Kurdish
Vowels
* ﯪ / ا A a А а * ﺋﻪ / ه E e Ә ә * ێﺋ / ێ Ê ê Е е * ﺋ ◌ِ / ◌ِ I i Ь ь * ﰄ / [vowel] ي Î î И и * ﯲ / ۆ O o О о * ﯮ / [vowel] و U u Ӧ ӧ * ﯮ و / وو Û û У у ﻋﻪ ’E (E’) ‘e (e’) Ә’ ә‘
Consonants
ب B b Б б ج C c Щ щ چ Ç ç Ч ч چ ’Ç’ ç’ Ч’ ч د D d Д д ض [Ḍ] [ḍ] ﻋﻪ ’E (E’) ‘e (e’) Ә’ ә‘ ف F f Ф ф گ G g Г г ﮪ H h Һ һ ح ’Ḧ (H’) ḧ (h’) Һ’ һ ژ J j Ж ж ك K k К к ك ’K’ k’ К’ к ل L l Л л ڵ Ł ł л̑ م M m М м ن N n Н н
.(ﺋ) Initial vowels begin with a kursî hamza * Roman (Hawar) Cyrillic Arabic
پ P p П п پ ’P’ p’ П’ п ق Q q Ԛ ԛ ر R r Р р ڕ ’Р’ р س S s С с ش Ş ş Ш ш ص Ṣ ṣ ت T t Т т ت ’T’ t’ Т’ т ط Ṭ ṭ ڤ V v В в [consonant] و W w Ԝ ԝ خ X x Х х غ ’Ẍ ẍ Г’ г [consonant] ي Y y Й й ز Z z З з ع ′ - ‘ -
Notes
should be rendered u if the preceding word ends in a (و) ”In Sorani, the conjunction “and .1 consonant, and w following a vowel. In Kurmanji, it is spelled û in Latin orthography and should be romanized that way as well.
2. In the Arabic orthography for Kurdish, all vowels are written out, with the exception of i (short i), which is expressed by a kasrah under the preceding consonant, although that kasrah is rarely written. At the beginning of a word, the i is preceded by a kursî hamza (see note 3). ﻛﺮن kirin (“to do”) кьрьн ﻛڕﻳﻦ k’ir̄în (“to buy”) к’ьр’ин ﺋﻨﺘﻴﻦ int’în (“to sigh”) ьнт’ин
3. In the Arabic orthography for Kurdish, when a vowel comes at the beginning of a word, or when a vowel directly follows another vowel, a kursî hamza precedes it. ﺮﮔﯪ agir (“fire”) агьр ﺮﻏﯲ oẍir (“luck”) ог’ьр ﺋﻪ ﻪﺘﺧ exte (“nag horse”) әхтә ﻧﺎﺋێﻢ naêm (“I don’t come”) наем
have ( هﻫﻬﻪ) ’In the Arabic orthography for Kurdish, the four forms of the Arabic letter hā .4 are the letter H, while two forms (ﻬ and medial ﻫ been reinterpreted. Two forms (initial are the letter E. Final and independent H are both expressed (ه and independent ﻪ final) ;ﻫ final ;ﻬ medial ;ﻫ Hence, the full paradigm for H is: initial .(ﻫ) by the initial form .ﻫ independent :ﻫ initial ﻫﻪر her (“each”) Һәр ﻫﺎﺗﻦ hatin (“to come”) Һатьн ﻟﻪﻫﻲ lehî (“flood”) ләҺи :ﻬ medial ﺑﻬﻴﺴﺘﻦ bihîstin (“to hear”) бьҺистьн :ﻫ final ﺟﻫ cih (“place; bed”) щьҺ :ﻫ independent ﻣﻪﻫ meh (“month”) мәҺ in that it never joins to the (ر) and rā ,(د) dāl ,(و) wāw ,(ا) behaves like the letters alif (ﻪ) E following letter (i.e., it has no medial form). Consequently, the following letter must start over with the initial form (unless there is only one following letter, in which case it will be is preceded by the (ﻪ) written in the independent form). As with other vowels, initial E ;[ﻪ medial] ;ﺋﻪ Hence, the full paradigm for E is: initial .ﺋﻪ yielding initial ,(ﺋ) kursî hamza .