Բարև բոլորին

My father says that in Armenia everyone says "պարկինգ" and that nobody uses "Ավտոկանգառ," which I found in several dictionaries.

Personally, I always prefer to learn and then use Armenian words that aren't borrowed directly from English or Russian, but only if the Armenian version of the word is actually used and wouldn't sound weird to the ear of a present-day Armenian from Armenia.

So my question is: if I use "Ավտոկանգառ" in Armenia today, would people be surprised or puzzled because I'm not using the word "պարկինգ"?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Could someone please translate this gravestone to English? Thank you!

Hello! I'm a native Russian speaker, but almost all my family are a native Armenian speakers and culturally I'm, well, I think, 60-65% Armenian, so I'd like to learn this beautiful language to connect with my culture even more. Thanks for any advices!

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, when Istanbul was the cultural and intellectual capital of Western Armenians, there was a lot of literature being printed in the western dialect. It was a mature language suitable for modern needs at the time. But sadly all of the Western Armenian authors died by the middle of the 20th century, and by that time Western Armenians were already spread out all over the Middle East and western countries. Not much new stuff was being written in the western dialect. Old literature by the esteemed writers continued to be printed in major diaspora communities like Syria, Lebanon, France, the U.S., and other places; but as the diaspora spread more thinly across the world and times changed, people slowly started to not produce as much literature and media in the western dialect. It became difficult to introduce younger generations to those old works written by Krikor Zohrab or Vahan Tekeyan.

With respect to literature there's still a decent amount you could read in Western Armenian, albeit old. But with respect to media... there's almost zero Western Armenian media. No movies, no TV shows... the most you'll see is Vahe Berberian's monologues on YouTube, or Taline's children's songs, or some random skits and plays done in obscure corners of the internet. But that's it. Nobody has really produced anything in Western Armenian in any substantial amount since the early 2000s. It's actually part of the reason Western Armenian is a dying language. If you don't have any literature and media and Western Armenian is only a household language you use with family for informal matters, it's no surprise that after a few generations it's going to be gone. Eastern Armenian, like almost all languages in the internet era, is also playing a game of catchup on the world stage, actively importing information and staying updated with global trends. But at least Eastern Armenian is the language of a state, of schools and universities; it has books, movies, TV shows and music galore and will continue to grow with the passage of time. It's not going anywhere. Western Armenian though... I'm sad to say the future doesn't look too bright.

Which Armenian-language podcasts do you listen to?

I host a podcast where I interview Armenians around the world, who left Armenia at some time and we talk about everything related to emigration from Armenia. Who should my next guest be?

Thanks in advance!

P.S. Here’s the link in case you’d like to check it out:ImStory

I am looking for assistance in lettering for my mother and sisters grave markers. I just returned from laying them to rest with my father. I am working with a memorial company who has done several markers for our family, to keep a similar format. The issues I have is that do not speak or write Armenian, and I live 16 hours drive away. The memorial company has the script and records of my fathers, uncles, and cousins stones from which to get everything but the first name.

I asked the priest who came to perform a blessing at their service to help and he wrote out a translation, but the letters seem slightly different than the fonts the memorial company has. I am not sure if it is a mixture of upper and lower case or if the characters are more or less stylized.

My sisters name was Dawn, or Arshalooys as translated by the priest. My mother's name has no direct translation, but was Brenda. I have added a picture of the alphabet from the monument place, a picture of the card with teh translation I received, and a picture of my fathers headstone for reference of what I am trying to do.

Any assistance or leads would be greatly appreciated.

Some people believe that we used to have an alphabet before Mashtots that was lost (or maybe destroyed during the christianization of Armenia who knows). Evidence of such an alphabet is rather weak and inconclusive, but there is mention of Mashtots trying to find the Danielian script and take some inspiration from it.

I wonder if the old letters (whatever even existed, and if they existed), were more unique. We can see quite clearly that Armenian letters are based a lot on Greek. Growing up I thought Armenian looked really unique compared to Greek and Latin, but if you look closely you can find the Greek shapes and designs in a number of Armenian letters: Բ - B, Գ - Г, Ե - E, Է - H, Թ - Θ, Ի - Ι, Ր - Ρ, Փ - Φ, Ք - X.

On a side note, what is the reason for having the letter Ւ? I know that Classical Armenian had a "W" sound that this letter represented, but I can't understand why Mashtots couldn't have made a letter for the "U" sound and instead decided to follow the Greek model of putting two letters together to make it. It seems weird considering the rest of the alphabet follows a phonetic rule of "one letter per sound, one sound per letter."

