LingoflyWestern Armenian alphabet
The Western Armenian alphabet is the aybuben: 38 letters. Mashtots' 38 letters — one script for both Armenian standards, but part of the consonants sounds different in the west. The characters are grouped: vowels, triplets: where the western reading turns the letters over, the other consonants. Below is a table with sound and a breakdown by groups.
All 38 letters in one list
ա, բ, գ, դ, ե, զ, է, ը, թ, ժ, ի, լ, խ, ծ, կ, հ, ձ, ղ, ճ, մ, յ, ն, շ, ո, չ, պ, ջ, ռ, ս, վ, տ, ր, ց, ւ, փ, ք, օ, ֆ
The tables on this page also include ու (u) and և: they are needed for reading but do not count as letters of the alphabet.
Vowels
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 (yes) is "yes"; Ոչ (voch) 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.
Triplets: where the western reading turns the letters over
Five triplets, fifteen letters — and in each triplet the norms read them differently. The former voiced բ, դ, գ, ձ, ջ now sound like p, t, k, ts, ch with a puff of air. 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 read the eastern norm, these ten letters have to be turned over.
The other consonants
Sixteen signs, read the same way as in the eastern norm. The exception is յ at the start of a word: there it sounds h. The pair ր and ռ differs by rolling: ր is a soft single tap, ռ is a full trill.
The ligature
ե and ւ grown together. It has no uppercase form of its own: at the start of a word one writes Եւ (yev).
What to know about the “aybuben” script
There are 38 letters: thirty-six from Mashtots plus օ and ֆ, added later. ու (u) and the ligature և are in the table, but the classical orthography does not count them as letters. ու (u) is ո plus ւ, and և is ե and ւ grown together. The script is one for both standards. In the west, ten consonants sound different: բ, դ, գ, ձ, ջ, պ, տ, կ, ծ, ճ. The shift of sounds happened in the western norm. Here Western Armenian is written in the classical orthography — մէկ (meg), ինչպէս (inchbes), շնորհակալութիւն (shnorhagalut'yun) — the way the diaspora schools teach it.
Where this script came from and why it looks the way it does
The two Armenian standards write with the same script — the Mashtots aybuben — but some of its letters sound different. The shift happened in the Western standard: Old Armenian, like Eastern Armenian today, read բ as “b”, while Western reads it “p”, կ as “g”, ջ as “ch”. That is why Բարեւ (parev) is read “barev” in the East and “parev” in the West — the first thing you notice if you have already met Eastern Armenian words.
Dora Sakayan, “Eastern Armenian for the English-speaking World”, 2007; R. G. Hovannisian (ed.), “The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times”, 1997
Test yourself
Five characters at random. No need to answer aloud — just pick; the answer appears at once.
- Which character reads as “a”?
A clean, open a
- Which character reads as “yev”?
ե and ւ grown into one letter. It has no uppercase form: at the start of a word one writes Եւ (yev)
- Which character reads as “ye / e”?
Ես (yes) is 'yes', not 'es'; ներս (ners) is 'ners'. An 'e' with no y-glide at the start of a word is written with another letter, է
- Which character reads as “s”?
An ordinary s
- Which character reads as “u”?
The most common digraph: ո and ւ together read "oo". The classical script has a second one, իւ — "yu"
How to learn letters so they stay
You cannot learn a table by staring at it. What works: see a character, try to recall its sound, get it wrong, see the right answer — and come back to that character in a day, not in an hour.
- 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.
- 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.
That is why the alphabet in the app is learned a few characters at a time, not all at once: nobody holds 38 signs in one sitting.
Frequently asked
How many letters in the Western Armenian alphabet?
38 letters — The aybuben: ա, բ, գ, դ, ե, զ, է, ը, թ, ժ, ի, լ, խ, ծ, կ, հ, ձ, ղ, ճ, մ, յ, ն, շ, ո, չ, պ, ջ, ռ, ս, վ, տ, ր, ց, ւ, փ, ք, օ, ֆ. The tables on this page also include ու (u) and և: they are needed for reading but do not count as letters of the alphabet. The characters have capital and small forms.
Can I listen to how the Western Armenian letters sound?
Not yet: we have no recordings for this script. That is why there is no sound button either — it would be silent.
How long does it take to learn the Western Armenian alphabet?
A few characters a day — one to two weeks, if you come back to what you covered. The whole alphabet crammed in an evening is remembered for an evening: without reviews the next day and three days later, the characters are almost entirely gone.
Where to start: letters or words?
With the letters. A word in an unfamiliar script cannot be read at all, and a word card tells you no more than a picture.