Society
Eternal Alphabet: R (rē)- Ր (րէ)
The Armenian language most often uses only three words beginning with letter Ր, and all of them are loanwords. In 1615-page Explanatory Dictionary of Modern Armenian Language by Edward Aghayan, which contains 135 000 words, the words beginning with Ր occupy less than half a page.
Eternal Alphabet: T (tiwn) - Տ (տիւն)
The graphic form of letter Տ is believed to be derived from an Iranian prototype. In ancient times, letter “tyun” had the form , similar to the modern Armenian Մ [m], but differing from it in the short left column.
Eternal Alphabet: V (vew) - Վ (վեւ)
The name of the letter – “vev” – apparently originates in the name of its analog in the Semitic alphabets – “vav”. In 1922, letter Ւ was excluded from the alphabet, and instead of it they began to write Վ: vev was the winner.
Eternal Alphabet: S (sē) -Ս (սէ)
Letter U, as well as the combination Uբ. are the abbreviations of the word Սուրբ ([surb] – Saint). This abbreviation is placed before the names of the Armenian saints and in the names of the Armenian churches:
Eternal Alphabet: J (ǰē) - Ջ (ջէ)
Talking about the issue of similar letters, in particular Ջ and Զ, scholar Ruben Taroumyan wrote: “We must make sure that letters with a similar shape (Ջ and Զ, շ and չ, etc.) are sufficiently different from each other.
Eternal Alphabet: R (ṙa) - Ռ (ռա)
This letter signifies the beginning of the thousands’ row: after it, the value of each letter successively increased by one thousand. It is interesting that while the Armenian Ռ opens the row of thousands, the Latin R is less lucky.
Eternal Alphabet: P (pē) - Պ (պէ)
There are very few originally Armenian words that begin with this letter: Պ in them originates in the Indo-European [b], which was rarely used in the initial position of the parent language.
Eternal Alphabet: Ch (č‘a) - Չ (չա)
Andrey Bitov, a writer who traveled in Armenia, has mentioned in his book “Lessons of Armenia”: “I do not know why, but everywhere – on the streets, in shops and buses – I hear the word “che” more often than the word "ayo" (yes ). Che, che, che”...
Eternal Alphabet: Vo [Vo] - Ո (վո)
In Grabar, Ո denoted sound [o]. In modern Armenian, at the beginning and in the middle of words, after a vowel, it is pronounced as [vo] (exceptions: ով ([ov] – who), ովքեր ([ovqher] – who) in the plural, Ովսաննա – Ovsanna, where Ո preserves the ancient pronunciation), in all other words, in this position – [o].
Eternal Alphabet: Sh (ša) - Շ (շա)
Talking about letter Շ, we cannot but recall the famous poem by the Armenian poet Vahan Terian “Շշուկ ու շրշյուն” ([shshuk u shrshyun] – "Whisper and Rustle"). Even without knowing the Armenian language, the repeated utterance of the sound [sh] makes you hear the rustle of leaves and steps that create the image of the autumn.