Եզակիէն Յոգնակի

Վերջին տարիներուն

Ծեր թզենիին տերեւները ուշ կ՚արթննային

եւ կանուխ կը յոգնէին։

Գարունը ստիպուած կ’ըլլար

երկու անգամ դիպչիլ նոյն ճիւղին,

մինչեւ որ բողբոջ մը համարձակէր բացուիլ։

Կեղեւին ճեղքերը

ամառուան չոր գետերուն կը նմանէին։

Բունին մէջ պարապութիւն մը կը մեծնար՝

առանց ձայնիւ։

Հովերը շատ անգամ եկան

զայն իրենց հետ տանելու։

Սակայն ամենաբարձր ճիւղին վրայ

պտուղները տակաւին կանաչ էին։

Քաղցրութիւնը չէր հասած

մինչեւ սերմերուն սիրտը։

Թզենին այդ տարի ալ մնաց բլուրին վրայ:

Ոչ թէ անկումէն վախնալով,

այլ որովհետեւ իր վերջին ամառը

դեռ չէր աւարտած։

Ան մնաց մինչեւ որ արեւը

իր ամբողջ կրակը լեցուց պտուղներուն մէջ,

մինչեւ որ մութ մանուշակագոյնը

ծածկեց անոնց մորթը,

մինչեւ որ սերմերը կարծրացան

եւ պատրաստ եղան հողին։

Այն ատեն միայն

հին բունը դադրեցաւ հովին դիմադրելէ։

Անկումը աղմուկ մը եղաւ։

Յետոյ՝ լռութիւն։

Բլուրը պահ մը փոխեց իր ձեւը,

Ու տապալած ծառի

Ճիւղերուն միջեւ մնացած լոյսը

առաջին անգամ հասաւ գետին։

Անձրեւը մտաւ բացուած կեղեւէն ներս։

Սունկերը բարձրացուցին

իրենց գունատ գլխարկները։

Մամուռը կանաչ թելով

կարեց հին ճեղքերը։

Նոր արմատներ անցան

փտող փայտին մէջէն

եւ գտան այնտեղ պահուած

վերջին խոնաւութիւնը։

Հին բունը օր օրի

կորսնցուց իր անունը։

Նախ ծառ էր։

Յետոյ՝ փայտ։

Յետոյ՝ փափուկ հող։

Յետոյ՝ խոնաւութիւն,

աղ եւ սնունդ։

Անոր անունը անհետացաւ:

Բայց ոչինչ կորսուեցաւ։

Յաջորդ գարնան

այնտեղ, ուր հին բունը փլած էր,

տասնեակ մը ծիլեր բարձրացան։

Ոչ մէկը յուշարձան էր։

Բոլորն ալ շարունակութիւն էին։

Այսպէս` հին թզենին

չվերադարձաւ։

Վերադարձը չափազանց փոքր բառ մըն էր պատահածին համար։

Ան տարածուեցաւ։

Մտաւ նոր արմատներուն ծարաւին մէջ,

պտուղներուն քաղցրութեան,

տերեւներուն շուքին,

բլուրը պահող հողին

եւ անձրեւին տակ բարձրացող

կանաչ բոյրին մէջ։

Մահը վերջակէտ չեղաւ։

Քերականութիւնը միայն փոխուեցաւ։

Այն, որ ամբողջ կեանք մը

եզակի էր,

հողին մէջ դարձաւ յոգնակի։

Ան այլեւս ծառ մը չէր։

Ան բլուրին վրայ անտեսանելի գործողութիւններուն շարքն էր՝

պահել,

սնուցանել,

բաշխել,

շարունակել։

Եւ երբ հովը անցաւ նոր ծիլերուն մէջէն

(որոնք առաջին անգամ գիտցան` սարսուռն ինչ է),

ան ոչ մէկ անուն արտասանեց։

Այլեւս անուններու կարիքը չկար։

Ամէն ինչ հոն էր։

31.08.2026

In Armenia everyone knows and uses the word սեքս, for example «սեքսով զբաղուել». But as a root and adjective, everything else is built off of սեռ, so you have սեռական (sexual), սեռավարակ (STD), նոյնասեռական (homosexual), etc.

The word "sex" is a Latin word, and I'm guessing it came into Eastern Armenian from Russian? (Not sure). But I'm curious to know what word we used for sex (as a noun) before Latin "sex" was adopted. I doubt people said «սեռով զբաղուել» to mean "having sex."

