Աշխատասեր, շատախոս, անտարբեր: what character is made of
The character unit hands you thirty-odd adjectives, and there is no need to memorize them one by one: nearly every one is assembled from a familiar root plus one of six tails. Once you see the assembly, you will guess an unfamiliar word on the first try — and, more importantly, you will stop building literal calques. For example: “Աշխատասեր և համբերատար մարդ է” — He is a hard-working and patient person. A rule from…
How it works
The character unit hands you thirty-odd adjectives, and there is no need to memorize them one by one: nearly every one is assembled from a familiar root plus one of six tails. Once you see the assembly, you will guess an unfamiliar word on the first try — and, more importantly, you will stop building literal calques.
-սեր (-ser) — 'loving something'. սեր (ser) is love: աշխատասեր (ashkhataser) — hard-working, a lover of work; գրքասեր — book-loving; հյուրասեր — hospitable, loving guests. The tail is alive: from almost any noun you can coin a 'lover of it', and you will be understood.
-խոս — 'speaking'. խոսել (khosel) — to speak: շատախոս (shatakhos) — talkative, much-speaking; դասախոս (dasakhos) — lecturer; բարձրախոս (bardzrakhos) — loud-speaker, that is, a speaker. One tail, and the words ran from a person to a device — English builds its 'speaker' the same way.
-տար (-tar) and -ատար — 'carrying'. տանել (tanel) — to carry: համբերատար (hamberatar) — patient, carrying patience; հոգատար (hogatar) — caring, carrying care. This is the most common way to make a character trait out of an abstract noun — the way English turns 'patience' into 'patient'.
-ելի / -ալի — 'such that it can be done to it'. վստահել (vstahel) — to trust, վստահելի (vstaheli) — reliable, one who can be trusted; ձանձրանալ — to be bored, ձանձրալի (dzandzrali) — boring; հաճելի (hacheli) — pleasant. English reaches for different suffixes here (-able, -some); Armenian uses one.
-ված — a participle: 'the one who was made so'. դաստիարակել (dastiarakel) — to raise, դաստիարակված (dastiarakvats) — well-raised; ցրել — to scatter, ցրված (tsrvats) — scattered-minded; օգտագործել (ogtagortsel) — to use, օգտագործված (ogtagortsvats) — second-hand. The tail is always unstressed; the stress stays on the stem itself: -VATS.
And the prefix ան- — 'un-, non-'. անտարբեր (antarber) — indifferent (տարբեր (tarber) — different), անվճար (anvchar) — free of charge, անձայն (andzayn) — soundless, անհոգ — carefree. It sticks on without a hyphen or space and works on any noun. Be careful with one thing: ան- negates a noun, while a verb is negated by չ-. Անտարբեր է (antarber e) — he is indifferent, but չի հասկանում (chi haskanum) — he does not understand; 'անհասկանում' is impossible.
Table
| Tail | Meaning | From | What came out |
|---|---|---|---|
| -սեր | loving | աշխատանք — work | աշխատասեր — hard-working |
| -խոս | speaking | շատ — much | շատախոս — talkative |
| -տար | carrying | հոգ — care | հոգատար — caring |
| -ելի | such that it can be done | վստահել — to trust | վստահելի — reliable |
| -ալի | such that it can be done | ձանձրանալ — to be bored | ձանձրալի — boring |
| -ված | the one made so | ցրել — to scatter | ցրված — absent-minded |
| ան- (in front) | un-, non- | տարբեր — different | անտարբեր — indifferent |
| չ- (on the verb) | not | հասկանում է | չի հասկանում — does not understand |
By example
- Աշխատասեր և համբերատար մարդ էashkhataser yev hamberatar mard eHe is a hard-working and patient person
- Ձանձրալի ֆիլմ էր, բայց ես անտարբեր չէիdzandzrali film er, bayts yes antarber cheiThe film was boring, but I was not indifferent
- Շատախոս է, բայց շատ հոգատարshatakhos e, bayts shat hogatarHe's talkative but very caring
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
what character is made of: how does it work in Armenian?
The character unit hands you thirty-odd adjectives, and there is no need to memorize them one by one: nearly every one is assembled from a familiar root plus one of six tails. Once you see the assembly, you will guess an unfamiliar word on the first try — and, more importantly, you will stop…
What does it look like in an example sentence Armenian?
“Աշխատասեր և համբերատար մարդ է” (ashkhataser yev hamberatar mard e) — He is a hard-working and patient person. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.