LingoflyAt the market in Western Armenian
Buying tomatoes at the market, with haggling in Western Armenian. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Բարեւ ձեզ (parev tsez)։ Թարմ (t'arm) լոլիկ (lolig) ունի՞ք (unik')։» — Hello. Do you have fresh tomatoes?; «Բարեւ ձեզ (parev tsez)։ Այո (ayo), այսօր (aysor) բերած (peradz) եմ (em)։» — Hello. Yes, I brought them in today.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: buying tomatoes at the market, with haggling. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- Ինչքա՞ն է քիլոկրամը։inchk'an e k'ilograməHow much is a kilogram?
Lines one by one
| Western Armenian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Բարեւ ձեզ (parev tsez)։ Թարմ (t'arm) լոլիկ (lolig) ունի՞ք (unik')։ | parev tsez. T'arm lolig unik' | Hello. Do you have fresh tomatoes? |
| Բարեւ ձեզ (parev tsez)։ Այո (ayo), այսօր (aysor) բերած (peradz) եմ (em)։ | parev tsez. Ayo, aysor peradz em | Hello. Yes, I brought them in today. |
| Ինչքա՞ն (inchk'an) է քիլոկրամը։ | inchk'an e k'ilogramə | How much is a kilogram? |
| Հազար (hazar) դրամ (tram)։ Շատ (shad) թարմ (t'arm) է։ | hazar tram. Shad t'arm e | One thousand drams. They are very fresh. |
| Աւելի աժան չըլլա՞յ (aveli azhan chəllay)։ | aveli azhan chəllay | Couldn't it be cheaper? |
| Ձեզի (tsezi) համար (hamar)՝ ութ հարիւր (ut' haryur)։ | tsezi hamar ut' haryur | For you — eight hundred. |
| Լաւ (lav), երկու (yergu) քիլօ (k'ilo) կ'առնեմ (g'arrnem)։ Տոպրակ (dobrag) կա՞յ (gay)։ | lav, yergu k'ilo g'arrnem. Dobrag gay | All right, I'll take two kilos. Do you have a bag? |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Western Armenian in this situation?
“Բարեւ ձեզ (parev tsez)։ Թարմ (t'arm) լոլիկ (lolig) ունի՞ք (unik')։” (parev tsez. T'arm lolig unik') — Hello. Do you have fresh tomatoes? The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.