From WikiLang
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Armenian |
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| Indo-European | Armenian | Official language in: ArmeniaMinority language in:  Romania ,  Poland , Cyprus |
Armenian alphabet | |
The Armenian alphabet is an alphabet is a quirky alphabet used to write the Armenian language since 405AD. It was invented by the saint, Saint Mesrop Mashtots who was an Armenian monk. Until the 19th century, Classical Armenian was the only written language, but since then, the alphabet is now used to write in both Eastern and Western Armenian.
The Armenian word for alphabet is այբուբեն / aybuben (pronounced: [ɑɪbubɛn]) which is named after the first two letters of the alphabet Աա / Aa (called այբ / ayb) and Բբ / Bb (called բեն / ben).
As mentioned, both Eastern and Western Armenian use this alphabet, however, they both use them in different ways: that is, the pronunciation. There also exists a few ligatures in Armenian which were added for ease of writing common words.
The Alphabet
The alphabet looks like this.
| Letter | Name | Romanisation | Pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (WikiLang system) | Eastern | Western | ||
| Աա | այբ / ayb | a | /ɑ/ | |
| Բբ | բեն / ben | b | /pʰ/ | /b/ |
| Գգ | գիմ / gim | g | /kʰ/ | /g/ |
| Դդ | դա / da | d | /tʰ/ | /d/ |
| Եե | եչ / ečh | e | initial: /je/, else: /e/ | |
| Զզ | զա / za | z | /z/ | |
| Էէ | է / ē | ē | /ɛ/ | |
| Ըը | ըթ / ëth | ë | /ə/ | |
| Թթ | թո / tho | th | /tʰ/ | |
| Ժժ | ժե / že | ž | /ʒ/ | |
| Իի | ինի / ini | i | /i/ | |
| Լլ | լյուն / lyun | l | /l/ | |
| Խխ | խե / ķe | ķ | /χ/ | |
| Ծծ | ծա / ca | c | /ts/ | /dz/ |
| Կկ | կեն / ken | k | /k/ | /g/ |
| Հհ | հո / ho | h/ħ | /h/ | |
| Ձձ | ձա / ja | j | /dz/ | /tsʰ/ |
| Ղղ | ղատ / ģat | ģ | /ʁ/ | |
| Ճճ | ճե / če | č | /tʃ/ | /dʒ/ |
| Մմ | մեն / men | m | /m/ | |
| Յյ | հի / hi | y | /j/ | |
| Նն | նու / nu | n | /n/ | |
| Շշ | շա / ša | š | /ʃ/ | |
| Ոո | ո / o | o | initial: /vo/, else: /o/ | |
| Չչ | չա / čha | čh | /tʃʰ/ | |
| Պպ | պե / pe | p | /p/ | /b/ |
| Ջջ | ջե / ǰe | ǰ / dž | /dʒ/ | /tʃʰ/ |
| Ռռ | ռա / řa | ř / ŗ | /ɾ/ | |
| Սս | սե / se | s | /s/ | |
| Վվ | վեվ / vev | v | /v/ | |
| Տտ | տյուն / tyun | t | /t/ | /d/ |
| Րր | րե / re | r | /r/ | |
| Ցց | ցո / cho | ch | /tsʰ/ | |
| Ււ | / | w | /w/, /v/ | |
| Փփ | փյուր / phyur | ph | /pʰ/ | |
| Քք | քե / khe | kh | /kʰ/ | |
| Օօ | օ / ó | ó | /o/ | |
| Ֆֆ | ֆե / fe | f | /f/ | |
Ligatures
Ancient Armenian manuscripts used many ligatures to save space. Some of the commonly used ligatures are: ﬓ (մ+ն), ﬔ (մ+ե), ﬕ (մ+ի), ﬖ (վ+ն), ﬗ (մ+խ), և (ե+ւ), etc. After the invention of printing Armenian typefaces made a wide use of ligatures as well. It is important to note that in new orthography the և character is not a typographical ligature anymore, and must never be treated as such. It is a distinct letter and has its place in the new alphabetic sequence, before "o".★From: Wikipedia (1)
References
- Wikipedia (1)
| Armenian pages
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| Introduction · Cases · Sounds and Writing · Pronouns |
