Eastern Armenian · Capitals & lowercase

Armenian alphabet

Learn Armenian letters and their capital–lowercase pairs, distinguish similar shapes, and read your first words. Continue with A1–A2 written practice in reading, vocabulary and grammar.

Each capital and lowercase pair represents the same letter. This table includes the component Ւ ւ; modern reformed Armenian uses it in ու for u. The combination ու and the ligature և are explained below.

Armenian letters in alphabetic order
#	Capital	Lowercase	Name	Sound & recognition cue
1	Ա	ա	ayb	Ayb makes a, as in father. Learn Ա and ա as one letter in two cases.
2	Բ	բ	ben	Ben makes b in Eastern Armenian. Follow the upright and the loop in Բ and բ.
3	Գ	գ	gim	Gim makes hard g, as in go. Compare Գ Դ and գ դ carefully.
4	Դ	դ	da	Da makes d. The pair is Դ դ; gim is Գ գ.
5	Ե	ե	ech	Ech usually makes e, but normally ye at the start of a word. Compare Ե ե with Է է.
6	Զ	զ	za	Za makes z. Its pair is Զ զ; do not confuse it with the rounder Ձ ձ.
7	Է	է	e	Է է represents e, including at the beginning of a word. It is a different letter from Ե ե.
8	Ը	ը	et	Ը ը is the neutral vowel in about. The letter name et is a label, not its vowel sound.
9	Թ	թ	to	Թ թ is t with a puff of air. Compare it with plain Տ տ and voiced Դ դ.
10	Ժ	ժ	zhe	Ժ ժ makes the sound in measure. Its voiceless partner is Շ շ, sh.
11	Ի	ի	ini	Ի ի makes ee, as in see. Do not read the letter name ini as the sound.
12	Լ	լ	lyun	Լ լ makes l. The lowercase letter extends downward; compare լ ի.
13	Խ	խ	khe	Խ խ is a back-of-the-mouth friction sound, approximately ch in loch. It is not k.
14	Ծ	ծ	tsa	Ծ ծ makes ts without a strong puff. Compare aspirated Ց ց and voiced Ձ ձ.
15	Կ	կ	ken	Կ կ makes k without a strong puff. Ք ք is aspirated, while Գ գ is voiced.
16	Հ	հ	ho	Հ հ makes h, as in hat. A capital that resembles a Latin letter still follows Armenian sounds.
17	Ձ	ձ	dza	Ձ ձ makes dz, as at the end of adds. Compare Ձ Զ and ձ զ.
18	Ղ	ղ	ghat	Ղ ղ makes voiced friction at the back of the mouth, not English g. Compare ղ խ visually.
19	Ճ	ճ	tche	Ճ ճ makes ch without a strong puff. Չ չ is airy ch; Ջ ջ is voiced j.
20	Մ	մ	men	Մ մ makes m. Compare մ ն: look at the start of the letter as well as the final stroke.
21	Յ	յ	hi	Յ յ makes y as in yes in modern reformed spelling. The letter name hi does not mean an h sound.
22	Ն	ն	nu	Ն ն makes n. Compare Ն Մ and ն մ; they remain different letters in both cases.
23	Շ	շ	sha	Շ շ makes sh. Compare it with voiced Ժ ժ and with the shapes Չ չ.
24	Ո	ո	vo	Ո ո usually makes o; at the start of many words it is vo. In ու it helps write u instead.
25	Չ	չ	cha	Չ չ is ch with a puff of air. Compare Ճ ճ for plain ch and Ջ ջ for j.
26	Պ	պ	pe	Պ պ is p without a strong puff. Փ փ is aspirated and Բ բ is voiced b.
27	Ջ	ջ	je	Ջ ջ makes j, as in jam. Compare the endings of ջ չ ճ.
28	Ռ	ռ	ra	Ռ ռ is a trilled r. Ր ր is usually a shorter tap; the two are separate letters.
29	Ս	ս	se	Ս ս makes s. Compare Ս Ո and ս ո: notice which way each shape opens.
30	Վ	վ	vev	Վ վ makes v. Compare վ պ փ and check the descending stroke.
31	Տ	տ	tyun	Տ տ makes t without a strong puff. Do not use its Latin-looking shape to guess the sound.
32	Ր	ր	re	Ր ր is a short tongue-tip r. Contrast it with the trill written Ռ ռ.
33	Ց	ց	tso	Ց ց is ts with a puff. Ծ ծ has no strong puff, and Ձ ձ is voiced dz.
34	Ւ	ւ	vyun	Ւ ւ is now used within Ու ու ՈՒ for the vowel u in reformed spelling. Recognize the pair; do not read it as a separate modern consonant here.
35	Փ	փ	pyur	Փ փ is p with a puff, not English f. Ֆ ֆ is the actual letter f.
36	Ք	ք	ke	Ք ք is k with a puff. Compare Կ կ, plain k, and Գ գ, voiced g.
37	Օ	օ	o	Օ օ makes o without an initial v. Compare the closed loop օ with open ո.
38	Ֆ	ֆ	fe	Ֆ ֆ makes f, with the upper teeth at the lower lip. Do not confuse it with Փ փ, aspirated p.

Two useful combinations

ու · Ու · ՈՒ — u, as in food: lowercase, title case, and all capitals. Keep the two characters together when reading.

և · Եվ · ԵՎ — and: lowercase, title case, and all capitals in reformed spelling. Read ev, commonly yev at the start of a word.

Practise these combinations →

Letter names identify characters; DIN describes spelling, while IPA and phonetic notes describe sounds. English comparisons are approximate. Pronunciation here is Eastern Armenian; Western Armenian differs.

Script reference: The Unicode Standard. Practise with guided lessons →