LingoflyԺամ
- Ժամzhamhour
“Ժամ” (zham) — hour in Western Armenian. Noun, level A1, topic — time, days and hours. Both 'hour' and 'time' in general: ժամը (zhamə) ինին (inin) — at nine o'clock. Hence ժամադրութիւն (zhamatrut'yun), a date — an appointed hour. The ժ is zh, as in 'vision'. In a live sentence: “Ժամը քանի՞ է” (zhamə k'ani e) — What time is it? Written with the characters Ժ, ա, մ. One of 136 words in the set “time, days and hours” in the Western Armenian course.
In short
| Written in Western Armenian | Ժամ (zham) |
| Read in Latin letters | zham |
| Translation | hour |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
Both 'hour' and 'time' in general: ժամը (zhamə) ինին (inin) — at nine o'clock. Hence ժամադրութիւն (zhamatrut'yun), a date — an appointed hour. The ժ is zh, as in 'vision'
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.
- 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 “hour” in Western Armenian?
Both 'hour' and 'time' in general: ժամը (zhamə) ինին (inin) — at nine o'clock. Hence ժամադրութիւն (zhamatrut'yun), a date — an appointed hour. The ժ is zh, as in 'vision'
- How do you say “when will you come?” in Western Armenian?
The future is built with պիտի (bidi): պիտի (bidi) գաք (kak) — you will come. Note the question mark ՞ sitting over ե՞րբ (yerp), not at the end of the line
- How do you say “morning” in Western Armenian?
Classical spelling writes աւ and օ: առաւօտ (arravod); the Eastern reformed spelling gives առավոտ. 'In the morning' grows a tail: առաւօտեան (arravodean)
- How do you say “it's already late” in Western Armenian?
արդէն (arten) is already, and the root ուշ (ush) is the same 'late' as in ուշանալ (ushanal), to be late
- How do you say “yesterday” in Western Armenian?
Do not confuse երէկ (yereg), yesterday, with երեկոյ (yerego), evening
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 “hour” in Western Armenian?
«Ժամ» (zham), read “zham”. In a live sentence: “Ժամը քանի՞ է” (zhamə k'ani e) — What time is it? Noun, level A1, from the set “time, days and hours”; written with the characters Ժ, ա, մ.
How is “Ժամ” (zham) written in Latin letters?
zham. 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?
Both 'hour' and 'time' in general: ժամը (zhamə) ինին (inin) — at nine o'clock. Hence ժամադրութիւն (zhamatrut'yun), a date — an appointed hour. The ժ is zh, as in 'vision'. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.