LingoflyԱնծանօթ
- Անծանօթandzanot'stranger
“Անծանօթ” (andzanot') — stranger in Western Armenian. Noun, level A2, topic — people and family. Ան- is the 'not-' prefix, ծանօթ (dzanot') is familiar: 'unfamiliar one'. The same word works as an adjective: անծանօթ (andzanot') քաղաք (k'aghak') — an unfamiliar city. In a live sentence: “Անծանօթը ճանապարհ հարցուց” (andzanot'ə janabarh hartsuts) — The stranger asked for directions. Written with the characters Ա, ն, ծ, ա, ն, օ, թ. One of 194 words in the set “people and family” in the Western Armenian course.
In short
| Written in Western Armenian | Անծանօթ (andzanot') |
| Read in Latin letters | andzanot' |
| Translation | stranger |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
ան- is the 'not-' prefix, ծանօթ (dzanot') is familiar: 'unfamiliar one'. The same word works as an adjective: անծանօթ (andzanot') քաղաք (k'aghak') — an unfamiliar city
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.
Nearby words: people and family
Mum, friend, child, neighbour. The first thing people ask you about, and the first thing you tell about yourself.
- ԸնկերəngerfriendFriend and comrade in one word. Plural:
ընկերներ - Ընտանիքəndanik'familyThe people who live under one roof. Both standards say
ընտանիք(əndanik') - Մայրիկmayrigmom
մայր(mayr) (mother) +-իկ, an affectionate ending that softens the word, the way '-y' does in English 'mommy'.հայրիկ(hayrig), daddy, is built the same way - Հայրիկhayrigdad
հայրis father, and -իկ is an affectionate suffix, just as inմայրիկ(mayrig) - ԵրեխայyerekhachildPlural:
երեխաներ(yerekhaner). The middle խ is a throaty kh, like the ch of Scottish 'loch': eh-reh-KHA - ՎաճառողvajarroghsellerSame root
վաճառ-as in the market counter. The ending -ող turns a verb into its doer: literally 'the selling one'
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “people and family”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “stranger” in Western Armenian?
ան- is the 'not-' prefix, ծանօթ (dzanot') is familiar: 'unfamiliar one'. The same word works as an adjective: անծանօթ (andzanot') քաղաք (k'aghak') — an unfamiliar city
- How do you say “buyer” in Western Armenian?
From գնել (knel), to buy. The same -ող doer-ending as in վաճառող (vajarrogh), the seller — one buys, the other sells
- How do you say “mom” in Western Armenian?
մայր (mayr) (mother) + -իկ, an affectionate ending that softens the word, the way '-y' does in English 'mommy'. հայրիկ (hayrig), daddy, is built the same way
- How do you say “pensioner” in Western Armenian?
թոշակ (t'oshag) is a pension, առնել (arrnel) to take: literally 'the pension-taker'
- How do you say “seller” in Western Armenian?
Same root վաճառ- as in the market counter. The ending -ող turns a verb into its doer: literally 'the selling one'
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 “stranger” in Western Armenian?
«Անծանօթ» (andzanot'), read “andzanot'”. In a live sentence: “Անծանօթը ճանապարհ հարցուց” (andzanot'ə janabarh hartsuts) — The stranger asked for directions. Noun, level A2, from the set “people and family”; written with the characters Ա, ն, ծ, ա, ն, օ, թ.
How is “Անծանօթ” (andzanot') written in Latin letters?
andzanot'. 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?
Ան- is the 'not-' prefix, ծանօթ (dzanot') is familiar: 'unfamiliar one'. The same word works as an adjective: անծանօթ (andzanot') քաղաք (k'aghak') — an unfamiliar city. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.