Basic Armenian words
Greetings, numbers, family, food and common verbs, each in Armenian script and Latin letters.
See the word list →Armenian · 39 letters
The Armenian alphabet, letter by letter
Every letter of the Armenian alphabet with its name, the sound it makes, how it is written in Latin letters, and a word that uses it. Below the table are the reading rules the letters alone do not show.
The whole alphabet
All 39 Armenian letters
Mesrop Mashtots created 36 letters around 405 AD. Օ and Ֆ were added in the Middle Ages, and the alphabet taught in Armenia today also counts և, which gives 39. The sounds are those of Eastern Armenian, the standard language of Armenia.
| Letter | Name | Sound | In Latin letters | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ա ա | այբ (ayb) | a as in father | a | անուն (anun): name |
| Բ բ | բեն (ben) | b as in book | b | բարև (barev): hello |
| Գ գ | գիմ (gim) | g as in go | g | գիրք (girq): book |
| Դ դ | դա (da) | d as in door | d | դուռ (dur): door |
| Ե ե | եչ (yech) | ye at the start of a word, e as in bet elsewhere | ye | երեխա (yerekha): child |
| Զ զ | զա (za) | z as in zoo | z | զանգ (zang): bell, call |
| Է է | է (e) | e as in bet | e | էջ (ej): page |
| Ը ը | ըթ (yt) | the unstressed a in about | y | ընկեր (ynker): friend |
| Թ թ | թո (to) | t with a puff of air, as in top | t | թեյ (tey): tea |
| Ժ ժ | ժե (zhe) | the s in measure | zh | ժամ (zham): hour |
| Ի ի | ինի (ini) | ee as in see | i | ինչ (inch): what |
| Լ լ | լյուն (lyun) | l as in lamp | l | լավ (lav): good |
| Խ խ | խե (khe) | the ch in Scottish loch | kh | խնձոր (khndzor): apple |
| Ծ ծ | ծա (tsa) | ts with no puff of air | ts | ծառ (tsar): tree |
| Կ կ | կեն (ken) | k with no puff of air, as in skate | k | կաթ (kat): milk |
| Հ հ | հո (ho) | h as in house | h | հաց (hats): bread |
| Ձ ձ | ձա (dza) | dz, the ds in beds | dz | ձուկ (dzuk): fish |
| Ղ ղ | ղատ (ghat) | a throaty gh, close to the French r | gh | աղջիկ (aghjik): girl |
| Ճ ճ | ճե (tche) | ch with no puff of air | tch | ճանապարհ (tchanaparh): road |
| Մ մ | մեն (men) | m as in mother | m | մայր (mayr): mother |
| Յ յ | հի (hi) | y as in yes | y | յոթ (yot): seven |
| Ն ն | նու (nu) | n as in no | n | նոր (nor): new |
| Շ շ | շա (sha) | sh as in ship | sh | շաբաթ (shabat): week |
| Ո ո | վո (vo) | vo at the start of a word, o as in more elsewhere | o | ոչ (voch): no |
| Չ չ | չա (cha) | ch with a puff of air, as in chair | ch | չորս (chors): four |
| Պ պ | պե (pe) | p with no puff of air, as in spin | p | պանիր (panir): cheese |
| Ջ ջ | ջե (je) | j as in jam | j | ջուր (jur): water |
| Ռ ռ | ռա (ra) | a rolled r | r | առավոտ (aravot): morning |
| Ս ս | սե (se) | s as in sun | s | սուրճ (surtch): coffee |
| Վ վ | վեվ (vev) | v as in voice | v | վեց (vets): six |
| Տ տ | տյուն (tyun) | t with no puff of air, as in stop | t | տուն (tun): house |
| Ր ր | րե (re) | a soft r, a single light tap | r | րոպե (rope): minute |
| Ց ց | ցո (tso) | ts with a puff of air, as in cats | ts | ցտեսություն (tstesutyun): goodbye |
| ՈՒ ու | ու (u) | oo as in moon | u | ութ (ut): eight |
| Փ փ | փյուր (pyur) | p with a puff of air, as in pot | p | փող (pogh): money |
| Ք ք | քե (qe) | k with a puff of air, as in kit | q | քաղաք (qaghaq): city |
| ԵՎ և | և (yev) | yev at the start of a word, ev elsewhere | yev | բարև (barev): hello |
| Օ օ | օ (o) | o as in more | o | օր (or): day |
| Ֆ ֆ | ֆե (fe) | f as in film | f | ֆիլմ (film): film |
The Latin column is the transliteration MemDecks shows under every Armenian word. It is built for reading along, not for linguists, so two Armenian letters can share one Latin letter: both տ and թ are written t. The sound column tells them apart.
The hard part for English speakers
Three consonants where English has two
English has pairs such as b and p. Armenian has triples: a voiced consonant, a plain one with no puff of air, and an aspirated one with a clear puff. The plain one is the sound after s in spin, stop and skate.
| Voiced | Plain, no puff of air | Aspirated, with a puff of air |
|---|---|---|
| բ (b) | պ (p) | փ (p) |
| գ (g) | կ (k) | ք (q) |
| դ (d) | տ (t) | թ (t) |
| ձ (dz) | ծ (ts) | ց (ts) |
| ջ (j) | ճ (tch) | չ (ch) |
Reading rules
What the letters do not tell you
Ե and Ո change at the start of a word
At the start of a word ե is said ye and ո is said vo: երեխա is yerekha and ոչ is voch. Inside a word they are plain e and o. The word ով (ov, who) is the common exception.
ՈՒ is two characters and one vowel
ու is written with two characters and read as a single oo sound, as in ուտել (utel, to eat). It is counted as one letter of the alphabet.
և is a letter made of two
և joins ե and վ. It is also the word for "and". It has no capital form of its own: at the start of a sentence it is written Եվ.
An unwritten vowel breaks up consonant clusters
Armenian spelling often leaves out the neutral vowel ը. A word that looks like a run of consonants is spoken with that vowel between them: խնձոր (khndzor, apple) has one vowel on paper and two syllables in speech.
Stress falls on the last syllable
Armenian words are stressed on their final syllable. The exception is a word that ends in ը: the stress then moves one syllable back.
The punctuation is different
A sentence ends with ։, which looks like a colon. The question mark ՞ and the exclamation mark ՜ are not placed at the end of the sentence: they sit above the stressed vowel of the word being asked about or stressed. ՝ marks a short pause.
After the letters
From knowing the letters to reading
Recognising 39 shapes takes days. Reading without decoding takes months of seeing real words. These are the places to get that practice.
Armenian vocabulary from English
What MemDecks supports for Armenian, with the phrases and words its lessons teach.
Read the Armenian guide →Alphabet Quest
English text that shifts into Armenian letters one at a time, so you read the shapes inside words you understand.
How Alphabet Quest works →What learning a new alphabet takes
Why the months between knowing the letters and reading fluently are the hard part.
Read the post →