Ծնունդդ շնորհաւոր
“Ծնունդդ շնորհաւոր” (dznuntt shnorhavor) — happy birthday in Western Armenian. Phrase, level A1. two դ in a row at the end: dz-nuntt — let the double d hold. In a live sentence: “Ծնունդդ շնորհաւոր, առողջութիւն կը մաղթեմ” — Happy birthday, I wish you health. Written with the characters Ծ, ն, ո, ւ, ն, դ, դ, շ, ն, ո, ր, հ. A word from the everyday Western Armenian course, level A1.
In short
| Written in Western Armenian | Ծնունդդ շնորհաւոր |
| Read in Latin letters | dznuntt shnorhavor |
| Translation | happy birthday |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A1 |
How to pronounce it
two դ in a row at the end: dz-nuntt — let the double d hold
Why it looks that way
Literally 'your birth is congratulated': the -դ at the end is 'your', glued to the word
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.
- Ծնունդդ շնորհաւոր, առողջութիւն կը մաղթեմdznuntt shnorhavor, arroghchut'yun gə maght'emHappy birthday, I wish you health
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 “happy birthday” in Western Armenian?
«Ծնունդդ շնորհաւոր», read “dznuntt shnorhavor”. two դ in a row at the end: dz-nuntt — let the double d hold. In a live sentence: “Ծնունդդ շնորհաւոր, առողջութիւն կը մաղթեմ” — Happy birthday, I wish you health. Phrase, level A1; written with the characters Ծ, ն, ո, ւ, ն, դ, դ, շ, ն, ո, ր, հ.
How is “Ծնունդդ շնորհաւոր” written in Latin letters?
dznuntt shnorhavor. 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?
Literally 'your birth is congratulated': the -դ at the end is 'your', glued to the word. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.