Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 1
1
LESSON 1
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will learn the Kurdish alphabet – small letters, capital letters, vowels and
consonants – country names and some cities in Kurdistan.
By the end of this lesson;
− you will produce Kurdish sounds correctly.
− you will learn new words.
− you will gain certain skills so that you can pronounce new words correctly.
− you will learn basic greeting phrases.
− you will be able to introduce yourself and ask about personal information.
Elfabe / Alphabet
The Kurdish language uses three different alphabets: The Kurdish latin alphabet based on the
Roman script; the alphabet based on the Arabic script and the alphabet on the basis of the
Cyrillic alphabet. The Kurdish Latin alphabet is the most frequently used alphabet for
Kurmanji. It is used in the parts of Kurdistan that are situated within the borders of Turkey
and Syria, and by the large Kurdish diaspora community in Europe and North America from
these two countries. The alphabet based on Arabic script is used in Iraqi and Iranian
Kurdistan, while Cyrillic is used only in ex-Soviet countries. In this course we will be using
the Roman-based alphabet.
There are 8 vowels and 23 consonants in the standard Kurdish Roman-based alphabet. In the
chart below the Kurdish letters are listed and you can listen to their pronunciation by clicking
on the sound file image next to each letter.
Roman
Script
A,a
Example
English example
IPA
agir (fire), xanî (house)
father
[a]
B,b
C,c
Ç,ç
D,d
E,e
baş (good), bira (brother)
cil (clothes), civak (society)
çar (four), keçik (girl)
dîwar (wall), beden (body)
enî (forehead), dest (hand)
Ê,ê
F,f
êş (grief), stêr (star)
ferheng (dictionary),
berf (snow)
genim (wheat), seg (dog)
heyv (moon), duhî (yesterday)
ciwan (young),
zivistan (winter)
îro (today), havîn (summer)
jan (grief), bajar (city)
kur (boy), dayik (mother)
leymûn (lemon), mil (arm)
mamoste (teacher), dem (time)
nav (name), nan (bread, food)
ode (room), roj (sun, day)
bell
jungle
butcher
door
bat (British English
pronunciation)
bait
farmer
[b]
[ʤ]
[ʧ]
[d]
[æ]
get
head
bit
[g]
[h]
[ɨ],
[ɯ]
[i:]
[ʒ]
[k]
[l]
[m]
[n]
[o]
G,g
H,h
I,i
Î,î
J,j
K,k
L,l
M,m
N,n
O,o
meet
beige
book
light
mother
name
odour
[e:]
[f]
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 1
P,p
Q,q
R,r
S,s
Ş,ş
T,t
U,u
Û,û
V,v
W,w
X,x
Y,y
Z,z
pişt (back),
dapîr (grandmother)
qelem (pen), aqil (reason)
rûbar (river), bihar (spring)
2
party
(Arabic Qaf)
Two pronunciations, like
in Spanish (pero-perro)
One with a single tap, one
rolled front r.
ser (head), mast (yoghurt)
sun
şekir (sugar), aştî (peace)
share
tirs (fear), kitêb (book)
table
kurd (Kurd), du (two)
bull
ûd (laud), birû (eyebrow)
foot
vala (empty), çav (eye)
violet
welat (country), bawerî (belief) wine
xewn (dream), baxçe (garden) cf. Scottish: loch
yek (one), giya (grass)
yellow
zengil (bell), azadî (freedom)
breeze
[p]
[q]
[ɾ]
[r]
[s]
[ʃ]
[t]
[ʊ]
[u:]
[v]
[w]
[x]
[j]
[z]
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 1
3
Table 1. The Vowels in Kurmanji (approximate phonetic values)
Front Central
Closed
î
Half-closed
ê
Back
û
i
u
o
a
Open
The vowels represented in the writing by <i> and <u> are quite close and may be difficult to
distinguish in some varieties of Kurmanji.
Table 2. The Consonants in Kurmanji
Bilabial Labio- Dental/ Postdental Alveolar alveolar
Plosive
p b
t d
f v
Fricative
Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
kg
ş j
s z
x
q
h
ç c
Affricate
Nasal
m
Approximant
w
n
y
Tap / Trill
r
Lateral
l
Note: In addition to the consonants shown in chart, some Kurmanji words contain sounds that
are not usually noted in the standard orthography, though often noted in dictionaries. They
are some special forms of the plosives and affricates. Native speakers are aware of these
sounds, and can hear and produce them readily. For learners, however, they are difficult to
perceive and at this stage need not be introduced. You will still be understood even if you do
not produce them correctly; we will discuss them in a later lesson with some examples.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 1
4
Text: Rojbaş!
Two students sit next to each other in the first lesson at their university. They introduce
themselves to each other, saying their names and where they are from.
Zeyneb
Ehmed
Zeyneb
Ehmed
Zeyneb
Ehmed
Zeyneb
Ehmed
Zeyneb
Ehmed
Zeyneb
: Rojbaş. Navê min Zeyneb e. Navê te çi ye?
Good day, my name is Zeyneb. What is your name?
: Rojbaş. Navê min Ehmed e.
Good day, my name is Ehmed.
: Tu ji ku derê yî Ehmed?
Where are you from, Ehmed?
: Ez ji Diyarbekirê me; lê tu?
I am from Diyarbekir. (And) you?
: Bi rastî! Ez jî ji Diyarbekirê me.
Really! I am from Diyarbekir too.
: Ser çavan, gelekî kêfxweş bûm.
How nice. I am (lit. was) very happy.
: Ez jî pir kêfxweş bûm. Tu kurd î?
I, too, am very happy. Are you a Kurd?
: Erê, ez kurd im, lê tu?
Yes, I am a Kurd, (and ) you?
: Ez jî kurd im. Ha, mamoste tê.
I am a Kurd too. Oh, the teacher is coming.
: Baş e. Em dê paşê biaxivin.
OK (lit. it is good). We will talk later.
: Baş e.
OK.
Greetings (Silav)
Merheba/Silav/Silamun eleykum
Beyanîbaş/ spêde bi xêr/Sibeha te bi xêr
Beyanîbaş/ spêde bi xêr/Sibeha we bi xêr
Rojbaş
Êvarbaş/Êvara te bi xêr
Êvarbaş/Êvara we bi xêr
Şevbaş /Şeva te bi xêr
Şevbaş /Şeva we bi xêr
Çawa yî?
Çawa nin?
Hello
Good morning (to one person)
Good morning
(to more than one person)
Good day
Good evening (to one person)
Good evening
(to more than one person)
Good night (to one person)
Good night
(to more than one person)
How are you sg.?
How are you pl.?
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 1
5
Good bye (Xatirxwestin)
Bi xatirê te
Bi xatirê we
Good bye (to one person)
Good bye (to more than one person)
Response to bi xatirê te/we
Oxir be/Oxira te ya xêrê be/Bi xêr û silametî
Good bye
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 1
6
Grammar / Rêziman 1
A
The personal pronouns
The pronouns of Kurmanji corresponding to English I, you etc. have two forms, which we will call Direct and
Oblique. Their uses will be explained below. The forms are the following:
Person
Direct
Oblique
I
ez
min
you
tu
te
he/she
ew
wî (him), wê (her)
we
em
me
you
hûn
we
they
ew
(e)wan
Usage
The Direct forms are used for all subjects in the present tenses, for example:
Ez kurd im ‘I am a Kurd’
and for the subjects of intransitive verbs in the past tenses.
(Intransitive verbs are verbs which cannot take a direct object, e.g. go, climb, die, laugh.)
The Oblique forms are used everywhere else, for example, to express the possessor of something:
Navê min Ehmed e. ‘My name is Ehmed’
We will discuss the use of the Direct and Oblique forms in more detail later.
B
Expressing ‘to be’ in the present tense
In the simple present tense, there is no independent word for is, are, am in Kurdish. Instead, endings are added to
the last word of the sentence that indicate the person involved. For example, to say ‘I am a Kurd’ in Kurdish we
say literally ‘I Kurd-am’. These endings are actually written separately as though they were independent words,
but they are really unstressed short forms pronounced as though they were part of the preceding word. They
have slightly different forms depending on whether the preceding word ends in a vowel or consonant. The forms
of these endings are as follows:
After consonant:
Ez kurd im
‘I am a Kurd’
Tu kurd î
‘You are a Kurd’
Ew kurd e
‘He / She is a Kurd’
Em kurd in
‘We are Kurds’
Hûn kurd in
‘You are Kurds’
Ew kurd in
‘They are Kurds’
Ez ne kurd im
Tu ne kurd î
Ew ne kurd e
Em ne kurd in
Hûn ne kurd in
Ew ne kurd in
‘I am not a Kurd’
‘You are not a Kurd’
‘He / She is not a Kurd’
‘We are not Kurds’
‘You are not Kurds’
‘They are Kurds’
After vowel:
Ez ji Diyarbekirê me
...
yî
...
ye
...
ne
...
ne
...
ne
‘I am from D.’
‘You are ...’
‘He / she ...’
‘We are ...’
‘You are ...’
‘They are ...’
Ez ne ji Diyarbekirê me
...
yî
...
ye
...
ne
...
ne
...
ne
‘I am not from D.’
‘You are ...’
‘He / she ...’
‘We are ...’
‘You are ...’
‘They are ...’
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 1
Wordlist
baş
be
biaxivin
bimîne
bi rastî
bi xêr
bûm
çi
dê
ders
diçim
em
erê
êvar
ez
gelek
ha
ji
jî
kêfxweş
kek
kû der
mamoste
merheba
min
na/ne
nav
ne
niha
paşî
pir
piştî
rojbaş
good
may it be a form of the verb bûn be, become
let s talk a form of the verb axaftin talk, speak , see future
lessons
may it remain a form of the verb man stay, remain
really!
good
) have become / was st pers. sg. past tense form of the
verb bûn be, become
what
indicates future tense of the verb
lesson
) go, ) am going a form of the verb çûn ̈to gỏ)
we, nd pers. pl. pronoun
yes
evening
), st pers. sg. pronoun
very, many
oh
from
too, also, as well used after the word it refers to: ez jî ) too
...
happy
an address form for males
where
teacher
hello
st pers. sg. object pronoun see Grammar
no
name
not negation
now
later on
very, many
after
good‐day; have a good day
7
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 1
ser çavan
şev
sibeh, beyanî
silav
te
tê
tu
xatirxwestin
xwendekar
xweş
you are welcome literally: on eyes
night
morning
greeting
nd pers. sg. oblique pronoun see Grammar
he/she comes, is coming present tense of the verb hatin
come
you, nd pers. sg. pronoun
to take farewell, to say goodbye
student
good, enjoyable
8
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 1
9
Exercise 1.
Two students are meeting in the school canteen. Fill in the blanks from their conversation
with the forms presented above.
Dara : Beyanîbaş! Navê .... Dara ye. Navê .... çi ye?
Daner : ...............! Navê min Daner e.
Dara : .... ji ku derê yî Dara?
Daner : Ez ji Qamişloyê me; lê tu?
Dara : .... jî ji Duhokê me.
Daner : Kêfxweş bûm kekê Dara.
Dara : Ez jî kêfxweş bûm.
Daner : Ez niha diçime dersê. Bi ............ te.
Dara : Oxir be!
Exercise 2.
Fill in the blanks according to the information given in the dialogue above.
Daner
Navê …. Daner e. Ez ji Diyarbekirê …..
…. xwendekar im. Ez kurd ….
Exercise 3.
Below, there are questions for you! Please write true answers for the questions.
a. Navê te çi ye?
b. Tu ji ku derê yî?
…………………………………………… …………………………………………
…………………………………………… …………………………………………
c. Tu kurd î?
d. Tu xwendekar î?
…………………………………………… …………………………………………
…………………………………………… …………………………………………
Country names
Franse
Almanya
Ingilîstan
Îtalya
Espanya
Swêd
Siwîs
Tirkiye
France
Germany
England
Italy
Spain
Sweden
Switzserland
Turkey
Norwêc
Çîn
Rusya
Hindistan
Iraq
Amerîka
Îran
Sûriye
Norway
China
Russia
India
Iraq
USA
Iran
Syria
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 1
10
Çend bajarên Kurdistanê / Some cities of Kurdistan
Bajar/city
Afrîn
Agirî
Amed
Amûdê
Bedlîs
Bokan
Cizîr
Culemêrg
Dêrsim
Dihok
Dîlok
Efrîn
Erzingan
Erzirom
Gurgum
Helebçe
Hewlêr
Îdir
Îlam
Kerkuk
Kirmaşan
Mehebad
Meletî
Mexmûr
Mezra
Mêrdîn
Midyad
Mûsil
Mûş
Qamişlo
Qers
Riha
Semsûr
Seqiz
Sêrt
Silêmanî
Sîne
Urmiye
Navên din /other
names
Afrin
Ağrı
Diyarbakır
Amuda
Bitlis
Bokan
Cizre
Hakkari
Tunceli
Dohuk
Antep
Afrin
Erzincan
Erzurum
Maraş
Halepçe
Erbil
Iğdır
İlam
Kerkük
Kermanşah
Mahabad
Malatya
Mahmur
Elazığ
Mardin
Midyat
Musul
Muş
Kamişli
Kars
Urfa
Adıyaman
Sakız
Siirt
Süleymaniye
Sanandaj
Urmiye, Wirmiye
Dewlet/state
Sûriye
Tirkiye
Tirkiye
Sûriye
Tirkiye
Îran
Tirkiye
Tirkiye
Tirkiye
Iraq
Tirkiye
Sûriye
Tirkiye
Tirkiye
Tirkiye
Iraq
Iraq
Tirkiye
Îran
Iraq
Îran
Îran
Tirkiye
Iraq
Tirkiye
Tirkiye
Tirkiye
Iraq
Tirkiye
Sûriye
Tirkiye
Tirkiye
Tirkiye
Îran
Tirkiye
Iraq
Îran
Îran
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 1
Wan
Çewlik
Êlih
Şirnex
Xarpêt
Zaxo
Van
Bingöl
Batman
Şırnak
Elezîz, Elazığ
Zaho
11
Tirkiye
Tirkiye
Tirkiye
Tirkiye
Tirkiye
Iraq
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 2
1
LESSON 2
INTRODUCTION
)n this unit you will learn numbers, colors, asking about age, describing people, kinship
terminology, more about pronouns, copula, interrogatives and do some exercises.
By the end of this lesson;
you will learn:
• the ezafe construction
• certain structures you can see in daily life
• gender
• the copula in the present tense: how to negate it
Text:
Gulçîn û Malbata Wê
Navê min Gulçîn e. Ez
salî me. Ez diçime Zanîngeha Stenbolê. Ez li vir, li Stenbolê dijîm.
Lê mala me li Mêrdînê ye. Dayik û bavê min li wir dijîn. Navê bavê min (ekîm e. Ew
salî
ye. Navê dayika min Gulcan e û ew
salî ye. Bavê min firoşkar e. Firoşgeha wî pir ne mezin
e. Dayika min naxebite. Ew bermalî ye. Dayika min her sal tê vir. Xwişkeke min heye. Navê
wê Zilêxa ye û ew
salî ye. Çavên wê reş in û porê wê dirêj e. Ew diçe dibistana seretayî.
Ez di betlaneyan de diçime cem wan.
Wordlist
ap
baş
bav
be bibe
bermalî
bike
bira
birçî
cem
çav
çawa/çawan
cotkar
dayik
di…de
dibistan
diçe
diçime
dijîm
uncle
good, well
father
may you be present subjunctive person singular of bûn to be
housewife
may he/she do present subjunctive person singular of kirin to do, to
make
brother
hungry
at, to, by used in connection with people and their homes, cf. French
chez, Persian piše.
eye
how
farmer
mother
in circumposition
school
he / she goes rd person singular present for the verb çûn to go
) go st pers. sg. present progressive of çûn to go
) live st pers. sg. present progressive of jîn / jiyan to live
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 2
dijîn
dirêj
bijîjk
firoşgeh
firoşkar
emr
gelek
her
heye
jin
kar
kêm
kurt
lê
li
li vir
li wir
mal
mam/ap
mamoste
mêr
mezin
naxebite
nav
nexweş
pir
pirs
por
reş
sal
salî
sax
seretayî
betlaneyan
tê
tenê
2
they live rd pers. pl. present progressive of jîn / jiyan to live
tall, long
doctor
shop
shop‐owner
life, age
many
every
there is, exists also used in expressions of possession, see below
woman
work, job
few
short
but
in preposition
here
there
house, home
uncle
teacher
man
big
does not work rd person singular neg. present for the verb xebitîn to
work
name
ill, sick
many, much
question
hair
black
year
literally yeared , that is, with years, of age
healthy
elementary, primary
holidays, vacations
he/she comes rd person singular present for the verb hatin to come
only
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 2
têhnî/ tî
vir
xerab
Xwedê
xwişkek
yên te
zanîngeh
zarok
Translation:
3
thirsty
here location
bad
God
a sister from xwişk sister with an indefinite singular ending ‐ek . The
word xweh is also used for sister
yours
university
child
My name is Gulchin. ) am
years old. ) go to university in )stanbul. ) live here, in )stanbul.
But my home is in Merdin. My mother and father live there. My father s name is (ekim. (e
is
years old. My mother s name is Guldjan and she is
years old. My father is a
shopkeeper. (is shop is not very big. My mother does not work. She is a housewife. My
mother comes here every year. ) have a sister. (er name is Zelikha and she is
years old.
(er eyes are black and her hair is long. She goes to primary school. During the holidays ) go
to them.
1
Hejmar / Numbers
The cardinal numbers are as follow:
yek
yanzdeh
du/didu
dozdeh
sê/sisê
sêzdeh
çar
çardeh
pênc
panzdeh
şeş
şanzdeh
heft
hevdeh
heşt
hejdeh
neh
nozdeh
deh
bîst
hezar
du hezar
bîst û yek
bîst û du
bîst û sê
bîst û çar
bîst û pênc
bîst û şeş
bîst û heft
bîst û heşt
bîst û neh
sî/sih
net/sifir
Compound numbers are formed with the conjuction û, as in
bîst û yek
çil û şeş
nod û neh
1.1
Exercise
Write the numbers in letter.
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
çil
pêncî
şêst
heftê
heştê
nod
sed
sed û yek
du sed
sê sed
du hezar û heşt
sed û yek
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 2
The ordinal numbers are as follows:
yekem în
st
heftem în
th
duyem în
nd heştem în
th
sêyem în
rd nehem în
th
çarem în
th
dehem în
th
pêncem în
th
yanzdem în
th
şeşem în
th
dozdem în
th
4
sêzdem în
çardem în
panzdem în
şanzdem în
hevdem în
hejdem în
th
th
th
th
th
th
nozdem în
bîstem în
bîstûyekem în
bîstûduyem în
bîstûsêyem în
sihem în
th
th
st
nd
rd
th
Some expressions with ordinals are: “şerê cîhanê yê yekemîn” (the fırst world war), “cara
duyem” (the second time)
2
Asking about age (temen ‘age’)
Tu çend salî yî?
Ew çend salî ye?
(ow old are you?
(ow old is he/she?
Tu çend salî yî?
Gulçîn and her roommate Asli talk about their families. They ask each others age.
Gulçîn: Asli, tu çend salî yî?
Asli: . Lê tu?
Gulçîn: Ez
salî me. Dayik û bavê te çend salî ne?
Asli: Dayika min
salî ye û bavê min jî
salî ye. Yên te?
Gulçîn: Dayika min
salî ye û bavê min jî
salî ye.
Asli: Xwişk û birayên te çend salî ne?
Gulçîn: Xwişka min
salî ye û birayê min jî
salî ye. Yên te?
Asli: Min tenê xwişkek heye. Navê wê Şeyda ye û
salî ye.
Gulçîn: Baş e. Xwedê emrê wê dirêj bike!
Asli: Sax bibî.
Gulçîn: Tu saxtir.
Gulçîn: Asli, how old are you?
Asli: . And you?
Gulçîn: ) am . (ow old are your mother and father?
Asli: My mother is
and my father is . What about yours?
Gulçîn: My mother is
and my father is .
Asli: (ow old are your sisters and brothers?
Gulçîn: My sister is
and my brother is . What about yours?
Asli: ) have only one sister. (er name is Sheyda and she is
years old.
Gulçîn: OK. May God grant them a long life!
Asli: Thank you lit. May you be healthy, may God give you a long life .
Gulçîn: You are welcome lit. You more healthy .
1
In Kurdish: is also 22.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 2
5
2.1
Exercise
Read the dialogue and answer the questions.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Asli çend salî ye?
Gulçîn çend salî ye?
Dayik û bavê Asliyê çend salî ne?
Dayik û bavê Gulçînê çend salî ne?
Xwişka Asliyê çend salî ye?
Xwişk û birayên Gulçînê çend salî ne?
3
……………………………………...
……………………………………...
……………………………………...
……………………………………...
……………………………………...
……………………………………...
Kinship Terminology (nonobligatory material)
bapîr
dapîr
bav, bab
dayik
xwişk
bira
keç
kur
nevî
grandfather
grandmother
father
mother
sister
brother
daughter
son
grandchild
bûk û zava
jin û mêr
xizim, nas
malbat
mam, ap
met
xalet, xaltî
xal
xwişk û bira
3.1. Some examples for the usage of kinship words:
a)
b)
c)
d
bride and groom
wife and husband
relative
family
father s brother
father s sister
mother s sister
mother s brother
sister and brother
Hekîm bavê Gulçînê ye.
Zilêxa keça Gulcanê ye.
Gulçîn keça Gulcanê ye.
Gulcan û Hekîm jin û mêrên hev in.
Grammar / Rêziman 2
A
The verb ‘to be’ in the present tense again: negated forms
You will remember from lesson 1 that to express ‘to be’ in the present tense, a set of endings is used, as in the
following examples:
ez nexweş im
‘I am ill’ (nexweş = ‘ill, sick’)
tu tî yî ‘You are thirsty’ (têhnî/tî = ‘thirsty’)
To make the negative form of such sentences, the negation particle ne is positioned before the complement
(whatever is negated), and stressed. The negation marker ne can not come right before or after the copula. For
example:
Ez ne nexweş im. (I am not sick)
Em ne nexweş in. (We are not sick)
Tu ne tî yî.
(You are not thirsty)
Hûn ne têhnî ne. (You are not thirsty)
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 2
B
6
Gender
All nouns in Kurmanji have gender, either masculine or feminine. It is important to know the gender of a noun
because it affects the form of the case marker, and of the Ezafe marker (see D below).
Nouns that denote persons, or higher animals, have the gender corresponding to their meaning. For example, the
nouns ap ‘uncle’, bav ‘father’ and mêr ‘man’ are all masculine because they denote male beings. Xwişk ‘sister’
and bûk ‘bride’ on the other hand are feminine, because they refer to feminine beings. But for nouns denoting
objects, you just have to learn the gender with the noun. For example, çav ‘eye’ is masculine, but mal ‘house’ is
feminine. There is not a general rule organizing gender for these nouns; however some rules can be
formulated, for example:
− the names of cities, countries and towns are feminine
− abstract nouns ending in –î are feminine
− infinitives used as nouns are feminine
− the infinitives from verbs are feminine
− geographical names are feminine
− Numbers and colors are masculine etc.
− The names of items of women s clothing are generally feminine, items of men s clothing are
generally masculine
Words borrowed from other languages are most commonly assigned feminine gender when they denote
objects rather than living beings.
C
The indefiniteness suffix
A bare noun in Kurmanji can have a definite reading, or a very general reading, depending on the context. For
example, hesp can mean either ‘the horse’, or perhaps ‘horses in general’. There is no definite article in
Kurmanji corresponding to English the. But if we want to talk about ‘a horse’, we add the suffix -ek to the noun:
hesp-ek ‘a horse’, jinek ‘a woman’, gundek ‘a village’, mamosteyek ‘a teacher’ etc.
Grammar / Rêziman 2 (continued)
D
The Ezafe construction
The Ezafe is a vowel that links all kinds of attributes to a noun, for example adjectives, possessors or
prepositional phrases. In standard orthography it is written as part of the noun. Kurdish is like French or Spanish
in that the noun comes first, and then it is followed by the attribute. We refer to the initial noun as the head
noun. A typical Ezafe construction from the texts is the following:
navê
Head noun
min
Ezafe particle
Possessive modifier
The bare form of the head noun is nav ‘name’, and the Ezafe here is ê. The modifier can also be an adjective, as
in zarokê nexweş ‘the sick child’.
The Ezafe particle takes different forms according to the gender and the number of the head noun. In the
example above, the head noun is masculine and singular. If the head noun is feminine, then the ezafe has the
form -a:
xwişka min
‘my sister’
If it is plural, the ezafe is -ên
hevalên me
‘our friends’ (me=Oblique form of 1st pers. pl pronoun)
If the noun ends in a vowel, a -y- is put before the Ezafe:
birayên min
‘my brothers’
The Ezafe also takes a different form after the indefiniteness suffix (see C above). This gives us four different
possibilities for the Ezafe in the singular:
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 2
7
FORM OF SUFFIX
1. FEMININE, NO INDEFINITENESS SUFFIX:
mala me (our house)
behra Wanê (Lake Van)
-(y)a
2. FEMİNİNE, WİTH İNDEFİNİTENESS SUFFİX:
sêveke sor (a red apple)
jineke bedew (a beautiful woman)
-e
3. MASCULINE, NO INDEFINITENESS SUFFIX:
Çemê Feratê (the Euphrate River) deriyê darîn (the wooden door)
-(y)ê
4. MASCULINE, WITH INDEFINITENESS SUFFIX:
mêrekî bilind (a tall man)
kevirekî belek (a colorful stone)
-î
Three further points about the Ezafe:
D1
The free or demonstrative Ezafe
First, the Ezafe can also be used without a head noun. In this case, it always takes an initial -y. It means
something like English ‘one ...’ as in my one, or the red one. Consider the following example:
birayê min 12 salî ye. Lê yê te?
‘My brother is 12 years old. And your one? (i.e. and your
brother)?
D2
Multiple Ezafes
One noun can be modified by several modifiers, and in that case, each modifier will require its own Ezafe:
Pirtûka birayê min
‘My brother’s book’
Pirtûka hevalê birayê min
‘The book of my brother’s friend’
Pirtûka xwişka hevalê birayê min ‘The book of the sister of my brother’s friend’
D3
Possessors in the Oblique case
The Possessor in an Ezafe construction always goes into the Oblique case (see next lesson for more details on
this). You have already learned the Oblique case of the personal pronouns (see Lesson 1). This means that
whenever a pronoun is a possessor in an Ezafe, it takes the Oblique form (bavê min ‘my father’, bavê wê ‘her
father’ etc.). We will learn about the Oblique case of nouns in later lessons.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 3
1
LESSON 3
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will learn new grammatical structures in the present tense and use them in
meaningful contexts, certain names for occupations, expressions of frequency and terminology
for month and the days of the week.
