LingoflyՈւ ու — u
«u» is a digraph of the Armenian script, read as “oo (as in food)”. A pure oo. For example, in the word “Դու” (du) — you. The Armenian alphabet has 39 letters in total, and this character can be played right here. The only digraph in Armenian: ո and ւ together read 'oo'. On its own ւ is almost never met. It appears, for example, in the word “Բարի լույս” (bari luys) — good morning.
In short
| Character | Ու (u) ու (u) |
| Name | u |
| Sound | oo (as in food) |
| What it is | a digraph |
In our course the character comes 13th of 40: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are տ and ւ, appears in roughly every fifth word on this site.
How to type Ու (u) ու (u)
- On a phone: add the Armenian keyboard in the keyboard settings (Gboard on Android; Keyboards in the iPhone settings).
- In Word on Windows: type the codes U+0578, U+0582 one at a time, pressing Alt+X after each.
- On a Mac: switch to the Unicode Hex Input source and, holding Option, type the codes 0578, 0582 in a row.
- Unicode code points: ու (u) — U+0578 U+0582, Ու (u) — U+0548 U+0582. With them, the characters can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
A pure oo
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.
The character in the “vowels” group
Eight signs. Two of them — ե and ո — are read with a y-glide and a v at the start of a word. Ես (yes) reads 'yes', Ոչ (voch) reads 'voch'. And ը is a fleeting murmur that in writing is often not written at all.
Words with this character
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 «u» it is “oo (as in food)”, as in the word “Դու” (du)), 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 — 39 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 ու (u) read?
As “oo (as in food)” — it is a digraph of the Armenian script. A pure oo. For example, in the word “Դու” (du) — you.
What is the letter ու (u) called?
U. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Armenian script: it is called “u” and reads as “oo (as in food)”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.