later.

First, let’s review the sound alikes you’ve already learned:

ո օ ե է ր ռ հ յ չ ջ դ թ
o e r h ch t

Do you notice any similarities or differences between the way these sound alike letters are shaped? Can you use one to help you remember the other?

And now let’s learn our next batch of NEW letters:

Armenian փ ք ձ վ
Pronounced p k ts v

փ = [pʰ], p, p’ = like “post”
Line down the center of the shape is the post holding up this squiggly fence. P.

ք = [kʰ], k, k’ = like “kick”
Letter shape looks like a person with their leg out, like they’re kicking. Ki!

ձ = [d͡z][t͡sʰ], ts = like “tzar”

  • A pronunciation note: Depending on the dialect, this can sound like: dz, ds, tz, ts… and it’s rarer than other “z” counterparts.
  • This letter was very difficult for me to remember, because it’s so unusually shaped. Here are some tricks I tried:
    • Looks like:
      • It’s a lowercase “a” with a squiggle on top! That’s a “ts.”
      • Uppercase for this letter (Ձ) looks like the number “2” or capital letter “Z,” so in lower and upper case, it’s a “false friend.” What do you say to false friends? Tsk tsk tsk!
    • Sounds like:
      • The “sounds like” match is “ց,” which is also a double letter and number false friend. The lowercase looks like a lowercase English “g,” and the capital letter is “Ց,” which looks like the number 8. Double false friends? Tsk, tsk, ts

վ = [v], v = like “voice”
Looks like a fancy chandelier or candlestick missing an arm.
This is the first letter of my husband’s name – վարդան (Vartan)

 

Let’s practice sounding out these new sound alikes:

բ փ
p

փառս
փառաւոր
փեսայ
փջեմ

գ ք
k

փառք
քրիստոս
Քրիստոս*
մեք
արքայութիւն
թողումք
հաւատամք
կացցուք
*starts with the capital letter

ձ ց
ts

փորձութիւն
ձիւն
զանձինս
ձայն
ձեւական
ձմեռ
ձօն

ւ վ
v

վայելէ
վասն
վերայ
վայ
վաթսուն
վառ

Access the rest of the lessons in this series here:

Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 4C: An important letter (and more practice reading)

You can find the specific (slightly edited) Powerpoint lesson here:  Alphabet 4, Look Alikes and More

A4 image

An important letter:

Armenian թ
Pronounced t

  • թ = t, t’, [tʰ]

Used for a very important suffix:

Armenian -թիւն
Equivalent to -tion (in English)

 

Pronounced:

  • “իւ” = eev
  • But often, “իւ” = yoo
  • -թիւն = tyoon, tiun

 

Some tricks for this letter:

  • The letter itself is called “toh,” pronounced like “toe.” I imagine the letter as a trchnakir bird, with its head bent down to look at its toes.
  • Someone on the internet came up with: “Jesus had a favorite disciple and his name was Peter. This letter looks like ‘P’, but refers to the ‘ter’ part of his name. It is pronounced ‘t’ as in the second syllable of ‘Peter’. ‘Terminal’ and ‘turban’ share the same hard sound.”
  • Or you could think of the curly bit like steam, coming out of a train (picture from Memrise.com):
    թ mem

 

Remember:

What does it look like?

What does it sound like?

 

 

You’ve learned a lot of letters now. 
Try sounding out these words:
խաղաղ
խաղաղութիւն
օրհնութիւն
թողութիւն
բազմութիւն
օգնութիւն
բարեխօսութիւն
գոհութիւն
ժամերգութիւն
ողորմութիւն
միածին որդի եւ բանդ Աստուած
սուրբ աստուած սուրբ եւ հզօր սուրբ եւ անմահ որ յարեար ի մեռելոց. ողորմեա մեզ
դեւ
դուռ
ելեւել
եռալ
եռացնել
երաժիշտ
երաշխ
երես
երեւելի
երեւիլ
ծախէ
ծէս
ծուխ
ծով
ծոց
ծոյլ
Հայր
Որդի
սուրբ
Հոգի
ամէն
CONGRATULATIONS
You’ve learned 28 Armenian letters and 3 dipthongs!

