LingoflyԵրկվայրկեան
- Երկվայրկեանyergvayrgyansecond (time unit)
“Երկվայրկեան” (yergvayrgyan) — second (time unit) in Western Armenian. Noun, level A1, topic — time, days and hours. Literally 'the second minute': երկ- means two. In conversation երկվայրկեան (yergvayrgyan) մը (mə) means 'hold on', like 'one sec' in English. In a live sentence: “Երկվայրկեան մը, հիմա գտնեմ” (yergvayrgyan mə, hima kdnem) — One second, I will find it right away. Written with the characters Ե, ր, կ, վ, ա, յ, ր, կ, ե, ա, ն.
In short
| Written in Western Armenian | Երկվայրկեան (yergvayrgyan) |
| Read in Latin letters | yergvayrgyan |
| Translation | second (time unit) |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally 'the second minute': երկ- means two. In conversation երկվայրկեան (yergvayrgyan) մը (mə) means 'hold on', like 'one sec' in English
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: time, days and hours
Today, tomorrow, in the morning, at six. You cannot arrange to meet without these — let alone understand the answer.
- ԺամzhamhourBoth 'hour' and 'time' in general:
ժամը(zhamə) ինին (inin) — at nine o'clock. Henceժամադրութիւն(zhamatrut'yun), a date — an appointed hour. The ժ is zh, as in 'vision' - ԵրեկոյyeregoeveningThe կ sounds like g and the classical final յ stays silent: eh-reh-GO. 'In the evening' is
երեկոյեան(yeregoyean) - ԳիշերkishernightIt appears in
բարի գիշեր(pari kisher), good night. Same root inգիշերօթիկ, a boarding school. Say KISH-er - Ե՞րբ պիտի գաքyerp bidi kak'when will you come?The future is built with
պիտի(bidi): պիտի (bidi) գաք (kak) — you will come. Note the question mark ՞ sitting overե՞րբ(yerp), not at the end of the line - Ժամը քանիսի՞նzhamə k'anisinat what time?Literally 'the hour at which one':
ժամ(zham) is the hour - Կ'ուշանամg'ushanamI'm running late
ուշ(ush) is late. In messages this is the most-sent phrase of them all
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “time, days and hours”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “second (time unit)” in Western Armenian?
Literally 'the second minute': երկ- means two. In conversation երկվայրկեան (yergvayrgyan) մը (mə) means 'hold on', like 'one sec' in English
- How do you say “yesterday” in Western Armenian?
Do not confuse երէկ (yereg), yesterday, with երեկոյ (yerego), evening
- How do you say “today” in Western Armenian?
այս- (this) + օր (or) (day): 'this day'. Its partners երէկ (yereg) (yesterday) and վաղը (vaghə) (tomorrow) complete your first timeline
- How do you say “I'm running late” in Western Armenian?
ուշ (ush) is late. In messages this is the most-sent phrase of them all
- How do you say “night” in Western Armenian?
It appears in բարի գիշեր (pari kisher), good night. Same root in գիշերօթիկ, a boarding school. Say KISH-er
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 “second (time unit)” in Western Armenian?
«Երկվայրկեան» (yergvayrgyan), read “yergvayrgyan”. In a live sentence: “Երկվայրկեան մը, հիմա գտնեմ” (yergvayrgyan mə, hima kdnem) — One second, I will find it right away. Noun, level A1, from the set “time, days and hours”; written with the characters Ե, ր, կ, վ, ա, յ, ր, կ, ե, ա, ն.
How is “Երկվայրկեան” (yergvayrgyan) written in Latin letters?
yergvayrgyan. 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?
Literally 'the second minute': երկ- means two. In conversation երկվայրկեան (yergvayrgyan) մը (mə) means 'hold on', like 'one sec' in English. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.