Բ բ — ben
«ben» is a consonant of Western Armenian, the “The aybuben” script, read as “p”. Read "p" — the western standard devoiced the former b. For example, in the word “Բարեւ” — hello. The Western Armenian alphabet has 40 letters in total. The main surprise of the course for anyone who has seen the eastern one: Բարեւ is "parev", not "barev". It appears, for example, in the word “Բարև” — hi.
In short
| Character | Բ բ |
| Name | ben |
| Sound | p |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 2nd of 40: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ա and ր, appears in 376 words of this site.
How it sounds
Read "p" — the western standard devoiced the former b
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- Բարեւparevhello
The character in the “triplets: where the western reading turns the letters over” group
Five triplets, fifteen letters — and in each triplet the norms read them differently. The former voiced բ, դ, գ, ձ, ջ now sound like plain p, t, k, ts, ch. The former voiceless պ, տ, կ, ծ, ճ turned voiced: b, d, g, dz, j. The aspirated փ, թ, ք, ց, չ kept their puff of air. If you have seen the eastern norm, these ten letters have to be turned over.
Words with this character
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «ben» it is “p”, as in the word “Բարեւ”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 40 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Western Armenian character բ read?
As “p” — it is a consonant of the “The aybuben” script. Read "p" — the western standard devoiced the former b. For example, in the word “Բարեւ” — hello.
What is the letter բ called?
Ben. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Western Armenian script: it is called “ben” and reads as “p”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.
What can բ be confused with?
The main surprise of the course for anyone who has seen the eastern one: Բարեւ is "parev", not "barev". Similar characters are best studied side by side and deliberately compared: learned on different days, they stay separate and get mixed up at their first meeting inside a word.