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
•
•
•
•
Ask about jobs
Tell the time
Ask about and describe habits and routines
Use existensial expressions such as heye/hene
1. Text:
Rojeke Min / My Day (literally: one day (roj-ek) of me)
Ez xwendekar im. Navê min Salih e û ez 22 salî me. Ez li Stenbolê dijîm, li mala mamê xwe
dimînim, lê malbata min li Diyarbekirê dijî. Ez sibehan zû radibim, di saet 8an de. Piştî ku ser û
çavên xwe dişom, ez taştê dixwim û diçim zanîngehê. 5 dersên min hene. Ez gelekî ji dersên xwe
hez dikim; ji ber ku em di dersan de pirtûkên gelekî balkêş dixwînin û nîqaşên baş dikin. Ez di
saet 1ê de li gel hevalên xwe firavînê dixwim û çayê vedixwim. Di zanîngehê de gelek hevalên
min hene. Hindek hevalên min tirk in û hindek jî kurd in. Ez bi hevalên xwe yên kurd re bi kurdî
diaxivim, lê mixabin hindek hevalên min ên kurd kurdî nizanin. Piştî firavîn û çayê, em dîsa
diçin dersê. Piştî nîvro tenê du dersên min hene. Yek ji van dersan edebiyat e. Di dersa edebiyatê
de em tekstên edebiyata amerikî dixwînin. Ez taybetî ji helbestên T. S. Eliotê hez dikim. Di kurdî
de jî helbestên Eliotê hene. Ez jî carînan helbestan dinivîsim. Dersên min di saet 5an de xelas
dibin. Paşê têm malê û di saet 7an de li gel mam, jinmam û zarokên wan em şîvê dixwin û çayê
vedixwin. Mamê min mamoste ye û jinmama min jî parêzer e. Ez piranî heta 11an dersên xwe
dixebitim û paşê jî bo saetekê pirtûkekê dixwînim û di seat 12an de dinivim.
Translation:
I am a student. My name is Salih and I am 22 years old. I live in Istanbul, I am staying at my
uncle’s home, but my family lives (in Kurdish plural since there are many members) in
Diyarbekir. I wake up early in the morning (in Kurdish: in the mornings) at eight 8 o’clock. After
washing my face (lit. head and eye), I have (lit. eat) breakfast and go to the univerisity. I have
five courses. I like my courses very much because we read very interesting books in the courses
and have good discussions. At one o’clock, I have lunch and drink tea with my friends. I have
many friends at the unversity. Some of my friends are Turks and some are Kurds. I speak
Kurmanji (Kurdish) with my Kurdish friends, but unfortunately some of Kurdish friends do not
know Kurdish. After lunch and tea we go back to the courses. In the afternoon I have only two
lessons. One of these lessons is literature. In literature class we read texts of English literature. I
particularly like the poems of T. S. Eliot. Eliot’s poems are also (to be found) in Kurdish
(translation). I, too, sometimes write poetry. My courses are finished at 5 o’clock. Then I go
home and at 7 o’clock I have (lit. eat) dinner and tea with my uncle, his wife and their
children.My uncle is a teacher and his wife is a lawyer. I generally study (lit. work on my
lessons) until 11 o’clock and then I read ( a book) for one hour and at midnight I go to sleep.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 3
2
1.1 Exercise
Answer the questions according to the passege.
1. Navê wî çi ye?
................................................................
2. Ew çi karî dike?
................................................................
3. Ew li ku dijî?
................................................................
4. Ew di saet çendan de radibe? ................................................................
5. Çend dersên wî hene?
................................................................
6. Ew ji kîjan dersên xwe hez dike? ...............................................................
7. Ew kengî şîvê dixwin?
................................................................
8. Mam û jinmama wî çi karî dikin? ...............................................................
2. Asking About Jobs
Tu çi karî dikî?
Tu bi çi mijûl î?
Ew çi karî dike?
Bavê te çi karî dike?
Ez endazyar im.
Ew mamoste ye.
Dayika wî şêwirmend e.
What is your job?
What are you busy with?
What is her/his job?
What is your father’s job?
I am (an) engineer.
S/he is (a) teacher.
His mother is (a) consultant.
3. Saet / Time
The basis of expression is saet ‘hour’
Saet çend e?
Saet deh e.
Saet nêzikê çaran e.
Ji diduyan re çarêkek heye
Çaran çarêkek dibore.
What time is it?
It is ten.
It is close to 4 c’clock.
It is a quarter to 2.
It is a quarter past 4.
3.1. Exercise
Write the time according to the pictures below.
Saet çend e?
Saet .....................
.............................
........................... .............................
Wordlist
.............................
.............................
.............................
.............................
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 3
amûrên mitbaxê
arvan
bajar
balkêş
baş
bazar
bi qasî saetekê
carinan
cil û berg
çarêk
çay
danûstandin
ders
diaxivim
dibore
diçim
diçin
dikin
dijîm
dimînim
dişom
dixwînim
dixebitim
dixwim
dîsa
edebiyat
edebiyata amerikî
endazyar
erzanî
fêkî
3
kitchen utensils
flour
city
interesting
good, well
bazar
for one hour
somtimes
clothes
quarter
tea
shopping
lesson, course, work
I speak, I am speaking (1st person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb axavtin ‘to speak’)
he/she/it passes, is passing (3rd person singular form of sîmple present
tense for the verb bihurîn ‘to pass’)
I go, I am going (1st person singular form of simple present tense for
the verb çûn ‘to go’)
we/you/they go/are going (1st, 2nd and 3rd person plural form of
simple present tense for the verb çûn ‘to go’)
we/you/they do/are doing (1st, 2nd and 3rd person plural form of
simple present tense for the verb kirin ‘to do’)
I live (1st person singular form of simple present tense for the verb
jiyan ‘to live’)
I stay/am staying (1st person singular form of simple present tense for
the verb man ‘to stay’)
I wash/am washing (1st person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb şûştin ‘to wash’)
I read/am reading, I study/am studying (1st person singular form of
simple present tense for the verb xwendin ‘to read, to study’)
I work/am working (1st person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb xebitîn to work)
I eat/am eating (1st person singular form of simple present tense for the
verb xwarin ‘to eat’)
again, once more
literature
American literature
engineer
cheapness, low prices
fruit
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 3
firavîn
gelek/gelekî
girîng
hefteyê carekê
helbest
hemû tişt
heta
heval
heye/hene
hêk
hindek
ji
ji ber ku
Jinmam/jinap
kar
kengî
kîjan
kuçe
kurd
lê
li aliyekê din
ligel
malbat
mam/ap
mamoste
mast
mijûl
mixabin
navçe
nêzik
nizanin
niqaş
nivîşk
nîvro
parêzer
pêlav / sol
piranî
4
lunch
very much
important
once in a week
poetry, poem
everything
till/until
friend
there is / there are, exists/exist (also used in expressions of possession,
see below)
egg
some
from
because, since
uncle’s wife
work, job, task, duty
when
which
street
Kurdish
but, however
on the other side/ part
with, together with
family
paternal uncle
teacher
yoghurt
busy
unfortunately
region
close
we/you/they do not know (negative form of 1st, 2nd and 3rd person
plural of simple present tense for the verb zanîn ‘to know’)
discussion
butter
noon
lawyer
shoes
majority; usually, generally, often
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 3
radibim
paşê
piştî ku
rûkenî
sarinc
sebze
ser û çav
sibehan
şekir
şêwirmend
şîr
şîv
taştê
taybetî
tax
tekst
tenê
têm
tirk
vedixwim
xelas dibin
xelk/xelq
xwarin
ya baştir
ya rastî
yek ji wan
zanîngeh
zarok
zû
5
I wake up (1st person singular form of simple present tense for the
verb rabûn ‘to wake up)
later, then
after
cheer, being cheerful
refrigerator
vegetable
literary head and eye, face
in the morning(s)
sugar
consultant
milk
dinner
breakfast
especially, specifically
quarter (Swedish kvarter), neighbourhood
text
alone, only
I come/am coming (1st person singular form of simple present tense for
the verb hatin ‘to come’)
Turkish
I drink/am drinkng (1st person singular form of simple present tense for
the verb vexwarin ‘to drink’)
they finish (3rd person plural form of simple present tense for the verb
xelas bûn ‘to finish’)
the folk, people
food
what is more, moreover
indeed, In fact
one of them
university
child
quickly, early
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 3
6
Grammar / Rêziman 3
A Expressions of existence (‘there is / there are’)
To say that something exists, or is, Kurmanji uses the existential verb hebûn. In fact, it is
really a combination of a particle he- plus the verb bûn (‘to be’), but most descriptions of
Kurdish treat it as a verb in its own right, and we will follow that tradition here. But it is
useful to remember that it is based on the verb bûn, because this makes it easier to understand
the conjugation. In the present tense, the familiar forms of the copula endings (see Grammar
in lesson 1) are simply added to the particle he-, yielding:
Ez he-me
Tu he-yî
Ew he-ye
‘I am, exist’
‘you are, exist’
etc.
Em he-ne
Hûn he-ne
Ew he-ne
In practice, only the third person forms heye and hene are used frequently. They generally
mean ‘there is’ and ‘there are’ respectively:
Li bazarê gelek tişt hene.
Li vir jinek heye.
‘At the market there are many things.’
‘There is a woman here.’
The negative form is tune/nîne:
Li vir jinek tuneye / nîn e
‘there is no woman here’
B Expressions of possession
Kurdish, unlike Persian, does not have a verb corresponding to English have. To say ‘I have
two brothers’, or something similar, different constructions are used in Kurmanji. They are
based on the existential verb hebûn discussed above. To say ‘I have two brothers’, two
possibilities are available:
Possibility 1 (with Izafe):
Du birayên min hene
literally: ‘two brothers of me exist’
Possibility 2 (without Izafe, the possessor comes at the beginning of the sentence and
is in the Oblique case):
Min du bira hene
literally: ‘for me two brothers exist’
Both of these constructions can be found in Kurmanji; different books and descriptions prefer
different ones. We have chosen the second one here, which is more commonly used in the
south of the Kurmanji speech area, particularly in North Iraq around Zakho and Dohuk. But
the other possibility is absolutely acceptable, and in many textbooks it is preferred.
Some further examples of the second possibility:
Min xwişkek heye.
I have a sister.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 3
7
Du pisîkên te hene./Te du pisîk hene.
You have two cats.
Ezmûneke wê heye./Wê ezmûnek heye.
She has an exam.
Pereyên wî hene./Wî pere nîne.
He does not have money.
Pirsek ete heye./Te pirsek heye?
Do you have a question?
Li bazarê penîr tuneye/nîn e. There is not cheese at the bazar.
C The Reflexive Xwe
The reflexive pronoun xwe has different meanings and usages. It always has the same form,
regardless of how it is used.
1. It can be used as possessive pronoun in an Izafe construction:
Ew ji dersên xwe hez dike
She likes her courses.
Ez li gel malbata xwe dimînim. I stay with my family.
Tu li kilîda xwe digerî?
Are you looking for your keys?
2. It can be used as reflexive pronoun as in:
Xelk ji xwe re li bazaran danûstandinê dikin. The people do shopping for themselves
in bazaars.
Ez xwe li rûyê te dibînim.
I see myself in your face.
Dayika min bi xwe mamoste ye
My mother is (a) teacher herself.
3. The reflexive xwe can only be used when it refers to the subject of the sentence it occurs in,
and in this context, it must be used. Compare the following:
Ez ji dayika xwe hez dikim
Tu ji dayika min hez dikî
I love my mother (xwe refers back to the subject Ez)
You love my mother (xwe cannot be used here, because
the subject of the sentence is Tu ‘you’, not the same
person as the possessor in dayika min ‘my mother’
In contexts like this, a form of the Oblique
personal pronoun (see Lesson 2) is used.
C Dema Niha / The Simple Present Tense (Part 1)
1. Verbs in general: stems and infinitive
Each verb in Kurdish has two stems, or basic forms: a present stem, and a past stem. Each
stem is used as the basis for different tenses, moods etc., by adding various prefixes and
suffixes, which will be explained during the course. In this lesson we look at the simple
present tense.
The usual way of referring to a verb is by its infinitive, which is based on the past stem of the
verb. The infinitive is the form that a verb is listed under in the dictionary. It is formed very
simply by adding -n to the past stem. If the stem ends in a consonsant, then a short buffer
vowel -i is inserted before the -n. The formation of the present stem, on the other hand, is
often irregular (see below).
Here are examples of the basic forms of some verbs from this lesson:
MEANİNG
speak, talk
INFİNİTİVE
axaft-in
PAST STEM
axaft-
PRESENT STEM
axiv-
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 3
eat
read, study
work
see
wash
do, make, put
give
know
8
xwar-in
xwend-in
xebitî-n
dît-in
şûşt-in
kir-in
da-n
zanî-n
xwarxwendxebitîdîtşûştkirdazanî-
xwxwînxebitbînşokdzan-
2. The simple present tense
The simple present tense is used for all actions performed in the present, whether continuous
or regularly recurring. It is formed from the present stem (see previous point), to which a
prefix di- is attached. Then the personal endings are added according to each person.
Examples of conjugations are as follow:
Ez
di – xebit – im
present tense prefix
kirin (to do)
Ez di – k – im
Tu di – k – î
Ew di – k – e
present stem
Em di – k – in
Hûn di – k – in
Ew di – k – in
‘I work / am working’
personal ending
xwendin (to read, study)
Ez di – xwîn – im Em di – xwîn – in
Tu di – xwîn – î
Hûn di – xwîn – in
Ew di – xwîn – e
Ew di – xwîn – in
If the verb stem ends in a vowel, the personal endings are as below:
şûştin (to wash)
Ez di –şo – m
Tu di – şo – yî
Ew di – şo
Em di – şo – n
Hûn di – şo – n
Ew di – şo – n
3. The negative form of the simple present tense is derived by replacing di- with the nanegation marker:
xwarin (to eat)
Ez na – xw – im
Tu na – xw – î
Ew na – xw – e
Em na – xw – in
Hûn na – xw – in
Ew na – xw – in
xebitîn (to work)
Ez na-xebit-im etc.
However, there are two exceptions to the negation marker. The negative form of the present
tense prefix for the verb zanîn (to know) and karîn (to be able) is formed by replacing diwith ni- instead of na-:
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 3
zanîn (to know)
Ez ni – zan – im Em ni – zan – in
Tu ni – zan – î Hûn ni – zan – in
Ew ni – zan – e Ew ni – zan – in
9
karîn (to know)
Ez ni – kar – im Em ni – kar – in
Tu ni – kar – î Hûn ni – kar – in
Ew ni – kar – e Ew ni – kar – in
3. Common irregular verbs in the present tense:
There are two irregular verbs conjugated differently both in affirmative and negative
sentences in present tense. These are hatin (to come) and anîn (to bring).
Hatin (to come)
Affirmative
Ez têm
Em tên
Tu tê
Hûn tên
Ew tê
Ew tên
Negative
Ez nayêm Em nayên
Tu nayê Hûn nayên
Ew naye Ew nayên
Anîn (to bring)
Affirmative
Ez tînim Em tînin
Tu tînî
Hûn tînin
Ew tîne
Ew tînin
Negative
Ez naynim Em naynin
Tu naynî Hûn naynin
Ew nayne Ew naynin
5. Compound verbs
The verb vexwarin (to drink) which was previously used in the text is a compound verb,
based on a particle ve- plus the verb xwarin ‘eat’. We will deal with these verbs in a different
lesson, but for the time being it is important to note that the present tense prefix comes
between the preverbal particle and the present stem:
from vexwarin the first person singular present is:
from rabûn ‘get up’ the first person singular present is:
ve-di-xw-im
ra-di-b-im
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 3
10
6. Exercises
6.1
Translate the following phrases into Kurdish:
1. At seven O'clock I come home.
(note: destinations in Kurdish are usually put after theverb)
2. I don’t know.
3. What does your father do (what is his job)?
4. They are not coming.
5. Rojbin (girl’s name) doesn’t like her (own) teacher.
(‘like’: hez kirin, the object is introduced with the preposition ji)
6. We are drinking water (av).
7. They are not drinking milk.
8. She studies American literature.
9. We don’t work at the bazar.
10. Who is reading my book? (book is feminine - see Izafe in Lesson 2!)
11. We have a large house.
12. He has two sisters.
13. I don’t have yoghurt.
14. When is your brother coming?
6.2
Translate the following into English:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Ez îro nayêm. (îro=today)
Hûn kengî diçin dersê?
Navê hevalê te çi ye?
Em li gel malbata xwe dimînin.
Min xwişkek heye.
Min pere nîn e.
Tu ji dayika min hez dikî
Tu ji dayika xwe hez dikî
Ez destê xwe dişom.
List the infinitives from all the verbs you used exercise 6.1 and 6.2. If you used a form of ‘to
be’, write the infinitive bûn.
(for example: in the first sentence in 6.1 you used a form of the verb hatin ‘come’)
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 4
1
LESSON 4
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will continue to discover more about the simple present tense,
prepositions, postpositions and circumpositions and different time expressions.
By the end of this lesson you will:
• have learned about prepositions, postpositions and circumpositions and contracted
prepositions
• have learned a number of expressions for describing times
• deepened your knowledge of the present tense of a variety of different verbs, both
simple and complex
1. Tekst: Mala Nêrgizê
Nêrgiz hesabgir e û ew li Amedê dijî. Maleke Nêrgizê heye. Mala wê biçûk e; lê belê pir
şirîn e. Di mala wê de du ode, mitbexek, serşokek û daşirek hene. Nêrgiz ne zengîn e; lê
belê mala wê pir rengîn e. Tê de her tişt heye: televîzyon, palgeh, mase û kursî, tabloyên
wêneyan, dolab û sêpî, xalîçeyeke sor, gul û guldank, û gelek tiştên din. Mala wê li
derveyî bajarî ye. Cihê mala wê pir xweş e û bi dar û hêşînahî ye. Li rex mala wê,
parkeke lîstin û seyranê heye. Park pir nêzikî mala wê ye; di navbera mala wê û parkê de
bi tenê kolanek heye. Park ne mezin e; lê belê paqij û fireh e. Di wê parkê de her cure dar
û giya hene.
Nêrgiz di mala xwe de bi tenê nîn e; pisîkeke wê heye. Navê pisîka wê Kuncî ye. Kuncî
pir şirîn e; lê hinekî şûm e. Her gav derdikeve ser mase û nivînan. Di cihê xwe de
nasekine. Nêrgiz di dawiya hefteyê de naxebite. Rojên şemî, sibehê mala xwe paqij dike
û êvarê jî diçe cem hevalên xwe. Jiyaneke Nêrgizê ya aram û rihet heye. Ew ji mal û halê
xwe pir razî ye.
Translation: The House of Nêrgiz
Nêrgiz is an accountant and she lives in Amed. Nêrgiz has a house. Her house is small
but very sweet. In her house, there are two rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and a restroom
(toilet). Nêrgiz is not rich but her house is quite colorful. There is everything in it: TV,
armchair, table, chair, paintings, cupboard and coffee table, a red carpet, a vase with
flowers, and many other things. Her house is outside of the city. The neighbourhood of
her house is green and there are trees around (lit. with trees and greenness). Next to her
house there is a park for playing and jogging. The park is very close to her house; there is
only one street between her house and the park. The park is not large (lit. big) yet it is
clean and airy. In that park, there are all kinds of tree and plants (dar û giya tree and
plants are in sngl. form, the plurality is observed on the verb hene).
Nêrgiz is not alone in her house; she has a cat. The name of her cat is Kuncî. Kuncî is
very sweet but she is little bit naughty. Always goes on the table and bedding (nivînan is
the plural form in K.) She (Kuncî) does not stay in her place. Nêrgiz does not work on the
weekend. On Saturdays, in the morning (sibehê) she cleans her house and in the evening
goes to her friends. Nêrgiz has a calm and comfortable life. She is very content with her
situation.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 4
2
Exercise
Read the text and answer the questions as accurately as possible:
1. Nêrgiz li kû derê dijî?
2. Maleke Nêrgizê ya çawa heye?
3. Di mala Nêrgizê de çend ode hene?
4. Mala Nêrgizê li ku derê ye? Li nav bajarî ye an li derveyî bajarî ye? (li derveyî
=‘outside of’)
5. Park li ku derê ye?
6. Di parkê de çi û çi hene?
7. Nêrgiz di mala xwe de bi kê re dijî?
8. Nêrgiz kîjan rojan naxebite?
9. Nêrgiz kengî diçe cem hevalên xwe?
10. Gelo Nêrgiz ji mal û halê xwe bêzar e?
1.2 Exercise
The sentences below are taken from the text above. Fill in the blanks paying attention to
the usages of the prepositions and postpositions. It is suggested that you work on this
exercise after studying the related part in the Grammar section.
Nêrgiz …. Amedê dijî. Di mala wê …. du ode hene. Mala Nêrgizê li ……….. bajarî ye.
…......... mala wê parkek heye. Di ………….. mala wê û parkê de bi tenê kolanek heye.
Kuncî pir şûm e. Her gav derdikeve …… maseyê. Nêrgiz ….. halê xwe pir razî ye.
2. Vocabulary
2.1 Danên Rojê/Times of a day
sibeh morning
nîvro noon
şev night
danê sibehê the morning time
danê nîvro noon
danê şevê night time
• berbang /şefeq dawn
• sibeh /beyanî
morning
• nîvro
noon
• piştî nîvro
afternoon
• esr /berêvar
late afternoon, early evening
• êvar
evening
• şev
night
• nîvşev
midnight
Elî berbanga sibehê diçe ser karê xwe. Elî sets out to his work at dawn.
Nêrgiz her sibeh gulên xwe av dide.
Nêrgiz waters her flowers every morning.
Li vira, nîvro pir germ dibe.
Her, it is very hot at noon.
Zarok piştî nîvro diçine melevaniyê.
The children go swimming in the afternoon.
Salih êvarê zû vedigere mala xwe.
Salih returns home early in the evening.
Bi şev zû razin da ku sibehê zû rabin.
Sleep early at night to wake up early in the
morning.
Nîvê şevê li gundê me tu kes dernakeve. At midnight nobody in our village goes out.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 4
2.2 Days of the week/Rojên hefteyê
Duşem
Monday
Sêşem
Tuesday
Çarşem
Wednesday
Pêncşem
Thursday
În
Friday
Şemî
Saturday
Yekşem
Sunday
3
Îro çi roj e?
Îro pêncşem e.
What day is it today?
It is Thursday.
Nêrgiz roja şemiyê naxebite.
Nêrgiz does not work on Sunday.
Ez roja sêşemê diçime cem malbata xwe.
I am going to my family on Tuesday.
2.3 Hindek Hokerên Demê /Some Time Adverbs
Duhî yesterday →îro today →sibe tomorrow
Par last year →îsal this year →sala tê next year
Berê before →niha now → paşê later
niha
paşê
pişt re
dû re
berê/berî
duhî
îro/ ev roj
sibe
par
îsal/ev sal
sala tê
berî deh salan
piştî deh salan
her roj
her gav/her tim
her meh
her sal
tu/çu caran
hindek caran
carinan
kêm caran
gelek caran
now
later
later on
afterwards
before
yesterday
today
tomorrow
last year
this year
next year
ten years ago
after ten years
every day
always
every month
every year
never
sometimes
sometimes
rarely
usually
3. Exercises
a. In the previous lesson we had explained the present tense in Kurmanji. Turn back to
the related section, if needed, and try to place the right verb in the blanks. Note that in
this exercise the verbs are already conjugated.
hez dike /dixwe /radibe /diaxive /temaşe dike /dijî /vedigere /diçe
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 4
4
Salih xwendekarekî bîst û du salî ye. Ew li Stenbolê (1)………….. Salih sibehan pir zû
(2)………….., taştiyê dixwe û (3)…………… zanîngehê. Firavînê li zanîngehê, ligel
hevalên xwe (4)…………... Salih li zanîngehê bi kurdî (5)…………. Salih ji dersên xwe
pir (6)……….. Salih bi şev zû (7)…………. malê. Piştî şîvê, li televîzyonê
(8)………………... û di saet 11an de radizê.
b. Conjugate the verbs in the table in the present tense.
Infinitive
birin
çûn
kirin
lîstin
meşîn
rabûn
rûniştin
têgihiştin
xebitîn
xwendin
xwestin
vexwarin
winda kirin
zivirîn
English
bring
go
do
play
walk, take a walk
get up
sit
understand
work
read, study
request, want
drink
lose
turn (back), rotate
Ez
dibim
Tu
Ew
Em/Hûn/Ew
radibe
têdigihin
vedixwe
Wordlist
av
av dide
bajar (syn. şehr)
baran
bi dar
bi roj
bi şev
bi tenê
biçûk
bikarî
kolan
çawa/çawan
çay
çend
çente (syn. kîf)
çi
cih/cî
water
he/she waters (3rd person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb av dan ‘to water’)
city
rain
bi: with; dar: tree. Somewhere where there are trees.
in the daytime, during daytime
at night
alone, only
small
if you can (the present subjunctive form of the verb karîn ‘to be
able to’)
street
how
tea
how many
bag
what
place
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 4
çima (syn. bo çi)
çîmen
ciwan (ant. pîr)
dan
dawiya hefteyê
delal
dereng (ant. zû)
derî
dernakeve
derve
zengîn (ant.
xizan,
dewlemend)
di ……. re
di bin …… de
diaxive
why
lawn
young
time of the day
weekend (dawî: end; hefte: week)
beatiful, lovely
late
door
he/she/it does not go out (negative form of 3rd person singular
form of simple present tense for the verb derketin ‘to go out’)
outside; abroad
feqîr, wealthy
hejar,
dibare
diçe
dijî
dil; dilan
dinive
dirêj (ant. kurt, kin)
dîsa jî
dixwe
dolab
dûr (ant. nêzik)
ev jiyan
êvarê
fireh
fîncan
seyran
gîtar
giya
gul
guldank
havîn
heftî/hefte
5
Through; ex: Kûçik di nav daran re çûn
Under (in locative case)
he/she/it speaks (3rd person singular form of simple present
tense for the verb axaftin ‘to speak’)
it rains (3rd person singular form of simple present tense for the
verb barîn ‘to rain’)
he/she/it goes (3rd person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb çûn ‘to go’)
he/she/it lives (3rd person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb jiyan ‘to live’)
dil: heart; dilan: the plural of the noun dil.
he/she/it sleeps (3rd person singular form of simple present
tense for the verb nivistin ‘to sleep’)
long
again, still
he/she/it eats (3rd person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb xwarin ‘to eat’)
cupboard
far
this life (ev: this; life: jiyan)
in the evening
wide
cup
infinitive form of the verb ‘to travel; to wander’
guitar
grass
rose; flower
vase (gul: flower; dank: a suffix giving the sense of containing)
summer (payîz: autumn; zivistan: winter; bihar: spring)
week
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 4
hêlekan
serşok
her cure
her gav (syn. Her tim)
hesabgir
hêşînahî
heval
hevalên xwe
hez dike
hirçok
îskan
ji bo
jîn
jîr
jiyaneke aram
kal
kar
kê
kengî
kî
kîjan
kû derê
kulîlk
kuncî
kursî
kurt
lê belê
lîstin
li derveyî
li jêr
li jor
li rex
li ser
li vira
ligel
xalîçe
mal
mal û hal
mam (syn. ap)
mase
melevanî (syn. sobanî)
mitbex
mezin (ant. biçûk)
6
swing
bath
every kind (her: every, each; cure: kind (syn. tixm, babet)
always
accounter
green
friend
friend’s of self (Salih bi şev diçe cem hevalên xwe. Salih goes to
his friends at night)
he/she/it likes, loves (3rd person singular form of simple present
tense for the verb hez kirin ‘to like, love’)
teddy bear
cup for tea
for
life
clever, smart, wise
a peaceful life (jiyan+eke aram)
old
work
who (in oblique case)
when
who
which
where
flower; bud
oleaster, sesame; here the name of the cat
chair
short
but; however
the infinitive form of the verb ‘to play’
out of ….. (in oblique case)
below (in oblique case, by itself jêr would not be in oblique)
above (in obl. case)
next (in obl. case)
on (in obl. case)
here (in obl. case)
together with
carpet
home
general material and psychological situation of someone
uncle
table
swimming
kitchen
big
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 4
şûm
mûzîsyen
nasekine
nav
navber
nazik
nexweş
nêzik (ant. dûr)
nivîn
ode
palgeh
paqij; paqij kirin (syn.
temîz, pak, xawên)
park
pênûs (syn. qelem)
pere
pîr (syn. kal; ant.
ciwan, cahil)
pirtûk (syn. kitêb)
pisîk (also kitik)
piyal
por
qehwe
radibe
7
naughty
musicien
he/she/it does not stop, stand (negative 3rd person singular,
simple present tense of sekinîn ‘to stop, to stand’)
name
interval, between
fragile
ill, fatigue
near, close
bedding
room
armchair
clean; to clean up
park
pen
money
old
book
cat
glass
hair
coffe
he/she/it wakes up (3rd person singular form of simple present
tense for the verb rabûn ‘to wake up, to stand up’)
rengîn
colorful
roj
day; sun
rûdine
he/she/it sits down, lives (3rd person singular form of simple
present tense for the verb rûniştin ‘to sit down; to live’)
şeng
charm
sêpî
coffe table
serbest
free; freely
şirîn
sweet; lovely
sibehê
in the morning
sil kirin (syn. tûre Infinitive of the verb ‘to offend, to make angry’
kirin; xeyidandin)
tablo
tableau
tê de
in it (This usage requires a preceding context)
tebeq
floor (du tebeq: double floor)
televîzyon
television
temaşe kirin
infinitive of the verb ‘to watch’
temîz
clean
tenha/tenê
alone; solitary place
terxan
satisfied; comfortable
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 4
tev cîhan
tiral, tembel
tiştên din
tu kes
daşir/tuwalet
vedigere
8
the whole world (tev: all; cîhan: the world)
lazy
other things (tişt: thing; din: other)
nobody
toilet
he/she/it returns (3rd person singular form of simple present
tense for the verb vegeriyan ‘to return’)
vedihese (syn. bêhna he/she/it rests (3rd person singular form of simple present tense
xwe dan)
for the verb vehesiyan ‘to rest’)
vî tiştî
this thing; this
wêne
painting
xanî
house
zext/xişmî
violence; violent act (in oblique case, see next lesson)
xurt (ant. zeîf; lawaz)
strong, powerful
xwendekar
student
zarok
child; children
zeîf (syn. lawaz)
weak
zû
early; fast
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 4
9
Grammar / Rêziman 4
A) Prepositions, Postpositions, Circumpositions and Contracted Prepositions
In Kurmanji there are prepositions, postpositions and circumpositions. The topic is quite complex, and in
this introductory course we will only be showing you the most important features of these structures.
