LingoflyԿրկնակի, տասնեակ, մէկուկէս: fractions and multiples
This is not about counting itself but about turning a number into "twice", "a group of ten" and "one and a half". Three suffixes and one fusion do the job. -ակի — "so many times". Կրկին (grgin) (again) → կրկնակի (grgnagi) (twofold); եռ- (three) → եռակի (yerragi) (threefold); քառ- → քառակի. For example: “Գինը կրկնակի բարձրացաւ” (kinə grgnagi partsratsav) — The price doubled. A rule from the Western Armenian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
This is not about counting itself but about turning a number into "twice", "a group of ten" and "one and a half". Three suffixes and one fusion do the job. -ակի — "so many times". Կրկին (grgin) (again) → կրկնակի (grgnagi) (twofold); եռ- (three) → եռակի (yerragi) (threefold); քառ- → քառակի.
-պատիկ — the same, for verbs and big numbers. Կրկնապատկել — to double; կրկնապատկուիլ (grgnabadgvil) — to be doubled; տասնապատիկ (dasnabadig) — tenfold. "An order of magnitude more" is տասնապատիկ աւելի (dasnabadig aveli).
-եակ — a group of so many. Տասը (dasə) → տասնեակ (dasneag) (a group of ten); հինգ (hink) → հնգեակ (a set of five); տասնամեակ (dasnameag) — a decade. The same suffix makes groups of things and spans of time.
Fusion with կէս (ges). Մէկուկէս (meguges) (one and a half) is մէկ (meg) + ու (u) (and) + կէս (ges) (half); likewise երկուսուկէս, երեքուկէս. Քառորդ (k'arrort) is a quarter, but a third has no word of its own: երրորդ մաս (yerrort mas), "a third part". You say "by a third" with -ով (-ov): մէկ երրորդով (meg yerrortov).
Table
| The number | The multiple | The group | The fraction |
|---|---|---|---|
| երկու (yergu) (two) | կրկնակի (grgnagi) | — | կէս (ges) |
| երեք (yerek') (three) | եռակի (yerragi) | — | երրորդ մաս (yerrort mas) |
| չորս (chors) (four) | քառակի | — | քառորդ (k'arrort) |
| տասը (dasə) (ten) | տասնապատիկ (dasnabadig) | տասնեակ (dasneag) | մէկ (meg) տասներորդ (dasnerort) |
By example
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
fractions and multiples: how does it work in Western Armenian?
This is not about counting itself but about turning a number into "twice", "a group of ten" and "one and a half". Three suffixes and one fusion do the job. -ակի — "so many times". Կրկին (grgin) (again) → կրկնակի (grgnagi) (twofold); եռ- (three) → եռակի (yerragi) (threefold); քառ- → քառակի.
What does it look like in a Western Armenian example sentence?
“Գինը կրկնակի բարձրացաւ” (kinə grgnagi partsratsav) — The price doubled. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.