LingoflyՋան
- Ջանjanjan
“Ջան” (jan) — jan in Armenian. Interjection, level A1, topic — people and family. Put it after a name or the word you use to address someone. Մայրիկ (mayrik) ջան (jan) means “dear Mum”: ջան (jan) here is not a separate name. In a live sentence: “Մայրիկ ջան, շնորհակալություն” (mayrik jan, shnorhakalut'yun) — Dear Mum, thank you. Written with the characters Ջ, ա, ն. One of 195 words in the set “people and family” in the Armenian course.
In short
| Written in Armenian | Ջան (jan) |
| Read in Latin letters | jan |
| Translation | jan |
| Part of speech | interjection |
| Level | A1 |
What it is
An affectionate word added after a name or a word used to address someone, conveying warmth and closeness. It can mean “dear” or “darling”, but the translation depends on the relationship: you can use it with your mother, a friend or a child.
This word does not reduce to a translation: the thing it names is not part of everyday life here, so a “translation” would end up a description in brackets. The easiest way to learn it is together with its surroundings — where you meet it and what it is for.
Why it looks that way
Put it after a name or the word you use to address someone. Մայրիկ (mayrik) ջան (jan) means “dear Mum”: ջան (jan) here is not a separate name
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.
Nearby words: people and family
Mum, friend, child, neighbour. The first thing people ask you about, and the first thing you tell about yourself.
- Ընկերənkerfriendstarts with the fleeting schwa ə. It also means 'comrade' and a girl's boyfriend; a girlfriend is ənkeruhi
- Ընտանիքəntanik'familyalso with the initial ə. A relative of əntani — 'tame, domestic' — said of animals
- Մայրիկmayrikmommayr — mother — plus the endearing -ik. Hayrik, tatik and papik are built the same way
- Հայրիկhayrikdadhayr — father — plus the same endearing -ik. The pair of mayrik
- Երեխաyerekhachildthe initial e gives a ye glide: ye-re-KHA. The plural is yerekhaner, with no surprises
- Վաճառողvacharroghsellerthe same vacharr- root as in the counter. The -ogh ending turns a verb into its doer: 'the selling one'
- Գնորդgnordbuyerfrom gnel — to buy. Do not mix with gnal — to go: one letter, and the meaning is another
- Հարևանharevanneighborthe neighbor on your landing and the neighboring country alike: harevan erkir
- Տան տերtan terlandlordtun in the 'of what' form gives tan — 'of the house', ter — master. When renting, this is exactly what people say
- Թոշակառուt'oshakarruretireet'oshak — pension, arrnel — to take: 'one who takes a pension'
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “people and family”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “jan” in Armenian?
Put it after a name or the word you use to address someone. Մայրիկ (mayrik) ջան (jan) means “dear Mum”: ջան (jan) here is not a separate name
- How do you say “buyer” in Armenian?
from gnel — to buy. Do not mix with gnal — to go: one letter, and the meaning is another
- How do you say “mom” in Armenian?
mayr — mother — plus the endearing -ik. Hayrik, tatik and papik are built the same way
- How do you say “retiree” in Armenian?
t'oshak — pension, arrnel — to take: 'one who takes a pension'
- How do you say “seller” in Armenian?
the same vacharr- root as in the counter. The -ogh ending turns a verb into its doer: 'the selling one'
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 “jan” in Armenian?
«Ջան» (jan), read “jan”. In a live sentence: “Մայրիկ ջան, շնորհակալություն” (mayrik jan, shnorhakalut'yun) — Dear Mum, thank you. Interjection, level A1, from the set “people and family”; written with the characters Ջ, ա, ն.
How is “Ջան” (jan) written in Latin letters?
jan. 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?
Put it after a name or the word you use to address someone. Մայրիկ (mayrik) ջան (jan) means “dear Mum”: ջան (jan) here is not a separate name. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.