LANGUAGE

The Kurdish language is a member of the Indo-European family of languages, which is akin to Persian. The modern Kurdish language is divided into two major parts, the Kurmanji and the Dimili-Gurani. The Kurmanji dialect is the major dialect, and it is divided into two sub-dialects. One subdialect is North Kurmanji (Bahdini), which is spoken by three-quarters of the Kurds in the world. Most of these Kurds live in the northern part of Iraq, Syria, and the former Soviet Union. The other subdialect is South Kurmanji (Sorani), which is primarily spoken in the southern part of the Kurdish region of Iraq and Iran. The other major dialect, the Dimili-Gurani, or Zaza, is spoken by Kurds in some parts of Iraq and Turkey.

The Arabic alphabet is used by Kurds in both Iraq and Iran for the formal standard Kurdish language, but many Kurdish people use the Latin alphabet in North Kurmanji (Bahdini). Generally, the Kurds in Turkey use a modified version of the Latin alphabet.

The Alphabet/Writing System

There is no one standard alphabet or spelling system for Kurdish. It is written in an Arabic alphabet by Kurds who are educated in Iraq or Iran, a Roman alphabet by Kurds who are educated in Turkey, and a Cyrillic alphabet by Kurds who are educated in countries of the former Soviet Union. The use of different alphabets can make it difficult for Kurds from Turkey to read Kurdish written in Iraq and Iran. Most educated Kurds can read European languages and have picked up the ability to read Kurdish in the Roman alphabet. The Roman alphabet, in which Kurdish is written in Turkey and in exile communities in Europe and the United States, is based on the Turkish alphabet, although its vowel symbols are different.

The alphabet used in this course is the Arabic script in which Kurdish is written in Iraq and Iran. It is commonly used by all the people who have converted to Islam. The Kurdish version contains extra letters to represent Kurdish sounds that do not exist in Arabic. The Arabic-based Kurdish alphabet is written from right to left and does not make a distinction between capital and small letters. The long vowels are represented with symbols, and the short vowels are not represented at all.

Riz	Alifabé	Alfabé Latini	Wéney Deng	Peyvin Kurdí	Payvin Kurdi
Pos.	Alphabet Persian	Alphabet Latin	It Sounds Like in:	Some Kurdish words Latin Alphabet	Kurdish words
11	رٍ	Ř ŕ	Trill "R"	Řoź	ڕۆژ (day)
12	ز	Z z	Zoo	zard	زەرد (yellow)
13	ﮊ	Ź ź	Pleasure	Źúr	ژوور (inside)
14	س	S s	Cinema	Séu	سێو (apple)
15	ش	Š š	Sheep	Šeu	‌شه‌و (night)
16	ع	ə	Ali	əéraq	عێراق (Iraq)
17	غ		?	X̃ardan	غاردان (running)
18	ف	F f	Family	Maf	ماف (rights)
19	ڤ	V v	Vote	Vîn	ڤیان (love)
20	ق	Q q	?	Qap	قاپ (pot)
21	ك	K k	Kind	Kon	كۆن (old)
22	ﮒ	G g	Gallery	GoỈ	گۆڵ (flower)
23	ل	L l	Life	cl	چل (forty)
24	لٌ	Ĺ Ỉ	Velar “ L”	MndaỈ	مندالٌ (child)
25	م	M m	Mother	Nerm	نه‌رم (soft)
26	ن	N n	Nation	Nan	نان (bread)
27	و	U u	Kurd	Kurd	كورد (Kurd)
28	ﻫ	H h	House	Hélke	هێلكه (eggs)
29	ى	Î î	See	îarî	یاری (play)
30	ا	A	April	Aza	ئاز‌‌‌‌‌‌‌ا (brave)
31	ه	E e	Actor	Uere	وەرە (come)
32	ئ	É é	Hair	Nér	نێر (male)
33	ؤ	O o	Old	Mom	مۆم(candle)
34	ﻮﻮ	Ú ú	Choose	Dúr	دوور (far)


Riz	Alifabé	Alfabé Latini	Wéney Deng	Peyvin Kurdí	Payvin Kurdi
Pos.	Alphabet Persian	Alphabet Latin	It Sounds Like in:	Some Kurdish words Latin Alphabet	Kurdish words
1	ئا ء	A a	Car	Aîîn	ئایین ) religion)
2	ب	B b	Brother	Baran	باران (rain(
3	ﭖ	P p	Policy	spî	سپی (white)
4	ت	T t	Tea	‌‌‌Auat	) ئاوات hope(
5	ج	J j	Joy	Jwan	جوان (beautiful)
6	ﭺ	C c	Church	kc	) كچ girl (
7	ح	Ĥ ĥ	?	‌‌ ĥut	حه‌وت (seven)
8	خ	X x	?	Xua	) خوا God (
9	د	D d	Door	Dΰ	) دووtwo)
10	ر	R r	Rain	Dar	دار (tree(