ه independent ;ﻪ final :ﺋﻪ initial ﺋﻪﻧﻲ enî (“forehead”) әни ﺋﻪﺳﭗ esp (“horse” (Sorani)) әсп [medial : medial is replaced by final, as with alif, wāw, etc.] :ﻪ final ﻟﻪﻫﻲ lehî (“flood”) ләҺи ﻪﭼم ç’em (“river”) ч’әм ﺋێﻤﻪ ême (“we” (Sorani)) емә ﻨﻴﭘﻪ p’îne (“patch”) п’инә :ه independent ﺖﺳﻩد dest (“hand”) дәст ﻩوك wek (“like, as”) ԝәк has two equivalents in the roman orthography: it can be the (ي) ’The Arabic letter yā .5 can be both the vowel u (و) vowel î and the consonant y. Likewise, the Arabic letter wāw are the vowels î (و) and wāw (ي) ’and the consonant w. If preceded by a consonant, yā and u respectively. دﻳﺘﻲ [dîtî (“s/he saw” (Sorani)) [дити ﺑﻴﺒﻴﻨﻢ [bîbînim (“if I see it” (Sorani)) [бибиньм ۆﺳ راﻧﻲ Soranî (“Sorani”) Сорани ﻛﻮرد K’urd (“Kurd”) К’ӧрд ﺗﻮ tu (“thou, you”) тӧ
:are the consonants y and w respectively (و) and wāw (ي) ’Likewise, yā
a) at the beginning of a word: ﻳﺎر ﻣﻪﺗﻲ [yarmetî (“help” (Sorani)) [йармәти وﺗﻦ [witin (“to say” (Sorani)) [ԝьтьн ووﺗﻦ [wutin (“to say” (Sorani)) [ԝӧтьн
b) if preceded by a vowel (including short i, which is not written): ﺷﺎﻳﺎن [şayan (“worthy” (Sorani)) [шайан naybînim (“I don’t see it” ﻧﺎﻳﺒﻴﻨﻢ [Sorani)) [найбиньм) وﯪ [aw (“water” (Sorani)) [аԝ ﻪﺑ هد و bedew (“beautiful”) бәдәԝ دوێﺮﻩ diwêre (“s/he dares”) дьԝерә ﺑﻴﺎﻧﻲ biyanî (“foreign”)† бьйани ﺷﻴﺎن şiyan (“to be able”) шьйан
c) if preceded by a consonant and followed by a vowel: ﺑﺮوا [birwa (“belief” (Sorani)) [бьрԝа ﺧﻮارن xwarin (“to eat”) хԝарьн دﻳﺘﻴﺎن [dîtyan (“they saw” (Sorani)) [дитйан ﯪﺳﻴﺎو [asyaw (“mill” (Sorani)) [асйаԝ
6. In the Cyrillic orthography for Kurdish, the distinction between aspirated stops (ç’, k’, p’, t’) and unaspirated stops (ç, k, p, t) is always written, and Soviet scholars also preserve this distinction in the roman orthography. Elsewhere it is generally ignored, and consequently this distinction does not exist in the Arabic orthography for Kurdish.
.(ﺑﻴﻴﺎﻧﻲ ,Also bîyanî (бийани † 7. Soviet scholars created the e’ (Cyrillic ә’), which represents two different sounds. When a ,(ﻋﻪ the sound is [‘ayin] + e, as at the beginning of a word (in Arabic script written preferable spelling is ‘e, placing the apostrophe before the vowel. By analogy, one also (The original e’ (with the apostrophe after the vowel .( وﻮء ) û‘ ,( ﯚء ) o‘ ,( ﻲء ) î‘ ,( ﺎء ) finds ‘a is reserved for cases where the vowel [e] is followed by the [‘ayin], as in the word me‘r a dialectal variant of mar (“snake”). Since e’ could be identified either as a vowel ,( ﺮءﻪﻣ ) or as a consonant, it has been added to both categories in the Kurdish orthographic table.
Standard reference dictionaries for Kurdish include:
Kurmanji (northern dialects) Michael L. Chyet. Kurdish-English dictionary = Ferhenga Kurmancî-Inglîzî (New Haven and London : Yale University Press, 2003). Ferdîdon Çelebî and Danko Sipka. Kurmanji Kurdish-English glossary (Springfield, VA : Dunwoody, 2002).
Sorani (central dialects) Shafiq Qazzaz. The Sharezoor : Kurdish-English dictionary (Erbil : Aras, 2000).