Greetings and goodbyes in Western Armenian
10 words Western Armenian words on the topic “greetings and goodbyes”: Բարև — hi, Բարեւ ձեզ — hello, Բարի լոյս — good morning, Բարի օր — good afternoon.
10 words on the topic
- Բարևparevhipa-REV, with the stress on the last syllable — where Armenian puts it almost always
- Բարեւ ձեզparev tsezhelloEnds with
ձեզ— 'to you'. The version for strangers, elders and anyone you would not call by their first name - Բարի լոյսpari luysgood morningBuilt like every daypart hello:
բարի(good) +լոյս(light) — 'good light'. The classical spelling writes ոյ but you say 'ooee': loo-EESS - Բարի օրpari orgood afternoonThe neutral daytime greeting. Same opener
բարիas inբարեւandբարի լոյս;օրis 'day' - Բարի երեկոյpari yeregoygood evening
երեկոյis 'evening', and կ sounds like g here: eh-reh-GO. Morning, afternoon and evening all build the same way:բարի+ the time of day - Ցտեսութիւնtsdesut'yungoodbyeFrom
տեսնել, to see: literally 'until we see each other'. The full, formal farewell — the casual parting isհաջող - ՀաջողhachoghbyeThe informal parting between friends. The letter ջ sounds like ch as in 'church' here: ha-CHOGH, never with a j — and the final gh is a light throat scrape
- Ինչպէ՞ս եսinchbes yeshow are you?Classical spelling writes է where the Eastern standard writes ե:
ինչպէս. The question mark ՞ does not wait for the end of the sentence — it sits over the stressed syllable of the word being asked about - Ինչպէ՞ս եքinchbes ek'how are you? (formal)The verb ends in -ք, the polite turn: elders and strangers get this one. The
-եսform is for your own circle - Բարի գիշերpari kishergood nightThe same
բարի, good, as in good morning and good evening — said when parting for sleep, not when meeting in the evening
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
- Բարեւ, ի՞նչ նորութիւնparev, inch norut'yunHi, what's new?
- Բարեւ ձեզ, ես Աննայ եմparev tsez, yes Annay emHello, I am Anna
- Բարի լոյս, սուրճ կը խմե՞քpari luys, surj gə khmek'Good morning, will you have coffee?
- Բարի օր, ազատ սեղան ունի՞քpari or, azad seghan unik'Good afternoon, do you have a free table?
- Բարի երեկոյ, ներս եկեքpari yeregoy, ners yegek'Good evening, come in
- Ցտեսութիւն, մինչեւ վաղըtsdesut'yun, minchev vaghəGoodbye, until tomorrow
What is worth knowing about these words
Բարև (parev) — hi. Literally բարի (good) + արեւ (sun) — 'good sun'. The opening letter բ sounds like a plain p in the West: your first taste of Western reading
Բարեւ ձեզ (parev tsez) — hello. Ends with ձեզ — 'to you'. The version for strangers, elders and anyone you would not call by their first name
Բարի լոյս (pari luys) — good morning. Built like every daypart hello: բարի (good) + լոյս (light) — 'good light'. The classical spelling writes ոյ but you say 'ooee': loo-EESS
Բարի օր (pari or) — good afternoon. The neutral daytime greeting. Same opener բարի as in բարեւ and բարի լոյս; օր is 'day'
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “hi” in Western Armenian?
Literally
բարի(good) +արեւ(sun) — 'good sun'. The opening letter բ sounds like a plain p in the West: your first taste of Western reading - How do you say “how are you?” in Western Armenian?
Classical spelling writes է where the Eastern standard writes ե:
ինչպէս. The question mark ՞ does not wait for the end of the sentence — it sits over the stressed syllable of the word being asked about - How do you say “good evening” in Western Armenian?
երեկոյis 'evening', and կ sounds like g here: eh-reh-GO. Morning, afternoon and evening all build the same way:բարի+ the time of day - How do you say “hello” in Western Armenian?
Ends with
ձեզ— 'to you'. The version for strangers, elders and anyone you would not call by their first name - How do you say “how are you? (formal)” in Western Armenian?
The verb ends in -ք, the polite turn: elders and strangers get this one. The
-եսform is for your own circle
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Every conversation starts here, and so does every first impression: say hello in the local language and you stop being a stranger in about a second.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “hi” in Western Armenian?
«Բարև», read “parev”. pa-REV, with the stress on the last syllable — where Armenian puts it almost always. It is one of 10 words in the set “greetings and goodbyes” — the rest are in the table above.
How many greetings do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 10 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.