Phabetia

The Armenian alphabet

The Armenian alphabet was invented in one piece, around the year 405, by a monk called Mesrop Mashtots, and it has been used almost unchanged ever since: sixteen hundred years with no fundamental change. It started with 36 letters and only two have been added.

It has uppercase and lowercase, and that is its peculiarity for a learner: in many letters the two forms barely resemble each other. Ա and ա, Գ and գ. That forces you to treat them almost as separate characters, which is exactly what Phabetia does: mastery of each form is tracked on its own.

Armenian is written left to right, like ours, and its spelling is very regular. It is the longest alphabet here, and the most satisfying to finish.

The 38 letters of the Armenian alphabet

Uppercase Lowercase Name Sounds like Looks like
Ա ա Ayb A U
Բ բ Ben B P
Գ գ Gim G Q
Դ դ Da D T
Ե ե Ech E B
Զ զ Za Z Q
Է է Eh EH E
Ը ը Ët Ë C
Թ թ To T' P
Ժ ժ Zhe ZH D
Ի ի Ini I P
Լ լ Liwn L
Խ խ Kheh KH N
Ծ ծ Tsa TS O
Կ կ Ken K U
Հ հ Ho H S
Ձ ձ Dza DZ S
Ղ ղ Ghad GH L
Ճ ճ Cheh CH C
Մ մ Men M U
Յ յ Yi Y J
Ն ն Nu N U
Շ շ Sha SH C
Ո ո Vo O N
Չ չ Cha CH' Y
Պ պ Peh P M
Ջ ջ Jheh J Q
Ռ ռ Ra RR N
Ս ս Seh S U
Վ վ Vew V L
Տ տ Tiwn T S
Ր ր Reh R C
Ց ց Tso TS' G
Ւ ւ Yun W L
Փ փ Piwr P' O
Ք ք Keh K' R
Օ օ Oh Ō
Ֆ ֆ Feh F S

Words to practise

How you learn it in Phabetia

Every new letter is introduced first with its name and its Latin equivalent, and you have to recognise it before you start practising it. Then come the exercises: letter to sound, sound to letter, quick memory, telling it apart from the Latin letter it resembles, spotting the intruder, completing a word and reading one.

Characters arrive two or three at a time and are never dropped: each level carries the previous ones along. What you get wrong comes back sooner and more often; what you have mastered shows up rarely, and anything you have not seen for days climbs back up on its own.

There are no lives and no punishment: getting one wrong interrupts nothing. To move on you only need 70 % right.

Frequently asked questions

How many letters does the Armenian alphabet have?

Thirty-eight, each with an uppercase and a lowercase form. The last two, Օ and Ֆ, were added in the Middle Ages to write words borrowed from other languages.

Why is it harder than other alphabets?

Because there are 38 letters and because in several of them the uppercase and the lowercase look nothing alike, so in practice there are more shapes to memorise. That is why each form has its own mastery level here.

Does it work for both Eastern and Western Armenian?

Yes: the letters are the same in both. What differs between them is the pronunciation of some consonants, not the writing.

Other alphabets