LingoflyTransliteration of Western Armenian
A correspondence table between the Western Armenian script and Latin letters: 38 letters, with names and sounds. The rendering is practical — it exists so you can read aloud and be understood, not to meet a scholarly standard.
Western Armenian character → Latin
| Character | Name | In Latin | How it sounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ա ա | ayp | a | A clean, open a |
| Բ բ | pen | p | Read "p" with a light puff, like փ — the western standard devoiced the former b |
| Ր ր | re | r | A soft single-tap r — the tongue barely touches the ridge, like the tt in American "butter" |
| և | yev | yev | "Yev" at the start of a word and as a word of its own ("and"); after a consonant — "ev" |
| Վ վ | vev | v | An ordinary v |
| Լ լ | lyun | l | A light l — the tongue sits higher than in the English dark l, closer to "lyu" |
| Ե ե | yech | ye / e | A y-glide at the start of a word, a plain e inside |
| Ի ի | ini | i | A clean ee |
| Ո ո | vo | vo / o | Vo at the start of a word, a plain o inside |
| Ս ս | se | s | An ordinary s |
| Ն ն | nu | n | An ordinary n |
| Տ տ | dyun | d | Read "d" — the former voiceless turned voiced |
| Ու (u) ու (u) | u | u | A clean oo |
| Ւ ւ | hyun | w | After a vowel it reads "v": Լաւ (lav) is "lav" |
| Է է | e | e | Always a plain e, with no y-glide |
| Ը ը | yt | ə | A short muffled sound between uh and eh — like the a in English "about" |
| Օ օ | o | o | A clean o, with no v |
| Մ մ | men | m | An ordinary m |
| Կ կ | gen | g | Read "g" — the former voiceless turned voiced |
| Հ հ | ho | h | A light breath of h, as in English "hat" — not a throaty kh |
| Գ գ | kim | k | Read "k" with a puff, like ք — the former voiced turned voiceless |
| Դ դ | ta | t | Read "t" with a puff, like թ — the former voiced turned voiceless |
| Շ շ | sha | sh | A soft sh, with the tongue a little higher — between English "sh" and "shh" |
| Ժ ժ | zhe | zh | The zh of "pleasure" |
| Խ խ | khe | kh | A real kh — rough and throaty, like the ch of "loch" |
| Թ թ | to | t' | A t with a noticeable puff of air, like the t in English "top" |
| Փ փ | pyur | p' | A p with a puff of air, like the p in English "pen" |
| Պ պ | be | b | Read "b" — the former voiceless turned voiced |
| Ք ք | ke | k' | A k with a puff of air |
| Ց ց | tso | ts' | A ts with a noticeable puff of air |
| Ծ ծ | dza | dz | One fused dz sound |
| Չ չ | cha | ch' | A ch with a noticeable puff of air, like the ch in English "chair" |
| Ձ ձ | tsa | ts | A ts with a puff of air — the former dz turned voiceless |
| Ղ ղ | ghad | gh | A throaty, French-r kind of sound from deep in the throat |
| Ջ ջ | che | ch | Read "ch" with a puff, like չ — the former j turned voiceless |
| Ռ ռ | ra | rr | A full rolled trill |
| Զ զ | za | z | An ordinary z |
| Յ յ | hi | y | The y of "yes"; at the start of a word — h: յետոյ (hedo) is "hedo", Յաջող (hachogh) is "hachogh" |
| Ճ ճ | je | j | Read "j" — the former voiceless turned voiced |
| Ֆ ֆ | fe | f | An ordinary f. It turns up only in borrowings |
How practical transliteration differs from the scholarly kind
Any script has several Latin renderings, and they solve different problems. The scholarly one (ISO, GOST) is reversible: the original spelling can be restored character for character — which is why it is full of marks that are not on any keyboard and that nobody ever reads aloud correctly.
The practical one solves the reverse problem: a person reads it aloud and is understood. That is what the table above uses, and that is what our courses use.
What to watch out for
Vowels. Eight signs, and they sound the same in both norms. Two of them — ե and ո — gain a y-glide and a v at the start of a word. Ես (yes) is "yes"; Ոչ (voch) is "voch". And ը is a fleeting murmur and the article in one. The difference between the norms is not in the vowels but in the consonants below.
Triplets: where the western reading turns the letters over. Five triplets, fifteen letters — and in each triplet the norms read them differently. The former voiced բ, դ, գ, ձ, ջ now sound like p, t, k, ts, ch with a puff of air. The former voiceless պ, տ, կ, ծ, ճ turned voiced: b, d, g, dz, j. The aspirated փ, թ, ք, ց, չ kept their puff of air. If you read the eastern norm, these ten letters have to be turned over.
The other consonants. Sixteen signs, read the same way as in the eastern norm. The exception is յ at the start of a word: there it sounds h. The pair ր and ռ differs by rolling: ր is a soft single tap, ռ is a full trill.
The ligature. ե and ւ grown together. It has no uppercase form of its own: at the start of a word one writes Եւ (yev).
Frequently asked
How to write Western Armenian text in Latin letters?
Using the table above, character by character. The practical rendering records sound, not spelling, so the original text cannot always be restored from it backwards.
Why do transliterations differ across sources?
Because they solve different problems: the scholarly one is reversible and precise, the practical one is readable, the passport one is fixed by the country's rules. They are not required to agree.