Armenian words that do not translate
A dhow, a kottu roshi, a khachapuri — words a dictionary can only give as a description in brackets, because the thing is not part of everyday life here. All such Armenian words are collected here: 40 words with an explanation of what it is and what it is for.
Words and what stands behind them
The national fruit: the Latin name of the species is Prunus armeniaca, the Armenian plum. By one account, the orange stripe on the flag is precisely apricot-colored. The duduk is carved from its wood.
The day of remembrance of the victims of the genocide: on this day in 1915 the Armenian intelligentsia was arrested in Constantinople. The march to the memorial starts at night, people carry flowers, and the city comes to a stop.
The mountain visible from Yerevan on a clear day and standing on the coat of arms, although since 1921 it has been across the Turkish border. The chief symbol of the country and an evergreen topic of talk: an Armenian will point it out to you themselves.
The Armenian name of Nagorno-Karabakh, the region around which wars were fought in the 1990s, 2020 and 2023, after which the Armenian population left it. The word comes up in conversation more often than one would expect.
The Armenian script, created by Mesrop Mashtots in 405 all at once, fitted to the sounds of the language. There were thirty-six letters; now there are thirty-nine. The name is the first two letters — ayb and ben.
Beef fillet pressed under salt, then cured for months under a coating of chaman — fenugreek with garlic and red pepper. Cut into nearly transparent slices; the coating preserves the meat and gives it all its taste.
Minced meat with rice and herbs rolled in a grape leaf and simmered. In summer comes ampopi dolma in fresh vegetables, in winter in brined leaves; eaten with matsun and garlic.
A flute carved from apricot wood with a large double reed that gives a low, velvety sound with almost no vibrato. It is played in pairs: one leads the melody, the other holds one continuous note. The sound of the duduk is on the UNESCO list.
The spiritual center of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the seat of the Catholicos. Its cathedral is among the oldest in the world, fourth century. The name means 'the Only-Begotten descended': legend says a vision pointed out the spot.
A pagan temple of the first century with columns in the Greek manner — the only Hellenistic building in the country to survive Christianization. It collapsed in the 1679 earthquake and was reassembled from its own stones.
A sweet pastry with a flaky filling, khoriz — flour rubbed with butter and sugar. The top is scored with a fork, and the pattern differs by village: the Garni gata is not the Byurakan one.
A monastery partly cut straight into the rock: halls, dome and khachkars carved out of the monolith from the top down. Named for the spear once kept there. People sing inside because the sound holds under the vault for several seconds.
The destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire in 1915, which took, by most estimates, about a million and a half lives. A word without which the country and its diaspora cannot be understood. April 24 is the day of remembrance.
A pumpkin hollowed out and stuffed with rice, dried fruit, nuts and honey, then baked whole. Served at New Year and at weddings, cut open in front of everyone; there is a song sung about nothing but this dish.
A porridge of husked wheat and stewed chicken, stirred with a wooden paddle for hours until the fibers melt into one mass. Cooked for memorial days and church feasts, in one pot for the whole village.
The Sevan trout, found only in this lake. The word itself means 'prince' — the fish is so called for its taste and rarity. Its numbers collapsed after the lake was drawn down, and the catch is limited.
A mountain resort on hot springs, and the mineral water from there, faintly salty and alkaline. The name comes from jerm — warm. A gallery stands by the springs where the water is drunk from taps of different temperatures.
A large clay vessel buried in the ground up to the neck, for fermenting and storing wine, oil and grain. A relative of the Georgian qvevri. In Areni a winery with karases more than six thousand years old was excavated.
A stone stele with a carved cross sprouting shoots, wrapped in woven ornament. They were raised as memorial markers — for a victory, a building, a person who died. No two are alike: a repeat was considered defective. On the UNESCO list.
Meat and vegetables over coals: pork or lamb in large chunks, beside eggplant, pepper and tomato charred in their skins. The scorched vegetables are then peeled and chopped with garlic — the famous grill salad.
A circle dance danced shoulder to shoulder, hands linked, with a short springing step and a hop. It is danced at weddings and on squares, and anyone can join by stepping into the line. On the UNESCO list.
