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Armenian forms its own isolated branch of the Indo-European language family and is not closely related to any other language, according to Wikivoyage’s phrasebook. It is the official language of Armenia and is also spoken by ethnic Armenians in Georgia, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, and by the diaspora around the world. The guide estimates 7 million speakers.
Mount Ararat and Yerevan (photo: Serouj Ourishian, CC BY-SA 3.0).
Two dialects, two ways to say “you”
Armenian has two main dialects. Eastern Armenian is used by Armenians living in Armenia. Western Armenian is spoken by members of the diaspora whose ancestors fled Western Armenia, now in Turkey’s Eastern Anatolia region, as a result of the Armenian Genocide. This phrasebook covers the Eastern dialect, the official language of Armenia.
As in German, French or Russian, there is an informal and a formal way to address people. Informal address uses the pronoun դու (doo); formal address uses the plural form դուք (douq). Very few people in Armenia speak English, the guide says, but almost everyone speaks Russian as a second language. A few Armenian expressions are still useful and warm the hearts of hospitable Armenians.
Alphabet and sounds
Armenian has its own alphabet, which the guide says Mesrop Mashtots invented in 405 AD. It looks complex next to the Latin alphabet, but spelling is quite phonetic, so once you know each letter’s sound, reading should not be a problem. Some sounds, though, are difficult for foreigners because Armenian has several unique consonants. Words are stressed on the last syllable.
Aparan Alphabet park (photo: Rita Willaert from Belgium, CC BY 2.0).
A few sounds the guide singles out:
| Letter | Sounds like |
|---|---|
| Ա/ա (ayb) | the a in father |
| Է/է (eh) | the e in pet |
| Ը/ը (ət) | the a in about |
| Ու/ու (oo) | the oo in soon |
| Խ/խ (kheh) | Scottish loch or German Aachen |
| Ռ/ռ (ra) | rolled r, as in Spanish |
| Ձ/ձ (dza) | the ds in beds |
Grammar in brief
The guide says serious grammar is unrealistic for a trip, but gives the basics. There is no grammatical gender and no indefinite article. There are five cases: nominative, dative, ablative, instrumental and locative. Its examples are Իմ անունը Շուշանիկ է (My name is Shushanik), Ես Հայաստանից եմ (I am from Armenia) and Ես Հայաստանում եմ (I am in Armenia).
The personal pronouns are ես (I), դու (you, informal singular), նա (he/she/it), մենք (we), դուք (you, formal and plural) and նրանք (they).
Phrases to start with
| English | Armenian (pronunciation) |
|---|---|
| Hello | Բարև ձեզ (bah-REV DZEZ); informal Բարև (bah-REV) |
| How are you? | Ինչպե՞ս եք (inch-PES EHQ) |
| Thank you | Շնորհակալություն (shno-ra-ka-loo-TYOON) |
| Please | Խնդրեմ (khen-TREM) |
| Yes / No | Այո / Ոչ (a-YO / voch), polite forms; informal Հա / Չէ (huh / cheh) |
| Excuse me | Կներե՛ք (ke-neh-REHQ) |
| Goodbye | Ցտեսություն (tse-teh-soo-TYOON) |
| I don’t understand | Ես չեմ հասկանում (YES CHEM has-kah-NOOM) |
| Where is the toilet? | Որտե՞ղ է զուգարանը (vor-TEGH EH zoo-qah-RAHNE) |
| Help! | Օգնությու՛ն (oq-noo-TYOON) |
| Police! | Ոստիկանությու՛ն (vos-tih-kah-noo-TYOON) |
| The check, please | Հաշիվը, խնդրում եմ (huh-SHE-ve, khend-ROOM ehm) |
The numbers one to ten are մեկ (mehk), երկու (yer-KOU), երեք (yeh-REQ), չորս (chorse), հինգ (hyng), վեց (vehts), յոթ (yote), ութ (oote), ինը (eene) and տաս (tahs). The guide notes that weeks start on Monday and dates are written as dd.mm.yy.
Khorovats, Armenian barbecue (photo: 2colored, CC BY-SA 2.0).
Sources
- Wikivoyage contributors, Armenian phrasebook, Wikivoyage, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Photos credited in captions: Serouj Ourishian (CC BY-SA 3.0), Rita Willaert (CC BY 2.0) and 2colored (CC BY-SA 2.0). Changed here: condensed and rewritten, with most phrase lists, the verb tables and the travel photos left out; hubnx’s version stays CC BY-SA 4.0; rewritten in hubnx’s own words.
Licence : CC BY-SA 4.0 · Adapté de en.wikivoyage.org
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