Armenian

Հայոց գրեր
Armn Left-to-right Living Alphabet Middle Eastern
Sample Text
Բարեւ աշխարհ

Sample Characters

Ա Բ Գ Դ Ե Զ Է Ը Թ Ժ Ի Լ Խ Ծ Կ Հ Ձ Ղ Ճ Մ Յ Ն Շ Ո Չ Պ Ջ Ռ Ս Վ Տ Ր Ց Ւ Փ Ք Օ Ֆ ՗ ՘ ՙ ՚ ՛ ՜ ՝ ՞ ՟ ՠ

First 48 characters from Armenian (U+0531–U+058F)

About Armenian

The Armenian alphabet was created in 405 CE by the scholar-monk Mesrop Mashtots to translate Christian scriptures into Armenian and provide Armenians with their own writing system independent of Greek and Syriac.

The alphabet has 38 letters and is written left-to-right. It is uniquely associated with the Armenian people and language — one of the rare cases where a known individual created an entire writing system. The Armenian script survived the fall of the Armenian kingdom and has served as a central marker of Armenian identity through centuries of foreign rule and diaspora.

Data sourced from the ISO 15924 registry, Unicode CLDR, and the Unicode Character Database.

Script Family & Lineage

Ancestor Chain
Phoenician Greek Armenian

Languages Using Armenian 1

Frequently Asked Questions

What type of writing system is Armenian?
Armenian is an Alphabet. Alphabets represent both consonants and vowels as distinct letters.
What direction does Armenian read?
Armenian is written Left-to-right, the same direction as most European scripts.
How many languages use the Armenian script?
1 language use Armenian according to Unicode CLDR data. Together these languages are spoken by approximately 5M people worldwide.
When was the Armenian script created?
The Armenian script originated around 405 CE.
Does Armenian have uppercase and lowercase letters?
Armenian has uppercase and lowercase letter forms. All vowels are written explicitly.

Compare Armenian With Another Script

Direction, characters, languages — side by side.

Key Facts

ISO Code
Armn
ISO Number
230
Script Type
Alphabet
Direction
Left-to-right
Status
Living
Region
Middle Eastern
Characters
96
Introduced
405 CE
Languages
1
Total Speakers
~5M

Unicode Ranges

  • Armenian
    U+0531–U+058F
  • Alphabetic Presentation Forms
    U+FB13–U+FB17

Script Properties

Has Case
Yes
Cursive
No
Vowels
full

Official Use In

AM