Furthermore, there is quite a lot of variation among the different varieties of Kurmanji. However, the most
important words are constant across the different varieties. There are three basic prepositions, found in all
varieties of Kurmanji:
li ‘at, in’;
ji ‘from’;
bi ‘through, by’
In addition, there are prepositions like ser ‘on’; bin ‘under’, which may be combined with the basic three
prepositions (li ser ‘on, about’, as in li ser zimanê kurdî ‘about/on the Kurdish language’) or used alone, as
in ser çavan ‘on eyes’, meaning ‘at your disposal’, an expression of friendly respect and agreement.
One difficult feature of Kurmanji is the widespread use of circumpositions: these are made up of a
preposition plus one of three particles which follow the relevant word (or phrase). The three particles are:
ve, de, re (in some varieties pronounced: va, da, ra). For example:
bi te re ‘with you’
ji te re ‘for you, to you’
ji îro ve ‘from today onwards’
In addition, there are circumpositions with a first element di. Unlike the basic prepositions discussed above,
this element can not occur by itself, but only in combination with a final particle:
di mala wê de ‘in her house’
di ... re ‘through’
The final particles have a vague meaning, approximately as follows: de usually adds a meaning of
stationary position; while re adds some sense of togetherness; and finally ve adds some sense of getting
away from.
Note that the nouns and pronouns following the prepositions are in Oblique case. We have already
discussed the Oblique case for pronouns, and in the next lesson we look at the Oblique case for nouns.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 4
10
Grammar / Rêziman 4 (continued)
Some common prepositions and circumpositions with examples are the following:
ba/nik/cem ‘to, towards’
Ew her roj diçe cem hevalên xwe. (used mostly with persons)
Every day he goes to his friends.
bi ‘with, by means of’
Ez bi bisîkletê diçim dibistanê.
I go to school by bicycle.
bi …re ‘with’
Bisekine! Ez jî bi te re têm bazarê.
Stop! (=imperative of sekinîn ‘wait, stop), I too will come to the market
with you.
bo ‘for; to’
Ji kerema xwe bo min çayekî dagire.
If you would be so kind, pour a tea for me.
di nav …de ‘inside of, among’ Tu çi dikî di nav avê de?
What are you putting into the water?
di navbera …de ‘between’
Welatê me di navbera Ferat û Dîcleyê de ye.
Our homeland is between the Euphrates and the Tigris (rivers)
heta ‘until’
Ez heta saet nehê şevê kar dikim.
I am working until nine O’clock in the evening.
ji ‘from, of’
Derya ji Qoserê ye.
Derya is from Qoser.
Mast ji şîr çêdibe.
Yoghurt is made of milk.
ji …re ‘to’
Ez ji te re dibêjim lê tu ji çu kesî re nebêje (=imperative of gotin).
I tell you but don’t you tell it to anyone (lit. no-one).
ji…ve ‘from; since’
Ji saet heftê sibehê ve kar dikim.
I have been working since 7 in morning.
ji bilî ‘except for; other than’ Di malbata wan de ji bilî wî tu kes kar nake.
In their family no-one works except for him.
ji bo ‘for’
Hemî hewla min ji bo wî ye.
All my effort is for him.
li ber ‘in front of’
Zû were! (imperative of hatin ‘come’) Li ber bankê li hêviya te me.
Come quickly! I am waiting for you in front of the bank.
li dijî ‘against’
Em li dijî neheqiyê têdikoşin.
We struggle against injustice.
ligel ‘with; along with’
Kuncî jî ligel zarokan dileyîze.
Kuncî too plays with the children.
li gorî ‘according to’
Li gorî wî em neheq in.
According to him, we are wrong.
li pêş ‘in front of’
Demhat di sinifê de li pêş Rûkenê rûdine.
Demhat sits in front of Rûken in the classroom.
li rex ‘beside’
Malên wan li rex hev in.
Their houses are next to each other.
li ser ‘on, over’
Bîne, deyne (imperatives of anîn ‘bring’ and danîn ‘put’) li ser vê maseyê.
Bring (it) and put (it) on this table!
wekî/mîna ‘like; as’
Rast e, ez jî wekî te difikirim.
That’s right, I too think like you / think the same way as you.
piştî ‘after’
Piştî saet heftê êvarî vedigere malê.
After seven O’clock in the evening (he / she) returns home.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 4
11
Contracted prepositions
When the three basic prepositions mentioned above (bi, ji and li) are used with the third person pronoun
ew, this pronoun must go into the Oblique case, either wê (feminine), or wî (masculine). In such
combinations, what usually happens is that the preposition blends together with the pronoun, yielding the
following forms:
bi +wê/wî >pê ‘through him/her/it’
ji+wê/wî >jê ‘from him/her/it’
li+wê/wî >lê ‘at/in him/her/it’
The same thing happens to the particle di (recall from above that this particle does not occur by itself as a
preposition, but only together with a final particle as a circumposition):
di + wî/wê > tê, for example: di wê de > tê de ‘in it’
Some examples are the following:
Bavê wî her roj jê re (=ji wî re) pere dişîne.
His father sends him money every day.
Mala ku ez tê de (=di wê de) dimînim gelek fireh e. The house which I stay at is very large.
Ez pê (=bi wê) penêr hûr dikim.
I am slicing the cheese with it.
Keçik lê (=li wê) dinihêre.
The girl is looking at (smb/smth).
B Conjugation of Verbs in Simple Present Tense (Continuation from previous lessons)
1. Recall that in Kurdish, each verb has two stems. The simple present tense is based o the present stem of
the verb and is created by adding the prefix di- to it. The present stem itself is extremely important, because
it also forms the basis of the subjunctive mood, the imperative, (see next lesson), and the future tense!
The main difficulty with the present stem is that for most of the common verbs in the language, it cannot
easily be predicted from the infinitive. For these verbs, then, you just have to learn the form of the present
stem off by heart. There are, however, two rules which are helpful for some verbs:
Rule i: For verbs with an infinitive ending in –în, the present stem can readily be formed simply by
dropping–în. For example:
Infinitive
Present stem
karîn ‘can, be able’
karkirîn ‘buy’
kirkenîn ‘laugh, smile’
kenpirsîn ‘ask’
pirsxebitîn ‘to work’
xebitzanîn ‘know’
zanzewicîn ‘marry’
zewiczivirîn ‘turn (back)’
zivirRule ii: Verbs which end in -andin (or -endin) in the infinitive replace this with -în in to make the present
stem:
xwendin ‘read, study’
xwînşandin ‘send’
şînşikandin ‘break’
şikînkişandin ‘pull’
kişînstandin ‘receive’
stînFor most of the other common verbs, the present stem must be learnt together with the infinitive. Here is a
list of the commonest verbs together with their present stems, and the first person singular present (‘I am
driving / drive’ etc.)
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 4
Infinitive
ajotin (to drive)
anîn (to bring)
axaftin (to speak)
avêtin (to throw away)
birin (to take away)
bûn (to become)
bûn (to be)
çûn (to go)
dan (to give)
danîn (to place)
Present stem
ajoînaxivavêjbbçdda-în
12
First Person Singular Present
dajom
tînim (di-înim becomes tînim)
diaxivim
davêjim
dibim
dibim
-im
diçim
didim
datînim (see anîn above; this verb is actually
from da-anîn, i.e. it has a preverb da-)
dîtin (to see)
bîndibînim
firotin (to sell)
firoşdifiroşim
gihiştin (to reach, to arrive)
gihdigihim
girtin (to catch)
girdigirim
hatin (to come)
ê
têm
hêlan (to allow, to leave)
hêldihêlim
jiyan (to live)
jîdijîm
ketin (to fall)
kevdikevim
kirin (to do)
kdikim
kolan (to dig)
koldikolim
lîstin (to play)
leyîzdileyîze
mayîn (to remain)
mîndimînim
mirin (to die)
mirdimirim
nivistin (to sleep)
nivdinivim
nivîsîn (to write)
nivîsdinivîsim
nêrîn (to look)
nêrdinêrim
xistin (to drop, strike)
xdixim/dixînim
xwarin (to eat)
xwdixwim
xwestin (to want)
xwazdixwazim
şûştin (to wash)
şodişom
Note that generally, the -i of the present tense prefix is dropped when the present stem of the verb begins
with a vowel: dajom (not di-ajom) ‘I drive’. Note also that the present tense of anîn is tînim, rather than the
expected dînim, and from hatin ‘come’ we have têm (actually a contraction of di-hê-m)
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 5
1
LESSON 5
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will learn and be exposed to new grammatical structures in the present tense and
use them in meaningful contexts, and see the usages of the nouns in oblique case, certain names for
occupations, expressions of frequency and terminology for month and the days of the week.
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
• Use the modal verbs for expressing the wishes, abilities and requirements,
• Conjugate the verbs in present tenses and also in subjunctive form,
• Detect and use the nouns in oblique case.
1. Text: Şîva Pîrozbahiyê The Celebration Dinner
Listen to the conversation the first time without reading the text and try to answer the questions in
Exercise 1.
In a café in Uppsala, Naz, Serdar, Selîm and Helîn are sitting down talking. Naz is telling the
others a piece of news, and she also makes an offer to the others:
Diyalog/Dialog
Garson:
Serdar:
Garson:
….
Naz:
Helîn:
Naz:
Serdar:
Naz:
Qehwe ya kê ye?
Qehwe ya min e. Kola ya wê, bîra ya xanimê ye û av jî bo hevalî ye.
Kerem bikin.
Ha, ez dixwazim xeberekê bidime we.
Xebera xêrê ye înşellah. De bibêje Nazê.
Roja înê birayê min î Rênas ji Kurdistanê tê.
Rastî! Welleh divê em vê yekê pîroz bikin.
Ê baş e vê gavê! Ez dixwazim we bikim mêvan. Şeva şemiyê, li mala min.
Hûn dikarin bên?
Serdar:
Pir baş dibe! Ez dikarim bêm. Ez dixwazim Rênasî bibînim.
Selîm:
Nazê tu xwarinên xweş çêdikî?
Naz:
Zêde ne xerab im bo xwarinçêkirinê. Ez dikarim tirşik û qelîsêlkê çêkim ji
we re. Tu dixwazî bêyî an ne?
Selîm:
Mixabin ez nikarim bêm. Ji ber ku şeva şemiyê civîna min heye. Divê
beşdarî wê civînê bibim.
Helîn:
Ê min, ez gelek dixwazim xwarinên destê te bixwim; lê belê ez niha nizanim ka
dikarim bêm an nikarim (but now I do not know whether I can come or not).
Naz:
Em jî gelek dixwazin tu bêyî. Heta sibe xeberekê bide me.
Helîn:
Baş e, spas.
Translation:
Waiter:
For whom (whose) is the coffee?
Serdar:
The coffee is mine. The Cola is hers, the beer is for the lady and the water
is for the (this) friend.
Waiter:
Here you are!
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 5
2
--Naz:
Helîn:
Naz:
Serdar:
Naz:
Look! I want to tell you (give you) a piece of news.
Hopefully it is good news. Say it Naz.
On (the day of) Friday my brother Rênas will come from Kurdistan.
Really! By God, we have to celebrate this (event).
Sure (lit. it is good)! I want to host you. At Saturday night, in our home.
Can you come?
Serdar:
It will be very good. I can come. I want to see (meet) Rênas.
Selîm:
Naz, do you cook good food (lit. meal) ?
Naz:
I am not too bad at cooking. I can cook (prepare) tirşik and qelîsêlik for
you. Do you want to come or not?
Selîm:
Unfortunately I can’t come. Because on Saturday night I have a meeting. I
must (have to) participate in that meeting.
Helîn:
As for me, I very much want to eat (taste) a meal cooked (prepared) by
you (your hand), but at the moment (lit. now) I do not know whether I can
come or
not.
Naz:
We also very much want you to come (lit. that you come). Tell us (give us
news) whether you come or not by tomorrow.
Helîn:
Well (it is good), thanks.
1.1 Exercise
Answer the questions below according to the text.
1. Çend kes li maseyê rûdinin?
2. Kî ji Kurdistanê vedigere?
3. Kî hevalan vedixwîne şîvê?
4. Şîv kîjan rojê ye? Kengî ye?
1.2 Rast an Xelet Right or Wrong
Read the dialogue again and decide whether the sentences are right (R) or wrong (X).
a. …. Birayê ji Kurdistanê Serdarî tê.
b. …. Naz dixwaze hevalên xwe bike mêvan.
c. …. Serdar nikare biçe şîvê.
d. …. Şîv şeva yekşemê ye.
e. …. Serdar dixwaze Rênasî bibîne.
f. …. Selîm dikare biçe şîvê.
g. …. Selîm nikare biçe şîvê. Ji ber ku divê beşdarî civînekê bibe.
h. …. Naz dikare tirşikê çêke.
i. …. Naz naxwaze Helîn biçe şîvê.
j. …. Helîn naxwaze xwarinên destê Nazê bixwe.
Navên Mehan/Names of the Months
There are a couple sets of month names in use in Kurdish; the names presented below comprise the
more widespread ones:
1. Rêbendan January
7. Tîrmeh
July
2. Reşemî
February
8. Tebax
August
3. Adar
March
9. Rezber
Septembre
4. Avrêl
April
10. Kewçêr October
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 5
5. Gulan
6. Pûşper
May
June
3
11. Sermawez November
12. Berfanbar December
Çar demsalên salê The four seasons of the year
Bihar: Spring
Havîn: Summer
Payîz: Autumn
Zivistan: Winter
Adar, Nîsan û Gulan mehên demsala biharê ne.
March, April and May are the months of the spring season.
Pûşper, Tîrmeh û Tebax havîn e.
June, July and August are (the months of the) summer.
Rezber, Kewçêr û Sermawez mehên payîzê ne.
September, October and November are the months of the autumn.
Mehên demsala zivistanê Berfanbar, Rêbendan û Reşemî ne.
The months of winter season are December, January and February.
Celadet Alî Bedirxan di 26ê nîsana 1893an de hatiye dinyayê.
Celadet Alî Bedir-Xan was born in April 26, 1893 (lit. 26 of the April of 1893)
Havîn bi meha pûşperê dest pê dike.
Summer starts with (month of) June.
Zivistanê, bi taybetî meha rêbendanê, Kurdistan pir sar e.
In winter, especially in (the month of) January, Kurdistan is very cold.
Di salekê de duwanzdah meh hene.
There are twelve months in a year. (Lit. In one year, twelve months exist.)
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 5
4
Grammar / Rêziman 5
A) The modal verbs: expressing ‘can’, ‘want’ and ‘must’
The two modal verbs xwestin and karîn behave just like other verbs in the present tense (see last lesson); they take the
xwestin (xwaz-)
Ez dixwazim bêm
‘I want to come’
karîn (kar-)
Ez dikarim bilîzim
‘I can play’
viyan (vê-)
Divê ez bixebitim
‘I must work’
Tu dixwazî bêyî
Ew dixwaze bê
Em/hûn/ew dixwazin bên
Tu dikarî bilîzî
Ew dikare bilîze
Em/hûn/ew dikarin bilîzin
Divê tu bixebitî
Divê ew bixebite
Divê em/hûn/ew bixebitin
Negative
nexwestin
Ez naxwazim bêm
Tu naxwazî bêyî
Ew naxwaze bê
nikarîn
Ez nikarim bilîzim
Tu nikarî bilîzî
Ew nikare bilîze
divê neDivê ez nexebitim
Divê tu nexebitî
Divê ew nexebite
Examples
Em naxwazin bên
Hûn nikarin bilîzin
Divê ew nexebitin
‘We don’t want to come’
‘You can not play’
‘They must not work’
Tu dixwazî bêyî sînemayê?
Tu dikarî li bisîkletê siwar bibî?
Divê tu ji bo îmtîhanê çi bikî?
‘Do you want to come to the ‘Can you (=do you know how to)
‘What do you have to do for the
cinema?’
ride a bike?’
examination?’
present tense prefix di-, which is replaced by the negation prefix when the verb is negated. However, the present tense
negation of karîn is irregular: it is ni-kar- (not the expected na-kar-).
The modal construction
In Kurmanji, instead of saying I want to go, we say literally I want I go, and the second verb (go) takes the ending for
the first person singular, just like the first verb does. The second pronoun (here: ez) is, however, normally ommitted.
The second verb in a modal construction is in a special form, the subjunctive. This form is also used to express
commands and orders, i.e. in the imperative, but with the endings -e (sg.) and -in (pl.): bide min! ‘give me!’
The Subjunctive
¾
The subjunctive form of the verb is based on the present stem, but it takes a special bi- subjunctive prefix.
Otherwise, the verbs are conjugated just as in normal present tenses, i.e. the same set of person endings is
added to the present stems. However, the negation of the subjunctive verb is not with na-, but with ne-. This
also replaces the subjunctive prefix bi-.
¾ In compound verbs written as one word like wergirtin (wer+girtin), vekirin (ve+kirin), derketin (der+ketin),
the subjunctive prefix bi- is often omitted:
• Ez dixwazim pencereyê vekim. I want to open the window.
• Ez dikarim wê kitêbê bo çend rojan wergirim? Can I take that book for a few days?
• Divê ez derkevim. I need to leave.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 5
5
2.1 Exercise
Listen to the dialogue above and fill in the blanks in the text of the dialogue below.
Garson: Qehwe … kê ye?
Serdar: Qehwe ya min e. Kola … wê, bîra ya xanimê ye û av jî bo hevalî ye.
Garson: Kerem bikin.
….
Naz:
Ha, ez dixwazim xeberekê ………. we.
Helîn:
Xebera xêrê ye înşellah. De …… Nazê.
Naz:
Roja înê birayê min î Rênas ji Kurdistanê tê.
Serdar:
Rastî! Welleh divê em vê pîroz ……..
Naz:
Ê baş e vêga! Ez dixwazim we bikim mêvan. Şeva şemiyê, li mala min. Hûn
……… bên?
Serdar:
Pir baş dibe! Ez dikarim bêm. Ez dixwazim Rênasî ……….
Selîm:
Nazê tu xwarinên xweş çêdikî?
Naz:
Zêde ne xerab im bo xwarinçêkirinê. Ez dikarim tirşik û qelîsêlkê …….. ji we
re. Tu dixwazî bêyî an ne?
Selîm:
Mixabin ez nikarim bêm. Ji ber ku şeva şemiyê civîna min heye. …… ez beşdarî
wê civînê bibim.
Helîn:
Ê min, ez gelek dixwazim xwarinên destê te bixwim; lê belê ez niha nizanim
ka dikarim bêm an ………..
Naz:
Em jî gelek dixwazin tu bêyî. Heta sibehê xeberekê …….. me.
Helîn:
Baş e, spas.
2.2 Hîndarî/Exercise
Complete the sentences below using the modal verbs karîn and xwestin.
1. Elîşêr …dikare... (karîn) bi kurdî ..binivîse.. (nivîsandin).
2. Serdar ……… (karîn) ………. (çûn) şîvê.
3. Helîn ………. (xwestin) xwarinên Nazê ……… (xwarin).
4. Em ……….. (xwestin) li fîlmê Nîwey Mang …………. (temaşe kirin).
5. Ew ………... (karîn) li hespî ………….. (siwar bûn).
6. Xwîşka min ……….. (ne/karîn) trimbêlê ………. (ajotin).
7. Birayê hevalê min ………… (xwestin) ………. (bûn) pîlot.
8. Cindî …………. (xwestin) pirtûkên bi kurdî ………… (xwendin).
9. Arjîn û Ciwan ………… (ne/xwestin) sibehê zû ……….. (rabûn).
Grammar / Rêziman 5 (Continue)
B) The Oblique case of nouns and pronouns
In previous lessons we had worked on two sets of pronouns in Kurdish, namely pronouns in the direct case
and pronouns in oblique case. Oblique pronouns, min, te, wî/wê, me, we, wan, are used (a) as subjects in
sentences with past transitive verbs; (b) as objects in all present tense verbs; (c) as possessors in an izafe
construction (as the second or following element of an izafe construction); (d) when they follow a
preposition or used in a circumposition (e) as possessors in a sentential possessive construction.
In Kurmanji the oblique case is, in addition to pronouns, also a feature of nouns as well. It is called tewang
in the grammar of Kurmanji and the nouns in the oblique case receive oblique endings. The endings which a
name receives depend on its gender, and its number. The oblique case of feminine nouns and plural nouns is
very regular, but with masculine nouns there are quite a lot of complications. Here are the feminine and
plural forms first:
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 5
6
–ê in feminine nouns:
Ez jinikê dibînim ‘I see the woman’
–an in plural nouns:
Dara hespan difiroşe ‘Dara is selling the horses’
With masculine nouns, the oblique ending is, in some varieties of Kurmanji, -î, and this has become fairly
standard in the written language, though not all speakers produce this ending:
Masc.: -î
Dara karkerî dinase. Dara knows the worker.
When the noun has an indefinite ending -ek (recall previous lessons), the endings are the same, and in these
cases, the masculine ending is perfectly regularly and consistently used:
Ez dixwazim hespekî bifiroşim ‘I want to sell a horse’
Em li gundekî dijîn
‘We live in a village’
The demonstrative pronouns ev, ew ‘this, that’ also have oblique forms. The oblique form varies according
to the intended gender and number: Vî, wî for masculine singular, vê, wê for feminine singular and van, wan
for plurals regardless of gender.
Vê kitêbê bide min. Give me this book. Wê kitêbê bide min. Give me that book.
Vî lawikî dibînî? Do you see this lad?
Wî lawikî dibînî? Do you see that lad?
Van kaxezan nedirînin. Do not tear these papers.Wan nedirînin. Do not tear those.
Note 1: There is an alternative oblique form for the masculine singular nouns, if they have either ‘a’ or ‘e’
in their final syllable. In the oblique case, this a or e, is changed into an ‘ê’ vowel (technically speaking, the
vowel is raised through umlaut). Some examples with this form:
Eyşan nên dipêje. Eyşan is baking bread (absolute form: nan ‘bread’)
Serdêr gotar nivîsî. Serdar wrote the article. (absolute form: nan ‘Serdar’)
Some uses of the Oblique case
The noun or pronoun is in the oblique case when:
(a) they are objects in all present tense verbs:
Xecê Mirazî dinivîne. Xecê is making Miraz sleep.
Xecê wî dinivîne.
Xecê is making him sleep.
Kerîm hevalan li çarsiyê dibîne. Kerîm sees the friends in the bazaar.
Kerîm wan li çarsiyê dibîne.
Kerîm sees them in the bazaar.
(b) they are possessors in an izafe construction (As the second or following element in an izafe
construction);
Trimbêla Darayî sor e. Dara’s car is red.
Trimbêla bavê Darayî sor e. Dara’s father’s car is red (note: only the final possessor
in an Izafe construction takes the oblique case; the ending -ê in bavê is an Izafe, not an
oblique ending)
Navê min Gulçîn e. My name is Gulçîn.
Dayika te kar dike? Does your mother work?
Note that when the second or following element is an adjective, it does not take the oblique case. In this
sense, in an izafe construction like kompûtera erzan ‘the cheap computer’, the second element of the
construction is not in oblique form as (1) it is not a possessor and (2) also as it is not a noun or pronoun.
(c) when they follow a preposition or used in a circumposition;
Pirtûk li ser maseyê ne. The books are on the table.
Hîwa pereyê xwe ji Kendalî dixwaze. Hîwa demands her money from Kendal.
Dara ligel wî dilîze. Dara plays with him.
Kerîm hevalan li sûkê dibîne. Kerîm sees the friends in the bazaar.
(d) as sentence-initial possessors in a possessive (have-type) construction:
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 5
7
Du keçên Gulsîmayê hene. Gulsîma has two daughters.
Kazimî du cotên pêlavan hene. Kazim has two pairs of shoes.
We du otomobîl hene? Do you have two cars?
Important note: The oblique case cannot occur on a noun that is already marked with an Izafe vowel! For
example:
Ez xwarinan çêdikim ‘I am making food’ (xwarin-an has the plural Oblique ending)
Ez xwarinên xweş çêdikim ‘I am making nice food’ (-ên is the plural Izafe ending, not an oblique ending;
there is no oblique marking on the object here)
3. Exercise
3.1 We saw above and in the previous lessons that there are two sets of pronouns in Kurmanji,
those in nominative and those in oblique cases. Now, try to fill in the blanks with the appropriate
pronouns, and correct conjugation of the verb “bûn” (to be).
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
Navê ..wê.. Dûrya ye. Ew kurd ..e..
Gîtareke ....... heye. Ew mûzîsyen ….
Navê ….. Eriş e. ….. ji Îdirê me.
….. bîst û pênc xwendekar hene. ….. mamoste ne.
Çenteyên ….. sor in. ….. zarok in.
Eyşan tevnker ….. Wê deh xalîçe …...
Rizgînî gelek pênûs….. hene. Ew xwendekar …..
Beyanîbaş Elîf. …. çawan î? ….. îro çend ders hene?
Dayik û bavê ….. li Şemzînanê dijîn. ….. ji Şemzînanê ….
