Տէտէ եւ Նէնէ Dede & Nene

Western Armenian culture, kept at the family table

What Տէտէ and Նէնէ knew, written down before it slips away.

For grandchildren in Glendale, Bourj Hammoud, Montreal and Marseille, and for anyone curious. Sayings, the road our families took, the church year, the alphabet, the kitchen and the customs, in Western Armenian with English beside it.

Trace your family's road Write your name in Armenian

Առածներ aradzner

What Nene used to say

Proverbs from the Western Armenian table. Tap a card to turn it over.

Words you'll hear at the table

Անուշ ըլլայ
anoush ulla · "May it be sweet." To someone eating, or after a bath or a haircut.
Ձեռքդ դալար
tsehrkut talar · "May your hand stay green." Thanks to whoever cooked.
Աչքդ լոյս
achkut louys · "Light to your eyes." Congratulations on a birth, a wedding, a graduation.
Ցաւդ տանիմ
tsavut danim · "Let me take your pain." What grandmothers call you.
Աստուած հոգին լուսաւորէ
Asdvadz hokin lousavoreh · "May God light their soul." Said whenever someone who has died is mentioned.

Ճամբան jamban

The road our families took

Western Armenians lived for thousands of years in what is now Turkey. The genocide of 1915 emptied it, and almost no family went straight from there to where it lives now. Pick a town or a city to see the roads in and out of it.

Your family's road Մեր ճամբան

    Pick a place, then "Add to my family's road," in the order your family went. For example:

    Old countryFirst refugeNew homeLoading the map…

    Today's borders. The shaded Western Armenia and Cilicia are approximate: the lands where most Western Armenians lived until 1915, now in Turkey. The Republic of Armenia today is the much smaller country to the east.

    Երկիր The old country

    Ապաստան First refuge

    Նոր տուն New homes

    Routes show where many families went, not every family. Missing your town or city? Tell us and we'll add it.

    Տօնացոյց donatsouyts

    The church year

    The Armenian Apostolic year. Christmas is fixed on January 6; the feasts around Lent and Easter move every year.

    Armenian Christmas · Սուրբ Ծնունդ

    —

    days to go

    Christmas and Theophany together, as the early church kept them. On the eve, the Chrakalouyts, the lamps are lit. On the day, families greet each other:

    Քրիստոս ծնաւ եւ յայտնեցաւ։

    Krisdos dznav yev haydnetsav · Christ is born and revealed

    Օրհնեալ է յայտնութիւնն Քրիստոսի։

    Orhnyal eh haydnoutiunn Krisdosi · Blessed is the revelation of Christ

    1. New Year Նոր Տարի

      Gaghant Baba brings the presents and a pot of anoushabour goes around the neighbors. Make anoushabour

    2. Christmas Սուրբ Ծնունդ

      Divine Liturgy and the blessing of water, then the priest's house visits in the weeks after.

    3. Vartanants Վարդանանց

      Vartan Mamikonian and the battle of Avarayr, 451. Every Saturday school puts on a play.

    4. Paregentan Բուն Բարեկենդան

      "Good living": costumes, music and one last rich meal before the 48 days of Lent.

    5. Diarnuntarach Տեառնընդառաջ

      A bonfire after the evening service. Newlyweds jump over it for luck.

    6. Easter Զատիկ

      Eggs dyed red in onion skins, egg tapping, and choreg on every table. Bake choreg

    7. Remembrance Day Մեծ Եղեռն

      The Medz Yeghern, "the Great Crime." On April 24, 1915, Armenian leaders were arrested in Constantinople, the start of the genocide that killed an estimated 664,000 to 1.2 million Armenians. The church declared the victims saints in 2015. Families march, light candles and say the names of the towns they lost. Where the survivors went

    Dates follow the Gregorian calendar kept by Etchmiadzin and Antelias. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem keeps the Julian calendar, so Christmas there falls on January 19.

    Այբուբեն aypoupen

    Your name in Armenian

    Mesrop Mashtots made the alphabet around 405. Type a name to see its traditional Armenian form, if it has one, and how it's spelled sound by sound.

    Try a first and last name. The traditional form is the name your great-grandparents would have used; family names like Kevorkian, "son of Kevork," get their classical spelling, Գէորգեան. The sound-by-sound spelling is rough, so ask Nene too.

    Sounded out, letter by letter

      Our names

      Many diaspora families picked an English name that echoed the Armenian one: Harout became Arthur, Garo became Gary, Hagop became Jack. Plenty of names never needed a twin: Shant, Sevag, Talin, Arpi. Find yours and tap it.

      All 38 letters

      Western and Eastern Armenian swap the sounds of five pairs: բ պ, գ կ, դ տ, ծ ձ, ճ ջ. Tap a letter.

      Սեղան seghan

      Nene's table

      Recipes with real quantities, a servings stepper, timers and a cook-along mode. The whole kitchen

      ԱնուշապուրAnoushabourNew Year · 2½ hrs Պլղուրի փիլաւBulgur pilafWeeknight · 35 min ՉորեկChoregEaster · 4 hrs ԼահմաջունLahmajounBourj Hammoud · 2 hrs ՀարիսաHarissaMusa Dagh · 5 hrs ՄանթիMantiWeekend · 2½ hrs ԻչEetchLent · 45 min ԵալանճիYalanchiHolidays · 2½ hrs

      On the shelf Մառան

      The jars that make it taste like home. Pick one. All twelve are in the pantry guide.

      The dishes you'll hear about Ուտելիքներ

      A field guide to a Western Armenian table, so you know what you're being offered.

