LingoflyՄերսի
- Մերսիmersithanks
“Մերսի” (mersi) — thanks in Western Armenian. Interjection, level A0, topic — polite words. The everyday thanks: borrowed from French, and in the diaspora you hear it more often than the long շնորհակալութիւն (shnorhagalut'yun). Say it just like the French do. In a live sentence: “Մերսի, շատ լաւ էր” (mersi, shad lav er) — Thanks, it was very good. Written with the characters Մ, ե, ր, ս, ի. One of 10 words in the set “polite words” in the Western Armenian course.
In short
| Written in Western Armenian | Մերսի (mersi) |
| Read in Latin letters | mersi |
| Translation | thanks |
| Part of speech | interjection |
| Level | A0 |
Why it looks that way
The everyday thanks: borrowed from French, and in the diaspora you hear it more often than the long շնորհակալութիւն (shnorhagalut'yun). Say it just like the French do
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: polite words
“Thank you”, “please” and “sorry” carry you while the rest of the words are still missing: with them even a gesture reads as a request rather than a demand.
- Բարեւ ձեզparev tsezhelloEnds with
ձեզ(tsez) — 'to you'. The version for strangers, elders and anyone you would not call by their first name - Շնորհակալութիւնshnorhagalut'yunthank youa long word with a single stress, right at the end: shnor-ha-ga-loot-YOON
- Ներողութիւնneroghut'yunexcuse meFrom
ներել(nerel), to forgive: literally 'forgiveness'. The way you open a question to a stranger and squeeze through a crowd - Ինչպէ՞ս եքinchbes ek'how are you? (formal)The verb ends in -ք, the polite turn: elders and strangers get this one. The
-եսform is for your own circle - Դուքtuk'you (plural, formal)One word for the polite 'you' to a stranger and the plural 'you' to a group — English needs two words here, Armenian makes do with one
- Չարժէcharzhedon't mention itLiterally 'it is not worth it'. The other answer to thanks is
խնդրեմ(khntrem), the very word for 'please' — Armenians return thanks with it too
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “polite words”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “thanks” in Western Armenian?
The everyday thanks: borrowed from French, and in the diaspora you hear it more often than the long շնորհակալութիւն (shnorhagalut'yun). Say it just like the French do
- How do you say “wait a minute” in Western Armenian?
վայրկեան (vayrgyan) is a minute. On its own, մէկ (meg) վայրկեան (vayrgyan) works as the universal 'one sec'
- How do you say “excuse me” in Western Armenian?
From ներել (nerel), to forgive: literally 'forgiveness'. The way you open a question to a stranger and squeeze through a crowd
- How do you say “hello” in Western Armenian?
Ends with ձեզ (tsez) — 'to you'. The version for strangers, elders and anyone you would not call by their first name
- How do you say “young lady” in Western Armenian?
The polite word for an unmarried young woman, and the address that goes with it: Օրիորդ (oriort) Անի (Ani) — Miss Ani. In everyday speech, just աղջիկ (aghchig), girl
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 “thanks” in Western Armenian?
«Մերսի» (mersi), read “mersi”. In a live sentence: “Մերսի, շատ լաւ էր” (mersi, shad lav er) — Thanks, it was very good. Interjection, level A0, from the set “polite words”; written with the characters Մ, ե, ր, ս, ի.
How is “Մերսի” (mersi) written in Latin letters?
mersi. 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 everyday thanks: borrowed from French, and in the diaspora you hear it more often than the long շնորհակալութիւն (shnorhagalut'yun). Say it just like the French do. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.