| armenian alphabet | |
|
|
about cilicia | discuss | chat | calendar | © |
|
Eastern Armenian |
Western Armenian |
||||
| Letter | Transliteration | Example | Transliteration | Example | Name of letter |
| Aa | pArt | Aa | pArt | Ayp | |
| Bb | Big | Pp | Pen | Pen | |
| Gg | leG | Kk | parK | Kim | |
| Dd | baD | Tt | haT | Ta | |
| Ee (ye) | nEt | Ee (ye) | nEt | Yech | |
| Zz | Zig-Zag | Zz | Zig-Zag | Za | |
| Ee | rEnt | Ee | rEnt | Eh | |
| ' (apostrophe) | hib'rnation | ' (apostrophe) | hib'rnation | Uht | |
| Tt | haT | Tt | haT | Toe | |
| JHjh | uSual | JHjh | uSual | Jhe | |
| Ii | skinnY | Ii | skinnY | Ini | |
| Ll | Less | Ll | Less | Luin | |
| KHkh | aCHtung | KHkh | aCHtung | Khe | |
| TSts | biTS | DZdz | biDZ (bids) | Dza | |
| Kk | sKip | Gg | leG | Gen | |
| Hh | Hot | Hh | Hot | Ho | |
| DZdz | biDZ(bids) | TSts | hiTS | Tsa | |
| GHgh | haGiss | GHgh | haGiss | Ghat | |
| CHch | CHess | Jj | John | Je | |
| Mm | Men | Mm | MoM | Men | |
| Yy | Hat (Yes) | Hh (Yy) | Hat (Yes) | Hee | |
| Nn | buN | Nn | buN | Nu | |
| SHsh | craSH | SHsh | craSH | Sha | |
| Oo VOvo | bOne | Oo (VOvo) | bOne | Vo | |
| CHch | muCH | CHch | muCH | Cha | |
| Pp | sPorts | Bb | Big | Be | |
| Jj | January | CHch | muCH | Che | |
| Rr | buRRito | Rr | buRRito | Ra | |
| Ss | Sand | Ss | Sand | Se | |
| Vv | neVer | Vv | neVer | Ve | |
| Tt | baD | Dd | baD | Diun | |
| Rr | buRRito | Rr | buRRito | Re | |
| TSts | hiTS | TSts | hiTS | Tso | |
| Vv | moVe | Vv | moVe | Hium | |
| Pp | Pen | Pp | Pen | Piur | |
| Kk | parK | Kk | parK | Ke | |
| Oo | mOre | Oo | mOre | Oe | |
| Ff | Fan | Ff | Fan | Fe | |
| yev (ev) | yev (ev) | (Yev) | |||
Sponsored Link: CALLING CARDS
The transliteration system I use is very simple, based on the Latin character equivalents assigned to each letter in the alphabet above. Each letter has an English equivalent letter, or combination of letters.
For example, the Armenian word for Armenia, "г۳ëï³Ý" would be pronounced "Hayastan" in Eastern Armenian, or "Hayasdan" in Western Armenian.
It is important to remember that the eastern and western dialects differ in transliteration, because some Armenian characters are pronounced differently. For example, in Armenian, the equivalent of the English name Peter, is Petros in Eastern Armenian, and Bedros in Western. As you can see the P and the T are pronounced differently in Western Armenian. This name would be Pedro in Spanish, where only the letter T has changed. This is because the Armenian alphabet contains a few "middle sounds" which English has for the most part lost. For example, the P and B sounds have a sound somewhere in between those two sounds that English speakers (and often Western Armenians) will have a very difficult time percieving. If you say the English word "sports", you may notice that you are actually pronouncing this middle sound without even noticing it. Most people are not pronouncing a clean P, but something that sounds more like a B, but not quite... this is the sound that Eastern Armenian uses for the second letter of the Armenian alphabet. Western Armenians do not use this difference as much, pronouncing more of a clean B. Western Armenian also differs in vocabulary and conjugation from Eastern Armenian, which is used in the Republic of Armenia today. A brief guide/dictionary of differences between the two dialects can be found here.
| Copyright © 1999 Raffi Kojian n_w$$h |