Armenian alphabet
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Like the Latin or Greek alphabets, Armenian has both upper- and lowercase letters. It was invented in the 5th century CE by Mesrop Mashtots, and is ultimately based on the Greek alphabet.
Over time, some sounds have changed, e.g. Õ² was pronounced as a dark "l" (i.e. Å‚), but is now pronounced as "gh" (see below). Two letters, Õ•/Ö… and Õ–/Ö†, are later additions.
| Graph | Eastern | Western | Notes | |
| Ա | ա | a | a | (both) a in father |
| Բ | բ | b | ph (p) | (E) b in bay; (W) p in pay |
| Գ | գ | g | kh (k) | (E) g in gate; (W) k in Kate |
| Դ | դ | d | th (t) | (E) d in dale; (W) t in tale |
| Ե | ե | e/je | e/je | (both) initial: ye in yes; non-initial: e in get |
| Զ | զ | z | z | (both) z in zebra, or s in rose |
| Է | է | Ä“ (e) | Ä“ (e) | (both) e in get. Note: In Eastern practice, all instances of է in non-initial position have been replaced by ե, except reflexes of the verb Õ¬Õ«Õ¶Õ¥Õ¬ (linel "to be"), e.g. է (e "he is"). |
| Ը | ը | Ä• (Ó™) | Ä• (Ó™) | (both) u in but, or a in ago. |
| Թ | թ | th (t') | th (t) | (both) t in top |
| Ժ | ժ | 3 (zh/ž) | 3 (zh/ž) | (both) g in genre or garage |
| Ի | ի | i | i | (both) i in machine |
| Լ | լ | l | l | (both) l in leaf |
| Խ | խ | x (kh) | x (kh) | (both) ch in German "Bach" [no English equivalent] |
| Ծ | ծ | c (ts) | dz | (E) ts in bets on; (W) ds in beds |
| Կ | կ | k | g | (E) k in skate [i.e. no aspiration]; (W) g in gate |
| Հ | հ | h | h | (both) h in house |
| Ձ | ձ | dz | ch (ts) | (E) ds in beds; (W) ts in gets |
| Ղ | ղ | γ (gh) | γ (gh) | (both) g in Spanish lago [no English equivalent] |
| Ճ | ճ | tÅ¿ (ch/Ä?) | d3 (j) | (E) tch in ketchup [i.e. no aspiration]; (W) j in juice or dg in fudge |
| Մ | մ | m | m | (both) m in moon |
| Յ | յ | j (y) | h, j (h, y) | (E) y in yacht; (W) initial: h in house; non-initial: y in yacht; final: silent. Note: in Eastern practice, final silent յ has been omitted, while initial յ has been replaced with հ. |
| Ն | ն | n | n | (both) n in noon |
| Շ | շ | Å¿ (sh) | Å¿ (sh) | (both) sh in ship |
| Ո | ո | o/vo | o/vo | (both) initial: vo in vote; non-initial: oa in goat. Note: the word ով ("who?") is pronounced [ov]. |
| Չ | չ | tÅ¿h (ch'/Ä?') | tÅ¿h (ch/Ä?) | (both) ch in choose |
| Պ | պ | p | b | (E) p in spay [i.e. no aspiration]; (W) b in bay |
| Ջ | ջ | d3 (j) | tÅ¿ (ch/Ä?) | (E) j in juice; (W) ch in choose |
| Ռ | ռ | r' | r' | (both) rr in Spanish perro [no English equivalent] |
| Ս | ս | s | s | (both) s or ss in sassy |
| Վ | վ | v | v | (both) v in vase |
| Տ | տ | t | d | (E) t in stale [i.e. no aspiration]; (W) d in dale |
| Ր | ր | r | r | (both) r in red |
| Ց | ց | ch (ts') | dz | (E) ts in gets; (W) ds in beds |
| Ւ | ւ | v | v | This letter is not found initially. In Western practice (after all vowels except ո), v in vase; In Eastern practice, this letter is found only after ե, where it's pronounced v, and ո, where it forms the vowel u (see below). Where it followed a vowel other than ե or ո in Eastern Armenian, ւ has been replaced by վ. |
| (Ու | ու) | u | u | (both) u in truth |
| Փ | փ | ph (p') | ph (p) | (both) p in pay |
| Ք | ք | kh (k') | kh (k) | (both) k in Kate |
| Օ | օ | Å? (o) | Å? (o) | (both) oa in goat. Note: In Eastern practice, all instances of օ in non-initial position have been replaced by ո. |
| Ֆ | ֆ | f | f | (both) f in find |