I’m a beginner in Eastern Armenian. Under many circumstances, I saw people used եւ to replace և. Are there any differences between the single letter and the combination? Btw I really need audio dictionaries for learning. Any recommendations?🙏🙏

I'm currently putting together a teaching resource for primary school pupils about different scripts/orthographies around the world. The task has 18 translations of 'languages are amazing/incredible' in various languages which have differing scripts. I've checked the translations with multiple online translation tools, but I'm well aware that these do not always catch the nuanced points that native speakers can, hence why I wanted to post here for advice.

Would this be a suitable translation for Armenian, or is there a better alternative?

Լեզուները հրաշալի են

Thank you in advance for any help you lovely r/hayeren Redditors can offer!

I'm particularly curious about its meaning as a place name

Hey, ynkerner!

I've been learning Armenian on AVC resource, currently I'm on B1 level. During listening to the dialogues I noticed that some dudes (not just one) pronounce words պետք է as պետիե or [pɛtʲ ɛ], and տաք է as տաքիե [tatʲɛ]. I've noticed this stuff in other words and phrases with "ke" combination in them as well. Is it some sort of regional phonetics?

My big Armenian-American family uses words that I have no idea if they’re actually accurate Armenian. Our grandparents were native speakers but they were from a generation that didn’t value passing it down. here’s what has come through though (apologies it’s a bit of a random list, mostly used when we were all little kids):

- Voodhig (butt)

- meds voodhig (big butt)

- shabig (an undershirt)

- Vahdig, some iterations are more like Vardig (underwear)

- maroon (yogurt)

- doodig (foot or toes?)

- tantig (aunt)

- Behran (mouth)

- yavrum (not sure I have an exact translation here but it’s always sort of used like “oh hunny”

- inch speces (how are you) with “shahd lovem“ as the response

would love to know if there’s seemingly any close actual origin on any of these!

So I notice something in Armenian about plural nouns. Yes, singular nouns with one syllable end with -եր and others with one syllable as well as the ones with two or more syllables end with -ներ, but when it comes to saying a number or an amount there is no suffix for the plurals. Is this correct?

For example, three books is երեք գիրք rather than երեք գիրքեր or երեք գիրքներ. Is it true that when it's talking about a specific number or amount of something in a noun there is no suffix added to the plural?

The Armenian layouts provided by the apple SUCK, that's the reason I downloaded a layout from App-store for my iPhone. But I can't find one for my mac.

Any suggestions?

Barev,

I'm looking for bilingual children books in eastern armenian/french or eastern armenian/english. Do you know good online stores for that in France or in Europe ?

One last thing, i'm not a huge fan of Amazon so i'm looking for alternatives 😊

Thanks !

The title kind-a explains it all but i will elaborate So basically i fell in love with armenia by 2 ways - just finding about it and seeing a little bit more, not that much people talk about this hidden gem - and 2 - eurovision. But how do I learn this? There is no duolingo on this, theres barely even app settings for this like tiktok, roblox, and twitter, not many resources and i feel they just teach you a small amount of it: like how verbs work, phrases, and a small amount of vocabulary. (I could be wrong.) I mean, what really do I have to learn this? I want to speak Eastern Armenian so badly, I only know the alphabet .. but i don't know if i can? Because I want to be fluent, but is there a thing that can teach u all the way to be fluent. I'm only 13 so Im not gonna be using money or doing online courses, I only have a notebook. If someone knows the answer, please tell me. thank you sm and may u get everything u want in ur life

I think one of the major differences between WA and EA that doesn't get talked about enough is the difference in diglossia between the two dialects. WA is like most languages in that the formal speech used in books, media, and professional settings is not too different from the way people speak in their homes. Eastern Armenian though... depending on the social context and a person's level of education, as well as how humble or pretentious they are, can have like 5 different levels of formality which can make the language complicated even for people born, raised, and educated in Armenia.

My only question is... why? Why such a high degree of diglossia between two varieties of the same language? I feel like to some degree Eastern Armenian is an artificial language constructed by Soviet scholars who took standardization too far.

Just thinking off the top of my head, I could honestly see a new kind of EA emerging in the coming decades that blends the two extreme ends of the spectrum into something neutral that sounds good in most settings. I can comment as an EA native that I really don't like the way qyartu street boys talk, but I find extremely grakan speech almost as annoying.