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The "th" Sound


Էլիա

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Ինչպէ՞ս կը գրես «th» ձայնը՝ հայերէնով: :P

 

How do you write the "th" sound in Armenian? :P

Էլիա, In classical Armenian the Armenian letter <թ> stands for the sound /θ/ -- a Voiceless dental fricative -- which is "th" as in "thin". (Note that in English "th" is used for two different but similar sounds. The other sound "th" is used for is for example in the word "this" which stands for /ð/ -- a Voiced dental fricative)

 

For example, Thaddeus is written Թադէոս which is pronounced [θɑdɛos] in Classical Armenian, [tʰɑdɛos] in Eastern Armenian, and [tʰɑtʰɛos] in Western Armenian.

 

Another example is that Bartholomaios (transliterated from Greek Βαρθολομαίος; Bartholomew in English) is written Բարթողիմէոս. Note two things here:

1. <թ> is equivalent to the greek θ, and /θ/ in the International Phonetic Alphabet

2. <ղ> in Classical Armenian was some sort of L sound. (Another example of this is how Lazarus is spelled Ղազարօս in Armenian.) Yet another is example is your own name, Elia. In Classical Armenian, it is spelled Եղիա. But that would be incorrectly pronounced in Eastern and Western Armenian, hence your choice of spelling your name Էլիա. :)

 

Unlike Classical Armenian, in Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian, there is no letter corresponding to the sound "th".

 

It's interesting how languages -- in this case phonology -- evolve over time, isn't it?

Edited by Shahan Araradian
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Էլիա, In classical Armenian the Armenian letter <թ> stands for the sound /θ/ -- a Voiceless dental fricative -- which is "th" as in "thin". (Note that in English "th" is used for two different but similar sounds. The other sound "th" is used for is for example in the word "this" which stands for /ð/ -- a Voiced dental fricative)

 

For example, Thaddeus is written Թադէոս which is pronounced [θɑdɛos] in Classical Armenian, [tʰɑdɛos] in Eastern Armenian, and [tʰɑtʰɛos] in Western Armenian.

 

Another example is that Bartholomaios (transliterated from Greek Βαρθολομαίος; Bartholomew in English) is written Բարթողիմէոս. Note two things here:

1. <թ> is equivalent to the greek θ, and /θ/ in the International Phonetic Alphabet

2. <ղ> in Classical Armenian was some sort of L sound. (Another example of this is how Lazarus is spelled Ղազարօս in Armenian.) Yet another is example is your own name, Elia. In Classical Armenian, it is spelled Եղիա. But that would be incorrectly pronounced in Eastern and Western Armenian, hence your choice of spelling your name Էլիա. :)

 

Unlike Classical Armenian, in Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian, there is no letter corresponding to the sound "th".

 

It's interesting how languages -- in this case phonology -- evolve over time, isn't it?

:o wow... it's too bad taht there's no way to say "th" in EA or WA. :(

 

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Its too bad that there is no way to say Ը Խ Ծ Ձ Ղ Ճ Ց in English. :)

Did I forgot anything?

It's not obvious, but half of the above actually do exist in English:

 

Ը: the name "Earl"

 

Ց (and Ձ as well for Western Armenian): "Tsar"

 

Ճ (for Western Armenian): "Jack"

 

But it's a good point that NONE of the ejective consonants that appear in Eastern Armenian occur in English. Indeed, in ALL of Europe and Asia, the only place where you find ejective consonants (they are ծ, կ, ճ, պ, տ in EA) in a language are in the Caucasus (Georgian, Circassian, Dagestani, and Eastern Armenian). Note that neither Western Armenian nor Classical Armenian contain any ejective consonants.

Edited by Shahan Araradian
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:o wow... it's too bad taht there's no way to say "th" in EA or WA. :(

Well, you may start pronouncing all <Թ>s as /θ/ (as "th" in "thin" and not "th" as in "this") in EA/WA as Mashdots had intended this letter to be pronounced :)

 

So the word "թռչուն" becomes "thurchoon"...

Edited by Shahan Araradian
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Well, you may start pronouncing all <Թ>s as /θ/ (as "th" in "thin" and not "th" as in "this") in EA/WA as Mashdots had intended this letter to be pronounced :)

 

So the word "թռչուն" becomes "thurchoon"...

Մոռցի՛ր: Եթէ անանկ կ'ընենք՝ ամէն մարդ կը շփոթի: :P

 

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Its too bad that there is no way to say Ը Խ Ծ Ձ Ղ Ճ Ց in English. :)

Did I forgot anything?

Actually... in WA...

 

Խ - kh

Ծ - dz

Ձ - ts

Ղ - gh

Ճ - j

Ց - ts

Ը - this one would be between "u" and "i", so it's the only armenian letter that you can't really write in English

 

:P

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Ը - this one would be between "u" and "i", so it's the only armenian letter that you can't really write in English

English has a very convoluted orthography.

 

The Ը letter in Armenian is the schwa. See this article in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwa

 

The following is directly from Wikipedia:

 

Schwa is the most common vowel sound in English, a reduced vowel in many unstressed syllables,

 

* like the 'a' in about /əˈbaʊt/

* like the 'e' in taken /ˈteɪkən/ and the /ðə/ (if before a consonant)

* like the 'i' in pencil /ˈpensəl/

* like the 'o' in eloquent /ˈeləkwənt/

* like the 'u' in circus /ˈsɜː(ɹ)kəs/

* like the 'y' in sibyl /ˈsɪbəl/

 

So it's interesting that you can write the sound produced by the Armenian Ը in ANY of the English vowels! (Of course, depending on its context...)

 

That's why I love Armenian orthography: write as you speak it... (for the most part)

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