3.2 Find the right pronoun in the examples below.
a. Xaniyê hûn/we heye?
b. Ew/wan ji Amedê ne.
c. Çend pirtûkên tu/te hene?
d. Xaniyê mamê ez/min duqatî ye.
e. Ew/wê her heftî sêvan dikire. Ew/wê her roj sêvan dixwe.
f. Em/me her roj du fîncan qehwe vedixwin.
g. Li baxçeyê ew/wî kulîlk hene
h. Çar hirçokên Danerî hene. Ew/wî zarok e.
i. Şevbaş Ehmedo. Ez/min diçim malê.
j. Porê bavê min spî ye. Ew/wî pêncî salî ye.
k. Tu/te zengîn î? Pereyên tu/te gelek in?
3.3 Fill in the blanks with one of the three oblique endings, -ê and –î and -an. Do not forget to
insert the ‘y’ consonant before the ending if the word is a vowel-final word.
1. Çavên keçik… reş in.
2. Porê kurik… zer e.
3. Rengîn dîwar… direngîne.
4. Van sêv… berhev bike.
5. Xwendekar li ser kursî… rûdinin.
6. Nêrgiz li Swêd… dijî.
7. Bêrîvan guh dide mamoste….
8. Kuncî ji ger… hez dike.
9. Pişîk çûk… (pl.) digire.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 5
8
10. Teymûr her heftî pirtûkek… dikire.
11. Ez êdî ligel Hesen…(masc.) naaxivim. I do not speak with Hesen anymore.
12. Destê Mistefa…(masc.) şikest.
13. Alan mîna Zerya…(fem.) dinivîse.
14. Ji kerema xwe vê piyal… dagire.
15. Zînet kulîlk… berhev dike.
16. Xwendekar di nav baxçeyê dibistan… de gul… diçînin.
3.4 Choose the correct sentence. Pay attention to the usage of prepositions as well as the case of
the noun (oblique or nominal) following the preposition.
1.
a. Mala Nêrgizê li rex park e.
b. Mala Nêrgizê li rex parkê ye.
2.
a. Dilşa ji pirtûkan hez dike.
b. Dilşa ji pirtûk hez dike.
3.
a. Erdewan li ser kursiyê rûdine.
b. Erdewan li ser kursî rûdine.
4.
a. Sorgul ji Muşê tê.
b. Sorgul di Muşê tê.
5.
a. Ev kar ji bo Xezalê hêsan e.
b. Ev kar ji Xezalê hêsan e.
6.
a. Gotar di nav dosyayê de ye.
b. Gotar di nav dosya ye.
Wordlist
an, yan
av f.
bêm
bên
berhev bike
beşdar bûn
bibînim
bidime
bîra f.
or (Ex: Tu qelemê sor dixwazî an yê reş? Do you want the red
pencil or the black one?)
water
‘to come’ e.g. ez jî diwazim bêm. ‘I also want to come.’ (1sg.
pres. subjunctive form for the verb hatin ‘to come’)
‘to come’ e.g. lê em nikarin bên. ‘But we can’t come.’ (1pl.
pres. subjunctive form for the verb hatin ‘to come’)
‘to collect’ (1) 3sg. pres. subjunctive form for the verb berhev
kirin ‘to collect’.
‘collect!’ (2) Sing. imperative form of the same verb.
to participate; to join
‘to see’ e.g. divê ez îşev Eyşanê bibînim. ‘I need to see Eyşan
tonight.’ (1sg. pres. subjunctive form for the verb dîtin ‘to see’)
‘to give’ e.g. ez dixwazim vê defterê bidime te. (1sg. pres.
subjunctive form for the verb dan ‘to give’); bidim+e (e:
directionality)
beer
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 5
bo/ji bo
carinan
çend
civîn f.
cixare f.
cixare kêşan
çûk f. syn. çivîk
vedixwîne
derman m.
zengîn/dewlemend
ant. xizan/feqîr
çandin
dikare
dîwar m.
dosya f.
ê min,
êdî
fîncan f.
gerîn
germ ant. sar
gîtar f.
gotar f.
guh dan
heftî f.
her roj/ her ro
hêsan ant.
dijwar/zehmet
heval
hewa m.
hirçok f.
hişyar be
înşellah
ji ber ku syn. çinku
ji bo ku syn. da ku
ka
kar kirin
kerem bikin
kulîlk f.
li mala min
(1) for (also ‘ji bo’ with this meaning);
(2) to
(3) at
e.g. ez ne xirab im bo xwarinçêkirinê. ‘I am not bad at cooking.’
sometimes
(1) how many, how much;
(2) some
meeting
cigarette
smoking
bird
‘he/she invites’ (3sg. pres. indicative of the present tense form for the
verb dawet kirin ‘to invite’)
medicine
rich
to plant (present tense stem: çîn; ex: Zarok gulan diçînin)
‘he/she can’ (3sg. pres. indicative of the verb karîn ‘can; to be
able to’)
wall
file
me, as for me
anymore
cup
to wander
warm, hot
guitar
article, discourse
to listen to (present stem: guh -d-; ex: ew guh dide)
week
everyday
easy
friend
weather
teddy bear
to wake up, to be careful, to be alert (Ex: Li xwe hişyar be.
‘Take care of yourself’)
God willing, I hope that
because
so that, for
hay (dried grass); (2) where (Ex: Ka pişîka spî? ‘Where is the
white cat’)
to work
here you are, please come in
flower
in my house
9
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 5
li rex
li xwe kirin
xalîçe/mafûr m.
mixabin
kirin mêvan
mêweyên taze
nexweş ketin
nikare
park f.
pênûs m.syn. qelem
pere m.
pîroz bikin
pirtûk f. syn. kitêb
pişîk f. syn. kitik
piyal f. syn. qedeh
qehwe f.
qelîsêlk f.
şikest
şîv f.
stûr ant. tenik
tenik syn. zirav
tevnker
tirşik f.
xanim
xeber
xwarin f.
xwarinçêkirin
ya min
yên min
zêde
next to
to put on
carpet
unfortunately
to host
fresh fruits
to get sick
‘he/she can’t’ (3sg. pres. indicative negative form of the verb
karîn ‘can; to be able to’)
park
pen, pencil
Money
‘to celebrate, celebrate!’ e.g. Em dê newrozê pîroz bikin. ‘We
will celebrate newroz’ ( 1,2,3 pl. pres. subjunctive form for the
verb pîroz kirin ‘to celebrate’ & also the plural imperative form
for the same verb);
book
cat
glass, cup
coffee
a local meal of Diyarbekir
Duhî cama malê şikest. ‘Yesterday the window of the house
broke’(3sg. simple past tense of the intransitive verb şikestin ‘to
break’)
dinner
thick
thin (zirav: slim)
weaver
a local meal of Diyarbekir region
lady, (2) an address form for the women
news, word
meal, to eat
cooking
mine (predicative) (Ex: Wê kilîlê nebe! Ew ya min e. ‘Do not
take away that key, it’s mine’); (also: ya te yours; ya wî his; ya
me ours; ya we yours(pl); ya wan theirs)
mine (predicative) (Ex: Wan kitêban nebe! Ew yên min in. ‘Do
not take away those books, they are mine’); (also: yên te yours;
yên wî his; yên me ours; yên we yours(pl); yên wan theirs)
too much (French: trop)
10
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 6
1
LESSON 6
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will learn new grammatical structures in the simple future tense and
comparision and contrast together with the present tense conditional in Kurmanji.
By the end of this lesson students will be able to:
• make predictions and talk about future
• use present tense conditional clauses
• comparative and superlative forms of adjectives.
Text: Em dê biçin Wanê
Navê min Zerî ye. Ez xwendekar im. Dersên me heta heftiyekê xelas dibin û betlane dest pê
dike. Ji bo betlaneyê em dê biçin Wanê. Em dê heftiyekê li Wanê bimînin. Li Wanê gelek
xizmên me hene. Em dê biçin serdana wan. Yek ji wan xizman, mamê min e. Em dê li mala
mamê min bimînin. Kurek û du keçên mamê min hene. Navên wan Ferhad, Asya û Meyrem
in. Meyrem ji Ferhad û Asyayê mezintir e. Ew li Enqereyê dixwîne û dê bibe bijîjk. Meyrem
jî dê di betlaneyê de bê Wanê û em dê bi hev re biçin Behra Wanê û em dê li wir avjeniyê
bikin. Her çend ji behrekê biçûktir be jî, kurd ji wê golê re dibêjin Behra Wanê. Li wir dêra
Axtamarê heye û em dê wê dêrê jî bibînin. Dêra Axtamarê yek ji kevintirîn cihên Wanê ye. Ji
bilî behr û dêrê, ez û zarokên mamê min, em dê Keleha Wanê jî bibînin. Ev keleh ji dêra
Axtamarê kevintir e. Ez dê li wan deran gelek wêneyan bigirim; ji ber ku ez gelek ji cihên
dîrokî hez dikim. Mixabin em naçin cihên din. Her wiha, ez ê ji bazarên Wanê cil û bergên
kurdewarî jî bikirim. Ev cil û berg ji yên modern bihatir in, lê dîsa jî ez ê bistînim; ji ber ku li
gorî min ew cil li ser rûyê dinyayê cilên herî xweşik in. Havînan, şevên Wanê gelekî xweş
dibin. Ez bawer dikim ku her şev xizmên me yên li wir dê bên mêvantiyê û em dê suhbetên
gelekî germ bikin di wan şevên havînê de.
Translation
Text: We will go to Wan
My name is Zerî. I am a student. Our classes are finishing in a week and the holidays begin.
For the holiday we will go to Wan. We will stay in Wan for one week. We have lots of
relatives in Wan. We will visit them. One of these relatives is my uncle. We will stay at my
uncle’s house. My uncle has a son and two daughters. Their names are Ferhad, Asya and
Meyrem. Meyrem is older than Ferhad and Asya. She studies in Ankara and she will be a
doctor. Meyrem will also come to Wan for the holidays, and we will go to lake Wan together
and we will swim. Although it is smaller than a sea, Kurds call this lake the Wan Sea. The
Axtamar Church is there and we will visit it as well. The Axtamar Church is one of the oldest
places of Wan. Apart from the lake and the church, I and my uncle’s children will visit the
Wan Fortress as well. This place is older than the Axtamar Church. I will take a lot of photos
in these places because I love historical (lit. old) places very much. Unfortunately we will not
go to any other places. However, I will buy Kurdish clothes from the bazaar. These clothes
are more expensive than the modern ones but still I will buy them because I think they are the
most attractive clothes in the world. The nights in summer become very pleasant. I believe
that our relatives there will come to visit every night and we will have very lively discussions
on those summer nights.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 6
2
1.1. Exercise
A) Answer the questions according to the text.
a) Zerî û malbata wê dê biçin ku?
b) Ew dê li ku derê bimînin?
c) Meyrem dê bibe çi?
d) Ew dê li Wanê çi bikin?
e) Kîjan cih kevintir e li Wanê?
f) Ew dê li Wanê çi bikirin?
g) Kîjan cil û berg erzantir in? Cilên kurdewarî an yên modern?
B) Form sentences in the future tense with the words given below.
Ex: Sibe / kar bike / deh saetan/ dê / Alan
Alan dê sibe deh saetan kar bike.
1. Zerya / dê / bixwîne / pirtûka xwe
.…………………………………….
2. Serhad / biçe / havinê / Franseyê / dê
……………………………………….
3. dê /Ez / heftiya tê / hevalên xwe / bibînim.
……………………………………….
4. Bavê min/ dê / pere / bişîne/ / ji bo min
……………………………………….
5. Elîşêr / sala tê / erebeyekê / dê / bikire
……………………………………….
2. Comparatives and Superlatives (Read the grammar section below before doing these
exercises.)
2.1 Use the adjectives in brackets in the comparative form.
Amed ji Wanê .................... e (mezin). Lê ji bo min Wan ji Amedê ................. e (xweş).
Hewaya Amedê ji yê Wanê................... e (germ). Cil û berg, mêwe û sebze li Wanê ...............
in (erzan) lê li Amedê .............. in (zêde).
2.2 Write the comparative and superlative forms of the adjectives
Adjective
comparative
superlative
kurt
xweş
dûr
girîng
teng
bedew
zehmet
biçûk
xerab
dereng
rehet
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 6
erzan
qelew
bilind
ciwan
zirav
dirêj
3
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
.....................
3.1 Li Kurdistanê Bazar
Li Kurdistanê bazar gelekî girîng in. Li hemû bajar, navçe û taxan bazar hene. Bazar heftiyê
carekê hene. Hûn dikarin hemû pêdiviyên xwe ji bazarê bikirin. Heke hûn biçin bazarê, hûn
dikarin tiştên gelek erzan peyda bikin. Her wiha heke hûn fêkî û sebzeyên xwe ji bazarê
bikirin dê baştir be; ji ber ku ew tezetir in. Heke pereyê we têra we neke, hûn dikarin bi deyn
jî tiştan bistînin ji ber ku baweriya bazarvan û muşteriyan bi hev tê. Heke hûn bi xeletî zêde
pere bidin, bazarvan dê pereyê we li we vegerînin. Wekî din, heke hûn danûstandina bazarê
bibînin, hûn dê têkiliyên mirovan baştir fahm bikin.
Bazaars in Kurdistan
Bazaars are very important in Kurdistan. There are bazaars in all city, town and quarters.
They are once a week. You can buy all your necessities from bazaars. If you go to the bazaar,
you can find the things for very cheap. Moreover, it is better for you to buy your fruits and
vegetables (from the bazaar) because they are more fresh. If your money does not suffice, you
can buy things as a loan because the bazaar people and customers rely on each other. If you
pay more money by mistake, they will return your money. Furthermore, if you see the
shopping in the bazaars, you will understand the relationship of people better.
3.2. For the following sentences mark (R) (Rast) if correct and (Ç) (Çewt) if false.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Bazar her roj hene.
Heke hûn biçin bazarê, hûn ê jê sûdê wergirin.
Heke hûn biçin bazarê, hûn ê kêmtir pere bidin.
Heke pereyê we têrê neke hûn nikarin danûstandinê bikin. .....
.....
.....
.....
.....
.....
.....
.....
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 6
4
5. Bazar ji bo famkirina têkiliyên mirovan girîng e.
.....
.....
3.3 Put the words in right order to form sentences of the present conditionals.
1. ew / çêbikin / heke / mala me/ em/ ê / şîvê / bên
2. bimirim/ heke / ez/ bike / dê / çavdêriya baxê min/ kî
3. bim / ez / ne şaş / were / ew / ê / sibehê / Heke
Grammar / Rêziman 6
A) Dema Bê / Future Tense
We use future tense when we talk about an action to take place in the future. It can be something arranged or a
prediction about the future. In Kurmanji we form simple future tense by using the future marker dê after the
subject, and before the verb, and conjugating the verb with the subjunctive bi-. Remember from the lesson 5 we
learned how to use subjuntive by adding bi- prefix to the verb and conjugating the verb as in normal present
tenses, i.e. the person endings are added to the present stems of the verbs. The logic is the same in the future
tense except that we add a special particle dê, which comes after the subject:
Affirmative
Ez dê bixwînim.
Tu dê bixwînî.
Ew dê bixwîne.
Em dê bixwînin.
Hûn dê bixwînin.
Ew dê bixwînin.
I will read
you will read
He/she/it will read
We will read
You will read
They will read
The above rule for the position of dê applies when the subject is in first position in the sentence, which it usually
is. However, when the first position in the sentence is not occupied by the subject, different rules may apply, but
they need not concern us here.
Negative
As for their negative forms, it can be done in two fashions.
1) Either, exactly in the way the negation works in present tenses: the future marker dê dropped, and nareplaces the subjunctive bi-. As is seen from the sample text, this form is used more frequently.
Ez naxwînim.
Tu naxwînî.
Ew naxwîne.
Em naxwînin.
Hûn naxwînin.
Ew naxwînin.
I will not read
You will not read
He/she/it will not read
We will not read
You will not read
They will not read
2) Or ne- replaces the subjunctive bi-, and the future marker dê remains.
Ez dê nexwînim.
I will not read
Tu dê nexwînî.
You will not read
Ew dê nexwîne.
He/she/it will not read
Em dê nexwînin.
We will not read
Hûn dê nexwînin.
You will not read
Ew dê nexwînin.
They will not read
Examples
Ez dê sibehê biçim nexweşxaneyê
Tu dê kengî bêyî mala me?
Em ê êdî tu car wê nebînin
Ew dê çawa we nas bikin?
I will go the hospital tomorrow.
When will you come to our home?
We will never see her again.
How will they know you?
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 6
5
Note
a) There are alternative forms of the future tense auxilary verb dê, namely ê, wê. When the auxilary verb follows
a consonant-final subject it may take the form of ê.
b) "Tu dê" is sometimes contracted as tê (Tu dê biçî ‘You will go’ becomes Tê biçî).
c) The future marker in the form of ê can be attached to the subject pronouns ez, em and ew in writing. (Ezê
biçim sînemayê ‘I will go to cinema’)
B) Comparatives
To yield the comparative form of adjectives we (1) add the –tir suffix to the positive form (the first form) of the
adjective and (2) use the preposition ji ‘from’ before the compared noun. However, if the last letter of the
adjective is already t, then we drop the t of the comparative suffix.
Examples:
Meyrem ji birayê xwe mezintir e.
Ev cil û berg ji yên modern bihatir in
Hevokên min ji yên te dirêjtir in.
Tu ji min baştir dixebitî.
Ew ji me hemûyan bileztir dibezin.
Meyrem is older than her brother.
These clothes are more expensive than the modern ones.
My sentences are longer than yours.
You work better than me.
They run faster than all of us.
However, some adjectives also have irregular comparative forms as well as the regular one discussed above:
pir >pirtir or bêtir
baş > baştir or çêtir
mezin >mezintir or meztir
much > more
good > better
big > bigger
C) Superlatives
There are two ways of forming superlatives in Kurmanji.
1) It is formed by adding –tirîn to the adjective.
Examples:
Navdartirîn nivîskarê kurd Mehmed Uzun e.
Diya min xweştirîn xwarinên cîhanê çêdike.
Mehmed Uzun is the most famous Kurdish author.
My mother cooks the best meals (lit. the tastiest) of the
world.
Note that superlative adjectives formed with –tirîn have a different syntax to normal adjectives: they do not
follow the noun they describe in an Izafe-construction, but are placed in front of that noun.
2) It is formed by using the word herî before the adjective.
Mehmed Uzun nivîskarê kurd ê herî navdar e.
Mehmed Uzun is the most famous Kurdish author.
Diya min xwarinên herî xweş ên cîhanê çêdike.
My mother cooks the best meals of the world.
Zekî di nav xwendekaran de yê herî jîr e.
Zekî is the most clever among the students.
D) Conditionals
The conditional is formed by using one of the words heke, ku, ger, eger, heger (all meaning if ) at the beginning
of the sentence and conjugating the verb in the present subjuntive form, as in future tense. For the present lesson
we will focus only on the conditionals in the present tense. We will prefer heke conditional word as it is the most
frequent word for forming conditional sentences. As for the negative form of the present conditional, we simply
replace the subjunctive bi- with the negation marker ne- and keep the rest untouched.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 6
6
Heke, ku, ger, eger, heger: if
Present
Affirmative
Heke ez biçim.
Heke tu biçî.
Heke ew biçe.
Heke em biçin.
Heke hûn biçin.
Heke ew biçin.
If I go
If you go
If he/she/it goes
If we go
If you go
If they go
Negative
Heke ez neçim
Heke tu neçî
Heke ew neçe
Heke em neçin
Heke hûn neçin
Heke ew neçin
If I do not go
If you do not go
If she/he/it does not go
If we do not g
If you do not go
If they do not go
We do not use conditional sentences on their own, but in relation to a following sentence. We usually use simple
future tense, the modal karîn (can), or simple present tense in the second sentence. Some examples are as
follows:
- Heke zarokên me kurdî fêr nebin, dê xetereke mezin çêbe.
If our children do not learn Kurdish, there will be a big danger.
- Heke hûn biçin bazarê, hûn dikarin tiştên gelek erzan peyda bikin.
If you go to bazaar, you can find very cheap things.
- Heke ez ne xelet bim, ew li Stenbolê dixwîne.
If I am not wrong, he studies in Istanbul.
Not: Other uses of conditionals and wishes will be dealt with in lesson 9.
Wordlist
dema bê
dê also ê, wê
xelas dibin
biçin
xizm
serdan
mezin
behr f. syn. derya, zerya
avjenî m.
her çend also her çiqas
biçûk ant. mezin
dêr f.
cil û berg m.
yek ji....
ji bilî also ji xeynî
zarok
future tense
will (see grammar section for details of the future tense)
‘we, you, they finish’ dersên me heta heftiyekê xelas dibin
‘my lessons will finish within a week’ (pl. form of the simple
present tense for the verb xelas bûn ‘to finish’ )
‘we, you, they will go’ ji bo tatîlê em ê biçin Wanê ‘we will
go to Van for the holidays’ (pl. form of the future tense for the
verb çûn ‘to go’)
relative
visit
big, old
sea
swimming
although
small, little
church
dress, costume
one of the... - yek ji kevîntirîn cihê Wanê ‘one of the oldest
places in Van’. This phrase is productively used with the
superlative phrases.
other than - ji bilî behr û dêrê ‘Other than the sea and the
church’
child
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 6
kevin also kevn
keleh f.
wêne m. syn. resm
der syn. cih, cî
mixabin
wekî din syn. her wiha
biha
modern syn. nûjen
lê dîsa jî
old, historical, ancient
fortress
photo, picture
place
unfortunately
moreover, furthermore
expensive
modern
but still - ev cil û berg ji yên modern bihatir in lê dîsa jî ez ê
bistînim ‘these clothes are more expensive than the modern
ones but still I will buy them’
li gorî min syn. bi ya for me, in my opinion - li gorî min şirîntirîn cilên cîhanê ne
min
(In my opinion, they are the prettiest clothes of the world.)
şirîn
sweet, cute, pretty, pleasant
cîhan f. syn. dunya f.
world, globe, earth
havîn f.
summer
ez bawer dikim
I suppose, I think, I believe
şev f.
night
mêvantî
being a guest
suhbet
chat, talk, conversation
germ
warm, here: nice
pere syn. dirav
money
erebe
syn.
seyare, car, vehicle
tirimbêl
hewa m.
weather
fêkî
fruit
sebze
vegetables
zêde
abundant, much
kurt
short
xweş
good, fine
xweşik
pretty, pleasant, cute
dûr
far
girîng
important, essential
teng
narrow
bedew syn. ciwan, spehî beautiful
zehmet syn. zor
difficult
xerab
bad, evil, defective, broken
dereng
late
rehet
comfortable, easy
erzan
cheap
qelew
fat, big, large
bilind
tall
ciwan
young
zirav
thin, slim, delicate
heke syn. ku, ger, eger, if (see grammar section for details of the present conditional)
heger
helbest syn. şiîr
poem
bajar m. syn. şehr
town, city
kurdewarî
Kurdish, according to Kurdish tradition
7
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 6
mîna syn. wekî
rûbar m. syn. çem
bêdeng
rû m.
dev m.
av f.
berf m.
bêdengî
dever
eşq f. syn. evîn
şîv f.
bimirim
çavdêrî f.
yek
cîran
ji nîvê riyê
şaş
betlane
man
xwendin
avjenî kirin
dîtin
hez kirin
kêşan
kirîn
standin
şandin
av dan
vegerîn
mirin
like – ez jî mîna te xwendekar im ‘I am a student like you, too’
river
silent
face
mouth
water
snow
silence
region, place
love
dinner
(if) I die (1 sg. form of conjuctive for the verb mirin ‘to die’)
observation
one, unite
neighbour
from the half way
wrong, mistaken
holiday, vacation
to stay (mîn-)
to study (xwîn-)
to swim (avjenî k-)
to see (bîn-)
to love, to like (hez k-)
(1) to pull (2) to last (3) to smoke (cixare kêşan)
to buy (kir-)
to take (stîn-)
to send (şîn-)
to water (av d-)
to return (veger-). The causative form of this verb is
vegerandin (vegerîn-)
to die (mir-)
8
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 7
LESSON 7
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will learn about the simple past tense and the past continuous tense. At the
same time you will get to know how to express past habits.
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
• Express past events,
• Conjugate the verbs in simple past and past continuous tense,
• Detect and use the nouns in oblique case in different positions.
1. Text: Dawiya Heftiyê The Weekend
Zelal and Cindî are speaking about the weekend in school canteen at a break-time.
Zelal: Cindî, dawiya heftiyê çawa derbas bû?
Cindî: Baş derbas bû. Roja şemiyê sibehê hinek dereng rabûm.
Zelal: Di saet çendan de rabûyî?
Cindî: Welleh, ez di dora saet neh û nîvan de hişyar bûm. Hewa pir xweş bû. Lewma ez û
dayika xwe em çûn derve ji bo taştê.
Zelal: Çiqaşî xweş! Xweziya we! We taştê çi xwar?
Cindî: Min zeytûn, penêr û hêkên kelandî xwarin. Dayika min jî to û hingivê Wanê yê
navdar xwar.
Zelal: We piştî taştê çi kir?
Cindî: Em bêhnekê li nav sûkê geriyan. Paşê em çûne bazarê û me ji min re cotek
pêlavên sporê kirîn. Paşê dayika min çû malê û ez jî çûm cem hevalên xwe. Te
çi kir di dawiya heftiyê de?
Zelal: Roja şemiyê ez her li malê bûm. Min odeya xwe da hev. Piştî nîvro min li
bernameyeke muzîkê temaşe kir. Bi şev jî min pirtûk xwend.
Cindî: Ango tu hîç derneketî derve?
Zelal: Mixabin! Lêbelê yekşemê ber bi êvarê ez ligel hevalekî xwe çûm sînemayê. Me li
fîlmê dawî yê Behmen Qobadî temaşe kir.
Cindî: Fîlmekî çawa bû? Te jê hez kir?
Zelal: Fîlmekî pir xweş bû. Ji bîr neke, tu jî temaşe bike.
Cindî: Baş e, ez dê şemiya tê temaşe bikim.
……………….
Translation
Zelal: Cindî, how did you spend the weekend?
Cindî: It was good (lit. I spent it well). On Saturday morning I woke up a bit late.
Zelal: At what time did you wake up?
Cindî: Well, I woke up at about 9.30. The weather was very good. Therefore I and my
mother went out to have breakfast.
Zelal: How nice! I am jealous! What did you eat for breakfast?
Cindî: I ate olives, cheese and boiled eggs. My mother ate cream and the famous honey
fromWan.
Zelal: What did you do after breakfast?
Cindî: For a while we walked around in the market. Then we went to the bazar and
1
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 7
Zelal:
Cindî:
Zelal:
Cindî:
Zelal:
Cindî:
bought a pair of sport shoes for me. Then my mother went home and I went to my
friends. What did you do at the weekend?
On Saturday I was just at home. I tidied my room. In the afternoon I watched a
music program (TV – understood by the verb watch). In the evening I read a
book/books.
That means that you did not go out (at all)?
Unfortunately not! But on Sunday evening I went to the cinema with a friend of
mine. We saw the last film by Behmen Ghobadî.
How was the film? Did you like it?
The film was very good. Don’t forget to see it, you too!
OK, I will watch it next Saturday.
1.1. Exercise
The sentences below are taken from the text above. Find the sentence of each verb and
fill in the blanks paying attention to the form of the verbs.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
Rabûm/ çû/ bû/ geriyan/ kir/ xwarin
Em bîstekê li nav sûkê ……………
Ez roja şemiyê hinekî dereng ………….
Te çi ………… di dawiya heftiyê de?
Min zeytûn, penîr û hêkên kelandî ………….
Paşê dayika min ……….. malê.
