Armenian language

Armenian is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people in the Caucasus mountains (particularly in the Armenian Republic) and also used by the Armenian Diaspora. It is its own independent branch of the family of the Indo-European languages, with no living close relatives.

Examples

One of the greatest differences in the two modern dialects is the way certain letters are pronounced. Eastern Armenian speakers have kept the original pronunciations of the letters, pronouncing each of the 38 letters quite distinctively. On the other hand, Western Armenian speakers pronounce a few of the letters in the same way. This has to do with Western Armenians living in regions where other languages, which lacked these rich variations, were also widely spoken and therefore have been influenced by the pronunciations of these other languages (usually either Arabic or Turkish.)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For example, the Armenian language has the letter "t" (?) as in "tiger", the letter "d" (?) as in "develop", and another letter which is a cross between the two as in "fatter" (?). Western Armenians will pronounce the "tiger" and "develop" examples in the same way, where as Eastern Armenian speakers pronounced each of the three differently.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Armenian also has many other unique letters not heard in many other languages. There are two different "k"s; as well as a letter sounding like a cross between "p" and "b"; two "r" letters, one pronounced with a rolling "r" sound; the letter "gh" pronounced like the French "r"; "kh" a harder pronunciation also found in many Middle Eastern languages; as well as the letters "ts", "tz", "dz", "dch", "uh" like the "a" sound in the word "arrange"; and many more. These are just a few examples that make Armenian a rich and unique language.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

English - Western Armenian / Eastern Armenian

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Yes = Ayo (???)
• No = Voch (??)
• Excuse me = Neroghoutioun (???????????)
• Hello = Parev / Barev (?????)
• Please = Hadjis (?????) / Khndrem (??????)
• Thank you = Shnorhagal em / Shnorhakal em (????????? ??)
• Thank you very much = Shad Shnorhagal em / Shat Shnorhakal em (??? ????????? ??)
• Welcome = Pari yegar (???? ????) / Barov eq yekel
• Goodbye = Tsdesoutioun (??????????) / Tstesoutioun (??????????)
• Good morning = Pari louys (???? ????) / Bari louys (???? ????)
• Good afternoon = Pari gesor (???? ?????) / Bari or
• Good evening = Pari irigoon (???? ???????, ????'?????) / Bari yereko (???? ??????)
• Good night = Kisher pari (????? ????) / Bari gisher (???? ?????)
• I love you = Yes kezee gu seerem (?? ???? ?? ?????) / Yes sirum em qez