Մայրաքաղաք
“Մայրաքաղաք” (mayrak'aghak') — capital city in Western Armenian. Noun, level A2, topic — the city and its places. մայր is a mother and քաղաք is a city: the 'mother city'. English 'capital' grew from the head, Armenian went with the mother. In a live sentence: “Երեւանը Հայաստանի մայրաքաղաքն է” — Yerevan is the capital city of Armenia. Written with the characters Մ, ա, յ, ր, ա, ք, ա, ղ, ա, ք.
In short
| Written in Western Armenian | Մայրաքաղաք |
| Read in Latin letters | mayrak'aghak' |
| Translation | capital city |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
մայր is a mother and քաղաք is a city: the 'mother city'. English 'capital' grew from the head, Armenian went with the mother
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Երեւանը Հայաստանի մայրաքաղաքն էyerevanə Hayasdani mayrak'aghak'n eYerevan is the capital city of Armenia
Nearby words: the city and its places
Street, square, pharmacy, bank. An address is built out of these, and an address is something you have to both say and understand.
- Ո՞ւր էur ewhere is it?The Western 'where' is
ուր; the Eastern standard writesորտեղfor the same job. A word-initial ո usually sounds 'vo', but inուրit is a plain 'oo': OOR-eh - Քաղաքk'aghak'cityBoth ք are k with a puff of air and ղ is the throaty gh: k'-agh-AK'. Say it and the whole word lives at the back of the throat
- Փողոցp'oghotsstreetStarts with փ, a p with a breath, and ends on ts like 'cats': p'-ogh-TSS. The full word sits on every street sign
- ԱյստեղaysdeghhereBuilt like its twin 'there':
այս-(this) +-տեղ(place) — 'this place'. Spot the pattern and you get both words for the price of one - Այնտեղayndeghthere
այն-(that) +-տեղ(place): 'that place'. The partner ofայստեղ, here — swap the first vowel and you travel across the room - ՄետրոmedrosubwayA borrowed international word: say MED-ro and any passer-by will point you the way. The final ո is a plain 'o', not 'oo'
- ԱջachleftThe course's main trap: in Western Armenian
աջmeans LEFT, while the Eastern standard uses the same word for right. The Western 'right' isձախ. The ջ sounds like ch as in 'church': 'ach' - ՁախtsakhrightThe other half of the trap: Western
ձախmeans RIGHT where the Eastern standard means left. The ձ sounds like ts as in 'cats': TSAKH - Ուղիղughighstraight aheadBoth 'straight ahead' about a road and 'exactly, precisely' in general — the key word of every street direction you will be given
- ՄօտmodnearClassical spelling writes օ:
մօտ; the Eastern reformed spelling drops it:մոտ. The partner ofհեռու, far. Pronounce the t: 'mote'
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “the city and its places”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “capital city” in Western Armenian?
մայր is a mother and քաղաք is a city: the 'mother city'. English 'capital' grew from the head, Armenian went with the mother
- How do you say “left” in Western Armenian?
The course's main trap: in Western Armenian աջ means LEFT, while the Eastern standard uses the same word for right. The Western 'right' is ձախ. The ջ sounds like ch as in 'church': 'ach'
- How do you say “street” in Western Armenian?
Starts with փ, a p with a breath, and ends on ts like 'cats': p'-ogh-TSS. The full word sits on every street sign
- How do you say “near” in Western Armenian?
Classical spelling writes օ: մօտ; the Eastern reformed spelling drops it: մոտ. The partner of հեռու, far. Pronounce the t: 'mote'
- How do you say “subway” in Western Armenian?
A borrowed international word: say MED-ro and any passer-by will point you the way. The final ո is a plain 'o', not 'oo'
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- 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.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “capital city” in Western Armenian?
«Մայրաքաղաք», read “mayrak'aghak'”. In a live sentence: “Երեւանը Հայաստանի մայրաքաղաքն է” — Yerevan is the capital city of Armenia. Noun, level A2, from the set “the city and its places”; written with the characters Մ, ա, յ, ր, ա, ք, ա, ղ, ա, ք.
How is “Մայրաքաղաք” written in Latin letters?
mayrak'aghak'. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
մայր is a mother and քաղաք is a city: the 'mother city'. English 'capital' grew from the head, Armenian went with the mother. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.