Самоучитель армянского языка 1.6

The proposed book serves as a self-study guide for learning the Armenian language. It is designed for a broad audience proficient in Russian, requiring no special linguistic training but assuming familiarity with Russian grammar at the level of a secondary school curriculum.

The aim of this self-teaching resource is to introduce readers to the Armenian alphabet, phonetic components, and basic grammar concepts. It strives to establish a lexical foundation, enabling learners to read and translate simple texts without a dictionary and more complex ones with assistance. Furthermore, it seeks to develop fundamental oral communication skills in Armenian.

The self-tutor comprises an introduction, a phonetic course, and a main course containing 15 lessons. The introduction provides general information about the Armenian language and script.

The phonetic course includes the alphabet and essential information about the sounds of the Armenian language, accompanied by five lessons primarily focused on phonetics. These lessons familiarize learners with the pronunciation characteristics of Armenian sounds and words, their spellings, and regular variations in sounds. Special attention is given to teaching sounds unique to Armenian that are absent in Russian. To facilitate comprehension, minor pronunciation distinctions between Armenian and Russian are often overlooked in comparisons. Descriptions of Armenian sounds that differ from Russian are provided alongside similar-sounding Russian equivalents. The authors contend that this method is more effective than detailed descriptions of precise pronunciation, which would be confusing for those unfamiliar with phonetics and could hinder their ability to approximate correct pronunciation of Armenian words. This section also covers the nuances of syllable formation and stress patterns in Armenian, both crucial for mastering correct word pronunciation, as well as specific features of Armenian punctuation.

The phonetics lessons incorporate lexical material with accompanying transcription and translations while introducing grammatical concepts. This structure enables learners, upon completion of the phonetic course, to acquire a minimal vocabulary, understand and form basic sentences, and read and translate straightforward texts.

The main course (lessons 6-15) contains grammatical content, texts aimed at improving oral skills, and materials for introducing Armenia and its culture. It includes literary texts, commentaries, information on word formation, and exercises to reinforce lesson materials.

Lessons are structured based on a gradual increase in complexity regarding lexical and grammatical content. For ease of learning, comparisons with Russian are provided, highlighting both the correspondences and differences between the phonetic and grammatical structures of the two languages.

Accompanying the self-tutor are reading texts with lexical-grammatical annotations, examples of declension, conjugation, participle forms, a table of letter representations for numerals, an answer key for lesson exercises, as well as Armenian-Russian and Russian-Armenian dictionaries. The Armenian-Russian dictionary includes all words featured in the lessons along with their transcriptions and grammatical descriptions. The Russian-Armenian dictionary contains only those words necessary for completing exercises.

The lesson material is structured to facilitate one year of study; however, this duration can be adjusted based on individual learning paces. With consistent practice, learners can attain proficiency in the presented material.