Ու ու — u
«u» is a digraph of Western Armenian, the “The aybuben” script, read as “u”. A clean oo. For example, in the word “Տուն” — house. The Western Armenian alphabet has 40 letters in total. The only digraph of Armenian: ո and ւ together read "oo". On its own ւ is almost never met. It appears, for example, in the word “Ցտեսութիւն” — goodbye.
In short
| Character | Ու ու |
| Name | u |
| Sound | u |
| What it is | a digraph |
In our course the character comes 13th of 40: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are տ and ւ, appears in roughly every fifth word on this site.
How it sounds
A clean oo
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.
- Տունdunhouse
The character in the “vowels” group
Eight signs, and they sound the same in both norms. Two of them — ե and ո — gain a y-glide and a v at the start of a word. Ես is "yes"; Ոչ is "voch". And ը is a fleeting murmur and the article in one. The difference between the norms is not in the vowels but in the consonants below.
Words with this character
- Ցտեսութիւնtsdesut'yungoodbye
- Շնորհակալութիւնshnorhagalut'yunthank you
- Ներողութիւնneroghut'yunexcuse me
- Դուtuyou
- Դուքtuk'you (plural, formal)
- Անունanunname
- Իմ անունը ... էim anunə ... emy name is
- Ի՞նչ է քո անունըinch e k'o anunəwhat's your name?
- ՌուսrrusRussian (person)
- Սուրճsurjcoffee
- Ջուրchurwater
- Ձուկtsugfish
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 «u» it is “u”, as in the word “Տուն”), 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 ու read?
As “u” — it is a digraph of the “The aybuben” script. A clean oo. For example, in the word “Տուն” — house.
What is the letter ու called?
U. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Western Armenian script: it is called “u” and reads as “u”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.
What can ու be confused with?
The only digraph of Armenian: ո and ւ together read "oo". On its own ւ is almost never met. 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.