Hewa pir xweş ………..
1.3. Complete the conjugation of the verbs in simple past tense.
(in some sentences you should not add anything)
a) Ez roja şemiyê, sibehê hinek dereng rabû….
b) Ez û dayika xwe em çû…. derve ji bo taştê.
c) Te di taştiyê de çi ….
d) Me ji bo min cotek pêlav kirî….
e) Tu hîç derneket ….?
f) Ez roja şemiyê li malê ma….
g) Ez li malê bû….?
h) Hûn kengî vegeriya…. malê?
2
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 7
3
Grammar 7
A) Dema Borî / Simple Past Tense
With intransitive verbs:
Consider first the simple past tense forms of the intransitive verbs çûn ‘go’ and rabûn ‘get up’:
:
Sibehê
In the morning
Ez çûm Wanê
Ez zû rabûm.
Duhî
Yesterday
Tu çûyî Wanê
Tu zû rabûyî.
Pêr
The day before yesterday
Ew çû__ Wanê
Ew zû rabû__.
Par payîzê Last year in autumn
Em çûn Wanê
Em zû rabûn.
Hûn çûn Wanê
Hûn zû rabûn.
Ew çûn Wanê
Ew zû rabûn.
As it is seen in the examples above, for conjugating the intransitive verbs in the simple past tense in
Kurmanji, we add a set of personal endings to the past tense stems of the verbs. The past stem of the verbs
is very simply found by deleting the ending -(i)n from the infinitive:
Infinitive
Past stem
çûn
çû
Em çûn bazarê. We went to the market.
axaftin
axaft
Elî pir baş axaft. Elî spoke very well.
nivistin
nivist
Tu di saet çendan de nivistî? What time did you sleep?
hatin
hat
Em berî du saetan hatin. We came two hours ago.
ketin
ket
Pirtûkên min ketin. My books fell down.
kenîn
kenî
Ez li ber fîlmî pir kenîm. I laughed too much at the film.
As for the personal endings, the personal endings are the same as they were in the present tenses except for
the third person ending. There is no ending for the third person in simple past tense; so, the past stem of the
verb functions as the third person conjugation of the verb. Below there is a chart of the endings:
After a vowel
Ez –m
Tu – yî
Ew -Pirs / Question form:
Em ––n
Hûn –n
Ew –n
After a consonant
Ez –im
Em –in
Tu –î
Hûn –in
Ew -Ew –in
Tu duhî çûyî cem hevalê xwe? Did you go to your friend yesterday?
Hûn sibehê di saet çendan de rabûn? What time did you get up in the morning?
Tu têgihiştî? Did you understand?
With transitive verbs:
The way we make sentences with the past tense forms of transitive verbs is quite different from the way we
make sentences with other verb forms. Therefore, you will need to pay careful attention to this section.
First of all, note that the past stem of the verb itself is made in just the same as it is for intransitive verbs,
i.e. deletion of -(i)n:
Infinitive
Past stem
Infinitive
Past stem
xwendin ‘read, study’
xwend
dîtin ‘see’
dît
There are three major changes in the past tense transitive sentences that must be learned:
First, the same set of personal endings is added to the past stem as we learned above. But the personal
endings do NOT refer to the subject, but the OBJECT.
Second, the SUBJECT goes into the Oblique case.
Consider the following examples, noting these two differences: the oblique case of the subject pronouns,
and the ending of the verb:
Min helbestek xwend
I read a poem
Min ew dît
I saw him/her.
Te helbestek xwend
Te ew dît
You saw him/her.
Wî helbestek xwend
Wî/wê ew dît
He/she saw him/her.
Me helbestek xwend
Me ew dît
We saw him/her.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 7
4
We helbestek xwend
We ew dît
You saw him/her.
Wan helbestek xwend
Wan ew dît
They saw him/her.
As you can see, the verb forms are in the form for the third person singular (which is the same as the bare
stem), because the object in all sentences is third person singular (a poem, or him/her).
Third, the OBJECT is in the absolute or unmarked case.
Compare now the first of the above sentences with the corresponding present tenses forms:
Ez helbestek-ê dixwîn-im
Ez wî dibînim
I read/am reading a poem
I see him
The differences between sentences with past and present transitive verbs are summed up below:
Simple present
Simple past
Case of subject
Absolute
Oblique
Case of object
Oblique
Absolute
Person endings on verb Agrees with subject
Agrees with object
Now observe how the three principles mentioned above apply to the examples below:
Min tu dîtî. I saw you.
Şîlanê cil şûştin. Şîlan washed the clothes.
Min ew dît. I saw hîm/her.
Mesûdî xwarin çêkir. Mesud cooked (the meal).
Min hûn dîtin. I saw you
Tu duhî li malê bûyî? Were you at home yesterday?
Min ew dîtin. I saw them
Wî çîrok xwendin. He read (the) stories.
Min çivîkek dît. I saw a bird.
Te çend pirtûk kirîn? How many books did you buy?
Min du çivîk dîtin. I saw two birds.
Hostayan du xanî ava kirin. The masters built two houses.
Note that when the object is plural, the verb gets plural ending –in. In this case, the plural conjugation of
the past tense transitive verb is in the same form of the infinitive form of the verb. For example, when the
plural ending is added to the past stem dît-, it becomes dîtin which is at the same time the infinitive form of
the verb. So, as a practical way, in the past tense plural verbs take the infinitive form of the verb as it is.
Negative, transitive and intransitive verbs:
For yielding the negative form, all other rules being the same, we prefix the negative marker ne-, as in:
Min helbest nexwend. I did not read the poem.
Min helbest nexwendin. I did not read (the) poems.
Gundiyan zeviyên xwe av nedan. The villagers did not water their fields.
Elîxanî dersa xwe çênekir. Elîxan did not study his lesson.
Ez zû ranebûm. I did not get up early.
Grammar 7 (Continue)
B) Past Continuous
For conjugating a verb in past continuous tense, either transitive or intransitive verb, we prefix di- to the
past stem of the verb. In this sense, the only difference from simple past tense is prefixing the di-, all other
processes being the same.
Gava ew gihişte malê ez dinivistim. When s/he arrived at home I was sleeping.
Rûbarê gundî mîna lehiyê diherikî. The village river was flowing like a flood.
Dema ji dukanê derket, dinya êdî tarî dibû. When he got out of the shop it was getting dark.
Gava min ew dît, wî cil û berg dikirîn. When I saw him, he was buying clothes.
Note that the same construction is also used for expressing past habits. See the examples below:
Dema ez zarok bûm, ez tim hildikişiyam ser daran. When I was a child, I used to climb trees.
Hingê, em her gav bi hev re digeriyan. Then, we always used to hang out together.
Min stran digotin te jî guhdarî dikir. I used to sing and you used to listen.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 7
Li ber mala me darek hebû û her gav çivîk dihatine ser. There used to be a tree in front of our
house and the birds would go on it all the time.
As for the negative form of the past continuous and past habitual, the negative marker ne- is prefixed to the
verb. Note that, unlike the present tense negation, the past continuous prefix di- remains intact; it is not
replaced by the negation marker. Check the examples below:
Dema ez li hundir bûm, baran nedibarî. When I was inside, it was not raining.
Çaxa ku ez li Wanê bûm, min çu kes nas nedikir? When I wan in Wan, I did not know anybody.
Hindî min jê re digot, fam nedikir. No matter how much I was telling to him, s/he would not
understand.
Wexta ez hatim vira, min ji bilî Kurdî bi çu zimanan nedizanî. When I came here, I did not
know any language other than Kurdish
Compound verbs in the past tenses
Note that as it was the case with the compound verbs in present tense, all the grammatical processes are
applied to the verbal part of the compound verb. See the examples below:
Min sê lîre ji wî wergirtin. (wer+girt+in) ‘I received three liras from him’
Min her roj sê lîre ji wî werdigirtin. (wer+di+girt+in) ‘Every day I used to ...’
Me behsa edebiyata kurdî ya nûjen kir. (behs … kir) ‘We discussed modern Kurdish literature’
Me behsa edebiyata kurdî ya nûjen dikir. (behs … di+kir) ‘We used to discuss ...’
Me behsa edebiyata kurdî ya nûjen nedikir. (behs … ne+di+kir)
2. Exercise
Below there is the folk story that we worked on for conjugating the verbs in present tense
in the fourth lesson. Now, read the story and then rewrite it in the simple past tense. The
first two sentences are already done and the words that you will need to change are
shown in italics.
Text: Kêr û Kevçik
In present tense:
Rojekê, mirovek li malekê dibe mêvan. Dema xwarinê ye. Kebaniya malê sifreyê radixe,
xwarinan li ser rêz dike. Dû re, mêvan gelek li benda kevçikan dimîne, lê kebaniya malê
kevçikan nayîne. Mêrik ji kebaniya malê re dibêje:
“Sitiya kebanî, ji kerema xwe ji min re kêrekê bîne.” Kebanî li ser sifreyê dinihêre, tu
tiştê ku bi kêrê bê qut kirin nîn e û dibêje:
“Mêvanê birêz, tu dê bi kêrê çi bikî?” Mêvan dibêje:
“Ez dê guhê xwe jê bikim, bikim kevçik da ku pê xwarinê bixwim.”
In simple past tense:
Rojekê, mirovek li malekê bû mêvan. Dema xwarinê bû. Kebaniya malê sifre
raxist,…………………………………………….……………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………..…
…………………………………………………………………………………………..…
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
5
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 7
3. Rast (R) an Çewt (Ç) /Right (R) or Wrong (Ç)
Choose the correct conjugation of the verb, simple past or past continuous/habitual.
1. R Ez duhî çûm melevaniyê.
Ç Ez duhî diçûm melevaniyê.
2.
Min her roj serê xwe dişûşt.
Min her roj serê xwe şûşt.
3.
Dema ez zarok bûm min şîr vexwar.
Dema ez zarok bûm min şîr vedixwar.
4. Duh êvarê ez li sûkê rast wî hatim.
Duh êvarê ez li sûkê rast wî dihatim.
5.
Me her sibeh bi hev re taştê dixwar.
Me her sibeh bi hev re taştê xwar.
4. Below there are questions about your Saturday. Try to provide real answers.
1. Tu roja şemiyê sibehê li ku derê bûyî?
………………………………………..
2. Tu roja şemiyê di saet çendan de rabûyî?
………………………………………..
3. Tu kengî ji malê derketî?
………………………………………..
4. Te firavîn li ku xwar?
………………………………………..
5. Piştî nîvro te çi kir?
………………………………………..
6. Tu di saet çendan de hatî malê?
………………………………………..
7. Te piştî şîvê çi kir?
………………………………………..
8. Tu di saet çendan de nivistî?
………………………………………..
5. In each of the sentences below the pronoun is wrong. Rewrite the sentences with the
correct form of the pronoun.
1. Min sibehê zû rabûm.
Ez sibehê zû rabûm.
2. Tu min dît.
…………………….
3. Wî duhî li sûkê geriya.
…………………….
4. Ew li zarokî dinihêrî.
…………………….
5. Em her sibeh bi hev re çay vedixwar.
………………………………………
6. Min pênc salan li dukana wî xebitîm.
………………………………………
6
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 7
7
6. Conjugate the verbs in brackets in the correct tense and form.
Hevala delal Şagul,
25 Rezber / Çarşem
Ez duhî êvarî …………. (gihiştin) vir, Kirmaşanê. Bi rastî şansê min hebû, min otêleke
pir rehet û erzan …………… (peyda kir). Îro sibehê zû ………… (rabûn) û min di
kafeteryaya otêlê de taştêyeke edetî ………… (xwar). Bi rastî pir xweş …………(bû).
Min pir jê ………… (hez kirin). Dû re ………….(derketin) da ku di nav bajar de
bigerim.. Li trimbêlekê siwar bûm û ………… (çûn) Taqê Bostanê. Taqê Bostan hem
parkeke pir mezin e û hem jî ciheke pir kevnare …….. (bûn). Paşî dîsa li trimbêlekê
……….. (siwar bûn) û çûm Bîstûnê. Li wir min fîgûrên kevnare yên li ser zinaran
………(dîtin). Ya Rebî! Çiqasî seyr û delal bûn! Min li wir gelek …………… (wêne
girtin). Îro pir westiyam û niha li odeya xwe ………….. (bêhn vedan) û sibehê jî ez dê
…………. (çûn) Ciwanroyê. Li Ciwanroyê Xorî Qela ………… (hebûn). Keleheke pir
mezin e. Ez dê li wir jî wêneyan bigirim û ji te re ………… (şandin). Ez dê heta sê
heftiyan …………. (vegeriyan) Wanê. Wê hingê ez dê bi dûr û dirêjî ji te re behsa sefera
xwe bikim. Niha bi xatirê te…
Bi xêr û xweşî.
Aram
baran f.
bêhna xwe veda
bername f. syn. program
bi dûr û dirêjî
bi hev re
birêz
bîstekê syn. bêhnekê
çend
cil li xwe kirin ant. cil ji
ber xwe kirin
cil f. syn. kinc
cil û berg m.
cîran f.m.
çîrok f.
çivîk f.
cotek pêlav
çu kes also tu kes
çûn
da ku syn. da, ji bo ku
rain
‘he/she took a rest’ Selîmî bîstekê bêhna xwe veda ‘Salim
rested for a while’ (3 sg. of the simple past tense for the verb
bêhna xwe vedan ‘to rest’)
program
in detail, at length
together
dear, worthy
for a while
how many/how much (It has also a usage for surprise:
çiyayekî çend bilind e! ‘What a high mountain’)
to put on ant. to take off one’s clothes
clothes
dress, costume
neighbour (çû mala cîranan. ‘(S/he) went to neighbours.’)
story
bird
a pair of shoes (cot: pair; cot+ek: a pair)
anybody, nobody
‘we, you, they went’ zarok çûn dibistanê ‘the children went to
school’ (pl. of the simple past tense for the verb çûn ‘to go’)
so that (cilên germ li xwe bike da ku nesax nebî ‘wear warm
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 7
daran (dar f.)
dawî
dema syn. wextê, gava,
çaxa
derbas bû
dereng ant. zû
dibîne
dihatine ser daran
diherikî
dîtim
dor f.
dû re syn. paşî, piştre
edetî
erzan ant. biha
fîlmê dawî
gava syn. wextê, dema,
çaxa
geriyan
gihişte
guh
guhdarî kirin
hêkên kelandî
her
her gav syn. tim, her
dem
çax syn. heyam
hîç
hindî syn. bi qasî
hinek also hindek
hingê syn. wê demê
hingiv m.also hingivîn
hosta m.
clothes so that you do not get sick’ )
the plural oblique form of the noun dar: tree, stick (min jê re
got wan daran nebire ‘I told him not to cut those trees.’)
last, end (cara dawî ‘last time’)
when, while, at the time (dema em li gundî bûn, halê me baş
bû ‘When we were in the village, our situation was good’)
‘he/she passed’ Ciwan zû derbas bû ‘Jiwan passed quickly’ (3
sg. of the simple past tense for the verb derbas bûn ‘to pass’)
late
‘he/she sees’ Şerîf bi berçavkan baştir dibîne ‘Sharif sees
better with glasses’ (3 sg. of the simple present tense for the
verb dîtin ‘to see’)
‘We, you, they used to climb trees’ (pl. form of the past
contiunous tense for the verb çûn ‘to go’; -e: directionality
suffix; ser: on)
‘it was flowing’ ava rûbarî bi aramî diherikî ‘the water of the
river was flowing quietly’ (3rd pers. sg. form of the past
continuous tense for the verb herikîn ‘to flow’)
‘…saw me’ Xezalê ez dîtim ‘Khazal saw me’ (1sg. form of the
simple past tense for the verb dîtin ‘to see’)
turn (dora min e. ‘It is my turn.’)
then, afterwards
traditional, customary
cheap
last film
when, while, at the time (gava min mar dît, dest û piyên min
lerizîn ‘When I saw the snake, I shuddered’)
to wander, to travel
‘he/she arrived’ Zelal duh êvarê dereng gihişte malê ‘Zalal
arrived home late yesterday’ (3 sg. form of the simple past
tense of the verb gihiştin ‘to arrive, to reach’)
ear
to listen to
boiled eggs
each; (2) all through ez duhî her li malê bûm ‘yesterday I was
at home the whole day’
always
period, term
none, never
as much as
some
then
honey
master
8
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 7
hundir syn. jûr
jê
ji bîr neke
kebanî f.
keleh m.
kêr f.
kevçik m.
kir
kirîn
lewma
li benda (somebody)
man
mixabin
navdar syn. meşhûr
mêvan m.
nayîne
nedibarî
nîgar f.
penêr m.
peyda kir
kevnare syn qedîm
to f.. tomast
rastî yekî hatin
rehet ant. nerihet
rêz dike
şandin
şans m.
sefer f.
ser m.
dan hev / serûber kirin
seyr syn. balkêş, ecêb
inside
a contracted preposition meaning from (him/her/somebody)
Ex: min duhî Elî dît û min pirtûka xwe jê xwest ‘yesterday I
saw Ali and I wanted my book from him’ see Lesson 4
do not forget
housewife
castle
knife
spoon
‘he/she did’ wî bi qasî deh salan li wir kar kir ‘he worked
some ten years there’ (3 sg. of the simple past tense of the
verb kirin ‘to do, to make’)
to buy
hence, therefore
to wait for somebody; Ex: em du saetan li benda otobûsê man
‘we waited for the bus for two hours’
unfortunately
famous
guest
‘he/she does not bring’ jinik kevçikan naîne ‘the woman does
not bring spoons’ (3 sg. of the simple present tense of the
verb anîn ‘to bring’)
‘it was not raining/snowing’ hewa hinekî sar û bi ewr bû lê
belê berf nedibarî ‘the weather was a little bit cold and cloudy
but it was not snowing’ (3 sg. of the past continuous tense of
the verb barîn ‘to rain, to snow’)
figure
cheese
‘…found it’ Zelalê duhî kêrek peyda kir ‘Zalal found a knife
yesterday’ (3rd prs. sngl. form of the simple past tense of the
verb peyda kirin ‘to find’)
ancient
cream
to run into somebody
comfortable
’he/she puts in order’ garson piyalan li ser maseyê rêz dike
’the waiter puts the glasses in order on the table’ (3 sg. simple
present tense of the verb rêz kirin ‘to put (orderly)’, ‘to
arrange’)
to send
luck
voyage
head
To put in order, to arrange
interesting
9
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 7
şîr m.
sitî
siwar bûn
stran gotin
tim syn. her gav
vegeriyan
wêne m.
wêne girtin
wexta
xwar
xweziya we!
ya Rebî!
ango/yanî
zeytûn f.
zinar m.
milk
lady, an address form for women.
to get on
to sing
always
to return
picture
to take picture
when, while, at the time
‘…ate it’ 3 sg. simple past tense of the verb xwarin ‘to eat’
I wish I were in your (pl.) shoes.
oh my God!
that is to say, I mean, namely
olives
rock
10
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 8
1
LESSON 8
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will discover about the present perfect tense and past perfect tense; and at
the same time you will continue to discover more about the usages of the simple past
tense.
By the end of this lesson you will:
• have learned how to narrate an event or story by present perfect tense and past
perfect tense.
• have learned how to express an event in the past following a previous event in
past perfect tense.
• have practiced and deepened your knowledge of all the basic verb forms and also
vocabulary related to vegetables and fruits as well as animals.
1. Text: Çîroka Ker û Guran / The story of the donkey and the wolves
Hebû û tunebû, carekê ji caran, li dora gundekî kerekî bêxwedî hebû. Pir rezîl bibû. Ji ber ku her kesekî ku
tiştekî wî hebûye bi wî kerî kiriye û her kesekî ku barekî wî hebûye li wî bar kiriye. Ker êdî ji xelkê bêzar
bûye, û bi ber çiyê ve çûye. Di rê de rastî roviyekî hatiye. Rovî gotiye:
-Ho kero, tu diçî ku?
Kerî gotiye:
- Ez ji gundiyan bêzar bûme, ber bi çiyê ve diçim.
Rovî gotiye:
- Tu min bi xwe re nabî?
Kerî gotiye:
- Ma çima nebim?
Her du bi hev re çûne, çûne rastî beranekî hatine. Beranî gotiye:
- Ho kero, tu diçî ku?
Kerî gotiye:
- Ez ji gundiyan bêzar bûme, ber bi çiyê ve diçim.
Beranî gotiye:
- Tu min jî bi xwe re nabî?
Kerî gotiye:
- Ma çima nebim?
Ker, rovî û beran bi hev re çûne, çûne rastî dîkekî hatine. Dîkî gotiye:
- Ho kero, tu diçî ku?
Kerî gotiye:
- Ez ji gundiyan bêzar bûme, ber bi çiyê ve diçim.
Dîkî gotiye:
- Tu min jî bi xwe re nabî?
Kerî gotiye:
- Ma çima nebim?
Ker, rovî, beran û dîk bi hev re çûne, çûne rastî kêvrîşkekê hatine. Kêvrîşkê gotiye:
- Ho kero, tu diçî ku?
Kerî gotiye:
- Ez ji gundiyan bêzar bûme, ber bi çiyê ve diçim.
Kêvrîşkê gotiye:
- Tu min jî bi xwe re nabî?
Kerî gotiye:
- Ma çima nebim?
Ker, rovî, beran, dîk û kêvrîşk bi hev re çûne, çûne di rê de kerî gotiye:
- Gelî hevalan, zirra min hat, divê ez bizirrim.
Hevalên wî jê re gotine:
- Mal ava, tu dê çawa bizirrî. Em di nav vî çiyayî de ne, gur dê me seh bikin, û dê me hemûyan bixwin.
Kerî gotiye:
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 8
2
- Nabe, divê ez bizirrim.
Axir, kirine û nekirine, ker qayil nebûye. Kerî serê xwe bilind kiriye û dest bi zirrînê kiriye:
- Ahîîî, ahîîî, ahîîî!
Li deverekê nêzîkî wan heft gur hebûne. Wan dengê kerî bihîstiye. Her heftan ji hev re gotine:
- Gelo ev çi deng e?
Yekî ji wan gotiye:
- Ka ez biçim, bizanim ev çi deng e.
Hevalên wî gotine:
- De here!
Gur hatiye dîtiye ku ker û hevalên wî di nava mêrgê de ne, bêxwedî ne, hema kêfa wî hatiye û nêzîkî wan
ve çûye. Ji nişkê ve çûye, xwe avêtiye ser kerî. Kerî jî sitûyê gurî şidandiye û ew zeft kiriye. Beran, Dîk,
Rovî û Kêvrîşk bazdane ser gurî û bi vî awayî gur bêbêhn hiştine û paşê berdane.
Gur nîvmirî çûye cem hevalên xwe. Hevalên wî jê pirsîne:
- Birayo, te çi dît?
Gurê nîvmirî gotiye:
- Birano, qet deng nekin. Ez çûm, min qewmek li wê derê dît, kes nebîne. Wan meraq kirine û gotine:
- Çawa?
Wî gotiye:
- Gava ku ez çûm, hema serê min kirin nava du keviran, û bi du çakûçan li min dan. Yekî ji wan yasîn li ser
min xwend, yekî çermê min dirand. Yekî jî gora min kola.
Gava guran ev xeber bihîstine, tirs ketiye dilê wan û hemû bi hev re ji wî cihî revîne, û gotine:
- Şikir ji Xwedê re ku em ji ber lepên wan xelas bûne.
Werger / Translation
Once upon a time there was a donkey without an owner. He was in a terrible state, because anyone who had
some work would do it with the donkey, and anyone who had a load would load it up on to the donkey. The
donkey was tired of the people and headed off towards the mountain. On the way, he met a fox. The fox
said:
- Hey Donkey, where are you going?
The donkey said:
- I have become tired of the villagers, I am going towards the mountain.
The fox said:
- Would you take me with you? (literally: you don’t take me with you)
The donkey said:
- Why not? (literally: Why do not I take? meaning: yes, ok!)
Both of them set off together, and then they met a ram. The ram said:
- Hey Donkey, where are you going?
The donkey said:
- I have become tired of the villagers, I am going towards the mountain.
The ram said:
- Would you take me with you?
The donkey said:
- Why not?
The donkey, the fox and the ram went on together, and met a rooster. The rooster said:
- Hey Donkey, where are you going?
The donkey said:
- I have become tired of the villagers, I am going towards the mountain.
The rooster said:
- Would you take me with you?
The donkey said:
- Why not?
The donkey, the fox, the ram and the rooster continued on together, then they met a rabbit. The rabbit said:
- Hey Donkey, where are you going?
The donkey said:
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 8
3
- I have become tired of the villagers, I am going towards the mountain.
The rabbit said:
- Would you take me with you?
The donkey said:
- Why not?
The donkey, the fox, the ram, the rooster and the rabbit went on together, on the way the donkey said:
- Oh friends, I feel the urge to bray (literally: my braying came), I must bray.
His friends said to him:
- Hey, what do you mean, bray! (lit. how will you bray). We are in the middle of this mountainous
region (lit. within this mountain), the wolves will become aware of us and they will eat us all.
The donkey said:
- There is no other way, I must bray.
Finally, no matter what they did (lit. they did, they did not), the donkey refused to agree. The donkey raised
his head and began to bray:
- Ahîîî, ahîîî, ahîîî!
At a place near to them there were seven wolves. They heard the voice of the donkey, all seven said to each
other:
- What could that noise be?
One of them said:
- Let me go and find out (literally: know) what that noise is?
His friends said:
- Yes, go.
The wolf went and saw that the donkey and his friends were in the middle of the pasture, without an owner,
immediately he was pleased and approached them. Suddenly he ran and threw himself at the donkey. But
the donkey squeezed the wolf’s neck and held him tight. The ram, the rooster, the fox and the rabbit got on
top of the wolf and in this manner knocked the breath out of him (literally: left him without breath), then let
him go. The wolf, half dead, went back to his friends. His friends asked him:
- Oh brother, what did you see?
The half-dead wolf said:
- Oh brothers, how could I tell you (lit. don’t make a sound). I went and saw a kind/sort (of creatures),
that I hope nobody will ever meet (lit. such that may no one see).
The other wolves were curious, saying:
- What were they like?
- When I went they immediately put my head between two stones, and beat me with two hammers. One
of them read a Sura of the Koran over me, one of them skinned me (tore my skin). And one of them dug my
grave.
When the wolves heard this news, fear came into their hearts and they all fled together from that place,
saying:
- Thanks to God that we have been saved from their paws!
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 8
4
1.1 Exercise
a) Read the folk story above once and answer the questions below.
1. Di çîrokê de kîjan ajal (heywan) hene?
2. Kî ji xelkê bêzar bûye?
3. Ker diçe ku?
4. Ker di rê de cara pêşîn rastî kîjan ajalî tê?
b) The sentences below are taken from the text above. Fill in the blanks paying attention to the form of the
verbs.
1. Her kesekî ku barekî wî hebûye li wî bar ……….. (kirin)
2. Di rê de rastî roviyekî ……….. (hatin)
3. Ez ji gundiyan ……………. (bêzar bûn), ber bi çiyê ve diçim.
4. Ker û rovî bi hev re ……… (çûn), çûne rastî beranekî ………. (hatin)
5. Kirine û nekirine, ker qayil ............. (ne/bûn)
6. Li deverekê nêzîkî wan heft gur ............... (hebûn)
7. Kerî jî stûyê gurî ………… (şidandin) û ew zeft kiriye.
8. Beran, Dîk, Rovî û Kêvrîşk bazdane ser gurî û bi vî awayî gur bêbêhn hiştine û paşê ew .……..
(berdan)
9. Wan …….……(meraq kirin) û …………(gotin)
10. Gava guran ev xeber ………….. (bihîstin), tirs ketiye dilê wan û hemû bi hev re ji wî cihî
………. (revîn), û gotine:
- Şikir ji Xwedê re ku em ji ber lepên wan ……………… (xelas bûn).
c) Answer the questions according to the fable. Note that the questions are proposing something
wrong according to the fable. Try to write the correct answer.
