Պիկ ժամ
“Պիկ ժամ” (pik zham) — rush hour in Armenian. Noun, level B1, topic — the city and its places. The order is inverted: first pik, then zham, an hour; the same time is described in own words too — khtsanumeri zham, the hour of traffic jams. In a live sentence: “Պիկ ժամին մետրոն ավելի արագ է” — At rush hour the metro is faster. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters Պ, ի, կ, ժ, ա, մ.
In short
| Written in Armenian | Պիկ ժամ |
| Read in Latin letters | pik zham |
| Translation | rush hour |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | B1 |
- Պիկ ժամpik zhamrush hour
Why it looks that way
The order is inverted: first pik, then zham, an hour; the same time is described in own words too — khtsanumeri zham, the hour of traffic jams
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.
- Պիկ ժամին մետրոն ավելի արագ էpik zhamin metron aveli arag eAt rush hour the metro is faster
Nearby words: the city and its places
Street, square, pharmacy, bank. An address is built out of these, and an address is something you have to both say and understand.
- Սրճարանsrcharancoffee shopsurch — coffee, but the u drops out in the derivative: srch-. The -aran ending marks a place: degharan, chasharan, gradaran
- Ճաշարանchasharancanteenfrom chash — lunch. It names both a factory canteen and an inexpensive place with hot food
- Քաղաքk'aghak'cityboth k' are aspirated: k'aghak'. Hence k'aghak'atsi — citizen, and k'aghak'avari — polite, literally 'city-mannered'
- Փողոցp'oghotsstreetp' is a p with a puff of air; with plain p it would be a different word. Stress at the end: p'ogh-TS'
- Խանութkhanut'shopa borrowing familiar to the whole region. The shopkeeper in it is khanutpan, where -pan means 'keeper'
- Շուկաshukamarketany market, from groceries to exchanges: ashkhatashuka — the job market. The Yerevan flea market is more often called by name — Vernisazh
- Դեղատունdeghatunpharmacydegh — medicine, tun — house
- ԲանկbankbankB is a plain b with no puff. Do not confuse with ban — 'thing, matter': only the final k is different
- Կայարանkayaranstationthe same word names the metro station and the railway station: Yerkat'ghi kayaran, metroyi kayaran
- Մթերային խանութmt'erayin khanut'grocery storemt'erk' — produce. Khanut you already know; the adjective only says which shop
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “the city and its places”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “rush hour” in Armenian?
The order is inverted: first pik, then zham, an hour; the same time is described in own words too — khtsanumeri zham, the hour of traffic jams
- How do you say “pharmacy” in Armenian?
degh — medicine, tun — house
- How do you say “city” in Armenian?
both k' are aspirated: k'aghak'. Hence k'aghak'atsi — citizen, and k'aghak'avari — polite, literally 'city-mannered'
- How do you say “grocery store” in Armenian?
mt'erk' — produce. Khanut you already know; the adjective only says which shop
- How do you say “market” in Armenian?
any market, from groceries to exchanges: ashkhatashuka — the job market. The Yerevan flea market is more often called by name — Vernisazh
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 “rush hour” in Armenian?
«Պիկ ժամ», read “pik zham”. In a live sentence: “Պիկ ժամին մետրոն ավելի արագ է” — At rush hour the metro is faster. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level B1, from the set “the city and its places”; written with the characters Պ, ի, կ, ժ, ա, մ.
How is “Պիկ ժամ” written in Latin letters?
pik zham. 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 order is inverted: first pik, then zham, an hour; the same time is described in own words too — khtsanumeri zham, the hour of traffic jams. 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.