Armenian alphabet

The Armenian alphabet is an alphabet used for writing the Armenian language, created by Saint Mesrop Mashtots in AD 405.

Armenian alphabet in Matenadaran

The Armenian alphabet is one of six European alphabetic scripts identified in the Unicode standard (see Unicode Code Charts and Unicode Standard, Chapter 7).

Various scripts have been credited with being the prototype for the Armenian alphabet, including Pahlavi, Syriac, and Phoenician. However, the order of the letters, the use of the digraph ou for the vowel , and a noticeable similarity of letter forms to cursive Greek suggests that it was likely based on the Greek alphabet.

As Petross Ter Matossian from Columbia University informs, for about 250 years, from the early 18th century until around 1950, more than 2000 books were printed in the Turkish language using letters of the Armenian alphabet. Not only Armenians read Armeno-Turkish, but also the non-Armenian (including the Ottoman Turkish) elite. The Armenian alphabet was also used alongside the Arabic alphabet on official documents of the Ottoman Empire, but was written in the Ottoman language. For instance, the first novel to be written in the Ottoman Empire was 1851's Akabi, written in the Armenian script by Hovsep Vartan. Also, when the Armenian Duzoglu family managed the Ottoman mint during the reign of Abdulmejid, they kept records in the Armenian script, but Turkish language.

Armenian has two different dialects: Eastern and Western. Both use the same alphabet, however some of the letters have different names and pronunciations. For example, the second letter in Eastern Armenian is "ben" and makes a 'b' sound while in Western Armenian, the second letter is "pen" and makes a 'p' sound.

Some letters also make different sounds depending on their placement within a word. For example, the letter vo () makes a 'v' sound at the beginning of a word, but an 'o' sound in the middle. The letter ye () makes a 'ye' sound at the beginning of a word, but an 'e' sound in the middle. The chart below gives the transliteration for the initial sound produced by each letter

Alphabet:

#	Name		Letters		IPA	Transliteration		Numerical value
	eastern	western	lowercase	uppercase		eastern ¦¦ western
1	Ayb	Ayp			.	a	a	1
2	Ben	Pen			.	b	p	2
3	Gim	Keem			.	g	k	3
4	Da	Ta			.	d	t	4
5	Yech`	Yech`			.	ye	ye/eh	5
6	Za	Za			.	z	z	6
7	Eh	Eh			.	Ä"	eh	7
8	Ët`	Ut			.	ə	ut	8
9	T`o	Toh			.	t῾	t	9
10	Zhe	Zhe			.	ž	zh	10
11	Ini	Eenee			.	ee	ee	20
12	Liun	Liun			.	l	l	30
13	Xeh	Kheh			.	x	kh	40
14	C'a	Dzah			.	tz	dz	50
15	Ken	Gen			.	k	g	60
16	Ho	Ho			.	h	h	70
17	Dz'a	Tsah			.	dz	ts	80
18	Ghat	Ghad			.	Å‚	gh	90
19	Cheh	Djeh			.	�	j	100
20	Men	Men			.	m	m	200
21	Yi	Hee			.	y	h/y	300
22	Nu	Nu			.	n	n	400
23	Sha	Sha			.	sh	sh	500
24	Vo	Vo			.	vo	vo / o	600
25	Ch`a	Ch`a			.	ch	ch	700
26	Peh	Beh			.	p	b	800
27	Jheh	Cheh			.	j	ch	900
28	Rra	Rra			.	rr	r	1000
29	Seh	Seh			.	s	s	2000
30	Vew	Vev			.	v	v	3000
31	Tiun	Deoon			.	t	d	4000
32	Reh	Reh			.	r	r	5000
33	C`o	Tzoh			.	�	tz	6000
34	Hiun	Hyun			.	w	v	7000
35	P`iur	Pure			.	p῾	p	8000
36	K`eh	Keh			.	q	k	9000
37	Oh	Oh			.	�	o	10000
38	Feh	Feh			.	f	f	20000

Modifiers and punctuation:

Name	Character
Small Ligature Ech` Wiwn (functions as an ampersand)
Modifier letters
Modifier Letter Left Half Ring
Apostrophe = Armenian Modifier Letter Right Half Ring
Modifier Emphasis Mark = Shesht
Punctuation
Exclamation Mark = Bac`aganch`akan Nshan
Comma = Bowt`
Question Mark = Harc`akan Nshan
Abbreviation Mark = Patiw
Full Stop = Verjhaket
Hyphen = Ent`amnay

See also

*Armenian language
*Armenian numerals
*Armenian calendar
*ISO 9985

External links

* theiling.de: Learn the Armenian alphabet online
* stnersess.edu: Bedross Der Matossian on the use of Armeno-TurkishUnicode Support for Armenian
* Unicode Character Code Chart for Armenian