Լիճ → լճակ, արեւ → արեւոտ: how nature words are assembled
Half of the words about nature are familiar words with a tail. Learn the tails plus one way of compounding, and you stop learning words one by one. For example: “Այգում փոքր լճակ կայ, կողքին՝ առվակ” — There is a small pond in the park, with a brook beside it. A rule from the Western Armenian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Half of the words about nature are familiar words with a tail. Learn the tails plus one way of compounding, and you stop learning words one by one.
The first tail is -ակ, the diminutive: lich — a lake; lichag — a pond. Before the tail a vowel often drops out. The second tail is -ոտ, "full of something": arevod — sunny; keghdot — dirty.
The third tail is -արան, a place: nsdaran — a bench; parraran — a dictionary. If a word ends in -արան, look inside it for a place, not an action. The fourth tail is -ութիւն, an abstract noun — the most frequent tail: mangut'yun — childhood; tesut'yun — a theory.
And compounding two roots. chur + p'os = chrap'os — a puddle; chur + heghegh = chrheghegh — a flood. A connecting -ա- often appears, and the first root gets shorter. Seeing an unfamiliar long word, cut it in two — half the meaning becomes clear.
Table
| Tail | Meaning | Built from | What comes out |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ակ | a diminutive | լիճ — a lake | լճակ — a pond |
| -ակ | a diminutive | առու — a stream | առվակ — a brook |
| -ոտ | full of something | արեւ — the sun | արեւոտ — sunny |
| -ոտ | full of something | կեղտ — dirt | կեղտոտ — dirty |
| -արան | a place, an appliance | բառ — a word | բառարան — a dictionary |
| -ութիւն | an abstract noun | մանուկ — a child | մանկութիւն — childhood |
| root + root | compounding | ջուր + փոս | ջրափոս — a puddle |
| root + ա + root | compounding | արեւ + ծագ | արեւածագ — sunrise |
By example
- Այգում փոքր լճակ կայ, կողքին՝ առվակaykum p'ok'r ljag gay, goghk'in arrvagThere is a small pond in the park, with a brook beside it
- Արեւոտ օր է, բայց ճանապարհը ցեխոտ էarevod or e, payts janabarhə tsekhod eIt is a sunny day, but the road is muddy
- Երկրաշարժից հետո ջրհեղեղ եղավyergrasharzhits hedo chrheghegh yeghavAfter the earthquake there was a flood
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
how nature words are assembled: how does it work in Western Armenian?
Half of the words about nature are familiar words with a tail. Learn the tails plus one way of compounding, and you stop learning words one by one.
What does it look like in an example sentence Western Armenian?
“Այգում փոքր լճակ կայ, կողքին՝ առվակ” (aykum p'ok'r ljag gay, goghk'in arrvag) — There is a small pond in the park, with a brook beside it. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.