Հնագույն
“Հնագույն” (hnaguyn) — ancient in Armenian. Adjective, level B1, topic — time, days and hours. The superlative of հին, old, via -ագույն: oldest of all. Bare հին already stands in the course as old, and in speech people often make do with it. In a live sentence: “Այստեղ գտել են հնագույն ձեռագիր” — An ancient manuscript was found here. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters Հ, ն, ա, գ, ո, ւ, յ, ն.
In short
| Written in Armenian | Հնագույն |
| Read in Latin letters | hnaguyn |
| Translation | ancient |
| Part of speech | adjective |
| Level | B1 |
- Հնագույնhnaguynancient
Why it looks that way
The superlative of հին, old, via -ագույն: oldest of all. Bare հին already stands in the course as old, and in speech people often make do with it
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.
- Այստեղ գտել են հնագույն ձեռագիրaystegh gtel en hnaguyn dzerragirAn ancient manuscript was found here
Nearby words: time, days and hours
Today, tomorrow, in the morning, at six. You cannot arrange to meet without these — let alone understand the answer.
- Օրordaywritten with O; with plain o it would come out 'vor'. Hence aysor — today, oragir — diary, kesor — noon
- Այսօրaysortodayays + or — 'this day' — fused into one word. But ays shabat' and ays tari are written apart
- Վաղըvaghətomorrowthe dictionary form carries the article -ə. Without it vagh means 'early': vagh arravotyan — early in the morning
- Երեկyerekyesterdayone letter apart from yerek' — three; its kin is yereko — evening: 'yesterday' is literally 'what belongs to the evening'
- Առավոտarravotmorningdouble rr — rolled. 'In the morning' is arravotyan, a form of its own, not a preposition
- Երեկոyerekoeveningone root with yerek — yesterday. 'In the evening' is yerekoyan, the same -yan ending as the morning's
- Գիշերgishernighthence kesgisher — midnight — and gisherel — to spend the night. 'At night' is gisherə, the article instead of a preposition
- Ժամzhamhourzh sounds like the s in 'measure'. It is both the hour as a span and the time on the clock: zhamə k'anisn e. The clock itself is zhamats'uyts'
- Ե՞րբ կգաքyerb kgak'when will you come?the k- prefix on the verb makes the future: kgak' — 'you will come'. The hook sits on yerb
- Ժամը քանիսի՞նzhamə k'anisinat what time?literally 'the hour at which'. Zham — hour — you already know from unit four
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “time, days and hours”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “ancient” in Armenian?
The superlative of հին, old, via -ագույն: oldest of all. Bare հին already stands in the course as old, and in speech people often make do with it
- How do you say “night” in Armenian?
hence kesgisher — midnight — and gisherel — to spend the night. 'At night' is gisherə, the article instead of a preposition
- How do you say “tomorrow” in Armenian?
the dictionary form carries the article -ə. Without it vagh means 'early': vagh arravotyan — early in the morning
- How do you say “at what time?” in Armenian?
literally 'the hour at which'. Zham — hour — you already know from unit four
- How do you say “evening” in Armenian?
one root with yerek — yesterday. 'In the evening' is yerekoyan, the same -yan ending as the morning's
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 “ancient” in Armenian?
«Հնագույն», read “hnaguyn”. In a live sentence: “Այստեղ գտել են հնագույն ձեռագիր” — An ancient manuscript was found here. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Adjective, level B1, from the set “time, days and hours”; written with the characters Հ, ն, ա, գ, ո, ւ, յ, ն.
How is “Հնագույն” written in Latin letters?
hnaguyn. 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 superlative of հին, old, via -ագույն: oldest of all. Bare հին already stands in the course as old, and in speech people often make do with it. 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.