      Սարմա sarma
      Grape or cabbage leaves rolled tight around rice and meat, simmered in a pot.
      Եալանճի yalanchi
      The meatless version: rice, onion and herbs in grape leaves, served cold. A Lenten favorite. Recipe
      Տոլմա dolma
      Stuffed vegetables: peppers, zucchini, tomatoes and eggplant filled with meat and rice.
      Մանթի manti
      Tiny boat-shaped meat dumplings, baked crisp, then simmered in broth and topped with garlic yogurt. Recipe
      Իչ eetch
      Fine bulgur soaked in tomato and pepper paste with onion, parsley and lemon. Lenten, and better the next day. Recipe
      Քիւֆթէ kufta
      A whole family of meat-and-bulgur dishes, from Kharpert's stuffed kufta in broth to grilled skewers.
      Պէօրէկ boreg
      Pastries of filo or dough filled with cheese, spinach or meat. Always on the table when guests come.
      Սուճուխ sujuk
      Dry, spicy beef sausage, sliced and fried with eggs.
      Մածուն madzoun
      Yogurt. On everything, in soups, and stirred with water into a drink.
      Լաւաշ lavash
      Paper-thin flatbread, baked against the walls of a clay oven. UNESCO lists it as Armenian heritage.
      Փախլավա paklava
      Layers of filo, walnuts or pistachios, and syrup. Every family is sure theirs is the right one.
      Քատայիֆ kadayif
      Shredded pastry baked around nuts or cream and soaked in syrup.

      Something to drink Խմիչքներ

      Սուրճ

      Armenian coffee sourj

      Ground as fine as flour and boiled with sugar in a small long-handled pot until it foams. You'll be asked: sweet, medium or plain? Then someone reads your cup. Make it

      Թան

      Yogurt drink tan

      Yogurt whisked with cold water and a pinch of salt. What you drink with lahmajoun on a hot day. Make it

      Օղի

      Fruit brandy oghi

      Clear, strong and often homemade, distilled from mulberries, apricots or grapes. Poured in small glasses for toasts.

      Արաք

      Arak arak

      The anise spirit of Lebanon and Syria. A splash of water turns it cloudy white. Sipped slowly over a long table of mezze.

      Կոնեակ

      Armenian brandy konyak

      Aged grape brandy from Yerevan, where the brandy works date back to 1887. The bottle that comes out for guests.

      Գինի

      Wine kini

      Armenia grows the Areni grape, and the oldest known winery in the world, about 6,100 years old, was found in a cave near the village of Areni.

      And before anyone drinks: Կենացդ genatsut, "to your life."

      Երաժշտութիւն yerazhshdoutiun

      What was playing in the house

      From village songs written down by Komitas to the kef dances of Fresno and New England, the Beirut pop of the 70s and the sound of Glendale weddings.

      Ուտ

      Oud

      The fretless lute at the center of the old music.

      Տուտուկ

      Duduk

      Apricot-wood flute with a reed. The sound people call "the Armenian sound."

      Քանոն

      Kanun

      A zither plucked on the lap, rippling under the melody.

      Տումպէկ

      Dumbeg

      The goblet drum that keeps a dance going.

      Kef is what Armenian-Americans called the party music of the 1950s to the 70s: oud, clarinet, violin and dumbeg playing the old Anatolian songs, fast, at picnics and dances from Fresno to Watertown. Ask anyone over seventy.

      Սովորութիւններ sovorutiunner

      What Nene insists on

      Customs and superstitions, and the reasons behind them.

      Հաց ու աղ

      Bread and salt

      To have eaten someone's bread and salt is to owe them loyalty. You never throw bread away or leave a loaf upside down.

      Աչք

      The evil eye

      Praise a baby too much and a blue bead appears on its clothes. Compliments come with a quick "touch wood."

      Սուրճ

      Reading the coffee cup

      Finish the coffee, turn the cup over onto the saucer, wait for it to cool, and an aunt reads your future in the grounds, half joking.

      Հաւկիթ

      Easter egg tapping

      Eggs dyed deep red in onion skins. Tap ends with the person next to you; the egg that doesn't crack wins the other.

      Վիճակ

      Vijag at Ascension

      On Hampartsoum, girls drop tokens into a jug of water. Each token is drawn while someone recites a verse, and that verse is her fortune.

      Խաղող

      No new grapes before the blessing

      Many families wait to eat the season's grapes until they're blessed on the Feast of the Assumption in mid-August.

      Հարցուր hartsour

      Ask them while you can

      Most of what's on this site was never written down; it was said at a table. Build a list of questions, take it to your Dede and Nene, and tick them off as you go. It stays in this browser, and it prints on one page.

        Հարցումներ

        Questions for

          Nothing here yet. Add questions from the left, or from any place on the road.

          Մերոնք meronk

          Ours, famous and less so

          Some names everyone knows, some you might not have guessed were Armenian. Plenty changed their names along the way, and every one of them has a road.

          Ընթերցանութիւն untertsanoutiun

          The reading room

          Longer pieces on places, history, music, art and language. The first is ready; the rest are being written.

          1. ԱAleppo, the city that caught usHow a Syrian city took in tens of thousands of genocide survivors and became the first Western Armenian home.Read now
          2. ԲBourj Hammoud, from camp to capitalHow survivors bought a marsh east of Beirut and named its quarters New Marash, New Adana and New Sis.Read now
          3. ԳKomitas wrote the songs downA priest from Kütahya who walked from village to village collecting music.Music
          4. ԴLapis and goldToros Roslin, the Cilician manuscripts, and the colors on this page.Art
          5. ԵWhy Western Armenian is endangeredNo country speaks it. What keeping it alive actually takes.Language
          6. ԶNerkaght: the ones who went "home"The 1946 repatriation to Soviet Armenia, and what happened next.History