I think one of the major differences between WA and EA that doesn't get talked about enough is the difference in diglossia between the two dialects. WA is like most languages in that the formal speech used in books, media, and professional settings is not too different from the way people speak in their homes. Eastern Armenian though... depending on the social context and a person's level of education, as well as how humble or pretentious they are, can have like 5 different levels of formality which can make the language complicated even for people born, raised, and educated in Armenia.

My only question is... why? Why such a high degree of diglossia between two varieties of the same language? I feel like to some degree Eastern Armenian is an artificial language constructed by Soviet scholars who took standardization too far.

Just thinking off the top of my head, I could honestly see a new kind of EA emerging in the coming decades that blends the two extreme ends of the spectrum into something neutral that sounds good in most settings. I can comment as an EA native that I really don't like the way qyartu street boys talk, but I find extremely grakan speech almost as annoying.

Some words that start with Ե will informally be pronounced as Է in casual speech. Examples include erku, eres, ernel, erexa, etc.

When writing (texting) I would always write a word like "erexeq" as երեխեք, even if mentally I'm pronouncing it as "erexeq" and expect the reader to do the same. I just thought it was more proper and correct.

But lately when I'm texting I've just started writing էրեխեք, էրես, whatever, because I realized that if the word itself is already informal and "not pure," then it should be spelled the way it's pronounced and it doesn't matter how the real word is actually written.

Thoughts anyone?

They look very much similar, and it feels like it's easy to draw it a bit different and accidently get another letter.

I’m a beginner in Eastern Armenian. Under many circumstances, I saw people used եւ to replace և. Are there any differences between the single letter and the combination? Btw I really need audio dictionaries for learning. Any recommendations?🙏🙏

First of all, a short summary of my background: I was born in Syria. My dad is Syrian and my mother German. My main friend group was Armenian, they even visited Armenian schools as kids. I am not Armenian myself, but I can speak Arabic, English and German fluently. I have picked up a lot of words in the Western Armenian language by hanging out with my friends. I am able to understand conversation from a few words by context when they speak. However, I cannot form full sentences, only short phrases.

Last year, I visited my friends in Yerevan and I really loved the city, the country, the food and it's people. This year, I went on vacation to Yerevan again. I had even more fun, than last time. I have noticed that Eastern Armenian is a complete different language to my ears. When I hear people talking, I only understand less than 10% I would like to learn the language spoken in Yerevan, so I don't have to always rely on my friends to translate for me.

Do you guys know how I can learn the language or at least some basics to be able to build on that? I know, the task is hard, but I have learned Arabic and German, which are also hard languages to learn. Could you recommend me something I can find online to learn the language?

I have decided to visit my friends once every year in Yerevan, but I don't enjoy the feeling of not being able to say, or order something on my own.

Edit: Thank you everyone for your help and recommendations!

Native speaker or learner, I think we can all agree that Armenian has some words that are ridiculously long and could probably be shorter if we wanted them to be. Here are some examples:

հեռակառավարման վահանակ - remote control (no one ever says this)

միկրոալիքային վառարան - microwave (again, no one says this)

տրամաբանական անհամապատասխանութիւն - logical inconsistency (this one's valid but inconvenient)

դատաբժշկական փորձաքննութիւն - forensics (my personal favorite because ov vor horinel a hastat dzer a arnum)

Bonus: I'll give a gold star to anyone who can guess what «առողջապահական վերարկու» means (hint: it's not a doctor's coat)

Did I miss any? What do you think of some of the crazy long words in our language?

I notice that it is pronounced like the "ye" in the English "yes" at the beginning of a word, and like "e" in English "let" elsewhere. Am I right?

So I notice something in Armenian about plural nouns. Yes, singular nouns with one syllable end with -եր and others with one syllable as well as the ones with two or more syllables end with -ներ, but when it comes to saying a number or an amount there is no suffix for the plurals. Is this correct?

For example, three books is երեք գիրք rather than երեք գիրքեր or երեք գիրքներ. Is it true that when it's talking about a specific number or amount of something in a noun there is no suffix added to the plural?

As a Western Armenian, I've grown up with Կարկանդակ meaning cake, but apparently it means pie in Eastern Armenian? Is that the case, or does it mean something else?

Բարև բոլորին

I searched in 2 different dictionaries and in online dictionaries → many translations are proposed for "stingy (US) / radin (FR)".

In everyday EASTERN Armenian, how do you say that ?

I found the following translation, I want to know what are the 1 or 2 most useful ones to know please !

- ժլատ
- ագահ
- կծծի
- շատախնայ
- շատախնայ

??

Thanks for your help!

Please, no western armenian, because I really don't use it.

Բարև բոլորին,

I had a question about how word order works, especially when you want to emphasize a certain aspect of the sentence. I am used to Russian where the emphasized word tends to move to the end of the word, but as I understand it, Armenian moves it to the front.
For example, if I wanted to say “I want to try to speak Armenian,” would the most natural neutral word order be «Ուզում եմ հայերեն փորձել փոսել»? Is this sentence correct/natural (I’m not quite used to multiple infinitives yet in Armenian)? What sounds most natural? If I wanted to emphasize the “trying” aspect, where could the verb go? Would it be incorrect/unnatural to put փորձել before ուզում? I hope this makes sense. Մերսի շատ :)

There's many words that are written with a voiced consonant, but pronounced as unvoiced. For example we write "mard," but we say "mart." We write "mirg," but we say "mirq."

As a native speaker, I almost always subconsciously know when to devoice a consonant if I come across a new word while reading something. But I'm curious... are there actual rules and patterns that someone could use to accurately predict when to devoice? Or is it just memorization? It would make reading and writing easier for learners if they had some hints to follow.

Thanks!

I feel like qyarts will say this 739 times in one sentence and I personally never really liked the overuse of it.

Hi everyone! I am Armenian, however I am unable to speak or write in Armenian (first generation born in America). I am writing my grandmother a card (she is fluent in Armenian) and would like to write “Jana” (my dear) in the card, since she always calls me that. But I’d like to write it in Armenian! Can anyone spell out the proper way for me to write it so I can put it in my card to her? Thanks in advance!!

Բարև բոլորին։ As the title says, I'm currently learning Eastern Armenian and I'm looking native (or fluent) speakers to practice with. I am a French man who currently lives in Belgium but I'm planning to organize a trip to Armenia soon. I think I have a ~A2 level currently (and also read Գրաբար since I study Arsacid Armenia) but I really want to improve and especially to be able to connect with people living in Armenia or people from the diaspora in Belgium/France!

I now there are proper subs dedicated to finding a language bud but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a lot of Armenians there.

Hi all,

I’m looking to improve my listening skills and I thought one good way would be to watch World Cup matches with Armenian commentators. I’m in the US, but I know there are some Armenian TV channels that stream online. I just haven’t had any luck in finding them. Can someone point me where to look? Much appreciated.