Շնորհակալութիւն
“Շնորհակալութիւն” (shnorhagalut'yun) — thank you in Western Armenian. Interjection, level A0, topic — polite words. a long word with a single stress, right at the end: shnor-ha-ga-loot-YOON. In a live sentence: “Շնորհակալութիւն օգնութեան համար” — Thank you for the help. Written with the characters Շ, ն, ո, ր, հ, ա, կ, ա, լ, ո, ւ, թ. One of 10 words in the set “polite words” in the Western Armenian course.
In short
| Written in Western Armenian | Շնորհակալութիւն |
| Read in Latin letters | shnorhagalut'yun |
| Translation | thank you |
| Part of speech | interjection |
| Level | A0 |
How to pronounce it
a long word with a single stress, right at the end: shnor-ha-ga-loot-YOON
Why it looks that way
From շնորհ, a gift of grace. Classical spelling writes իւ for the 'oo' in 'moon', and the կ in the middle sounds like g, as in 'go'
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.
- Շնորհակալութիւն օգնութեան համարshnorhagalut'yun oknut'ean hamarThank you for the help
Nearby words: polite words
“Thank you”, “please” and “sorry” carry you while the rest of the words are still missing: with them even a gesture reads as a request rather than a demand.
- Բարեւ ձեզparev tsezhelloEnds with
ձեզ— 'to you'. The version for strangers, elders and anyone you would not call by their first name - ՄերսիmersithanksThe everyday thanks: borrowed from French, and in the diaspora you hear it more often than the long
շնորհակալութիւն. Say it just like the French do - ԽնդրեմkhntrempleaseBolted onto a request:
մէկ սուրճ, խնդրեմ— one coffee, please. The դ sounds like t: khun-TREM. The same word answers 'thank you' — then it means 'don't mention it' - Ներողութիւնneroghut'yunexcuse meFrom
ներել, to forgive: literally 'forgiveness'. The way you open a question to a stranger and squeeze through a crowd - 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 - Դուքtuk'you (plural, formal)One word for the polite 'you' to a stranger and the plural 'you' to a group — English needs two words here, Armenian makes do with one
- Մի րոպէ սպասեքmi robe sbasek'wait a minute
րոպէis a minute. On its own,մի րոպէworks as the universal 'one sec' - Օրիորդoriortyoung ladyThe polite word for an unmarried young woman, and the address that goes with it:
Օրիորդ Անի— Miss Ani. In everyday speech, justաղջիկ, girl - Չարժեcharzhedon't mention itLiterally 'it is not worth it'. The other answer to thanks is
խնդրեմ, the very word for 'please' — Armenians return thanks with it too
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “polite words”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “thank you” in Western Armenian?
From շնորհ, a gift of grace. Classical spelling writes իւ for the 'oo' in 'moon', and the կ in the middle sounds like g, as in 'go'
- How do you say “wait a minute” in Western Armenian?
րոպէ is a minute. On its own, մի րոպէ works as the universal 'one sec'
- How do you say “excuse me” in Western Armenian?
From ներել, to forgive: literally 'forgiveness'. The way you open a question to a stranger and squeeze through a crowd
- 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 “young lady” in Western Armenian?
The polite word for an unmarried young woman, and the address that goes with it: Օրիորդ Անի — Miss Ani. In everyday speech, just աղջիկ, girl
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 “thank you” in Western Armenian?
«Շնորհակալութիւն», read “shnorhagalut'yun”. a long word with a single stress, right at the end: shnor-ha-ga-loot-YOON. In a live sentence: “Շնորհակալութիւն օգնութեան համար” — Thank you for the help. Interjection, level A0, from the set “polite words”; written with the characters Շ, ն, ո, ր, հ, ա, կ, ա, լ, ո, ւ, թ.
How is “Շնորհակալութիւն” written in Latin letters?
shnorhagalut'yun. 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?
From շնորհ, a gift of grace. Classical spelling writes իւ for the 'oo' in 'moon', and the կ in the middle sounds like g, as in 'go'. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.