Ayb (Armenian letter)

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Ayb (majuscule: Ա; minuscule: ա; Armenian: այբ) is the first letter of the Armenian alphabet.[1] It has a numerical value of 1.[2][3] It represents the [ɑ] sound in both variants of the Armenian language. This letter and the letter Ben (Բբ) are the two first letters in the Armenian alphabet and forms the etymology of the Armenian word այբուբեն (aybuben), meaning "alphabet." It is one of the letters originally created by Mesrop Mashtots in the 5th century.

Armenian letter Ayb
Ա ա
Typographic upper and lower case of the letter Ayb
Handwritten upper and lower case of the letter Ayb
Usage
Writing systemArmenian script
TypeAlphabetic
Language of originArmenian language
Sound valuesɑ
In UnicodeU+0531, U+0561
Alphabetical position1
Numerical value: 1
History
Development
Possibly, Α α
  • Ա ա
Time period405 to present
Other
Associated numbers1
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
Khachkar in the shape of letter Ա

Its prototype is considered to be the Greek letter α (alpha) with the upper arc cut off. A number of Armenian letters are formed in a similar fashion[citation needed].

It is homoglyphic to the IPA symbol for the close back unrounded vowel, the Cyrillic letter Sha (Шш), the former Zhuang letter Ɯɯ used from 1957 to 1986, and the Nushkuri form of the Georgian letter oni ().

Distribution

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The letter Ա is the most common letter in the Armenian alphabet. It occurs mainly in initial or medial word positions and very rarely in final position. This is explained by the fact that the Proto-Armenian language lost word-final vowels in multisyllabic words.

Meanings

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As a unit, it is a symbol of God. This is because the words God—"Աստված", ⟨Astvadz(W.A.), Astvac'(E.A.)⟩—and Creator—"Արարիչ", ⟨Ararich⟩—begin with it. Thus, the symbolism of it corresponds to the Greek letter "alpha" in the Book of Revelation, where the Lord says, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end." (Revelation 1:8).

Computing codes

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Character information
Preview Ա ա
Unicode name ARMENIAN CAPITAL LETTER AYB ARMENIAN SMALL LETTER AYB
Encodings decimal hex dec hex
Unicode 1329 U+0531 1377 U+0561
UTF-8 212 177 D4 B1 213 161 D5 A1
Numeric character reference Ա Ա ա ա
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Similiar characters

Related letters:

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Various historic fonts

See also

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References

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  1. ^ https://bararanonline.com/ա-տառը
  2. ^ "ա տառը բացատրություն, a tary bacatrutyun, ա տառը հոմանիշ, ա տառը ռուսերեն թարգմանություն, ա տառը հականիշ, ա տառը անգլերեն թարգմանություն, ա տառը դարձվածքներ". bararanonline.com. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
  3. ^ http://tapemark.narod.ru/les/045a.html
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  • Ա on Wiktionary
  • ա on Wiktionary