Դեպի ձախ
“Դեպի ձախ” (depi dzakh) — to the left in Armenian. Adverb, level A1, topic — asking the way. the partner of depi aj; you know dzakhits — 'on the left' — and dzakh koghmum. A left-handed person is dzakhlik. In a live sentence: “Անկյունում դեպի ձախ թեքվեք” — Turn left at the corner. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters Դ, ե, պ, ի, ձ, ա, խ.
In short
| Written in Armenian | Դեպի ձախ |
| Read in Latin letters | depi dzakh |
| Translation | to the left |
| Part of speech | adverb |
| Level | A1 |
- Դեպի ձախdepi dzakhto the left
Why it looks that way
the partner of depi aj; you know dzakhits — 'on the left' — and dzakh koghmum. A left-handed person is dzakhlik
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.
- Անկյունում դեպի ձախ թեքվեքankyunum depi dzakh t'ek'vek'Turn left at the corner
Nearby words: asking the way
Right, left, straight on, how far. You ask the way rarely — and always at the moment when there is no time to work it out.
- Որտե՞ղ էvorteh ewhere?literally 'where is'. The linking verb e is obligatory: without it the question sounds cut off
- Աջajrightboth the side and the right hand. The direction is set by the case, not by a new word: aj — to the right, ajits — from the right
- Ձախdzakhleftthe partner of aj, built the same way: dzakh — to the left, dzakhits — from the left. Dz is one fused dz sound
- Ուղիղughighstraightstraight ahead on the road, a straight line, and even a live broadcast — ughigh yet'er
- Մոտmotcloseit also works as 'near' — but it follows the word: metroyi mot — by the metro
- Հեռուherrufardouble rr — rolled. Hence herrakhos — telephone, 'far-speaker', and herrustats'uyts' — television
- Այստեղaysteghhereays — this, tegh — place: 'this place'. Ayntegh, 'there', is built on the same scheme
- Այնտեղaynteghthereayn — that, tegh — place. One syllable apart from aystegh: ays versus ayn
- Ինչպես հասնելinchpes hasnelhow do I getthe question uses hasnel — 'to reach' — not 'to go'; in lively speech the question hook sits on the vowel: inchpes
- Ժամանելzhamanelto arriveyou know hasnel as the everyday 'make it'; zhamanel is the arrival of trains and timetables
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “asking the way”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to the left” in Armenian?
the partner of depi aj; you know dzakhits — 'on the left' — and dzakh koghmum. A left-handed person is dzakhlik
- How do you say “here” in Armenian?
ays — this, tegh — place: 'this place'. Ayntegh, 'there', is built on the same scheme
- How do you say “left” in Armenian?
the partner of aj, built the same way: dzakh — to the left, dzakhits — from the left. Dz is one fused dz sound
- How do you say “to arrive” in Armenian?
you know hasnel as the everyday 'make it'; zhamanel is the arrival of trains and timetables
- How do you say “far” in Armenian?
double rr — rolled. Hence herrakhos — telephone, 'far-speaker', and herrustats'uyts' — television
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 “to the left” in Armenian?
«Դեպի ձախ», read “depi dzakh”. In a live sentence: “Անկյունում դեպի ձախ թեքվեք” — Turn left at the corner. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Adverb, level A1, from the set “asking the way”; written with the characters Դ, ե, պ, ի, ձ, ա, խ.
How is “Դեպի ձախ” written in Latin letters?
depi dzakh. 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?
the partner of depi aj; you know dzakhits — 'on the left' — and dzakh koghmum. A left-handed person is dzakhlik. 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.