1. Ker di gundê xwe de xweşhal (happy) e?
Ne, Ker di gundê xwe de ne xweşhal e. Ker êdî ji xelkê bêzar bûye.
2. Gelo ker di rê de cara pêşîn rastî kûçikekî hatiye?
……………………………………………………………………….
3. Gelo ker bi tenê ber bi çiyê ve çûye?
……………………………………………………………………….
4. Gelo di rê de dîkî bang daye (sing out), lewma gur bi wan hesiyane?
……………………………………………………………………….
5. Dema gur nêzîkî ker û heywanên din bûye gelo heywan revîne?
……………………………………………………………………….
6. Gelo gurî her pênc heywan xwarine?
……………………………………………………………………….
7. Gelo gur sax û peyt vegeriyaye cem hevalên xwe?
……………………………………………………………………….
8. Dawiyê, hemû gur kêfxweş bûne û hemû bi hev re çûne ser heywanan?
……………………………………………………………………….
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 8
5
2. Peyv / Vocabulary
beran m.
bizin f.
çêlek f.
çûçik/cûcik m.
dîk m.
ga m.
gur m.
hesp m.
hirç m.
ker m.
kêvrîşk/kêrguh f.
kew
kûsî/kîso m.
mar m.
masî
mêş m.
meymûn
mî f.
mirîşk f.
mişk
pisîk
rovî m.
se/kûçik m.
şêr m.
ram
goat
cow
bird
cockerel, rooster
ox
wolf
horse
bear
donkey
rabbit
partridge
turtle
snake
fish
bee
monkey
sheep
chicken
mouse
cat
fox
dog
lion
alûçe f.
bihok f.
tûfirengî f.
findiq f.
gêlaz f.
gûz f.
hêjîr f.
hinar f.
hirmî f.
lîmon f.
mûz f.
porteqal f.
sêv f.
tirî m.
tû f.
xox m.
zebeş m.
pamîdor/bacan/firingî
gizêr f.
bîber f.
kartol f.
pîvaz f.
xiyar f.
plum
quince
strawberry
hazelnut
cherry
walnut
fig
pomegranate
pear
lemon
banana
orange
apple
grape
mulberry
peach
watermelon
tomato
carrot
pepper
potato
onion
cucumber
Hesp û çêlek heywanên kedî ne.
Horse and cows are domestic animals.
Lavînê heta hingî qet tû nexwaribûn.
Lavîn had not eaten mulberries up to then.
Kew di nav kurdan de pir girîng e.
The partridge is very important among the
Kurds.
Alanî wê rojê li nav rêlê hirçek dîtibû.
Alan had seen a bear that day in the forest.
Ez nikarim bîberên tûj bixwim.
I can not eat hot peppers.
Gur ketibûn nava keriyê wan û deh mî û bizinên
wan xwaribûn.
The wolves had raided in their herd and had
eaten ten sheeps and goats.
Li Kurdistanê ji gûzê bigire heta hêjîrê gelek cure
mêwe digihêjin.
In Kurdistan from walnut to figs many kinds of fruits
are grown.
Zebeşê Diyarbekirê li hemû Kurdistanê navdar e.
The watermelon of Diyarbekir is famous all around
Kurdistan.
Navên Ajalan (Heywanan)/Animals
Mêwe û Sebze/Fruits and Vegetables
Grammar 8
A) Present Perfect Tense
In Kurmanji present perfect tense is used to express an event that has taken place in the past and its effect is
related to the present situation. In this sense it can be compared to the present perfect tense in English. But
it is also often used for the narration of the traditional tales, fables etc. as in the above text. As for the
formation of the verbs in the present perfect tense, it changes in intransitive and transitive verbs.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 8
6
With intransitive verbs:
Consider first the present perfect tense forms of the intransitive verbs ketin ‘fall’ and nivistin ‘to sleep’:
Ez ji darê ketime. I have fallen from the tree. Ez duh şev zû nivistime.I fell asleep early last night.
Tu ji darê ketiyî.
Tu duh şev zû nivistiyî.
Ew ji darê ketiye.
Ew duh şev zû nivistiye.
Em ji darê ketine.
Em duh şev zû nivistine.
Hûn ji darê ketine.
Hûn duh şev zû nivistine.
Ew ji darê ketine.
Ew duh şev zû nivistine.
The above sentences can be expressed in simple past tense as well but when they are expressed in present
perfect tense either:
(a) the event is related to present as in:
A- Ekrem çima îro pir westiyayî xuya dike? “Why does Ekrem seem very tired today?”
B- Ew duh şev dereng nivistiye. “He has slept late last night?”
(b) an event or story is narrated as in:
Rojekê kûsî û rovî li ser riyekê rastî hev hatine. Roviyî ji kûsiyî re gotiye…
“One day the turtle and the fox ran into each other on the way. The fox told the turtle that…”
(c) the speaker is not the witness of the event; s/he narrates a hearsay as in:
A- Mîrza çima îro nehatiye dibistanê? “Why has not Mîrza come to school today?”
B- Dayika wî got ku ew duh ji darê ketiye. “His mother said that he has fallen from the tree yesterday?”
As for the form of present perfect tense, we had learned how to derive the past stems of the verbs to
conjugate them in the simple past tense in the previous lesson; for present perfect tense of intransitive
verbs, as it is seen above, we again add a set of personal endings to the past tense stems of the verbs. The
personal endings, in bold type in the examples above, are shown in the chart below:
After a vowel
Ez –me
Em –ne
Tu –ye
Hûn –ne
Ew --ye
Ew –ne
After a consonant
Ez –ime
Em –ine
Tu –iye
Hûn –ine
Ew –iye
Ew –ine
Some examples of present perfect tense of some intransitive verbs:
çûn
çû
Ez heta niha sê caran çûme Mehabadê. I have been to Mehabad three times.
axaftin axaft
Mamoste di civînê de baş axaftiye. The teacher has spoken well in the meeting.
nivistin nivist
Di wê navberê de du saetan nivistine. They slept two hours during that while.
hatin
hat
Ker di rê de rastî roviyekê hatiye. The donkey has run into a fox on the way.
ketin
ket
Te dizanibû ku kurê wan ji darê ketiye xwarê? Have you known that their son has
fallen from the tree?
kenîn
kenî
Wê şevê heta sibehê ji xwe re suhbet kirine û kenîne. That night they have
chatted and laughed until morning.
bûn
bû
Li van bajarên mezin em winda bûne. We have been lost in these big cities.
With transitive verbs:
The present perfect tense of transitive verbs in Kurmanji works exactly in the same way as it is with their
simple past tense forms, except for the personal endings. In this sense, keeping stable all other rules related
to simple past tense, we should simply replace the simple past tense personal endings with the present
perfect tense personal endings. Thus, there are three major changes in the present perfect tense transitive
sentences that must be learned:
First, the same set of personal endings is added to the past stem as we learned above. But the personal
endings do NOT refer to the subject, but the OBJECT.
Second, the SUBJECT goes into the Oblique case.
Consider the following examples, noting these two differences: the oblique case of the subject pronouns,
and the ending of the verb:
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 8
7
Min helbestek xwendiye. I have read a poem
Te helbestek xwendiye.
Wî helbestek xwendiye.
Me helbestek xwendiye.
We helbestek xwendiye.
Wan helbestek xwendiye.
Min ew dîtiye.
Te ew dîtiye.
Wî/wê ew dîtiye.
Me ew dîtiye.
We ew dîtiye.
Wan ew dîtiye.
I have seen him/her
You have seen him/her.
He/she has seen him/her.
We have seen him/her.
You have seen him/her.
They have seen him/her.
As it is seen, the verb forms are in the form for the third person singular (which is past stem+iye), because
the object in all sentences is third person singular (a poem, or him/her).
The differences between present perfect tense of intransitive and transitive verbs are summed up below:
Intransitive
Transitive
Case of subject
Absolute
Oblique
Case of object
Absolute
Person endings on verb Agrees with subject
Agrees with object
Check the below examples with different
principles.
a) Wê ez dîtime. She has seen me.
Wê tu dîtiyî. She has seen you.
Wê ew dîtiye. She has seen him/her.
objects and pay attention to the application of the above
Wê em dîtine. She has seen us.
Wê hûn dîtine. She has seen you (pl.).
Wê ew dîtine. She has seen them.
b) Min îro sê piyalên avê vexwarine.
Te çend pirtûkên kurdî xwendine heta niha?
Avestayê gelek pirtûkên kurdî çap kirine.
Xanzadê em duhî di konserê de dîtine.
Her wiha wî gelek nivîs di kovara …
Hawarê de weşandine.
I have drunk three glasses of water today.
How many books in Kurdish have you read up to now?
Avesta has published many books in Kurdish.
Xanzad has seen us in the concert yesterday.
Also, he has published a lot of articles in…
the Hawar magazine.
Negative, transitive and intransitive verbs:
For yielding the negative form, all other rules being the same, the negative marker ne- is prefixed, as in:
Min îro nan nexwariye.
I have not eaten today.
Ew hat lê zarok bi xwe re neanîne. He came but he has not brought the children with him.
Xezalê hêj ez ferq nekirime.
Xezal has not noticed me yet.
Ev mehek e gundiyan zeviyên xwe av nedane. It is one month that the villagers have not watered
their fields.
Dersê dest pê kiriye, lê şagirt hêj neketine sinifên xwe. The lesson has started but the students have
not entered into their classes yet.
B) Past Perfect Tense (or Pluperfect)
Past perfect tense in Kurmanji functions just as the past perfect tense in English. In this sense, it is used to
express an event or situation in the past preceding another past event or situation. Thus, for expressions
such as ‘we had eaten’ (me xwaribû) ‘they had left’ (ew derketibûn) past perfect tense is used in Kurmanji.
Moreover, past perfect tense works, as all other tenses in Kurmanji, in different ways with intransitive and
transitive verbs.
With intransitive verbs:
Consider first the simple past tense forms of the intransitive verbs axaftin ‘speak’ and man ‘stay’:
Ez ligel wî axaftibûm. I had talked to him.
Ez li wir mabûm. I had stayed there.
Tu ligel wî axaftibûyî.
Tu li wir mabûyî.
Ew ligel wî axaftibû.
Ew li wir mabû.
Em ligel wî axaftibûn.
Em li wir mabûn.
Hûn ligel wî axaftibûn.
Hûn li wir mabûn.
Ew ligel wî axaftibûn.
Ew li wir mabûn.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 8
8
The past perfect tense is formed by (1) the past stem+(2) past tense form of bûn ‘to be’. In the past stems
ending with a consonant, such as axaftin-axaft in the above examples, ‘i’ is inserted between the past stem
and the past tense form of bûn.
Some examples to past perfect tense of some intransitive verbs:
Ez wê rojê bi qasî neh saetan nivistibûm.
That day I had slept more or less nine hours.
Ma tu par çûbûyî Lalişê?
Had you been to Laliş last year?
Xelîl bi halekî xerab vegeriyabû malê.
Xelîl had returned home in a bad situation.
Di qezayê de bi tenê tiliyeke wî şikestibû.
In the accident only one of his fingers had broken.
Em hêj nû ji malê derketibûn ku telefona min lê da. We had just gone out of the house that my phone rang.
With transitive verbs:
Past perfect tense of the transitive verbs are formed in the same way with the intransitive verbs, that is past
stem+past tense form of the bûn; however, as it is with the other past tenses, the subject goes into oblique
case and the verb agrees with the object. Note that in the below examples the verb is conjugated according
to the same object (nan) so regardless of the different subjects the verb is in the same form.
Min nan xwaribû. I had eaten.
Me nan xwaribû.
We had eaten.
Te nan xwaribû.
You had eaten.
We nan xwaribû.
You had eaten.
Wê nan xwaribû.
She had eaten.
Wan nan xwaribû. They had eaten
Note the changes in the conjugation of the verbs according to different objects in the below examples:
Di qada Newrozê de gelek mirov kom bibûn. A lot of people had gathered in Newroz field.
Dema ez gihiştime malê wan çay vexwaribû. When I arrived at home they had (already) drank tea.
We ew pirtûk bi hev re kirîbûn? Had you bought those books together?
Zîlanê Kerem li dibistanê nas kiribû. Zîlan had got acquianted with Kerem in the school.
Xurşîdî duhî tu li bazarê dîtibûyî. Xurşîd had seen you in the market place yesterday.
Babê min em ligel xwe nebiribûn dukanê. My father had not taken us to the shop (together with himself).
Negative, transitive and intransitive verbs:
For the negative forms of the verbs the negative marker ne- is prefixed as in:
Min marekî ewqasî mezin qet nedîtibû. I had not seen a snake as big as that.
Wê şevê wî em venexwendibûn şîvê.
He had not invited us to dinner that night.
Wê rojê tu kesî sparteya xwe çênekiribû lê mamoste hîç hêrs nebibû.
Nobody had done his homework but the teacher was not annoyed at all.
W o rd lis t
avêtibû
axaftin f.
axir
bal f.
bar m.
bavo
bêbêhn
bêhn dikirin
beran m.
berdan
berî şîvê
‘he had thrown’ Beydayê kilîla malê avêtibû nav deryayê ‘Beyda had
thrown the key of the house into the sea’ (3 sg. past perfect tense for
the verb avêtin ‘to throw’)
speech, talk
in conclusion, at the end
attention (bal kişandin: to attract attention)
load (bar kirin: to load)
father (vocative case, which means direct address) (it has also a
general usage for a specific father similar to bavê min “my father”)
out of breath (bê: without, out; bêhn: breath)
‘they were smelling’ gurên birçî hestiyên li ser berfê bêhn dikirin ‘the
hungry wolves were smelling the bones on the snow’ (3 pl. past
continuous tense for the verb bêhn kirin ‘to smell’)
ram
to leave, to release, to set free
before dinner (berî: before; şîv f.: dinner)
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 8
bêxwedî
bêzar bûn
ber bi çiyê ve
bi carekê de
bi hev re
bihîstin syn. seh kirin
bilind kirin
birayo
bizanim
bizirrim
çakûç m.
çîrok f.
civandin
çiyâ m.
da ku
danîbûn
dayê
de here
delaliyên min
dendik
dest pê kirin
dev m.
dever f. syn. cih
di rê de
dîk m.
domandin
alûçe
gelî hevalan
gor f.
gotin
gur m.
hebû û tunebû
hejmartin
helbet
hema
hemûyan
her du
herî xirab
heta
hew
9
ownerless (bê: without, less; xwedî also xwedan: owner)
to get fed up with, to be tired of
towards the mountain (ber bi …… ve: towards somewhere)
at once
together
to hear, to perceive
to raise
brother (vocative case, direct address) (“o and yo” are the vocative
case markers for masculine nouns as in bav+o; xal+o; heyran+o)
‘that I know, I should know etc.’ ez dixwazim rastiya meseleyê
bizanim ‘I want to know the truth about (lit. of) the issue’ (1sg.
subjunctive form for the verb zanîn ‘to know’)
‘that I bray, I should bray etc.’ ker dibêje divê ez bizirrim ‘The donkey
says that I need to bray’ (1 sg. subjunctive form for the verb zirrîn ‘to
bray’)
Hammer
Story
‘...gathered them’ dapîrê zarok li dora xwe civandin da ku ji wan re
çîrokekê bêje ‘The grandmother gathered the children around herself
to tell them a story’. (3 pl. of the simple past tense for the verb
civandin ‘to gather’)
mountain, (also çiyayî; in oblique case)
so that, so as to
‘...had put them’ Elî kitêbên xwe danîbûn ser maseyê ‘Ali had put his
books on the table’. (3 pl. of the past perfect tense for the verb danîn
‘to put, to leave’)
Mother ( vocative case) (“ê and yê” are the vocative case markers for
feminine nouns as in yar+ê; xuşk+ê; dayik+ê)
let you go
my dears
the seed
to begin, start; they began (saet heştê dest bi leyîstinê kirin “They
started playing at eight” )
mouth
region
on the way
cock
to continue
plum
oh friends (gelî is a plural adress form (vocative) with the same
function with –(i)no as in heval-ino, bira-no)
grave
to say; word, saying
wolf
once upon a time (lit. there was (and) there was not)
to count
of course
thus
all of them (in the oblique case)
both
the worst (herî + adj is the superlative form of the adjectives as in
pirsa herî zehmet, dersa herî hêsan, xaniyê herî mezin ‘the most
difficult question, the easiest lesson, the biggest house’)
until
no longer
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 8
hiştin
ho kero
jê
ji ber
ji hev re
ji nişkê ve
ka
kêf f.
kefen m.
kêm
kenîbûn
ker m.
kes m.f.
(bila) kes wî nebîne
kêvrîşk/kêvroşk f.
kirîbûn
kirin nava tiştekî
kirine û nekirine
kola
law m. syn. kur
lawir/rawir m. syn.
heywan
lep
li dora
loma also lewma
ma
mal ava
maye
mêr m.
meraq kirin
mêrg f.
mêrik m.
mêwe f.syn. fêkî
mezin ant. biçûk
nebaş syn. xerab
nebiriye
nêzik ant. dûr
nîvmirî
parve kirin
pencere
qayil bûn
qet syn. hîç
qewm
10
to leave
oh donkey
from him/her
because of
to each other
suddenly
attention-getting particle (ka ez lê binêrim çawa ye ‘now let me have
a look at it to see how it is’)
enjoy, joy (kêf hatin: to be happy)
shroud
few; little; lacking
’we, you, they had laughed’ em bi henekên wî pir kenîbûn ‘We had
laughed a lot at his jokes’ (pl. of the past perfect tense for the verb
kenîn ‘to laugh’)
Donkey
person (when used with a negative predicate it means ‘anybody’)
lit. may anybody do not see him
Rabbit
’we, you, they had bought’ Xezalê du kîlo bacan û du kîlo jî porteqal
kirîbûn ‘Xezal had bought two kilos of tomatoes and two of oranges.’
(pl. of the past perfect tense for the verb kirîn ‘to buy’)
to put into something
whatever they have done; no matter what they have done
’…dug it’ Ev baxçe hemî min bi tenê kola ‘I dug the whole garden on
myself.’ (3 sg. of the simple past tense for the verb kolan ‘to dig’)
lad, son
animal
claw
around (smt.) (li dora malê ‘around the house’)
therefore, for this reason
interrogative particle (ma tu nayê bi me re? ‘are not you coming with
us?’)
(1) thank you; (2) hey! (an expression used at the beginning of a
contrasting statement)
‘it remains, it is left’ di sarincê de bi tenê hinek penêr maye. ‘There is
only some cheese left in the fridge.’ (3 sg. of the present perfect tense
for the verb man ‘to remain’)
husband, man
to wonder
meadow
man
fruit
big
bad (ne‘not’ +baş ‘good’)
‘…has not taken it’ Sîdarî sêwana xwe bi xwe re nebiriye îro ‘Sîdar
has not taken his umbrella today.’ (3 sg. negative of the present
perfect tense for the verb birin ‘to take’)
close
half-dead
to share
window
to be content, to be convinced
never
race, people
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 8
qîriyan
rahiştin
rastî yekî hatin
revîne
rezîl bûn
rovî m.
rû m.
sebze m.
seh kirin
şidandin
şikir
stû m.
şîv m.
sor bibû
tas
tirs
tiştek
wiha
weke
xal m.
xeber m.
(ji tiştekî/kesekî) xelas
bûn
xirabtir
xistin
xwîn f.
yasîn f.
yekî ji wan
zeft kirin
zer bûn
11
to scream
to pick
to come across smb., encounter, meet
’they have escaped’ dema gur dîtine hemû bi hev re revîne.. ‘Upon
seeing the wolf they all have escaped.’ (3 pl. of the present perfect
tense for the verb revîn ‘to escape, to flee’)
to get into a desperate situation
fox
face
vegetable
to hear, to realize
to press
thank (God)
neck
dinner
’he had blushed’ ji ber nexweşiyê rengê wî sor bûbû. ‘He had blushed
because of the illness’ (3 sg. of the past perfect tense for the verb sor
bûn ‘to blush, to redden’)
bowl
fear (tirsîn: to fear)
something (anything when used with a negative predicate)
thus, such, like this
like, as
(1) uncle (mother’s brother); (2) dot, point
news
to get rid of something or somebody
worse (xirab+tir: ‘tir’ is the comparision particle as in mezin+tir
‘bigger’; baş+tir ‘better’; reş+tir ‘darker’
to drop, to beat
blood
the name of a sura in the Koran recited when somebody is about to
die
one of them (one is masculine and in oblique)
to capture
to become yellow
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 9
1
LESSON 9
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will repeat some of the verb forms you have learned, and find a brief introduction to
two new verb forms: the past perfect (or pluperfect) tense, and the passive voice. At the end of this
lesson you will:
• be more fluent in the use of different verb forms
• be able to formulate passive sentences in the commonest tenses
• practice the pluperfect tense
• be able to use some common expressions related to the preparation of foods
1. Text: A short excerpt from the novel Siy a b e n d û X e cê
This novel was written by Zeynelabidîn Zinar and published in 1992 by Pencînar publishers
in Stockholm. It is an attempt to adapt one of the most famous Kurdish legends, that of
Siyabend û Xecê, into the form of a novel. This short passage has been slightly modified
compared to the original work. The main character, Siyabend, is spending the night in a
bleak and lonely place alone. He has crawled into a thicket (bushes, in Kurdish devî (f.) and
is trying to sleep, but he cannot fall sleep. He keeps hearing a voice (deng), but cannot see
where it is coming from.
Siyabend ji nava wê deviyê rabû çû kete nava deviyeke din û xwe dirêj kir ku rakeve, lê kir û
nekir êdi xewa wî nehat. Erê hêj di xew re neçûbû, dîsa ew dengê berê hat guhên wî; mîna ku
yek bangî wî bike. Rabû ser lingan li der û dora xwe nihêrî; lê tu tişt nedît, dîsa xwe li erdê
dirêj kir. Dîsa ew deng bihîst; gava kir ku rabe ser lingan, dît ku zilamek li ber lingên wî
sekiniye. Dema Siyabendî ew dît, hinekî tirsiya. Paşê li zilamî nihêrî; lê şev tarî bû, ji ber vê
hindê tiştek jê dernexist. Di wê navberê de qederek bihurî, zilamê şevê got:
-Siyabendê min. Metirse! Ez Xoceyê Xizir im û qasidê Xwedê me, ji bo alîkariya te hatime
vir. Xwedê sozek daye te ku tu bi destên mirovan neyêyî kuştin.
Zilamê şevê tîrek û kevanek dan Siyabendî, dîsa li axaftina xwe domand:
-Ha ji te re! Xwedê ev tîr û kevan ji bo te wekî diyarî hinartine. Lê rabe, ji vî welatî here! Ev
welat êdî ji te re nabe war! [...]
Werger / Translation
Siyabend stood up from that bush, went into another bush and lay down so that he could
sleep but whatever he did, he could not sleep. No (lit. yes), he had not fallen asleep yet, when
he heard the same voice (lit. that former voice came to his ears) as if it called him. He stood
up (on his legs), wandered around but did not see anything, (and then) he lay down again. He
heard that voice again; when he was about (lit. when he did) to stand up, he saw that a man
was standing in front of his feet (lit. legs). When Siyabend saw him, he got a bit afraid. Then
he looked at the man, but the night was dark so he could not notice anything. Meanwhile,
some time passed and the man of the night said:
-Dear Siyabend (lit. My Siyabend). Do not be afraid! I am Hodja Xizir and I am a
messenger of God and I came to help you. God gave a promise to you that you will not be
killed by a human being.
The man of the night gave a bow and arrow and then continued his speech again:
- Here you are. God sent this bow and arrow for you as a gift but get up and leave this
country!
This country can’t be home for you anymore! [...]
1.1. Exercise
a) Read the text above and answer the questions below.
1. Siyabendî çi bihîst?
2. Zilamê şevê çima hatiye?
3. Zilamê şevê çi dan Siyabendî?
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 9
2
4. Xwedê çi soz da Siyabendî?
5. Li gorî we, Zilamê şevê çima ji Siyabend xwest ku ew biçe welatekî din?
b) The following verb forms are taken from the text. Identify the infinitive form of these verb
forms, and write which form they are in (check back to the preceding lessons if you are not
sure!). The first ones are done for you:
Conjugated
Infinitive
Meaning
rabû
rabûn
simple past verb form ‘get up’
çû
çûn
simple past verb form ‘go’
ket(e)
ketin
kir
kirin
this is the simple past verb form plus a suffix -e often used with
verbs
denoting direction, here therefore: go into, enter (literally ‘fall’)
simple past verb form ‘do’
rakeve
raketin
present subjunctive verb form ‘fall asleep’
nehat
bike
geriya
nedît
bihîst
rabe
sekiniye
hatiye
dernexist
Metirse! /this
could also be:
netirse!/
hatime
neyêyî kuştin
(go
to
the
grammar part
below)
domand
here/biçe
rabe
hatin
kirin
gerîn
dîtin
bihîstin
rabûn
sekinîn
hatin
derxistin
tirsîn
negative form of simple past verb 'come'
negative form of simple past verb 'see'
negative form of simple past verb ' '
hatin
hatin kuştin
domandin
çûyîn
rabûn
Grammar / Rêziman 9
A) The Passive Voice
• When we use transitive verbs, we can express events and activities involving two things or people.
The simplest way of using such verbs is called the ‘active’ voice: the doer of the action is the subject,
and the thing that is done, or that is affected, is the object:
Ez xwarinekê çêdikim.
‘I (subject) am making a meal (object).’
Siyabend pirtûkekê dixwîne.
‘Siyabend (subject) is reading a book (object)’
• However, we can also make sentences using the so-called passive voice, a particular sentence type
using a special form of the verb. In the passive voice, we are only interested in hearing about the
person or thing that has been affected, or had something done to it (for example, the meal, or the
book in the above sentences).
• To make the passive voice in Kurmanji, we take a form of the verb hatin ‘come’ and combine it
with the infinitive of the verb we wish to use:
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 9
ACTİVE
Ez xwarinekê çêdikim
Siyabend pirtûkekê dixwîne
3
PASSİVE
Xwarinek tê çêkirin.
Pirtûkek tê xwendin.
‘A meal is being made’
‘A book is being read’
• In the passive voice, the old object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive one.
That means that the oblique case marker (-ê in the above examples) is not needed. The old subject,
on the other hand, is normally simply dropped from the sentence.
• The auxiliary verb hatin can be conjugated in all persons and tenses. In the above examples, it is
the third person of the present tense. The infinitive form of the main verb, on the other hand,
always stays the same. The above examples in the simple past tense would be:
PASSİVE, PRESENT TENSE
Xwarinek tê çêkirin.
Pirtûkek tê xwendin.
PASSİVE, SİMPLE PAST TENSE
Xwarinek hat çêkirin.
Pirtûkek hat xwendin.
• As for the negative form of passive construction, we simply negate the helping verb hatin in the
same way as it is normally negated. But recall the negative form of hatin in the present tense.