Access the rest of the lessons in this series here:

72nd Annual Armenian Bazaar at St James

Have slowed down on posts recently, because we’ve been SO busy. Vartan and I helped put together the silent auction for the 72nd Annual Armenian Bazaar at our church. It took a lot more time and work than we anticipated, but I think we learned some good lessons. It’ll go more smoothly next year. And all in all, I think it did go well. It’s just that there are only so many hours in the day, so if I’m there cutting up bid cards and hanging paintings, I’m not at home polishing / publishing Western Armenian flashcard decks. We had a sample Western Armenian online lesson a few weeks ago with one company, and will be trying another online teacher soon. We’re going to start up lessons for real again soon, so I’ll be back in that brain zone and posting more resources shortly.

In the meantime, here are some fun pictures from the Bazaar:

Comfort food on a dreary day

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…

Colored-in Armenian cross

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…

Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 4B: M & N

Click here to open the lesson 4 Powerpoint.

Continuing the “Look Alikes” theme, two other “look alike” letters in Armenian are N & M: ն & մ

Armenian ն մ
Pronounced n m
  1. ն = n, like “name”
  2. մ = m, like “map”

These are especially tricky to tell apart. Two things helped me.

  1. Might to the right:Might to the right
  2. ն has a longer Neck:
    N
    N
    M
    M

Some other mneumonic ideas:

N = narinch = orange. N = nose.

Try reading:
ամէն
մահ
մոմ
միս
մեր
հայր մեր
մեզ
մինչ
մարմին
նաւ
ննջեմ
մնամ
նման
նարինջ
նոր
նոր սիոն
նոցա
օգնեմ
օգնեա
օգնել

Homework:

What other Armenian letters look like the ones you’ve just learned?

Start a running list, of groups of letters that have similar shapes.

How can you tell them apart?

That there’s a section on these Alphabet worksheets for just that “look alike” strategy of memorizing the letters.

Access the rest of the lessons in this series here:

Western Armenian Alphabet, Lesson 4A: Look Alikes

A4 image
Click here to open the original Powerpoint lesson.
ArmenianդՂԶջցգ
PronouncedtghZchtsk
Look alikes (overview)
ArmenianPronouncedIPASound clip
դt, like “time”[t’]
  • Kind of looks like a t.
  • “Tiv” is wing/arm/appendage, and the line that differentiates դ from ղ can be a wing in trchnakir drawings.
  • T trchnakir
ArmenianPronouncedIPASound clip
ղgh, like French “Paris,” or Armenian “Boghos”[ġ]
  • Shaped like the pitch of your voice when you say, “uuggGHhh…”
  • Charlie brown uggh
ArmenianPronouncedIPASound clip
զ (Զ capital)z, like “pez” or “zoo“[z]
  • On this list because the capital (Զ) looks like the number 2 or letter Z.
  • The capital is similar to the Armenian uppercase letter of Ձ, but is pronounced more “sharply” (z), like the shape is sharper/pointier too (Զ).
ArmenianPronouncedIPASound clip
ջch, like “watch” or “cheese”[ǰ]
  • Looks like a drop of water, loop is connected, water = “chour” in Armenian
  • Sounds like another letter you’ve just learned, “Չչ”
  • ch-ch-ch, filling airballoons (kind of looks like one?)
ArmenianPronouncedIPASound clip
ցts, like “bats”[ts, ts’]
  • To me, this was another “false friend.” It looks exactly like a lowercase “g.” Tricky too, because in cursive Armenian, you cut the top off the “g” and it looks more like a lowercase “y.”
  • I found the other “ts” sound in Armenian (ձ) easier to memorize, because it looks so unique. So I related this letter to ձ. It’s like ձ, but upsidedown! ձ and ց both make tsssss.
  • tsyesss iTS like “g”
ArmenianPronouncedIPASound clip
գk, like “kind”[k]
  • This shape is similar to how my sister writes her “K”s in cursive English, with a big loop at the top left, so I’d kind of squint really hard and imagine it animorphing from a k to a գ.
  • It’s the third letter of the alphabet, if you’re learning it in order, you might get this one pretty easily before you run out of steam. Ayp, pen, kim. աբգ.
  • It also looks a little bit like an anKh.

Try reading:
ջ
ջուր
էջ
ջահ
աջ
իջայ
ջախէ
ջարդէ

ղ
դեղ
աղ
աղբ
սուղ
խաղ
խաղաղ

զ
հազ
զառ
զարդ
զարդարէ
զարդարէ
զարդարես
զբաղած
զառ

գ
զոյգ
զոյգ
գառ
գիծ
աբգար
գիշեր
գիշեր բարի
գլուխ
գոհար
գործ
գրիչ
սուրբ գրոց
գին
գինի
ալէլուիա
զաջս
այլ
ծախս
ծառ

Phew!

The series: