How a 1,600-year-old alphabet shaped Armenian identity - BBC
: While the alphabet is identical, Eastern and Western Armenian dialects vary in how certain letters are pronounced. Essential Phrases for Beginners armenian alphabet
: The script is visually independent, not resembling Latin, Cyrillic, or Arabic scripts, though its left-to-right direction was influenced by Greek. How a 1,600-year-old alphabet shaped Armenian identity -
: Շնորհակալություն ( Shnorhakalutyun )—though many colloquially use "merci". : Armenian is highly phonetic; once the letters
: Armenian is highly phonetic; once the letters are learned, pronunciation is very predictable as each letter generally corresponds to one sound.
: Historically, each letter also held a numerical value , allowing the alphabet to be used for mathematical calculations and recording dates.
: St. Mesrop Mashtots, with the support of King Vramshapuh and Catholicos Sahak Partev, designed the script to perfectly match the sounds of the Armenian language. The first sentence written was from the Book of Proverbs: "To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding" .