Ձ ձ — dza
«dza» is a consonant of Armenian, the “Armenian alphabet” script, read as “dz (one sound)”. A single fused dz, one sound. For example, in the word “Ձուկ” — fish. The Armenian alphabet has 40 letters in total, and this character can be played right here. It appears, for example, in the word “Բարև ձեզ” — hello.
In short
| Character | Ձ ձ |
| Name | dza |
| Sound | dz (one sound) |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 33rd of 40: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are չ and ղ, appears in 192 words of this site.
How it sounds
A single fused dz, one sound
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- Ձուկdzukfish
The character in the “triplets: voiced — voiceless — aspirated” group
The main difficulty of Armenian. Where you are used to two sounds (b and p), Armenian has three: բ 'b', պ 'p' without a puff, փ 'p' with a puff. Five such triplets, fifteen letters.
Words with this character
- Բարև ձեզbarev dzezhello
- Ձուկdzukfish
- Խնձորkhndzorapple
- Ձախdzakhleft
- Վարձակալությունvardzakalut'yunrental
- Ձեռքdzerrk'hand
- Ինձ բժիշկ է պետքindz bzhishk e petk'I need a doctor
- Անձնագիրս կորցրել եմandznagirs kortsrel emI have lost my passport
- Ձեռք մի տվեքdzerrk' mi tvek'don't touch
- Անձրևandzrevrain
- Ձյունdzyunsnow
- Ձմեռdzmerrwinter
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «dza» it is “dz (one sound)”, as in the word “Ձուկ”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 40 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Armenian character ձ read?
As “dz (one sound)” — it is a consonant of the “Armenian alphabet” script. A single fused dz, one sound. For example, in the word “Ձուկ” — fish.
What is the letter ձ called?
Dza. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Armenian script: it is called “dza” and reads as “dz (one sound)”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.