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Unit 3 · Hear the Armenian sound system · Read
Hear the Armenian sound system
Listen to consonant contrasts and whole words before studying letters.
բbuzzing bպplain pփairy p
Three p sounds where English has two
Some Armenian consonant families distinguish a buzzing (voiced) sound, a plain voiceless sound and an airy sound with a puff of air. p, t, k, ts and ch all work this way. Do not treat the puff as an extra h syllable.
Listen to an owl, a grandfather and a groom: a buzzing b, a plain p and an airy p. Hold your palm in front of your mouth: only the last one sends a puff of air.
բու
owl
պապ
grandfather
փեսա
groom
րone quick tapռrolled r
Two r sounds
Armenian distinguishes a short tap and a stronger rolled r. Listen to mountain, with one quick tap of the tongue, and door, where the tongue rolls several times. Do not use a long English r for either.
սար
mountain
դուռ
door
խղ
kh as in Bach · gh like a French r
Two sounds from the back of the mouth
խ is a rough kh, as in German Bach or Scottish loch. ղ is its buzzing partner, close to a French or German r. Grapes has both: խ at the start and ղ in the middle. Salt ends in ղ.
These are friction sounds, not stops: the air keeps flowing. Later lessons let you hear each one next to its partner.
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