Vowels
Monophthongs
Armenian has eight— ,
— ,
#At the end of a word, is always written (never ). For example: , , . #At the beginning of a word, is written . For example: , . #In the middle of a word before a vowel, is written . For example: , . #When followed by two consonants within a root word, is written . For example: , , , . #When making a noun plural, or is added to the end of the noun. For example: → , → . #When followed by , , , , or , is written (and not ). The following are exceptions: , and foreign proper nouns: , .—
is always written . For example: ("his"/"her") is written .— , ,
—
is always written . For example: ("house") is written .— , epenthetical
The vowel is usually not written. For example: ("thought") is written (not ), and ("marvelous") is written (not ). is written in the following cases: # At the start of a word if the following sound is a () or (). For example: ("to choose") is written , ("friend") is written , ("defiant") is written and ("to comprehend") is written . # At the start of a word if the vowel stems from the or sound. For example: ("to desire") is written because it stems from the noun ("desire", ). Also, ("to drink") is written because it stems from the noun ("mouthful", ). # At the start or the middle of a monosyllabic word whose only vowel is . For example: ("according to") is written , and ("a" or "an", indefinite article) is written . # In derivative and compound words if their second part starts with . For example: ("inadmissible") is written because it is a derivative word that is formed from the prefix ("un-", ) and the root ("friend", ). Also, ("swift") is written արագընթաց because it is a compound word that is formed from the root words ("quick") and ("gait"). # Within a word after the letters , if they are not followed by a vowel they represent . For example: ( "to hide") and ( "from tomorrow"). # In line-breaking. For example: (, "harm") becomes , and (, "to feel") becomes . # At the end of words, to specify the article "the". For example: (, "the light") is formed by adding to the end of . Also, (, "the statues") does the same.—
is always written . For example: ("village") is written .—
is a rare sound to write foreign words and is always written . For example: the female name ("Eugenie") is written , a transcription of letters.Diphthongs
Armenian has nine— , , ; occurs in ,
is written differently depending on its context. # at the start of a word is written . For example: ("Yanikian", a family name) is written . #Preceded by a consonant, it is written . For example: ("room") is written . However, at the end of a word, is written . For example: ("daily") is written . #When is preceded by a vowel other than or , it is written . For example: ("station") is written . #Besides that, presents in the endings of Classical Armenian surnames , for example in . #A disyllabic sequence of a monophthong () and a diphthong () is written ( when at the end of a word). For example: ("together") is written . #A disyllabic sequence of a monophthong () and a diphthong () is written (or at the end of a word). For example: ("being", the noun) is written .— , ,
is written differently depending on its context. #At the start of a word, it is written . For example: ("dream") is written . between two consonants represents (see above for details). #In the middle of a word, is written . For example: ("mirror") is written . at the start of a word represents (see below for details). #At the end of a word, is written (never ). For example: ("look!") is written .— ; occurs in
is never at the start of a word and is written differently depending on its context: #A disyllabic sequence of a monophthong () and a diphthong () is written . For example: ("I was") is written , and ("they wanted") is written . #Otherwise, is written . For example: ("May") is written . at the start of a word represents (see below for details).—
is always written . For example: ("seven") is written .— , ; occurs in ,
is written differently depending on its context: #At the start of a word, is written . For example: ("oil") is written . #After a vowel other than or , it is written . For example: ("firm") is written . at the start of a word represents (see below for an example). #The disyllabic sequence of the monophthong and the diphthong is written . For example: ("union") is written . #The disyllabic sequence of the monophthong and the diphthong is written . For example: ("essence") is written . #To write the suffix , is used. For example: ("knowledge") is written .—
can occur at the end of a word only for monosyllabic words. It is written . For example: ("field") is written , ("mother") is written and ("verb") is written . A polysyllabic word ending in is pronounced , the becoming silent (see above for an example).—
is written . For example: ("tea") is written .—
is written . For example: ("to fall") is written .—
usually occurs in the middle of a word, and is written . For example: ("sister") is written .Consonants
The International Phonetic Alphabet shows the consonants, by the corresponding Armenian letter in parentheses. Both Classical And Eastern Armenian maintain a three-way distinction between voiced, voiceless, and aspirated stops and affricates. In Western Armenian, voiced and aspirated stops and affricates have undergone a merger, and voiceless stops and affricates have become voiced.Notes
References
*External links