Armenian Alphabet and Sound System
The Armenian alphabet contains 39 letters, but the sound system of the Armenian language contains 36 sounds. The letters ե, ո and և sound like "ye", "vo" (inside the word it sounds like "o") and "yev". As for the letter "ու", it should be noted that although this letter sounds "u", it is made up of the letter "ո" and the disappeared letter "ւ", which was previously pronounced, but is not pronounced today; it is not studied at school as a separate letter․ The sound of this letter was similar to the sound of the English w, so in the early alphabet the sound of "u" was represented as "ow ու", and the sound of "a" was represented as "aw" - "աւ". Some analogy can be made with the word "eau de cologne". In the Middle Ages, the letters "o" and "f" were added, but the letter "u" was not added separately, so "ow" or "ու" remained․
Challenges with Armenian Letters in Domain Names
The Letter "ւ" and Domain Registration
The letter "ւ" today plays a key role when registering a domain name in the Armenian domain ․հայ if the name contains the letter "և". This is due to the fact that the letter "և" cannot be used in a domain name, because this letter does not have a capital letter. Instead, it is simply written "ԵՎ", and this is unacceptable from the point of view of the Domain Name System – DNS https://internet.am/blog/en/posts/dns-management/. For DNS, it does not matter which case the domain name is typed in, uppercase or capital letters. This is where the problem comes to light - in the case of typing the letter և in capital letters in the word արև, for example, we get 3 letters. In the case of typing in capital letters, it gets 4 letters - "ԱՐԵՎ"․ This is not the case for the DNS system. The solution to the problem is to use the missing letter "ւ", if you need to register a domain արև - just write "արեւ", while the use of the letter "և" in the domain name is prohibited․ From the point of view of actual grammar taught in school, this is a spelling mistake. On the other hand, for Western Armenian this approach is quite acceptable and is even used in a number of Eastern Armenian texts, causing discussions in the academic environment.
The Armenian Dot in Domain Names
A certain problem can be considered the presence of an Armenian dot, the digital code of which differs from the code of the Latin dot. A similar situation has arisen because a colon in Armenian is indicated by a dot, unlike in English, where a dot is the end of a sentence. The DNS system does not accept codes other than the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, numbers, hyphens, and dots. Therefore, when typing a domain name in the ․հայ zone, it is necessary to replace the Armenian period with a Latin one, changing the case.
Recommendations for Domain Registration
If the registrant registers a domain in both the .am and ․հայ zones, it is recommended to use the transliteration table adopted by the Internet Society of https://www.isoc.am/wp- content/uploads/2022/12/transliterationtable_en.pdf This approach will help avoid potential disputes in the case of using registered trademarks or brand names in the .հայ domain zone in case of a conflict with a domain name in the Latin alphabet. The presentation of a domain name in Armenian may have several similar variations using different transliteration approaches, but the transliteration table above is used as a basis when considering potential problems.