LingoflyԴէպի ձախ
- Դէպի ձախtebi tsakhto the left
“Դէպի ձախ” (tebi tsakh) — to the left in Western Armenian. Adverb, level A1, topic — asking the way. The partner of դէպի աջ (tebi ach). Ձախէն (tsakhen) is from the left, ձախ կողմը (tsakh goghmə) to the left of. A left-hander is ձախլիկ. In a live sentence: “Անկիւնը դէպի ձախ թեքուեցէք” (angyunə tebi tsakh t'ek'uetsek') — At the corner turn to the left. Written with the characters Դ, է, պ, ի, ձ, ա, խ. One of 18 words in the set “asking the way” in the Western Armenian course.
In short
| Written in Western Armenian | Դէպի ձախ (tebi tsakh) |
| Read in Latin letters | tebi tsakh |
| Translation | to the left |
| Part of speech | adverb |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
The partner of դէպի աջ (tebi ach). Ձախէն (tsakhen) is from the left, ձախ կողմը (tsakh goghmə) to the left of. A left-hander is ձախլիկ
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: asking the way
Right, left, straight on, how far. You ask the way rarely — and always at the moment when there is no time to work it out.
- ՁախtsakhleftThe partner of
աջ(ach), right. The ձ sounds like ts as in 'cats', the խ like the ch of 'loch': TSAKH - Ուղիղughighstraight aheadBoth 'straight ahead' about a road and 'exactly, precisely' in general — the key word of every street direction you will be given
- Միւս կողմըmyus goghməon the other side
Կողմ(goghm) is a side. Here the word with its article,կողմը(goghmə), carries the 'where' by itself — no preposition before it - Երկու քայլի վրայyergu k'ayli vratwo steps away
Վրայ(vra) trails behind its word and demands the possessive — that is whyքայլ(k'ayl), step, turns intoքայլի(k'ayli) - Աջ կողմըach goghməto the right ofThe mirror of
ձախ կողմը(tsakh goghmə), and it behaves the same way: the noun in front of it stands in the 'to whom' form
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “asking the way”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to the left” in Western Armenian?
The partner of դէպի աջ (tebi ach). Ձախէն (tsakhen) is from the left, ձախ կողմը (tsakh goghmə) to the left of. A left-hander is ձախլիկ
- How do you say “two steps away” in Western Armenian?
Վրայ (vra) trails behind its word and demands the possessive — that is why քայլ (k'ayl), step, turns into քայլի (k'ayli)
- How do you say “straight ahead” in Western Armenian?
Both 'straight ahead' about a road and 'exactly, precisely' in general — the key word of every street direction you will be given
- How do you say “to the right of” in Western Armenian?
The mirror of ձախ կողմը (tsakh goghmə), and it behaves the same way: the noun in front of it stands in the 'to whom' form
- How do you say “on the other side” in Western Armenian?
Կողմ (goghm) is a side. Here the word with its article, կողմը (goghmə), carries the 'where' by itself — no preposition before it
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 “to the left” in Western Armenian?
«Դէպի ձախ» (tebi tsakh), read “tebi tsakh”. In a live sentence: “Անկիւնը դէպի ձախ թեքուեցէք” (angyunə tebi tsakh t'ek'uetsek') — At the corner turn to the left. Adverb, level A1, from the set “asking the way”; written with the characters Դ, է, պ, ի, ձ, ա, խ.
How is “Դէպի ձախ” (tebi tsakh) written in Latin letters?
tebi tsakh. 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?
The partner of դէպի աջ (tebi ach). Ձախէն (tsakhen) is from the left, ձախ կողմը (tsakh goghmə) to the left of. A left-hander is ձախլիկ. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.