The classical Armenian orthography (Armenian: Հայերէնի դասական ուղղագրութիւն (in classical) and Հայերենի դասական ուղղագրություն in reformed, Hayereni dasakan ughagrutyun; also known as traditional orthography and Mashtotsian orthography) is the orthography developed during the early 19th century for the Armenian language. Today, it is used primarily by the Armenian diaspora (including all Western Armenian speakers and Eastern Armenian speakers in Iran), which has rejected the Armenian orthography reform that happened in Soviet Armenia in the 1920s. In the Armenian diaspora, some linguists and politicians allege political motives behind that reform.
The classical Armenian orthography uses the 36 original letters of the Armenian alphabet:
...and the 2 letters added to the Armenian alphabet in the 13th century:
The Armenian language has eight monophthong vowel sounds — ɑ, ɛ, i, o, u, ə, ʏ, œ — and ten symbols to represent them — ա, ե, է, ը, ի, ո, օ, ու, իւ, էօ.
/i/ is always written <ի>. For example, [iɾ] ("his"/"her") is written իր.
/u/ is always written ու. For example, [dun] ("house") is written տուն.
The [ə] vowel is usually not written. For example, we say [məˈdɑdzum] ("thought"), but write մտածում (not մըտածում); we say [əskɑntʃɛli] ("marvelous") but write սքանչելի (not ըսքանչելի).
<ը> is written in the following situations: