Ծ ծ — tsa
«tsa» is a consonant of Western Armenian, the “The aybuben” script, read as “dz”. One fused dz sound. The Western Armenian alphabet has 40 letters in total. Ծաղիկ is "dzagik", a flower. In the eastern standard the same letter reads "ts". It appears, for example, in the word “Հասած” — ripe.
In short
| Character | Ծ ծ |
| Name | tsa |
| Sound | dz |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 31st of 40: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ց and չ, appears in 274 words of this site.
How it sounds
One fused dz sound
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
- Հասածhasadzripe
- Աւելի մեծaveli medzbigger
- Ծանրdzanrheavy
- Կոտրուածgodruadzbroken
- Կոտրուած էgodruadz eit's broken
- Հոգնածhoknadztired
- Անձնագիրս կորուցած եմantsnakirs gorutsadz emI lost my passport
- Անցած տարիantsadz darilast year
- Ծննդեան օրdznntean orbirthday
- Զբաղածzpaghadzbusy
- Սպասիր ինծիsbasir indziwait for me
- Ծրագրաւորողdzrakravoroghprogrammer
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, 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 ծ read?
As “dz” — it is a consonant of the “The aybuben” script. One fused dz sound.
What is the letter ծ called?
Tsa. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Western Armenian script: it is called “tsa” and reads as “dz”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.
What can ծ be confused with?
Ծաղիկ is "dzagik", a flower. In the eastern standard the same letter reads "ts". 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.