Some examples in all persons in the most familiar tenses and moods are given below:
Simple Present Tense
(I am/will be known= recognised)
Ez têm nasîn
Em tên nasîn
Tu têyî nasîn
Hûn tên nasîn
Ew tê nasîn
Ew tên nasîn
(I am not/will not be known=recognised)
Ez nayêm nasîn
Em nayên nasîn
Tu nayêyî nasîn
Hûn nayên nasîn
Ew nayê nasîn
Ew nayên nasîn
Present Subjunctive
(that I be known= recognised)
Ez bêm nasîn
Em bên nasîn
Tu bêyî nasîn
Hûn bên nasîn
Ew bê nasîn
Ew bên nasîn
(that I be not known)
Ez neyêm nasîn
Tu neyêyî nasîn
Ew neyê nasîn
Simple Past Tense
(I was known= recognised)
Ez hatim nasîn
Em hatin nasîn
Tu hatî nasîn
Hûn hatin nasîn
Ew hat nasîn
Ew hatin nasîn
Present Perfect Tense
(I have been known= recognised)
Ez hatime nasîn Em hatine nasîn
Tu hatiyî nasîn
Hûn hatine nasîn
Ew hatiye nasîn
Ew hatine nasîn
Em neyên nasîn
Hûn neyên nasîn
Ew neyên nasîn
(I was not known= recognised)
Ez nehatim nasîn
Em nehatin nasîn
Tu nehatî nasîn
Hûn nehatin nasîn
Ew nehat nasîn
Ew nehatin nasîn
Past Perfect Tense
(I had been known= recognised)
Ez hatibûm nasîn
Em hatibûn nasîn
Tu hatibûyî nasîn
Hûn hatibûn nasîn
Ew hatibû nasîn
Ew hatibûn nasîn
(I have not been known= recognised)
Ez nehatime nasîn
Em nehatine nasîn
Tu nehatiyî nasîn
Hûn nehatine nasîn
Ew nehatiye nasîn
Ew nehatine nasîn
(I had not been known= recognised)
Ez nehatibûm nasîn Em nehatibûn nasîn
Tu nehatibûyî nasîn Hûn nehatibûn nasîn
Ew nehatibû nasîn
Ew nehatibûn nasîn
It is possible to express the doer of the action by using a complex circumposition ji aliyê............ve in
front of the helping verb. This is really only used in more formal styles of written Kurdish; it is not part
of normal everyday speech.
Du romanên nû ji aliyê Enstîtuya Kurdî ya Stenbolê ve hatin wergerandin û weşandin.
Two new novels have been translated and published by Istanbul Kurdish Institute.
Lîstika bi navê ”Rojnivîska Dînekî” ji aliyê Gogol ve hatiye nivîsandin.
The play named Diary of a Madman was written by Gogol.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 9
4
Divê mirov bibêje ku di destpêkê de îthamên wiha ji aliyê piraniya mirovan ve jî dihatin
qebûlkirin.
It should be said that in the begining such claims were being accepted by most of the people.
Exercise
Change the active sentences below into passive sentences.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
Mirov bi şev biryanê naxwin.
Êdî mirov cil û bergan bi cilşoyan dişon.
Heval nameyan ji hev re dişînin.
Kurd piranî çayê vedixwin.
Li Tirkiyeyê mirov zêde kovaran naxwînin.
Em her roj li malê xwarinê çêdikin.
Biryan bi şev nayê xwarin.
............................................
............................................
............................................
............................................
............................................
Wordlist
alîkarî f. also arîkarî
an / yan
ango
axaftin
bang (-î yekî) kirin
bêbextî f.
berê
bi
bihîst
bihurî
bike
biryan f.
çilo also çawa, çito
dan
daye
di…………….de
dema
deng m.
dernexist
dest m.
devî f.
dew m.
dike
din
dirêj
dîsa
help
or
in another term, namely
to speak
to call (smb.), (bang: message)
treachery, mercilessness
before
with, by, (b i is a preposition which functions as the initial particle of
many circumpositions. Ex. Ez bi te re me. ‘I am with you.’)
‘…heard it’ Siyabendî dengek bihîst. ‘Siyabend heard a voice’ (3rd prs.
sng. past simple form for the verb bihîstin ‘to hear’)
‘he/she passed’ Siyabend di ber mala me re bihurî. ‘Siyabend passed
by our house’ (3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb bihurîn ‘to
pass by’)
‘do!’ Wan kartol û balîcanan sor bike ji bo şîvê. ‘Fry those potatoes
and aubergines for dinner’ (imperative form for the verb kirin ‘to do’)
a traditional kurdish dish with meat
how
to give
‘…have/has given it’ Siyabendî hespê xwe daye qaçaxçiyan. ‘Siyabend
has given his horse to smugglers.’ (3rd prs. sng. present perfect of the
verb dan ‘to give’)
in, at (d i is a preposition used together with the postposition d e ) di
çîrokê de ‘in the story’
when
voice
‘did not take it out’ Siyabendî şûrê xwe dernexist. ‘Siyabend didn’t
take out his sword’ (3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb
derxistin ‘to take out’) (tê derxistin (as in the text): to understand, to
notice)
hand
bush
airan (a cold drink made of youghurt, in India called lassi, in Iran
dugh)
‘he/she does’ Evîn çi karî dike. ‘What does Evîn do?’ (3rd prs. sng.
form of the simple present tense for the verb kirin ‘to do’)
other
long, tall
again
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 9
dît
diyarî f.
domand
êdî
erd m.
erê
ev
fikar f.
firotin
gava
geriya
giran
girtin
goşt m.
got
gram
guh
hat
hatime
hatiye
hawîrdor syn. der û dor
f.
hêj
here
hev also hevdu or hev û
din
hinartine
hinek also hindek
îsot f.
jê
ji
kete
kevan f.
kevanek
kîlo f.
kir
kir nekir
ku
5
‘…saw it’ Siyabendî zilamek dît. ‘Siyabend saw a man’ (3rd prs. sng.
past simple form for the verb dîtin ‘to see’)
gift
‘continued it’ Siyabendî meşa xwe domand. ‘Siyabend continued his
walk’ (3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb domandin ‘to
continue’)
anymore, no longer
land
yes
this
concern
to sell
when
‘he/she wandered’ Siyabend li ber mala wê geriya. ‘Siyabend
wandered around her home’ (3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the
verb gerîn/geriyan ‘to wander around’)
heavy, expensive
to grasp, to take, to hold
meat
‘…said it’ Zilamê şevê got. ‘The man of the nigh said’ (3rd prs. sng. past
simple form for the verb gotin ‘to say’)
gram
ear
‘he/she came’ Zilam hate nik Siyabend. ‘The man came near
Siyabend’ (3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb hatin ‘to come’)
‘I have come’ Ez hatime suhbeta we. ‘I have come to your talk’ (1st prs.
sng. present perfect form for the verb hatin ‘to come’)
‘he/she has come’ Zilam hatiye nik Siyabend. ‘The man has come
near Siyabend’ (3rd prs. sng. present perfect form for the verb hatin ‘to
come’)
environment, aroundhood
still
‘go’ Here mala birayê min.’Go to my brother’s home’ (imperative
form for the verb çûn ‘to go’)
each other (Ex: Herdu hevalan bi hesret hev hembêz kirin. ‘The two
friends embraced each other passionately.’
‘…have/has sent them’ Wan çend diyarî hinartine bo me. ‘They have
sent some gifts for us’ (3rd prs. pl. present perfect form for the verb
hinartin ‘to send’)
some
hot pepper
from him/her
from
‘he/she fell down’ Siyabend kete nav bîrekê. ‘Siyabend fell down in a
well’ (3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb ketin ‘to fall down)
bow
a bow
kilo
‘…made it’ Siyabendî daxwazek kir. ‘Siyabend made a wish’ (3rd prs.
sng. past simple form for the verb kirin ‘to do/ make’)
whatever he/she did.
ku has many different functions in Kurdish, which cannot all be
covered here. An easy way to begin to underestand ku is to translate it
with English that, which also has many different functions. The most
important uses of ku are the following: (1) It introduces a relative
clause, as in jinika ku hat li vir ‘the woman who/that came here’, (2)
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 9
kuştin
lê
li
metirse!
mîna
mirov
mirovan
nabe
nav
nayê
neçûbû
nedît
nehat
nekir
nihêrî also nêrî
neyêyî also neyê
ling m.
nîvro f.
pê
paşî also pişt re
qasid
qederek f.
rabû
rakeve
rehet
salete f.
sed
sekiniye
ser
şev f.
sêv f.
şevan
sibeh also sibê f.
6
It introduces complement clauses, as in: gava dît ku zilamek li ber
lingên wî sekiniye ‘(he) he saw that a man was standing in front of
his feet’; (3) It introduces purpose clauses: kir ku rabe ser lingan ‘(he)
intended (lit. did) so that he would get up / he was about to get up’.
to kill
but, however
in
don’t be afraid!
like, as
person, human being
plural onlique form of mirov
‘it does not become’ Ev welat êdî ji te re nabe war! This country can’t
be home for you anymore! (3rd. pr. sng. form of the simple present
tense for the verb bûn ‘to be’)
inside
‘he/she does not come’ Siyabend nayê daweta me. ‘Siyabend is not
coming to our invitation’ (3rd prs. sng. simple present tense form for
the verb hatin ‘to come’)
‘he/she had not gone’ Siyabend neçûbû daweta wan. ‘Siyabend had
not gone to their invitation’ (3rd prs. sng. past perfect tense form for
the verb çûn ‘to go’)
‘…did not see him/her/it’ Siyabendî tu tişt nedît. ‘Siyabend didn’t see
anything’ (3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb dîtin ‘to see’)
‘he/she did not come’ Siyabend nehat daweta me. ‘Siyabend didn’t
come to our invitation’ (3rd prs. sng. simple past tense form for the
verb hatin ‘to come’)
‘…did not do it’ Siyabend tu tişt nekir. ‘Siyabend didn’t do anything’
(3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb kirin ‘to do/ make’)
‘looked at him/her/it’ Siyabendî li zilamî nihêrî. ‘Siyabend looked at
the man’ (3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb nihêrîn ‘to look
at’)
‘if etc. you don’t come’ Divê tu li vir pir hişyar bî da ku neyêyî
xapandin. ‘You should be very careful here not to be deceived.’ (2nd
pr. sngl. form of the present subjunctive form for the verb hatin ‘to
come’; the same verb is used in forming passive forms as in the
example above.)
leg, foot
noon
with her/him or smth/smb (it is a contracted form of ‘bi wê/wî’)
then, later on
envoy
for a time
‘he/she stood up’ Siyabend rabû ser piyan. ‘Siyabend stood up’ (3rd
prs. sng. past simple form for the verb rabûn ‘to stand up’)
‘sleep!’ Bi şev zû rakeve da ku sibehê zû rabî. ‘Sleep early in the night
so that you get up early in the morning.’ (2nd pr. sngl. imperative form
for the verb raketin ‘to sleep’)
comfortable, easy
salad
hundred
‘he/she has stopped’ Siyabend li ber derî sekiniye. ‘Siyabend has
stoopped in front of the door’ (3rd prs. sng. present perfect form for
the verb sekinîn ‘to stop, to stay’)
on, over
night
apple
at nights
morning, in the morning
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 9
sozek
tarî f.
te
tê
tên
tenê also bi tenê
têr kirin
tîr f.
tîrek
tirşî m.
tirsiya
vê
vî
vira
wa
war m.
welat m.
welatî
wî
wisa also wesa
xwarin
Xwedê
yekê
yekî
zilam m.
zilamek
a promise
dark, darkness
you (in oblique case)
‘he/she comes’ Siyabend ji gund tê. ‘Siyabend is coming from the
village’ (3rd prs. sng. simple present form for the verb hatin ‘to come’)
‘they come’ Gundî ji mizgeftê tên. ‘The villagers are coming from the
mosque’ (3rd prs. pl. simple present form for the verb hatin ‘to come’)
alone, only
yo be enough (Ew xwarin têra min dike ‘This food will be enough for
me’)
arrow
an arrow
pickles
‘he/she was afraid’ Siyabend ji zilamî tirsiya. ‘Siyabend was afraid of
the man’ (3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb tirsîn/tirsiyan ‘to
be afraid of’)
oblique form of ev ‘this’ (feminine)
oblique form of ev ‘this’ (masculine)
here
here
place, land
country
citizen
oblique form of ew ‘he’
like that, in that way
to eat, food
God
one of them (one is feminine and in oblique)
one of them (one is masculine and in oblique)
man
a man
Extra material for all interested (not included in the examination)
Lêkerên têkildarî xwarin û xwarin-çêkirinê /
Verbs related to foods and preparing meals
qelaştin
sor kirin
qijilandin
biraştin
pehtin
qelandin
kelandin
qewartin
sar kirin
xwê pê werkirin
sotin/şewitandin
7
to slice
to fry
to fry
to grill
to cook
to roast
to boil
to hollow out
to cool
to salt
to burn
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 9
Xwarinên Taştê
penîr
mast
hingivîn
şîr
xoşav
jajî
xiyar
tamates/bacan
zeytûn
rîçal
nivîşk
hêkên kelandî
cheese
yoghurt
honey
milk
compote
a kind of soft cheese
cucumber
tomates
olives
jam
butter
boiled egg
Hindek xwarin û vexwarinên sereke / some essential food and
beverages
salete
goşt
nîsk
birinc
fasûliye
savar
masî
çay
qehwe
dew
salad
meat
lentil
rice
bean
dried crushed wheat
fish
tea
coffe
airan (a drink consisting of yoghurt and water, Indian: lassi)
8
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 10
1
LESSON 10
INTRODUCTION
In this unit you will have an opportunity to practice the things you have learned by working on a
selection of genuine Kurdish texts. We have attempted to select texts from fairly typical genres,
and provide translations and notes to the texts as well as complementary exercises for each of
them. The texts we have chosen include a contemporary short story from Firat Cewerî, a poem
from Berken Bereh and a folk tale.
In addition, we would like to draw your attention to the website:
http://www.dibistanakurdi.com/index.php
a Swedish-based website with a lot of very useful resources for learning Kurdish. Under the menu
‘çîrok’ (story) you will find some short traditional texts which can also be listened to (you will
need Flash player on your computer). For this lesson you will need to listen to the the story Pîrê û
Rovî first (‘The old lady and the fox’) on the following link:
http://www.dibistanakurdi.com/cirok2004/pire_rovi.htm
Text 1: Çîrok / Short story
Çend agahî li ser nivîskar û çîrokê
Nivîskarê vê çîrokê, Firat Cewerî, di sala 1959an de li gundekî Mêrdînê hatiye dinyayê. Ji serê
salên 1980î ve li Swêdê dijî ku li wê derê wekî nivîskar, wergêr û weşangerekî kurd pir navdar bûye. Heta
niha romanek û çend pirtûkên çîrokan nivîsandine û her wiha berhemin ji Dostoevsky, Steinbeck, Chechov
û Yaşar Kemal wergerandine kurdî. Bi qasî deh salan kovareke edebî ya bi navê Nûdem derxistiye. Ji bilî
karê xwe yê nivîskariyê, wî weşanxaneyeke bi navê Nûdem jî ava kiriye ku bûye yek ji girîngtirîn û
serkeftîtirîn weşanxaneyên kurdî. Nûdemê, di sala 1998an de bi edîtoriya Firat Cewerî, koleksiyoneke du
cildî ya hemû hejmarên kovara Hawarê (ya ku di navbera salên 1932 û 1943an de çap bibû) belav kirin. Di
wê kovarê de birayên Bedirxanî û rewşenbîrên din ên kurd, bingehên kurmanciya nivîskî ya standard
danîbûn. Berhemeke din a pir girîng a Firat Cewerî jî, amadekirina Antolojiya Çîrokên Kurdî (2003, du
cild) ye; ku bêguman, firehtirîn koleksiyona berdest a edebiyata kurdî ye.
Çîroka ku me ji bo vê dersê bijartiye, li ser adeta kurdan a razana ser banan, ku havînan li
Kurdistanê pir berbelav e, hatiye hûnandin. Qehremanê çîrokê, mirovekî ji bajarê Kurdistanê yî Mêrdînê
ye, ku demeke dirêj li Ewrûpayê jiyaye. Gava ku di nav xeyalên rabirdûyê de li ser banê xanî li esman û
stêrkên ronak temaşe dike, dingedingek tê ji mala cînaran. Nivîskar, vê rûdanê bi xuricîna stêrkekê ve
girêdide.
Çîrok ji pirtûka nivîskarî ya bi navê Kevoka Spî hatiye wergirtin (Swêd, Nûdem, 1996).
Some information on the writer and the story
The author of this short story, Firat Cewerî, was born in 1959 near Mêrdîn in southeastern
Turkey, quite near the Syrian border. He has been living in Sweden since the early 1980’s, where
he has become extremely well known as a Kurdish writer, translator and publisher. He has
written a novel and several collections of short stories and has also translated works of
Dostoevsky, Steinbeck, Chechov and Yaşar Kemal into Kurdish. He directed a litarary magazine
called Nûdem for about ten years. Apart from his work as a writer, he has also established the
publishing company Nûdem as one of the most important and successful Kurdish publishers
world-wide. In 1998 Nûdem published a two-volume collection of all the issues of the journal
Hawar (originally published between 1932 and 1943), edited by Firat Cewerî. In that journal, the
Bedirxan (Bedirkhan) brothers and other Kurdish intellectuals had laid the foundations for
modern standard written Kurmanji. Another extremely important work of Firat Cewerî is the
recent publication of an anthology of Kurdish short stories (Antolojiya Çîrokên Kurdî, 2003, two
volumes), undoubtedly the most comprehensive collection of Kurdish literature currently
available.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 10
2
The story that we have chosen, picks up a culturally very widespread custom in Kurdistan, namely
sleeping on the rooves of houses during the summer. The protagonist of the story is a man from
Mêrdîn, a city of Kurdistan, who has lived in Europe for a long time and returned home. While he
is deep into the retrospect on the roof of the house looking at the luminious sky and stars, there
comes a noise from the neighbour’s which the author relates to the slide of a star on the sky. The
story is taken from his collection of short stories titled as Kevoka Spî (Sweden, Nûdem, 1996).
Stêrkek ji ezmanê me xuricî /A star slid (down) from our sky
(1) Piştî bernameyeke televîzyonê, ez bi After (watching) a TV programme, I climbed the
cangiranî ji pêlekanê re derketim jor û stairs sluggishly [can=body, soul, spirit;
çûm ser xênî.
giranî
‘heaviness’,
lit.
‘with
bodyheaviness’] and went up on (to the roof of) the
house.
(2) Yek ji tiştên ku min deh salan li One of the things that I had longed for [lit.
Ewrûpayê hesreta wê kişandibû jî, ‘longing of-it draw’] for ten years in Europe,
razana li ser banan bû.
was sleeping on the roof [razan-a, razan is the
infinitive from ‘to sleep’, the -a is an Izafe]
[ban-a, is the colloqual plural form of ban
‘roof’, whose written standard would be
banan ‘rooves’].
(3) Min gelekî ji razana li ser bên hez I liked sleeping on the roof very much [bên is
dikir û her êvar hetanî nîvê şevê min xwe one of the two singular oblique forms for
li ser nivînên xwe dirêj dikir, destên xwe ban; the other and most commonly used
dixistin bin serê xwe û min li stêrkên one being banî] and every evening until midezmanê welêt dinihêrî.
night I would lie down on my bed, put my hands
under my head and stare at stars of the sky of the
country. [this sentence uses the past
progressive to express past habits, often
translatable as ‘used to ...’]
(4) Wê şevê jî min wilo kir.
That night also I did like that. [wilo ‘so, in this
manner’ There are many regional variants
of this word, for example wesa, wisa,
wusa...]
(5) Bêyî ku ez kincên xwe ji xwe bikim, Not having taken my clothes off, I lay down on my
min xwe li ser nivînên xwe dirêj kir, bed, put my hands under my head and looked at
destên xwe xistin bin serê xwe û di bin the stars in the sky under the soft and cool
bayê payizê yê sivik û hênik de li stêrkên autumn wind.
ezmên nihêrî.
(6) Gelo berê jî ezmanê welêt ewçend Were there so many stars in the sky of the
bistêrk bû?
homeland before as well? [lit. was the sky of
the homeland (welêt: oblique singular of
welat) with so many stars before also].
(7) Çiqas stêrkine xweşik in, çiqas How lovely stars, how much they were sparking.
diçirisîn.
(8) Ez di wê navê de li Leyla û Mecnûnî At that moment I thought of Leyla û Mecnûn [a
fikirîm, min ew jî dîtin.
constellation named after the beloved couple
Laila and Majnun], I saw them as well.
(9) Min çavên xwe li riya Kadizê gerand, I glanced at the Milky Way, I saw it as well.
min ew jî dît.
(10) Min demeke dirêj bala xwe berda For a long time I paid attention [the idiomatic
Leyla û Mecnûnî ez li benda expression is bala xwe berdan ‘pay one’s
hevramûsana wan rawestiyam.
attention to’; the basic verb is dan ‘give’
with a preverb ber-] to Leyla û Mecnûn and I
waited for them to kiss [lit. ‘rested in the
expectation of ...’].
(11) Min hevramûsana wan bidîta, min ê If I had seen them kissing, I would have wished,
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 10
ji xwe re tiştin bixwestana, tiştin hêvî
bikirana.
(11) Qet nebe me di zaroktiyê de wilo
bawer dikir.
(12) Em heta derengiya şevê li benda
hevramûsana wan diman û em wilo di
xew re diçûn.
(13) Tiştê ecêb, gava ez li wan rojên xwe
yên zaroktiyê difikirîm, min xwe mîna
zarokan hîs dikir.
hoped some things [tişt+indefinite plural
ending] for myself.
At least we used to believe it like this in
childhood.
We would wait until late at night for them to kiss
[see (10) above) stay in the expectation of
their kiss] and we would fall asleep in that way.
The interesting thing (was that), when I was
thinking of my childhood days [lit. ‘days of own
childhood’], I would feel like a child [lit. I
would feel myself like the children].
(14) Şewqa stêrkên ezmên ez dibirim The luminosity of the stars of the sky [ezmên is
salên min yên zaroktiyê.
the Oblique singular of ezman] would take
me to my childhood years.
(15) Di salên xwe yên zaroktiyê de ez In my childhood days I admired the luminosity of
heyrana şewqa elektrîka bajarê Mêrdînê the electricity (lights) of the city of Mêrdîn.
bûm.
(16) Nizanim gelo we tu carî bi şev di I wonder, have you ever travelled close to Mêrdîn
nêzîkî Mêrdînê re rêwîtî kiriye?
in the night time? [lit. I do not know whether
you have ever travelled close to Mêrdîn in
the night time?].
(17) Şewqa elektrîkên bajêr wilo germ, The luminosity of the city lights is so warm, so
wilo dostane ye, bajar ewçend bilind e ku friendly, the city is so high that you [lit. man]
mirov dibêje qey ew bi stêrkên li ezmên might think that it challenges the stars in the sky.
re qayişê dikişîne.
(18) Ez di xeyalan de kûr çûbûm.
I was deep in imagination [lit. I had gone (past
perfect tense, see Lesson 8) deep in
imagination].
(19) Ez li ezmanê ewqas bilind û bêstûn I was [past perfect of man] surprised at the so
ecêbmayî mabûm.
high and columnless sky.
(20) Di wê navê de ne ji dengê diya min At that moment, if it was not for my mother’s
nebûya, belkî ez ê bi saetan ji xeyalên voice, perhaps I would not return from my
xwe venegeriyama jiyana rastî.
imagination to the real life for hours.
(21) --- Ma tu firek çeqilmast venaxwî
Would you not like to drink a sip of buttermilk,
lawê min?
my son?
(22) Ez bi dengê diya xwe veciniqîbûm, [this sentence is in the past perfect
min ew tasa çeqilmêst a ko hîn qeşaya throughout] I was startled by my mother’s
wê neheliyabû ji destê wê girtibû, çend voice, I had taken that bowl of buttermilk whose
gulp jê vexwaribûn, min paşê ew tas glace had not melted from her hand, I had taken
danîbû ser pirêketekî li ber serê xwe, min several gulps (sips) from it, than I had put that
dîsa xwe li ser piştê dirêj kiribû û li bowl on a briquet next to my head, I had lied
ezmanê bê ser û bin û li stêrkên bi şewq û down on my back again and I had looked at the
ronî nihêrîbû.
endless [lit. without top or bottom] sky and
the luminous and shiny stars.
(23) Û ez wilo di xew re çûbûm.
And I had thus fallen asleep.
(24) Lê ez nizanim çiqas tê de çûbû, ez bi However I do not know how much (time) had
dengê teqîneke ku bêdengî û kerritiya passed through [lit. ‘in-it had gone’, see
şevê çirand ve şiyar bûm.
prepositions in Lesson 4], I woke up by the
sound of a blast which tore apart the silence and
stillness of the night.
(25) Bi şiyarbûnê re min dît ku ew stêrka Upon waking up I saw that the star next to Leyla û
Mecnûn slid to the Earth.
li nêzîkî Leyla û Mecnûnî rijiya erdê.
[...]
[section omitted here]
(26) Sibehê zû li mala cîranê me dengên Early in the morning, at our neighbour’s house,
lîlandin û çepikan dihat.
there was coming the sound of cheering and
applauses.
(27) Min ji diya xwe pirsî, wê got: I asked my mother and she said: “A star slid from
3
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 10
4
“Stêrkek ji ezmanê me xuricî, keçika our sky, our neighbour’s daughter who was at the
cîrana me ya berzewacê şehîd ket”.
age of marriage has fallen as a martyr” [the verb
is şehid ketin, used generally for people
who die in heroic struggles].
[...]
[section omitted here]
(28) Her ku roj bilindtir dibû, dengên As the sun was getting higher, the sound of
lîlandin û çepikan zêdetir dibûn.
cheering and applauses was getting more and
more.
Key expressions from the story.
ji tiştekî/kesekî hez kirin:
bala xwe berdan:
li tiştekî ecebmayî bûn:
xwe dirêj kirin:
di xew re çûn:
şiyar bûn:
ji kesekî pirsîn:
li benda kesekî/tiştekî man/bûn:
like, love something/someone
pay attention to
be amazed at something
lie down, lit. make oneself long
fall asleep, lit. go through sleep
wake up
ask someone ((question)/whether ….) (ex: Min ji Zelalê
pirsî ka îmtihana wê çawa derbas bûye.)
to wait for somebody or something
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 10
5
Text 2: Helbest / Poem
Hindek agahî li ser helbestvan û helbestê
Berken Bereh
Berken Bereh di sala 1954an de li Şirnexê hatiye dinyayê. Di sala 1978an de dest bi nivîsandina bi zimanê
kurdî kir. Helbestên wî yekem car di Tîrêjê de, yekem kovara bi kurdî li bakurê Kurdistanê, belav bûn. Dû
re di gelek kovarên kurdî de helbest û nivîsarên wî hatine belavkirin. Heta niha sê dîwanên (collection of
poems) wî derçûne: Êş (2001), Şagirtên Evînê (2003) û Pandomîm (2006).
Ev helbest ji yekem dîwana wî hatiye wergirtin û di vê helbestê de taybetiyên girîng ên welatê helbestvanî
li pêş in.
Berken Bereh
Berken Bereh was born in Shirnakh (Şirnex) in 1954. He started to write in Kurdish in 1978. Initially, his
poems appeared in Tîrêj, the first magazine in Kurdish in the north Kurdistan. Afterwards, his poems and
writings were published in many Kurdish magazines. Up to now three poem collections by him have
appeared: Êş (2003), Şagirtên Evînê (2003) and Pandomîm (2006).
This poem has been taken from the first poem collections and in this poem some important features of the
poet’s country are thematized.
