Unit 5 · ա, մ, ն and ի · Read

ա, մ, ն and ի

Read four lowercase letters in short words.

Meet the letters

Tap a card and listen. Try saying it too.

Ա ա
i

a. Open a, as in father.

Մ մ
i

m. Keep the two arches in view.

Ն ն
i

n. One arch: compare it with մ.

Ի ի
i

i. A clear ee sound.

Words to read

mama

մամա

mama
dish

աման

dish
one / a

մի

one / a
my

իմ

my
Nina, a name

Նինա

Nina, a name
Reading tips

ա · a · Open a, as in father.

մ · m · Keep the two arches in view.

ն · n · One arch: compare it with մ.

ի · i · A clear ee sound.

Armenian runs from left to right, with spaces between words. Each letter has a capital and a small form.

Read a word by joining its sounds. Try մ + ա + մ + ա.

Reading practice

Letters in words

Match each letter to the highlighted letter.

Find the sound

Match the sounds to the letters.

Find each word

Match the words to the pictures.

Find each word

Match the words to the pictures.

Find each word

Match the pictures to the words.

Find each word

Match the pictures to the words.

Sound to spelling

Listen. Choose the spelling.

Sound to spelling

Listen. Choose the spelling.

Sound to spelling

Listen. Choose the spelling.

Spelling to sound

Read. Choose the sound.

իմ

Spelling to sound

Read. Choose the sound.

մի

Write a word

Listen and write the word.

mama

Write a word

Listen and write the word.

dish

Write a word

Listen and write the word.

one / a

Listen and write

Listen and write the word.

Listen and write

Listen and write the word.

Finish practice to save this unit.

You can read and write this

Read four lowercase letters in short words.

Next unit
mama

մամա

mama
dish

աման

dish
one / a

մի

one / a
my

իմ

my
Nina, a name

Նինա

Nina, a name
Use a Armenian keyboard

On your phone, add Armenian in Settings → Languages or Keyboards. On a computer, add an Armenian input language in the operating system settings.

Use the on-screen letters whenever you prefer. The ու key inserts its two written characters together; spaces and punctuation have their own keys.

All letters

Ա ա
i

a. Open a, as in father.

Մ մ
i

m. Keep the two arches in view.

Ն ն
i

n. One arch: compare it with մ.

Ի ի
i

i. A clear ee sound.

Ու ու
i

Capital form: Ու. In an ALL-CAPITAL word, write ՈՒ: the second part becomes Ւ. Both forms spell u.

Է է
i

e. A clear e, as in bed.

Ը ը
i

ə. A short neutral vowel, like the first sound of about.

Լ լ
i

l

Ս ս
i

s

Հ հ
i

h

Յ յ
i

y. The consonant y of yes, not the vowel in my.

Ր ր
i

ր is a brief tongue tap. The isolated recording includes a short helping vowel; that vowel is separate from the consonant. Compare the stronger rolled ռ, and listen to ր inside the words below.

արևսար
Վ վ
i

v

Օ օ
i

o. A plain o vowel, including at the start.

Ֆ ֆ
i

f. Often in borrowed words.

Ե ե
i

At the start of a word, ե usually sounds ye, as in ես. Inside a word it sounds e, as in մեր.

եսմերInside a word: e in մեր · մեր
Ո ո
i

At the start of a word, ո usually sounds vo, as in որ. Inside a word it sounds o, as in տոմս. ով (who) is an exception: it begins with plain o.

որտոմսովInside a word: o in տոմս · տոմս
Եվ և
i

և is a joined letter (a ligature), spelling the sequence e + v, not one consonant. It sounds yev at word start and ev inside a word, as in արև. Its capital spelling Եվ uses two letters; all capitals use ԵՎ.

ևարևInside a word: ev in բարև · բարև
Բ բ
i

b. Voiced b.

Պ պ
i

p. Plain p, with little breath.

Փ փ
i

pʰ. p with a puff of air.

Դ դ
i

d. Voiced d.

Տ տ
i

t. Plain t, with little breath.

Թ թ
i

tʰ. t with a puff of air; never English th.

Գ գ
i

g. Voiced g, always hard.

Կ կ
i

k. Plain k, little breath.

Ք ք
i

kʰ. k with a puff.

Խ խ
i

kh / x. Friction like ch in Scottish loch.

Ղ ղ
i

gh / ʁ. Voiced back-of-mouth friction; not g + h.

Զ զ
i

z

Ժ ժ
i

zh / ʒ. The middle sound in measure.

Շ շ
i

sh / ʃ. As in ship.

Ռ ռ
i

rolled r. A stronger rolled r; compare the short tap ր.

Ձ ձ
i

dz. Voiced d + z released as one joined sound.

Ծ ծ
i

ts. Plain ts, little breath.

Ց ց
i

tsʰ. ts with a puff.

Ջ ջ
i

j / dʒ. Voiced, as in jam.

Ճ ճ
i

ch / tʃ. Plain ch, little breath.

Չ չ
i

chʰ / tʃʰ. ch with a puff.