LingoflyA bad line in Western Armenian
A phone call with a bad connection: asking again, clarifying, politely declining and saying goodbye in Western Armenian. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Ալո, կը լսեմ ձեզ (gə lsem tsez)։» — Hello, I can hear you; «Բարեւ (parev), մէկ վայրկեան ժամանակ ունի՞ք (meg vayrgyan zhamanag unik')։ Ես (yes) այս (ays) հարցով (hartsov) կը (gə) զանգեմ (zankem)։» — Hello, do you have a minute? I am calling about this matter.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a phone call with a bad connection: asking again, clarifying, politely declining and saying goodbye. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- parev, meg vayrgyan zhamanag unik' Yes ays hartsov gə zankemHello, do you have a minute? I am calling about this matter.
- pann ayn e, vor hantibumə bedk' e deghap'okhelThe point is that the meeting has to be moved.
- Նկատի ունիք վաղուան հանդիպումը։ Ո՞ր ժամուն։ngadi unik' vaghvan hantibumə Vor zhamunYou mean tomorrow's meeting? At what time?
- Երեկոյեան մօտ։ Չէի՞ք կրնար մնալ մինչեւ եօթը։yeregoyean mod Cheik' grnar mnal minchev yeot'əToward the evening. Could you stay until seven?
- gə vakhnam, vor voch Voch shud, k'an hinkə yev voch ush, k'an vetsəI am afraid not. Not earlier than five and not later than six.
- hasgtsa, zhamə hinkin Hishetsutsek' indzi arravodean, gabi mech enk'Understood, at five o'clock. Remind me in the morning — we'll be in touch.
Lines one by one
| Western Armenian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Ալո, կը լսեմ ձեզ (gə lsem tsez)։ | alo, gə lsem tsez | Hello, I can hear you. |
| Բարեւ (parev), մէկ վայրկեան ժամանակ ունի՞ք (meg vayrgyan zhamanag unik')։ Ես (yes) այս (ays) հարցով (hartsov) կը (gə) զանգեմ (zankem)։ | parev, meg vayrgyan zhamanag unik' Yes ays hartsov gə zankem | Hello, do you have a minute? I am calling about this matter. |
| Ներեցէք (neretsek), չլսեցի (chlsetsi)։ Կրկնեցէք (grgnetsek), կը (gə) խնդրեմ (khntrem)։ | neretsek', chlsetsi Grgnetsek', gə khntrem | Forgive me, I didn't catch it. Could you repeat that, please? |
| Բանն այն է, որ (pann ayn e, vor) հանդիպումը (hantibumə) պէտք է (bedk' e) տեղափոխել (deghap'okhel)։ | pann ayn e, vor hantibumə bedk' e deghap'okhel | The point is that the meeting has to be moved. |
| Նկատի ունիք (ngadi unik') վաղուան (vaghuan) հանդիպումը (hantibumə)։ Ո՞ր (vor) ժամուն։ | ngadi unik' vaghvan hantibumə Vor zhamun | You mean tomorrow's meeting? At what time? |
| Երեկոյեան մօտ (yeregoyean mod)։ Չէի՞ք կրնար (cheik' grnar) մնալ մինչեւ (minchev) եօթը (yeot'ə)։ | yeregoyean mod Cheik' grnar mnal minchev yeot'ə | Toward the evening. Could you stay until seven? |
| Կը վախնամ, որ ոչ (gə vakhnam, vor voch)։ Ոչ շուտ, քան հինգը (voch shud, k'an hinkə) եւ (yev) ոչ (voch) ուշ (ush), քան (k'an) վեցը (vetsə)։ | gə vakhnam, vor voch Voch shud, k'an hinkə yev voch ush, k'an vetsə | I am afraid not. Not earlier than five and not later than six. |
| Հասկցայ (hasgtsa), ժամը (zhamə) հինգին (hinkin)։ Յիշեցուցէք ինծի (indzi) առաւօտեան (arravodean), կապի մէջ ենք (gabi mech enk')։ | hasgtsa, zhamə hinkin Hishetsutsek' indzi arravodean, gabi mech enk' | Understood, at five o'clock. Remind me in the morning — we'll be in touch. |
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?
“Ալո, կը լսեմ ձեզ (gə lsem tsez)։” (alo, gə lsem tsez) — Hello, I can hear you. 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.