Ե ե — yech
«yech» is a vowel of Western Armenian, the “The aybuben” script, read as “ye / e”. A y-glide at the start of a word, a plain e inside. For example, in the word “Ես” — I. The Western Armenian alphabet has 40 letters in total. Ես is 'yes', not 'es'; Մէկ is 'meg'. The rule works without exceptions. It appears, for example, in the word “Բարեւ ձեզ” — hello.
In short
| Character | Ե ե |
| Name | yech |
| Sound | ye / e |
| What it is | a vowel |
In our course the character comes 7th of 40: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are լ and ի, appears in roughly every other word on this site.
How it sounds
A y-glide at the start of a word, a plain e inside
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.
- ԵսyesI
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
- Բարեւ ձեզparev tsezhello
- Բարի երեկոյpari yeregoygood evening
- Ցտեսութիւնtsdesut'yungoodbye
- Մերսիmersithanks
- Խնդրեմkhntremplease
- Ներողութիւնneroghut'yunexcuse me
- Ինչպէ՞ս եսinchbes yeshow are you?
- Ինչպէ՞ս եքinchbes ek'how are you? (formal)
- ԵսyesI
- Մենքmenk'we
- Հաճելի էhajeli enice to meet you
- Չեմ հասկանարchem hasganarI don't understand
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 «yech» it is “ye / e”, as in the word “Ես”), 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 ե read?
As “ye / e” — it is a vowel of the “The aybuben” script. A y-glide at the start of a word, a plain e inside. For example, in the word “Ես” — I.
What is the letter ե called?
Yech. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Western Armenian script: it is called “yech” and reads as “ye / e”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.
What can ե be confused with?
Ես is 'yes', not 'es'; Մէկ is 'meg'. The rule works without exceptions. 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.