AskaciArmenian culture: words, names and traditions
29 notes on Armenian words, names and traditions, each with the words to listen to (romanization before the Armenian script).
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- Hayastan, Armenia’s real nameIn Armenian, the country is not called “Armenia”.
- An alphabet created around 405, 39 letters todayThe Armenian alphabet is over 1,600 years old, and still in use.
- Girls’ names and their hidden meaningMany Armenian first names are everyday words.
- Boys’ names and their hidden meaningA lion, a shield, the sun: every name tells a story.
- “Good morning” is “good light”Translated word for word, everyday phrases are full of poetry.
- Stronger than “I love you”In Armenian, tenderness has its own words, and people say them every day.
- Monday is “day two”In Armenian, four days of the week are numbers.
- Lavash, a bread recognised by UNESCOThis very thin bread goes with every meal.
- The duduk, the voice of ArmeniaAn instrument made of apricot wood, with a soft, deep sound.
- Christmas on 6 January, and a water festivalThe Armenian calendar has its own special days.
- At the table, you don’t say noArmenian hospitality starts with a full table.
- Yerevan, older than RomeArmenia’s capital is over 2,800 years old.
- Khachkars, crosses of stoneCarved stone slabs, each one different.
- Why Armenian surnames end in “ian”The suffix “ian” (or “yan”) means “issued from”.
- Armenia, the first Christian country, in 301In 301, Armenia became the first state to make Christianity its state religion.
- In Armenian, “my liver” is a term of endearmentYou do not always say “my heart”: you can also say “my liver”.
- He or she: one single wordArmenian has no grammatical gender, not even for pronouns.
- In Armenian, “merci” is also… “merci”There are two ways to say thanks: one from French, one very old.
- The question mark sits on the wordIn Armenian, a question is marked on the word, not at the end of the sentence.
- Ninety is a single word in ArmenianIn Armenian, every ten has its own word, with no “four-twenties”.
- You don’t say “I miss you”Armenian says: “I long for you”, with one word, karot.
- The alphabet was not born in YerevanMesrop Mashtots was born in western historic Armenia.
- An Armenian word of 36 lettersArmenian glues words together, with the letter “a” to link them.
- In Armenian, someone eats your head“Don’t eat my head” means “stop bothering me”.
- Armenians have two mothers-in-lawThe word depends on who is speaking: the wife or the husband.
- Goodbye: it depends on who is leavingThe one who leaves and the one who stays do not say the same thing.
- “Bon appétit” is “may it be sweet”You wish something “sweet” to whoever eats or drinks.
- Why Halloween is not an Armenian holidayHalloween follows the calendar of the Western Church. Armenia has its own.
- Ghapama, the pumpkin of great feastsIn Armenia, the pumpkin is eaten stuffed, long before Halloween.