Armenian Language Guide

Official language in
Armenia
Also spoken in
Georgia, Russia, Iran
Script
Armenian

Where it's spoken

The Constitution of the Republic of Armenia states that the state language of the Republic of Armenia is Armenian.

Eastern Armenian is spoken in Armenia, and large communities of speakers also exist in Georgia, Russia and Iran. Western Armenian was historically spoken in the Ottoman Empire and now includes varieties spoken throughout the Armenian diaspora in the Middle East, Europe and the Americas.

Sources

Script & pronunciation

Armenian is written in its own script, from left to right, with uppercase and lowercase letter pairs and spaces between words. A sentence ends with the Armenian full stop ։. The question mark ՞, like the emphasis mark ՛ and the exclamation mark ՜, is placed above and slightly to the right of a vowel inside a word instead of at the end of the sentence, as in Որտե՞ղ է զուգարանը։ ("Where is the toilet/bathroom?"). Two spellings are in use: the Reformed orthography is used by Eastern Armenian speakers living in the Republic of Armenia (and occasionally by some Western Armenian speakers), and the Mesropian orthography is used by Western Armenian speakers who live in the diaspora (and rarely by some Eastern Armenian speakers).

This app's cards write the question mark at the end of the romanization instead, as in Vortegh e zugarany? for the same phrase. Balayan's grammar handbook romanizes the letter Կ as k and the letter Ք as k`, while this app's romanization writes both as k, as in Կներեք (Knerek, "Sorry").

Sources

Grammar essentials

In a simple affirmative sentence the order is noun, main verb, then auxiliary verb ("to be"). The present tense is formed with a verb ending in -ում followed by the matching form of the auxiliary, as in Գնում եմ (Gnum em, "I'm heading out"). Word order can change, and the change shifts the emphasis (logical stress).

Negation is formed by adding չ in front of the auxiliary, and in negative sentences the auxiliary is placed right before the verb, as in Ես հայերեն չեմ խոսում (Yes hayeren chem khosum, "I can't speak Armenian").

A question can keep the form of a statement or a negative sentence. In writing, the question mark ՞ is placed on the last vowel of a word, and in speech that word is pronounced with rising intonation, as in Դուք լա՞վ եք (Duk lav ek?, "Are you OK?") and Չի՞ կարելի (Chi kareli?, "Is it not allowed?").

To refer to a specific thing, the definite article ը or ն is added at the end of the word, as in Զուգարանը (Zugarany) in Զուգարանը որտե՞ղ է ("Where is the toilet?").

Sources

Politeness & etiquette

Armenian has two words for "you": դու stands for the second person singular and դուք for the second person plural. Sometimes, to indicate respect, one person is also addressed with դուք; the form of "to be" used with դուք is եք.

This app's cards reflect this in everyday phrases: Բարև Ձեզ (Barev Dzez) is "Hello (formal)," while Բարև (Barev) is "Hello / Hi," and in Ինչպե՞ս եք (Inchpes ek?, "How are you?") the card glosses եք as "are you (formal)."

Sources

Browse all TravelPhrases languages