One of the principles of the Armenian alphabet is that one sound corresponds to each letter. Only letter Ու (u) is an exception. This letter is a combination of two letters – Ո (vo) and Ի (vyun).
According to armenologist Edward Aghayan, while creating letter Ց Mashtots did not use any prototype, while Hrachya Acharyan was of the opinion that the author of the Armenian alphabet derived it from the Armenian letter Ծ [ts].
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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”...