Beef pounded with a wooden mallet into a uniform mass, rolled into a ball and boiled in broth. The pounding is long and done by hand; meat from a grinder will not make real kufta. Served with melted butter.
Thin unleavened bread rolled out to half a meter and slapped onto the wall of the tonir oven for a few minutes. It is stacked and dried for keeping: a dry sheet stores for months and revives with water. The baking is on the UNESCO list.
A semi-hard salted cheese with small eyes, named for the northern region where it is made. One of the most common in the country: it goes into lavash with herbs at breakfast and travels well.
The repository of ancient manuscripts in Yerevan, one of the largest in the world: more than twenty thousand manuscripts. It stands at the top of the main avenue, and Mashtots with his disciple are carved at the entrance.
A plump oval loaf with lengthwise furrows pressed in by fingertips before baking. The name says it: matn, finger, kash, to pull. The glossy crust comes from a brush of tea.
Thick sour milk from its own starter, denser than kefir and tangier than yogurt. Eaten with a spoon, used to dress soups and thinned into tan. A household starter is kept for years, fed with fresh milk.
Layered dough with ground nuts, soaked in honey or sugar syrup and cut into diamonds. There can be dozens of layers, rolled out until they are translucent. It is made for the New Year.
A high-mountain lake at almost two kilometres above sea level, the largest freshwater body of the Caucasus. In Soviet times the level was drawn down twenty metres for a hydro plant, and the peninsula with its monastery used to be an island.
Walnuts threaded on a string, dipped repeatedly in grape juice thickened with flour and dried. It looks like a sausage, hence the Turkic name; made in autumn at the grape press.
A fermented milk drink: matsun thinned with cold water and salted. Drunk in the summer heat, and obligatorily with khorovats and dolma. The homemade kind comes with herbs, the store-bought one is carbonated.
A wooded region in the northeast, the greenest in the country: oak and beech forests, monasteries among them and villages right by the border. Most of Armenia’s honey and hazelnuts come from there.
A giant stairway in central Yerevan, rising in terraces with fountains and sculpture; escalators and a museum of modern art run inside. On a clear day Ararat is visible from the top platform.
An open-air market of crafts and antiques in central Yerevan, working on weekends: carvings, carpets, backgammon boards, old cameras, books. Haggling is expected, and the seller is usually the maker.
A clay oven sunk into the ground with a fire at the bottom. The baker leans in waist-deep and slaps rolled dough straight onto the hot wall; meat is cooked in it too, and in winter it keeps the house warm.
A February festival with bonfires in the yard: newlyweds and anyone willing jump over the flame, and the drift of the smoke is read as a forecast of the harvest. A pre-Christian rite, attached to Candlemas.
A ski resort an hour from Yerevan with a cableway up to Teghenis. The name means 'gorge of flowers'. In Soviet times an Olympic training base stood there, and its buildings remain.
A summer festival on which everyone douses everyone with water — acquaintances and strangers, from windows and with buckets. Taking offense is not allowed. Pre-Christian in origin, it was attached by the church to the Transfiguration.
A thin flatbread stuffed with more than twenty kinds of chopped greens — sorrel, nettle, cilantro, wild garlic. It comes from Artsakh; the herbs are gathered on spring slopes, and every cook has an own set.
A round three-tiered temple of the seventh century, felled by an earthquake; the first tier and columns with eagles survive. The Yerevan airport bears its name, so the word is heard in announcements too.
Why such words are in the course
These are a language's ID marks: they cannot be translated because the thing they name is not part of everyday life here, and they are exactly what you hear on day one. There are few of them on purpose — 40 words out of 4060 words in the course. A course where every seventh word is a local curiosity would teach local studies, not a language.
Every word here has its own page, with pronunciation, a look at the spelling and an example of use.
Frequently asked
Why can't these words simply be translated?
A translation assumes the thing exists here too and is just called differently. Not in this case: “a dhoni is a boat” is true and useless — there are many kinds of boat, and a dhoni is known by its tall curved prow and by being the only way between the islands. An explanation answers the question about the thing, not the word.
Do you have to learn them?
Not before everything else. But you will meet them early: local food is offered on the first day, and a festival is named without explanation. Knowing what stands behind a word is more useful than being able to translate it.