Ամաչկոտ, ինքնասեր, եսասիրութիւն: the name of a quality and its owner
The words of this topic come in pairs: a trait of character and the person who has it. Half of them you can assemble yourself. -ութիւն makes a noun of quality out of an adjective. Pari (kind) → parut'yun (kindness); hamarr (stubborn) → hamarrut'yun (stubbornness); parkesht → parkeshtut'yun (modesty); havasar → havasarut'yun (equality). The reverse move works too: seeing a word in -ութիւն, drop the tail and you get…
How it works
The words of this topic come in pairs: a trait of character and the person who has it. Half of them you can assemble yourself. -ութիւն makes a noun of quality out of an adjective. Pari (kind) → parut'yun (kindness); hamarr (stubborn) → hamarrut'yun (stubbornness); parkesht → parkeshtut'yun (modesty); havasar → havasarut'yun (equality). The reverse move works too: seeing a word in -ութիւն, drop the tail and you get the adjective.
-կոտ — a tendency, usually unflattering. Amacheł (to be shy) → amachgot (shy); vakhenał → vakhgot (cowardly); lats əllal → latsgot (tearful). The suffix is always about a person, never about a thing.
-սեր (-ser) — "loving this". Yes (I) → yesaser → yesasirut'yun (egoism); hedak'rk'ir → hedak'rk'raser → hedak'rk'rasirut'yun (curiosity); hayrenik' → hayrenaser (a patriot). Inside a long word սեր (ser) turns into սիր. The prefix ինքն- — "self". Ink'naser (self-loving); ink'namp'op' (reserved); ink'natirabedum (self-possession); ink'nat'irr (an airplane) from earlier waves. One prefix covers everything English does with "self-".
Heart and conscience as building material. Neghsird (touchy, "narrow-hearted"); baresird (kind-hearted); khghch → khghchaharut'yun (compassion). Here character is readily made out of body parts — the same device as English "warm-hearted" or "broken-hearted".
Table
| The base | The person | The quality | In English |
|---|---|---|---|
| բարի (kind) | բարեսիրտ | բարութիւն | kindness |
| համառ (stubborn) | համառ | համառութիւն | stubbornness |
| ես (I) | եսասեր | եսասիրութիւն | egoism |
| ամաչել (to be shy) | ամաչկոտ | ամոթխածութիւն | shyness |
| ինքն- (self) | ինքնամփոփ | ինքնամփոփութիւն | reserve |
By example
- Ամաչկոտ տղայն չհամարձակվեց հարցնելamachgod dghayn chhamartsagvets hartsnelThe shy boy did not dare to ask
- Եսասիրութիւնը փչացրեց անոնց բարեկամութիւնըyesasirut'yunə p'chatsrets anonts paregamut'yunəEgoism spoiled their friendship
- Ինքնամփոփ աշակերտը քիչ կ'խօսիink'namp'op' ashagerdə k'ich g'khosiThe reserved pupil speaks little
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
the name of a quality and its owner: how does it work in Western Armenian?
The words of this topic come in pairs: a trait of character and the person who has it. Half of them you can assemble yourself. -ութիւն makes a noun of quality out of an adjective. Pari (kind) → parut'yun (kindness); hamarr (stubborn) → hamarrut'yun (stubbornness); parkesht → parkeshtut'yun…
What does it look like in an example sentence Western Armenian?
“Ամաչկոտ տղայն չհամարձակվեց հարցնել” (amachgod dghayn chhamartsagvets hartsnel) — The shy boy did not dare to ask. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.