How to Say Happy Birthday in Armenian

Looking to wish an Armenian friend or family member a happy birthday? Despite having only around seven million speakers worldwide, if you know someone who is an Armenian speaker, wishing them a happy birthday in their native language is just the polite and respectful thing to do. So, how can you wish someone a happy birthday in Armenian?

Let’s dive in and find out more!

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It’s important to know that there are two main regional dialects of Armenian. The more popular of the two is Eastern Armenian, which is spoken across Georgia, Iran, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. For this regional dialect of Armenian, you’d spell happy birthday as Ծնունդդ շնորհավոր, which is pronounced “Tsnundt shnorhavor”.

If you’re speaking to a Western Armenian dialect speaker, there are two versions of happy birthday you can say, which are interchangeable.

Either:

Բարի տարեդարձ which is pronounced “Pari daretarts”, or Շնորհաւոր տարեդարձ which is pronounced “Shnorhavor daretarts”.

As you can see there are some commonalities between the dialects but it’s best to figure out your friend’s spoken variation and go from there.

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Alternative Celebratory Phrases in Armenian

Looking for more generic congratulations or celebratory phrases in Armenian? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Just a heads up that all these phrases are Eastern Armenian as that’s the most widely used dialect.

First up, we have the standard “congratulations”, which you can use in so many different situations from weddings to birthdays to new houses and jobs. If you only want to learn one word or phrase in Armenian to cover all bases, this is the one.

Written, it’s Շնորհավորանքներս, but if you’re saying congratulations, pronounce it as “Shnorhavor-ank-ners”.

Next up we have “All the best”, which is more of a sign-off greeting and is written as Լավագո՜ւյն ցանկություններով, or pronounced as “Lavaguyn cankutyunnerov”. Chances are you’d be writing this more than you’d be saying it.

Finally, if you want a more cordial and friendly sign-off or farewell, why not say “have a nice day”? You can write Մաղտընեն լավ օր or say “Maghtynen lav or”.

How to Sing Happy Birthday in Armenian

Who doesn’t love the birthday song? It’s a pretty universal way to wish someone a happy birthday and there’s normally cake somewhere on the horizon.

The Armenian version of the happy birthday song is actually the same tune as the English version, so all you have to do is focus on learning the correct pronunciation of the Armenian lyrics!

The lyrics are super simple and repetitive, literally translating as “happy birthday to you”, four times in a row. Give it a practice a few times before your friend’s birthday so that you have that pronunciation nailed and can really impress them!

Written down in Armenian, the happy birthday song looks like this:

“Տարեդարձ է այսօր!

Տարեդարձ է այսօր!

Տարեդարձ է այսօր!”

For pronunciation purposes, you’d sing the lyrics like this:

“Taredardz e aysor!

Taredardz e aysor!

Taredardz e aysor!”

Unlike in the English language version of the happy birthday song, there isn’t a space for the celebrant’s name, but it does mean that you’re not tripping over syllables trying to fit their name into the existing tune!

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You’re Ready to Wish Someone a Happy Birthday in Armenian!

So, all in all, there are a few ways for you to wish your Armenian friend a happy birthday, or congratulate them on a new job, house, child, test results – anything really!

Although most Armenian speakers use the Eastern Armenian dialect, it’s always worth checking which dialect your friend speaks before learning all your greetings in the wrong regional variation!