LingoflyԱսիկա թանկ է
- Ասիկա թանկ էasiga t'ang ethis is expensive
“Ասիկա թանկ է” (asiga t'ang e) — this is expensive in Western Armenian. Phrase, level A1, topic — shopping and money. Ասիկա (asiga) is 'this' for the thing in your hands or right beside you. For something nearer the person you are talking to, it is ատիկա (adiga). In a live sentence: “Ներողութիւն, ասիկա թանկ է” (neroghut'yun, asiga t'ang e) — Excuse me, this is expensive. Written with the characters Ա, ս, ի, կ, ա, թ, ա, ն, կ, է.
In short
| Written in Western Armenian | Ասիկա թանկ է (asiga t'ang e) |
| Read in Latin letters | asiga t'ang e |
| Translation | this is expensive |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
ասիկա (asiga) is 'this' for the thing in your hands or right beside you. For something nearer the person you are talking to, it is ատիկա (adiga)
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: shopping and money
How much it costs, whether there is a smaller one, whether cards are accepted. A shop forgives mistakes: miss a word and they will show you the thing with their hands anyway.
- Խանութkhanut'storeA borrowing from Arabic, where hanut means a shop. Plural:
խանութներ(khanut'ner) - ՇուկայshugaymarketClassical spelling adds a final յ:
շուկայ(shugay). The Eastern spelling isշուկա. Say shoo-GA - Պանքbank'bankThe Western press spells it
պանք(bank'), as it is said. There is also the nativeդրամատուն, a 'money house', which givesդրամատնային(tramadnayin), banking - ՎաճառողvajarroghsellerSame root
վաճառ-as in the market counter. The ending -ող turns a verb into its doer: literally 'the selling one' - ՀասածhasadzripeFrom
հասնիլ(hasnil), to arrive or to ripen: a ripe fruit is literally one that has 'arrived'. The -ած ending marks a finished state
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “shopping and money”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “this is expensive” in Western Armenian?
ասիկա (asiga) is 'this' for the thing in your hands or right beside you. For something nearer the person you are talking to, it is ատիկա (adiga)
- How do you say “scales” in Western Armenian?
From կշռել (gshrrel), to weigh. Armenian keeps it singular — one կշեռք (gsherrk') — where English insists on a pair of scales
- How do you say “bank” in Western Armenian?
The Western press spells it պանք (bank'), as it is said. There is also the native դրամատուն, a 'money house', which gives դրամատնային (tramadnayin), banking
- How do you say “ripe” in Western Armenian?
From հասնիլ (hasnil), to arrive or to ripen: a ripe fruit is literally one that has 'arrived'. The -ած ending marks a finished state
- 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 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 “this is expensive” in Western Armenian?
«Ասիկա թանկ է» (asiga t'ang e), read “asiga t'ang e”. In a live sentence: “Ներողութիւն, ասիկա թանկ է” (neroghut'yun, asiga t'ang e) — Excuse me, this is expensive. Phrase, level A1, from the set “shopping and money”; written with the characters Ա, ս, ի, կ, ա, թ, ա, ն, կ, է.
How is “Ասիկա թանկ է” (asiga t'ang e) written in Latin letters?
asiga t'ang e. 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?
Ասիկա (asiga) is 'this' for the thing in your hands or right beside you. For something nearer the person you are talking to, it is ատիկա (adiga). A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.