Armenian Alphabet: #1 Easy Guide With Useful Facts

What’s the first step to learning any language? Learning its alphabets! This blog post will help you understand the Armenian alphabet in detail. You will not only learn about the sounds of each vowel and consonant but also their usage. So let’s get started!

Alphabets In The Armenian language

The Armenian alphabet is unique and beautiful but also antique. UNESCO has previously mentioned ‘Armenian letter art and its cultural expression,’ which explains the beauty and uniqueness of the Armenian alphabet.

Brief History Of Armenian Alphabet

There was a time when all the written scripts related to Christianity were in other languages. People used foreign alphabet and sound to study religion in an Armenian church. And so, the need to have a native language emerged. So, Mesrop Mashtots, an Armenian linguist, started replacing the Greek alphabet with the Armenian alphabet. The alphabet used to this day in the country is the modern Armenian that has changed.

The alphabet differs both in Western Armenian and Eastern Armenian in terms of usage and pronunciation, not in terms of written expression.

Amazing Facts

There are countless amazing facts about the Armenian alphabet. These alphabets are considered unique for so many reasons besides being ancient.

Chemical Codes And Secret Cryptographs

The periodic table that you know is also coded in the Armenian alphabet. There are no other countries with such a unique writing system. The Armenian Language has a proper system through which these chemicals are known. 

For example, the word for ‘gold’ is written ՈՍԿԻ (voski) in Armenian.

Each alphabet in every word has a certain number associated with it. The sum of all the numbers is 79, the atomic number for Au, gold. It was not a mere coincidence; instead, it was crafted creatively and intelligently. All the metals in the periodic table have this kind of code.

And that is how the Armenians have made it easy to remember each metal’s code and atomic numbers in the periodic table. However, there’s also a mystery that the periodic table was not invented at that time. Instead, it said that it was developed after a very long time.

However, the Armenian scripture still has these codes, which is an interesting thing to know about. Another example is silver. արծ-arts (silver) : ա+ր+ծ (1+32+14) = 79.

Numerical Values

Let’s also introduce yet another mind-blowing fact about the Armenian alphabet. The Armenian letter was not only a system of writing, but it was also a quantitative system for doing mathematics and keeping track of dates.

All the characters have different quantitative values depending on their alphabetical sequence, but they will also have different decimal values.

They are organized into four columns and nine rows. Single figures are represented in the first column, tens inside the second, hundreds inside the third, and thousands inside the fourth.

The Geometry Of The Sacred

Several geometrical mysteries are concealed inside the alphabet, and I will go over a few of them here.

Octagram

Furthermore, if somehow the Armenian characters are arranged within an octagram square in a clockwise direction, the characters at the corners resemble the original Armenian term for the nation, “Hayk.” The Armenian word for the Armenian people’s motherland.

Dates

The Armenian Language is also used to write the dates. In the earliest surviving manuscripts (5th century), people used letters to imply dates in the writing system.

Here is how this would operate in terms of dates. Dates were typically denoted only with letters, frequently with just an overline, signifying “t’vin” (meaning “in the year”), accompanied by one to four characters, each one indicating the number depending on its alphabetical sequence.

Armenians used a Julian calendar which began around 552 AD (11 July) during the Middle Ages. Just multiply the number by 551 to convert it to standard years. For example, (600)+(70)+(3)+(551) = 1224 AD.

Made the Literature

Armenian literature is known to be formed because of the invention of the alphabet.

“The invention of our own unique alphabet enabled people to learn and use the language, which resulted in the birth of Armenian literature.”

Karine Dilanyan

Classical Armenian Letters

Western Vs Eastern Armenian Letters

Let’s look at the differences between Western and Eastern Alphabet.

Armenian Punctuation

The topic of the alphabet also includes various punctuation marks you need to learn. You might think you know the punctuation marks in Armenian when you look at them, but you will notice that some of them are slightly different from other languages.

Here is a brief account of all the punctuation marks in the Armenian Language that you can use in your Armenian sentences.

{՝} is the boot symbol which is equivalent to a semicolon in the English Language. You can use it when you want to mention a pause.

{« »} is the čakertner sign which is the regular quotation mark.

{,} called storaket, it is used as a comma like in English. Its usage is the same as a comma as well.

{.} The mijaket is always used as a regular colon, primarily to divide two closely linked phrases or a long list of objects.

{:} The verjaket serves as a standard full stop after a sentence.

Armenian Words Starting With Each Alphabet

Wrapping Up

Congratulations! Now you have learned about the Armenian alphabet and have insight into the Armenian script. You can now write and read any written script with the help of this lesson. If you want to learn Armenian, check out Ling App! We also have articles about Armenian Names and Armenian Sentence Structure.