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Introductory Remarks
- This dictionary is incomplete.
- Many may find issue with its presentation.
- All will want to add specific words that are
common in their personalized use of the language.
1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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b (bad)
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p (pipe)
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g (gorge)
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k (kite)
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d (dim)
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t (time)
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dz (pads)
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ts (lights)
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dj (giraffe)
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tch (match)
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For many students who speak Western Armenian, there
are certain letters that present difficulties in spelling. This
is because Western Armenian, unlike Eastern Armenian, does not distinguish
the sounds that are represented by the letters in the first
and third columns of the list given in the table above.
- Letters of the first column are uttered, in Eastern Armenian,
using one's vocal chords. You can feel them vibrate when your
fingers are placed against the front of your throat. Their rough
English equivalents are given in the fourth column.
- Letters in the second column sound, in Eastern Armenian, as
those in the first column but without using the vocal chords and
while keeping the same mouth and tongue positions. (Difficult
to do for some Western Armenian speakers!) For English-speakers
it is equivalent to switching from the pronunciation of that (with
vocal chords) to think (same mouth position but without using
vocal chords). Try to say the words in the fourth column - but
without using your vocal chords.
- Letters in the third column are pronounced in the same way in
both Eastern and Western Armenian. Their English equivalents are
given in the fifth column.
Other problems may be encountered when distinguishing the sounds
of these letter-pairs:
The spelling rules of ú
and ¾
may also be problematic.
These issues are addressed by presenting separate
alphabetical lists for each of these difficult letters. This separation
was done from a main list of some 8400 words compiled from the dictionaries
cited in the bibliography (below). The list includes words that
may be difficult to spell and that are found in textbooks of the
Armenian school and University entrance examination programs.
The main list also includes the most frequently
used words in Armenian (the "minimal" list of 678 words) as determined
by Ghazarian (1995). The words in this list are presented even though
they may not necessarily present difficulties in orthography.
Finally, please note that
- this document has no pretensions: it does not
replace a course of formal study!
- the words are spelt using the Contemporary Orthography
of Armenian as used in Armenia.
Acknowledgements
Dr. Prof. Vigen Avakian's help was indispensable
in the evolution of this work. His love of Armenian is both passionate
and infectious. His erudition is awesome.
Mr. Rustam Hovhannisian wrote the computer
programs that were needed to work with sorting and selecting Armenian
text.
Ms. Anahit Yengibarian painstakingly entered
the words from the source dictionaries.
The American University of Armenia's Extension
Program is very grateful for their efforts.
We welcome your comments and help in making
this resource as useful as possible. Please address all your comments
to
- aarmenia@aua.am, or
- call (3741) 512-700, or
- facsimile at (3741) 512-840, attention Dr. Atken
Armenian, Dean of the Extension Program, who compiled this document.
Bibliography:
ìÇ·»Ý ²í³·Û³Ý
èáõëï³Ù ÐáíѳÝÝÇëÛ³Ý
²Ý³ÑÇï ºÝ·Çµ³ñÛ³Ý
- Æß˳ÝÛ³Ý è. 600 µ³é, áõÕÕ³·ñ³Ï³Ý
ï»ë³Ï»ïÇó ¹Åí³ñáõÃÛáõÝ áõÝ»óáÕ µ³é»ñÇ ó³ÝÏ: ºñ¨³Ý, êáë ê³ñ·ëÛ³Ý
Ùß³ÏáõÛÃÇ ýáݹ, 1992:
- γïí³ÉÛ³Ý ì. È. àõÕÕ³·ñ³Ï³Ý ¨ ϻﳹñ³Ï³Ý
áõÕ»óáõÛó: ºñ¨³Ý, î³å³Ý Ññ³ï³ñ³ÏãáõÃÛáõÝ. 1992
- γïí³ÉÛ³Ý ì. È. àõÕÕ³·ñ³Ï³Ý ¨ ϻﳹñ³Ï³Ý
áõÕ»óáõÛó: ºñ¨³Ý, г۳ëï³ÝÇ µ³ó ѳٳÉë³ñ³ÝÇ Ññ³ï³ñ³ÏãáõÃÛáõÝ.
1992
- Ô³½³ñÛ³Ý ´. гÛ-éáõë»ñ»Ý ¨ èáõë-ѳۻñ»Ý
ÙÇÝÇÙáõÙ-µ³é³ñ³Ý: ºñ¨³Ý, Üáñù Ññ³ï³ñ³ÏãáõÃÛáõÝ, 1995
- ܳ½³ñÛ³Ý è. سÛñ»ÝÇ µáÉáñÇ Ñ³Ù³ñ:
ºñ¨³Ý, àëÏ³Ý ºñ¨³ÝóÇ. 1996:
- ܳ½³ñÛ³Ý è ¨ ². ¶Ûáõ¹³ÏÛ³Ý, àõÕÕ³·ñ³Ï³Ý
áõÕ»óáõÛó. 4500 ¨ ³í»É µ³é: ºñ¨³Ý, àëÏ³Ý ºñ¨³ÝóÇ. 1997
- ܳ½³ñÛ³Ý è. ¨ ì. Îáëï³ÝÛ³Ý àõÕÕ³·ñ³Ï³Ý
áõÕ»óáõÛó, 2000 ¨ ³í»É µ³é: ºñ¨³Ý, г۳ëï³Ý Ññ³ï³ñ³ÏãáõÃÛáõÝ,
1992:
- ØÇñ½áÛ³Ý È. àõÕÕ³·ñ³Ï³Ý, ÑáÙ³ÝÇßÝ»ñÇ,
¹³ñÓí³Í³µ³Ý³Ï³Ý ¹åñáó³Ï³Ý µ³é³·Çñù: ºñ¨³Ý, γÝã Ññ³ï³ñ³ÏãáõÃÛáõÝ,
1997
- ê³Ñ³ÏÛ³Ý ì. ¸åñáó³Ï³Ý µ³ó³ïñ³Ï³Ý
µ³é³ñ³Ý: »ñ¨³Ý, Üáñù ïå³ñ³Ý 1997
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