Ժանգոտ, փայլուն, օվալաձև: how Armenian makes a quality
The fiftieth unit hands you twenty-odd adjectives, and most of them could have been assembled rather than memorized. Armenian builds a quality with a suffix from a ready-made noun or verb, and there are three workhorse suffixes here. For example: “Դարակի գրքերը փոշոտ են” — The books on the shelf are dusty. A rule from the Armenian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
The fiftieth unit hands you twenty-odd adjectives, and most of them could have been assembled rather than memorized. Armenian builds a quality with a suffix from a ready-made noun or verb, and there are three workhorse suffixes here.
-ոտ — 'covered with it, in it'. Ժանգ (rust) → ժանգոտ (rusty), փոշի (dust) → փոշոտ (dusty), ցեխ (mud) → ցեխոտ (muddy), արյուն (blood) → արյունոտ (bloodstained). The suffix is alive: hearing an unfamiliar word in -ոտ, you can safely read 'covered in that, stained with that'.
-ուն — 'apt to do this'. It clings to a verb stem: փայլել (to shine) → փայլուն (shiny), կպչել (to stick) → կպչուն (sticky), ճկել (to bend) → ճկուն (flexible), սահել (to slide) → սահուն (smooth, slick). The difference from -ոտ is exactly the one between 'dusty' and 'sticky': the first is about what stuck to the thing, the second about the thing's own property.
-աձև — 'of such shape'. The second half is ձև (shape): օվալաձև (oval), աստղաձև (star-shaped), կլորաձև (rounded), հովհարաձև (fan-shaped). The most mechanical of the three: attach -աձև to any word about a figure and you will be understood.
The reverse move works too. Negation is done with the prefix ան-: պիտանի (fit for use) → անպիտան (unusable), հիմնավոր (well-founded) → անհիմն (baseless). Note that the word often loses its tail in the process: not 'անպիտանի' but անպիտան.
Table
| Stem | Suffix | Quality | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ժանգ (rust) | -ոտ | ժանգոտ | rusty |
| փոշի (dust) | -ոտ | փոշոտ | dusty |
| փայլել (to shine) | -ուն | փայլուն | shiny |
| կպչել (to stick) | -ուն | կպչուն | sticky |
| օվալ (oval) | -աձև | օվալաձև | oval-shaped |
By example
- Դարակի գրքերը փոշոտ ենdaraki grk'erə p'oshot enThe books on the shelf are dusty
- Խողովակը ճկուն է և չի կոտրվումkhoghovakə chkun e yev chi kotrvumThe hose is flexible and does not break
- Այս ջուրը խմելու համար պիտանի չէays jurə khmelu hamar pitani cheThis water is not fit for drinking
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
how Armenian makes a quality: how does it work in Armenian?
The fiftieth unit hands you twenty-odd adjectives, and most of them could have been assembled rather than memorized. Armenian builds a quality with a suffix from a ready-made noun or verb, and there are three workhorse suffixes here.
What does it look like in an example sentence Armenian?
“Դարակի գրքերը փոշոտ են” (daraki grk'erə p'oshot en) — The books on the shelf are dusty. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.