I can tell պ from փ, տ from թ, and կ from ք in writing, and read words with the letters շ, խ, ը and words where a vowel is heard but not written.
Three series: with and without a puff of air
Three series: with and without a puff of air
English has b and a puffed p. Armenian has three letters: voiced բ, voiceless պ with no puff of air, and voiceless փ with a puff. դ – տ – թ and գ – կ – ք work the same way. Letters with a puff are called aspirated.
Only three letters are new: Փ փ [pʰ], Թ թ [tʰ], Ք ք [kʰ], like the p, t, k of “pin, top, kin”. In the reading in square brackets, ʰ marks the puff of air. The table is below.
Test yourself: hold a sheet of paper to your lips. For պ it stays still; for փ it moves.
To an English ear պ can sound like b, and փ like p, but they are different letters and different words. One letter of a series changes the word: կար “there was”, քար “stone”; տան “of the house”, թան “tan”, a yogurt drink; կույր “blind”, քույր “sister”. And բակ “yard” and փակ “closed” differ by the voiced բ and the puffed փ.
So learn the letter of a series by eye, with the word: we don't test it by ear, only by choosing and writing a familiar word.
Three traps: փ is not f but p with a puff of air: Փարիզ [pʰɑɾiz], Paris. թ is not the th of “thin” but t with a puff of air. ք is not a Latin p but k with a puff of air.
Common mistakes:
• NOT փ as f — the letter for f is another one; it comes in lesson 6.
• NOT ք as a Latin p — it is k with a puff of air.
• NOT “պ or փ, what's the difference?” — the checker tells them apart like any two letters.
Three series of consonants
Only the letters in the third column are new.
| Voiced | Voiceless, no puff of air | Voiceless, with a puff of air |
|---|---|---|
| բ — բարի [bɑɾi] | պ — պանիր [pɑniɾ] | փ — փոքր [pʰɔkʰəɾ] |
| դ — դաս [dɑs] | տ — տուն [tun] | թ — թեյ [tʰɛj] |
| գ — գինի [ɡini] | կ — կատու [kɑtu] | ք — քույր [kʰujɾ] |
Lesson notes
Three series: with and without a puff of air
English has b and a puffed p. Armenian has three letters: voiced բ, voiceless պ with no puff of air, and voiceless փ with a puff. դ – տ – թ and գ – կ – ք work the same way. Letters with a puff are called aspirated.
Only three letters are new: Փ փ [pʰ], Թ թ [tʰ], Ք ք [kʰ], like the p, t, k of “pin, top, kin”. In the reading in square brackets, ʰ marks the puff of air. The table is below.
Test yourself: hold a sheet of paper to your lips. For պ it stays still; for փ it moves.
To an English ear պ can sound like b, and փ like p, but they are different letters and different words. One letter of a series changes the word: կար “there was”, քար “stone”; տան “of the house”, թան “tan”, a yogurt drink; կույր “blind”, քույր “sister”. And բակ “yard” and փակ “closed” differ by the voiced բ and the puffed փ.
So learn the letter of a series by eye, with the word: we don't test it by ear, only by choosing and writing a familiar word.
Three traps: փ is not f but p with a puff of air: Փարիզ [pʰɑɾiz], Paris. թ is not the th of “thin” but t with a puff of air. ք is not a Latin p but k with a puff of air.
Common mistakes:
• NOT փ as f — the letter for f is another one; it comes in lesson 6.
• NOT ք as a Latin p — it is k with a puff of air.
• NOT “պ or փ, what's the difference?” — the checker tells them apart like any two letters.
The letters շ, խ, ը and a vowel you don't write
Շ շ is the sh of “shoe”: շուն [ʃun], “dog”. Խ խ is the ch of Scottish “loch”, rough, at the back of the mouth: խանութ [χɑnutʰ], “store”. Don't confuse խ with հ, the light breath of English h.
Ը ը is the short vowel [ə], like the a of “about”. It is written at the start of a word: ընկեր [ənkɛɾ], “friend”. It is also written at the end of a word: such words come later.
Between consonants this vowel is often heard but not written. գիրք [ɡiɾkʰ] is “book”, and “books” is գրքեր [ɡəɾkʰɛɾ]: one vowel in writing, two syllables in speech. The same in փոքր [pʰɔkʰəɾ]: you hear a vowel before ր. Learn such words as a whole.
One more lesson word: մենք [mɛnkʰ], “we”.
Common mistakes:
• NOT reading գրքեր letter by letter, with no vowel in the first syllable.
• NOT writing ը every time you hear it — inside a word it is usually not written.
• NOT խ for հ — they are different letters.