LingoflyԿրկէս
- Կրկէսgrgescircus
“Կրկէս” (grges) — circus in Western Armenian. Noun, level A1, topic — buildings and premises. The native word won here: even in everyday speech nobody says the borrowed ցիրկ. Say it GR-ges, with the r of 'grass'. In a live sentence: “Կրկէսին մէջ առիւծ տեսանք” (grgesin mech arryudz desank') — At the circus we saw a lion. Written with the characters Կ, ր, կ, է, ս. One of 11 words in the set “buildings and premises” in the Western Armenian course.
In short
| Written in Western Armenian | Կրկէս (grges) |
| Read in Latin letters | grges |
| Translation | circus |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
The native word won here: even in everyday speech nobody says the borrowed ցիրկ. Say it GR-ges, with the r of 'grass'
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: buildings and premises
Where to go and what is done there. These words are read off a sign more often than they are spoken.
- ՆաւամատոյցnavamaduytspierFrom
նաւ(nav), a ship, plusմատոյց, approach. The sameմատոյցbuilds the station platform,կառամատոյց(garramaduyts) - Փոխանակման կէտp'okhanagman gedexchange office
Արտարժոյթի փոխանակում(ardarzhuyt'i p'okhanagum) is currency exchange;կէտis a point — and on a sign, an office - Աւտոլուացումavdolvatsumcar wash
Լուացումcomes fromլուալ(lual), to wash;լուացքատուն(luatsk'adun) is the laundry — and mixing them up is an expensive mistake
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “buildings and premises”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “circus” in Western Armenian?
The native word won here: even in everyday speech nobody says the borrowed ցիրկ. Say it GR-ges, with the r of 'grass'
- How do you say “travel agency” in Western Armenian?
From զբօսաշրջիկ (zposashrchig), tourist; գործակալութիւն comes from գործ (kordz), work
- How do you say “exchange office” in Western Armenian?
Արտարժոյթի փոխանակում (ardarzhuyt'i p'okhanagum) is currency exchange; կէտ is a point — and on a sign, an office
- How do you say “hall” in Western Armenian?
The hall where the audience sits: կինոյի (ginoyi) դահլիճ (tahlij). The tail -սրահ names smaller halls — մարզասրահ (marzasrah), the gym, and սպասասրահ (sbasasrah), the waiting room
- How do you say “car wash” in Western Armenian?
Լուացում comes from լուալ (lual), to wash; լուացքատուն (luatsk'adun) is the laundry — and mixing them up is an expensive mistake
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 “circus” in Western Armenian?
«Կրկէս» (grges), read “grges”. In a live sentence: “Կրկէսին մէջ առիւծ տեսանք” (grgesin mech arryudz desank') — At the circus we saw a lion. Noun, level A1, from the set “buildings and premises”; written with the characters Կ, ր, կ, է, ս.
How is “Կրկէս” (grges) written in Latin letters?
grges. 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 native word won here: even in everyday speech nobody says the borrowed ցիրկ. Say it GR-ges, with the r of 'grass'. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.