Անքնություն
“Անքնություն” (ank'nut'yun) — insomnia in Armenian. Noun, level B1. From քուն 'sleep' and ան- 'without': sleeplessness. The same prefix in անվճար 'free of charge' and անհոգ 'carefree'. In a live sentence: “Անքնությունը տևեց մի ամբողջ ամիս” — The insomnia lasted a whole month. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters Ա, ն, ք, ն, ո, ւ, թ, յ, ո, ւ, ն. A word from the everyday Armenian course, level B1.
In short
| Written in Armenian | Անքնություն |
| Read in Latin letters | ank'nut'yun |
| Translation | insomnia |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | B1 |
- Անքնությունank'nut'yuninsomnia
Why it looks that way
From քուն 'sleep' and ան- 'without': sleeplessness. The same prefix in անվճար 'free of charge' and անհոգ 'carefree'
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Անքնությունը տևեց մի ամբողջ ամիսank'nut'yunə tevets mi amboghj amisThe insomnia lasted a whole month
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “insomnia” in Armenian?
«Անքնություն», read “ank'nut'yun”. In a live sentence: “Անքնությունը տևեց մի ամբողջ ամիս” — The insomnia lasted a whole month. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level B1; written with the characters Ա, ն, ք, ն, ո, ւ, թ, յ, ո, ւ, ն.
How is “Անքնություն” written in Latin letters?
ank'nut'yun. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
From քուն 'sleep' and ան- 'without': sleeplessness. The same prefix in անվճար 'free of charge' and անհոգ 'carefree'. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.