Ger hûn bixwazin
If you want
(1) Ger hûn bixwazin
Binasin êş û jan û kovaniyê
Şevekê li welatê min bibin mêvan
If you want [ger=if, also. heke, eger. In each stanza the
present conditional form is used (See lesson 6); in
this sense the first three sentences actually form one
single sentence)]
To get to know pain, sorrow and grief
Be guest one night in my country [bibin mêvan, is in imperative
form (see lesson 5)]
(2) Ger hûn bixwazin
Binasin mirinê
Li baskên qulingên koçber binihêrin
Bêhna şewatê tê ji wan.
If you want
To get to know the death
Look at the wings of the emigrant cranes
They smell burnt [lit. the smell of burning comes from them]
(3) Ger hûn bixwazin
Evînê binasin
Taldeya rojhilata dilê xwe bipelînin
Bê çawa diteyisin bi ken stêrk.
If you want
To get to know the love
Look into the nook of the east of your heart
How the stars glare merrily. [bê is a particle giving some
emphasis to the word çawa; it cannot be readily
translated into English]
If you want
To get to know my country
Open [imperative plural of vekirin] the door of fire and sun
The human-lover pigeon with seven colors [mirov (human being)hez (the verbal element of the complex verb hez kirin ‘to like, to
love’); a very frequent way of word formation in Kurdish. Also
in similar forms, welat-parêz (patriot), kitêb-firoş (book-seller),
kef-gîr (colander) etc.]
(4) Ger hûn bixwazin
Welatê min binasin
Vekin deriyê agir û rojê
Kevoka mirovhez a heftreng
Dê bifire bi we.
Dê bifire bi we: ‘Will fly to you’. [dê is th future particle,
see lesson 6; bi we is used to give the meaning of an
action towards a certain direction; in this sense, it is
more common to use it with a postposition, namely
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 10
6
in the form of bi we de (towards you). (see lesson 4)]
Key expressions from the poem.
xwestin:
mêvan bûn:
bê çawa:
teyisîn:
mirovhez:
heftreng:
bêhna tiştekî hatin ji
tiştekî/kesekî:
to want (the verb following xwestin is always in subjuntcive form as in
bixwazin binasin/ biçin/bikirin)
to be a guest (As in the poem the verb can be in the form of bûn mêvan
also especially in imperative form. Ex: Min jê re got were bibe mêvanê
min.)
how (bê functions more like an attention getting particle here, it does
not add substantially to the meaning)
to glare
human-lover; human-friendly (mirov-hez)
seven-coloured (heft-reng)
to smell (lit. the smell of something comes from smt./smb.)
KURDISH–ENGLISH VOCABULARY
Abbreviations: adj. = adjective; Ar. = Arabic; ccmp. = circumposition; const. =
construct case; demon. = demonstrative; dial. var. = dialectal variant; f = feminine;
impt. = imperative; m = masculine; mil. = military; n.p. = narrative present
(couched in the present tense; past-tense translational value); obl. = oblique; Pers. =
Persian; pl = plural; pron. = pronoun; pres. = present; subj. = subjunctive; Syr. Ar.
= Syrian Arabic; Tk. = Turkish; v.i. = verb intransitive; v.t. = verb transitive (here
transitive means that the past tense is formed on the ergative model, not that the verb
necessarily takes a direct object either in Kurdish or in English); voc. = vocative
*
a = ya; bi ~ in the opinion of: bi a min al1 red
in my opinion
ala = al
abadîn eternal
al’al tulip
aborî economic, financial; f economy; alandin v.t. to twist
~zan economist
alastin alês- v.t. to lick
‘aciz helpless, unable to cope (ji with): alaş thatch; ~kirî thatched
ez ji kêzikan zehf aciz im I am utterly alav f flame
incapable of coping with bugs
alayî f troop, regiment
Adar f March
alet m instrument, tool
‘adet f custom; ~î ordinary
alês- → alastin
aferîde m creature
alfabe f alphabet
aferîn bravo; ~ ji … re good for …
‘alim m scholar
afirandin v.t. to create
alî1 m side, part; bi her ~yê ve in every
afîş f poster
direction; dan ~yekî v.t. to put aside,
aga aware (li of)
to draw to one side; ji ~yekî / ji ~kî
agadarî f information, announcement;
on the one hand; ji ~yê din on the
awareness
other hand; ji ~yê … ve by (passive
agah = aga
agent), on the part of
agahdarî = agadarî
alî2, arî f help; ~kar helping, helpful;
agir m (obl. êgir) fire; ~ danîn bi to set
~karî f help, support; ~karî kirin v.t.
fire to
to help: min alîkariya wî dikir I used
Agirî f Ağrı, in extreme eastern Turkey
to help him
aheng f tune, tone
‘alî3 supreme
ajotin ajo- v.t. to drive (vehicle); to alîkar partisan; ~î kirin v.t. to take
pass, last (of time): pir neajotibû ku…
s.o.’s part, be partisan
not much time had passed before…, alînegir neutral
vê bêdangiya han heta sala 1980 ajot Alman German; ~ya f Germany
this silence lasted until the year 1980; aloz scattered, random
~ ser to attack
amade ready; ~ kirin v.t. to make
al1 f flag, banner
ready; xwe ~ kirin f to get oneself
196
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
ready
ambelaj f wrapping, packing
Amerîka/Amerîqa f America; ~yî
American
Amûda f ‘Amūdā, a town in Syria near
Qāmishlī
an or; ~ na or not; an…an either…or
ancax so much
anîn v.t. (pres. ind. tînim, neg. naynim;
subj. bînim, neg. subj. neynim) to
bring
anîzazî f cleverness
Anteqye f Antakya, Antioch
anuha = niha
ap, apo m paternal uncle
‘aqil1 m mind, intelligence
‘aqil2 intelligent
‘aqûbet f end
ardû m fuel
arî (dial. var.) = alî2
armanc f aim, goal
armûş m a sheaf of grain
armûxan m gift
arnawid Albanian
arşîv f archive
artêş f army
arûk m ceiling
arxayîn confident
asê rugged, steep; ~geh f fortification
asê kirin v.t. to catch
asêwarî untimely
asiman, asîman m heaven; ~î heavenly
asîmîlasiyon f assimilation
asîmîle assimilated
aso f horizon
asteng m difficult road, rough terrain,
obstacle
asin m (dial. var.) = hesin
‘aşiq in love; ~ê … bûn to be in love
with
aşitî f peace, truce; ease, comfort
aşî = aşitî
‘atifî emotional
av f water; ~ û hewa f climate
ava1 built up, prosperous, developed; ~
kirin v.t. to develop; ~ker m developer, founder
ava2 çûn v.i. to set (of the sun)
avahî f building, edifice
avayî = avahî
avdayî tempered (steel)
avêj- → avêtin
avêş f balm
avêtin avêj- v.t. to throw, throw away,
throw out; lay (foundation); ~a ji text
de dethronement; dest ~ … to touch
s.th.
awa f manner, means; bi ~yekî somehow; bi wî ~yî by this means; bi
hemû ~yî by all/any means
awaz m voice, sound, singing
awir f glance, backward look
awur (dial. var.) = awir
ax1 sigh, ouch; ~ avêtin v.t. to say ouch
ax2 f land, earth, dirt; ~a welat homeland; ~a Sûriyê the land of Syria
axa m (obl axê) agha, feudal lord, master
axaftin axiv- v.i. to speak
axar ???
axil corral
axiftin (dial. var.) = axaftin
axiret f the other world: mirovê axiretê
an other-worldly person
axîn v.i. to cry, to cry out
axpîne f patch of ground, field
AY = Ameriqayê Yekbûyî USA
azad free; ~ kirin v.t. to set free; ~î f
liberty
azar f anguish; ~ dan v.t. to torment,
vex
azman m sky
b- → birin, bûn
ba1 m (obl bê) wind
ba2 m turn
ba3 (prep.) with, in front of, in the presence of; li ~ with, chez
197
KURMANJI KURDISH
4
ba m rheumatism; ~wî rheumatic
babet f regard: di vê babetê de in this
regard
babo daddy
ba-dan v.t. to turn, twist, wring
badayî turned, twisted
bager f snowstorm
bahar = bihar
bahlif f pillow
bajar m (obl bajêr) city; ~î m merchant,
citified; ~van citizen, city dweller;
~vanî urban: jiyana bajarvaniyê urban life
Baku f Baku
bakurofe f gust of wind
bakûr m north
bal1 f wing, arm
bal2 f attention, mind, thought; ~ kişandin to attract the attention: wêneyên
min bala rojname û hunermendan
kişandin my pictures attracted the
attention of newspapers and artists;
~dar attentive, discerning; ~drêj patient, careful; ~fireh patient, calm;
~kêş attractive, interesting
balaxane f balcony
balefir m airplane; ~geh airport
balgî m pillow
balîf = bahlîf
ban m roof
ban ban kirin v.t. to shout, to yell
bandev f summit
bandor f influence
bang f call, cry; ~ dan v.t. to give out a
cry, to herald; ~ kirin v.t. to shout
banz = baz
bar m load; ~ bûn to be loaded; to bear
up: çavên wan bar nebûbû they
hadn’t been able to bear the sight; ~
kirin v.t. to load up, move (household); ~kêş m porter
baran f rain; ~din v.t. to rain down
bare: di ~ya … de (prep.) about, concerning
barîk slender, thin
barîn/~iyan v.i. to rain down
bask m arm, wing: baskê çepê partiya
sosyal-demokrat the leftist wing of
the Social-Democrat Party; ~ên xwe
li hev xistin to flap one’s wings
baş good; ~ kirin v.t. to improve;
~kirin f improvement
başok(e) falcon
başûr m south
bav m (voc. bavo) father; ~îtî f fatherhood, paternality
bawer believing: ez ~ im ku… I believe
that …; ~ kirin v.t. to believe: gelek
kes bawer dikin ku… many people believe that…; ~î f belief, trust; ~mend
m believer
bawî1 m father
bawî2 → ba4
bawîşk f yawn
baxçe m garden, yard
baz jump, leap; ~ dan v.t. to dance; to
run away in fear, to flee in haste
bazar f market; ~a reş black market
beden m body
bedew beautiful, splendid
bedyûm ill-omened
befr f (dial. var.) = berf
behr f sea
behs f discussion; ~kirin v.t. to discuss
bejin f height, stature; ~bilind tall; ~ û
bala tall stature
bel straight; ~ kirin v.t. to straighten,
prick up (ears, &c.)
bela f catastrophe
belaş for free, gratis
belav widespread, scattered; ~ bûn v.i.
to be scattered; ~ kirin v.t. to spread,
broadcast, disseminate; ~ok f publication
belayê nav … bûn v.i. to spread out
through
belediye f municipality
belek speckled, spotted
198
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
belekî f water spring
belengaz poor, destitute; ~î f poverty,
destitution
bélê yes
belg m leaf
belgih m suit, clothing; ~ girtin v.t. to
garb oneself
belkî maybe, perhaps
ben = bend
bend f bond; li ~a for the sake of,
chained to, waiting for: divê em êdî li
benda sibehê ranewestin we shouldn’t stand around waiting for tomorrow; ~ kirin v.t. to fetter, arrest; man
di ~a to wait for
benderuh creature
bendewar bûn bi to love, be in love
with
benzîn f gasoline
beq m frog
ber1 m breast, fore; ber-dan see alphabetically; ~ bi hev hatin v.i. to cooperate; ~ê (ve) (adv.) before; ~î ku
(conj.) before; ji ~ kirin v.t. to memorize; ji ~ jmartin v.t. to reel off from
memory; ji ~ ku because (conj.); ji ~
… ve (ccmp.) before; ji ~ zanîn v.t.
to memorize; li ~ (prep.) before, on
account of; li ~ (+ inf.) on the verge
of: ew hêviya ku li ber geşbûnê bû
çilmisî that hope, which was on the
verge of blossoming, withered;
wek(e) ~ê as before
ber2 m yield, fruit; ~ wergirtin ji to derive a yield from
beramber equal, equivalent; ~î f equality; ~î … kirin v.t. to compare to: wî
ew beramberî Anton Çexov dikir he
used to compare him to Anton Chekhov
beran m ram
ber-anîn (ber-în) v.t. to imagine
berate f carcass
berban m ceiling
berberî f comparison
berbêjî f prediction
berbiçav conspicuous
berbihevhatin f cooperation
berbînî f imaginary image, vision
bercênîk ???
berçav visible, clear, before the eyes; ~
anin v.t. to pay attention
ber-dan v.t. to release, let go; to put on
(clothes); to close, stop, give up: dev
~ ji to close the mouth to, stop, give
up; ~ ser to direct toward; tiving ~ to
fire a rifle at: xulamê wî ew da ber
tifingê his servant fired the rifle at
him; xwe ~ ser to turn oneself toward, direct oneself to
berdest servant
berdewam continual(ly), constant(ly); ~
kirin v.t. to continue
berdêl f equivalent; ji ~a instead of
berdêlk = berdêl; bi ~ equivalent in
value
berebere more and more, ever more;
gradually, little by little
bereket m blessing; bi ~ luckily
berev = berhev
berf f snow
berferih spacious; ~ kirin v.t. to open,
initiate
bergeh f view, vista
berhem m product, literary work; ~bar
productive
berhev gathered, collected; ~ kirin v.t.
to prepare, gather; xwe ~ kirin v.t. to
pull oneself together
berhevok f collection
berik f bullet
beriqîn v.i. to glisten
berizîn bi v.i. to fight with, do battle
with
berî f pocket
berîde perplexed, lost
berîk f pocket
ber-ketin v.i. to feel sad
199
KURMANJI KURDISH
bermil f load
bername f program
beroş f pot, pan
berovajî to the contrary
berpêş kirin v.t. to suggest, to propose
berpirsiyar responsible; m manager; ~î
f responsibility, management
berq f lightning
bersîv f answer, reply; ~ dan bi to reply
to, answer; ~a … dan to satisfy the
needs of; ~andin v.t. to respond,
reply
berten f trousers
bervajî f opposite side; ji ~yê contrariwise, conversely
bervê prep. toward
berwar m slope
berx lamb
berxwedan f resistance
bes much, many a; enough
best f plain
best m joy, glee, relish
beş m part; ~dar participant; ~dar bûn
v.i. to take part, participate
beşavend f rhyme
beşer f flesh
betalî f unemployment, uselessness,
idleness
bexçe = baxçe
Bexda f Baghdad
bext m luck; ~iyar fortunate, happy;
~iyarî f good fortune, happiness; bê~
unfortunate
beybûn f camomile
bez1 f speed: bi lez û ~ quickly, with all
speed; bayê ~ê the racing wind; ~în
bez- v.i. to run
bez2 m kind, sort
beza fast-running, galloping
bezir lost
bê1 → ba
bê-2 (prefix) without; see compounds alphabetically
bêaqil stupid
bêbawer disbelieving, unsure; ~î f disbelief
bêbest uncontrollable
bêbext unlucky, unfortunate; ~î f unluckiness, misfortune
bêçare helpless, poor; ~tî f helplessness
bêçine useless
bêçiqasî inordinately
bêdar treeless, barren
bêdeng silent; ~î f silence, obscurity
bêdil halfhearted, unwilling
bêfedî lack of embarrassment
bêgav impossible, helpless
bêgoşt skinny
bêguman doubtless(ly)
bêhamd reluctantly, unwillingly
bêhawe unparalleled, extraordinary
bêhay unconscious, unaware; dinyayê ~
the subconscious world
bêhejiyan û livat without movement or
motion
bêhejmar innumerable
bêhempa unparalleled, peerless
bêhêvî without hope, in despair; ~ kirin
v.t. to make s.o. despair
bêhêzî f weakness, debility
bêhişiyarî without feeling, numb
bêhn1 f breath; ~a min teng bû I was
bored; ~a xwe teng kirin to bore oneself, let oneself get bored; ~a …
çikandin v.t. to suffocate; ~tengî f
boredom
bêhn2 f smell, odor; ~ berdan to leave
an odor behind; ~ dan to give off an
odor; ketin ser ~ê to pick up a scent;
~çikîn dry-smelling
bêhtengî = bêhntengî
bêî prep. without; ~ ku (conj., + subj.)
without: îro jî bêî ku mirov tu zehmetiyan bikişîne, mirov bi hêsanî ji wan
tê digihê even today one easily understands them without going to any
trouble
bêîmkanî f impossibility
200
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
bêj- → gotin
bêje f word: ~ bi ~ word by word; ~r
speaker
bêjing f sieve
bêkar unemployed; ~î f unemployment
bêkes lonely, alone, unprotected
bê li prep. without
bêmane fearful, dreadful
bêmecalî f lack of opportunity
bêminet relentless(ly)
bênamus dishonorable
bênav nameless, unnamed
bênavbirî incessant
bênihtin v.i. to freeze
bênîşan spotless
bêpar deprived
bêpejnî f tranquility
bêpîvan immeasurable
bêr. See xêr.
bêrî f longing; ~ kirin v.t. to long for,
miss
bêrik = bêrîk
bêrîk f pocket; wek hundirê bêrika
şalê xwe nasîn to know something
“like the back of one’s hand”
Bêrûd f Beirut
bêsedem without reason, unprovoked
bê serûbin endless
bêşerm shameless; ~î f shamelessness
bêşik doubtless
bêtar storm
bêtaw impatient, restless
bêtir more
bêtîn powerless, weak
bêvil, bêvîl f nose, nostril
bêxanî homeless
bê xayî limitless
bêxeber unaware (ji of); ji her derî ~
totally oblivious
bêxew sleepless, suffering from insomnia; ~î f sleeplessness, lack of sleep
bêxudan = bêxwedî
bêxweda godless, damned
bêxwedî godless, ownerless, orphaned,
poor, lonely
bêyî = bêî
bêzarî f nuisance, headache
bêzaro childless
bi- subjunctive prefix
bi … re (ccmp.; bi + wî/wê > pê) by,
with, upon: bi tirên re by train; bi min
re with me; bi bihîstina deng re upon
hearing the sound
bi … ve (ccmp.; bi + wî/wê > pê)
through, up to: ji wê rojê pê ve from
that day to this
bi- subjunctive verbal prefix
biaqil intelligent, smart; ~î f intelligence
biçûk little; ~anî f childhood, youth
bidardakirin → dar
biha bûn v.i. to be valuable
bihar f spring, springtime; ~î pertaining
to spring
bihin = bêhn; bi ~ with odor, with fragrance; ~dar fragrant
bihişmet magnificent
bihişt f paradise; ~în paradisiacal, heavenly
bihîstin bihîs-/bihîz- v.t. to hear, listen
bihn = bêhn1
bihorîn v.i. to pass
bihostin v.t. ???
bihuk insect
bihurandîn bihurîn- v.t. to spend
(time): ew zaroktiya xwe li Kurdistana Bakûr bihurandiye he spent his
childhood in North Kurdistan
bihurtin bihur- v.i. to pass, be spent
bihuşt f span. See also bihişt.
bihûr- = bihurbijarte choice, select
bijartin bijêr- v.t. to choose
bijiqandin v.t. to tear to shreds
bijîjk m physician
bijîn lively
bijîv f sustenance
bikaranîn → kar
bikêr useful
201
KURMANJI KURDISH
bíla (+ subj.) let: çi dibe bila bibe whatever happens, let it happen
bilbil nightingale
bilez quick, hasty
bilind high; ~ kirin v.t. to raise, to
elevate; ~cih m height, high place
biliyan v.i. to arise (sound)
bilî other than, aside from; ~ ji ditto
bilûr f shepherd’s pipe, flute
bin m bottom; di ~ under; ~dest underling, oppressed; ~geh m foundation,
basis; ~gehê … avetin to lay the
foundation of …; ~gehîn basic; ~xet f
south of the Turkish border, i.e. Syria
and Iraq
binûr luminous
bipêşdexistin f advancement, improvement
biqedr worthwhile, valuable
bir m part
bira1 m (obl. pl biran) brother
bira2 = bila
bira3 really
birc f tower
birçî hungry; ~n f hunger; ~tî f hunger
birêvebir m leader
birh m eyebrow
birin b- v.t. to carry, take; ~ jêr to
bring/take down/away; ~ jor to bring/
take up
birisqîn v.i. to sparkle, shimmer
birîn1 f wound; ~ kirin v.t. to wound;
~dar m wounded
birîn2 = birrîn
birrîn v.t. to cut, to cross: wî sînor birrî
he crossed the border
birsî hungry
birsîn f hunger
birûsk f lightning; ~e f telegram
biryar f decision; ~ dan v.t. to decide
biserketin f success
bişkul m goat and sheep droppings
biv m buzz
bivê nevê willy-nilly, like it or not
bivir m ax
biwa (alternative past conditional of
bûn) = bûya
bixêrhatinî dan v.t. to welcome
bixwe by oneself, personally
biyanî m foreign(er), stranger, alien;
~stan f any foreign place, “foreign
parts”; ~tî f strangeness, alienation:
jiyana biyanîtiyê life of alienation
bizin f goat
bizir m seed
bizivîn v.i. to budge
bîhin = bêhn
bîn = bêhn
bîn- → dîtin, anîn
bîna (dial. var.) = mîna
bînahî f sight
bînanî prep. like
bînber m sight
bîr1 f memory; bi ~ anîn v.t. to remember: baş bîne bîra xwe ku… remember
well that…; ~a … birin to take into
consideration; ~ hatin v.i. to remember: tê bîra min I remember; ji ~(a)
kirin v.t. to forget; ~anîn f memory,
reminiscence
bîr2 f well
bîranî f memory
bîst1 twenty; ~salî twenty-year-old
bîst2 f moment, a short period of time:
bîstek neborî it didn’t take long before
bîstin bîs- v.t. to hear
bîşeng f weeping willow
bîz- = bihîz → bihîstin
bîzbîzî matted
bo (prep.) for; (conj.) so that, in order
that
boç f tail
boçik f tail
bombe f bomb; ~yên destan hand
grenades
bona prep. for: ~ vê yekê for this reason
borandin v.t. to spend (time), make
202
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
(time) pass
borî f pipe
borîn v.i. to last, pass (time): çend meh
naborin not many months passed
(n.p.); v.t. to excuse: min bibore excuse me
bostan m garden
boş wide, widespread, abundant
boxçe f bundle
braştî roasted
brûsk = birûsk
buhar = bihar
buhirîn v.t. to take away, clear off
buhurandin buhurîn- v.t. to spend
(time); ~în v.i. to pass, pass away
buhurtin buhur- v.i. to pass, pass
away, go out
buhurî last, past: sala ~ last year
bulbul nightingale
bûk f bride, daughter-in-law; ~anî f
wedding
bûn b- v.i. to be, become
bûsî f ambush
bûyer f incident, event
bûz ice
BZ = berê zayînê B.C.
ca (used with imperatives): ~ were come
on!; ca bifikire ku just think what it
would be like if …
cam f glass
camêr courageous, gallant, gentlemanly
casûs m spy
car f time; ~ ~an often, many times;
~din again, once again; ~inan from
time to time; ~kê = carekê once; ~na
sometimes
cax protective fencing
cazîbedar interesting
cebhe f front (mil.)
ceger f liver (poetic); ~ şîrîn darling,
beloved
cejin f celebration, festival
celeb m sort, kind: du celeb kes hene:
yên baş û yên nebaş there are two
kinds of people, good and evil
celx m/f slit, crack
cem m group; side; a large basket; li ~
beside, with: li cem wan beside them,
with them
cendek m body, corpse
ceng f battle
cerg f liver
ceribandin v.t. to try, test
cewr m pup; ~ik m puppy
ceza f fine, penalty; ~ wergirtin v.t. to
receive a penalty, to be fined
cidî serious
cigar(e) f cigarette
cih m place; pl bed; ~ bi ~ from place to
place; ~ girtin v.t. to take place; ~
kirin v.t. to put, place; ~ li xwe xweş
kirin v.t. to make oneself comfortable; ~ê … girtin v.t. to take the place
of; ~ê local; ~ê ~ê various, sundry;
~gir occupant; bi ~ anîn to bring
about, bring to fruition; bi ~ bûn li to
settle in, take up residence in; di nav
~an de in bed
cihan f the world
cil m clothing; ~ û berg (pl) clothes
cin djinn, demon; ~anlêxistî possessed
by demons
cinewir monster
cirecir f talk, chit-chat
civandin civîn- v.t. to move, set in
motion
civak society; community; ~î social,
societal; ~nas sociologist; ~nasî f
sociology
civat f society, group
civîn v.i. to move; ~în f movement
ciwan young, beautiful; ~tî f youth
cixar(e) (dial. var.) = cigar
cixiz kirin v.t. to mark, to leave marks
in
cî = cih
cîhan f world
203
KURMANJI KURDISH
cîhêlkirin f surveillance
cîran neighbor
cografî geographical
col m pack (of wolves, &c.)
core core various
coş enthusiasm, excited
cot1 m pair
cot2 m plow; ~kârî f agriculture
cube m robe
cumhûriyet f republic
cunta f junta
cure cure (dial. var.) = core core
curet kirin v.t. to dare
cûda separate; ~ kirin v.t. to separate
cûm bûn v.i. to be obscured
ç- → çûn
çak good
çakêt m jacket
çalak active; ~î f activity
çand f culture; ~î cultural
çandin çîn- v.t. to plant
çap f printing; ~ kirin v.t. to print,
publish; ~emanî f printed matter, the
press; ne~kirî unpublished; ~xane f
printshop
çar four
çarçove f framework
çare f remedy; bê~ helpless, poor; ~nûs
f remedy; bi ~nûsa … ve in the interests of; ~ser f solution; ~ser kirin
v.t. to solve, resolve
çarmergî cross-legged
çarşef, çarşev f sheet, woman’s covering; ~ kişandin v.t. to put a sheet
(on a bed); ~ li xwe kirin v.t. to put
on a veil, cover oneself
çav m eye; ~ girtin v.t. to close the eyes;
~erênî f expectation; ~ên … xistin
v.t. to attract the attention of; bi ~ekî
nebaş nêrîn to have a low opinion of;
~êş f eye ailment; ~kanî f source,
wellspring; ~şin blue-eyed
çavnihêrî bûn v.i. to expect, to look
expectantly
çawa(n) how?: çawan bibe bila bibe be
that as it may; ~ heba somehow or
other; ~ ku as; çawahî f quality
çax f time: wê çaxê at that time
çay f tea; ~dan f teapot; ~xane f teahouse
çe = çê
çefî = kefî
çek f weapon; ~dar armed
çeleng cute, attractive, good-looking
çem m river
çen f armpit
çend (following word construed as pl.)
how many?; several: di çend cihan de
in several places; çend hevalên min
several of my friends; ~ik û çend (+
sing.) several: çendik û çend roj e…
it’s been several days since…; û ~ odd: bi pêncih û çend salên xwe ve in
his fifty-odd years; ~ê for a while
çeng f claw; ~ê li … de cih kirin v.t. to
sink the claw into
çengel m hook
çeng kirin v.t. to throw, hurl
çente m suitcase
çep left; wrong: ew min çep fahm dike
he misunderstands me
çeper f shield, barricade
çepik xistin li v.t. to applaud for
çer what?
çer ku (conj.) as soon as
çerçî m peddler
çerkez Circassian
çerm m skin, leather; ~în leathern
çerx f wheel
çetel m fork, forked
çewsandin v.t. to exploit
çewt crooked, awry, wrong
çê right, okay; ~-bûn v.i. to be born; to
be right: çê nabe tu wisa bikî it’s not
right for you to act thus; çê dibe ku ez
biçim? is it okay for me to go?; ~kirin v.t. to give birth to, to make, fix,
204
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
repair, keep: wî çê dikine binê zindanê they keep him in the dungeon,
min di serê xwe e plana ku … çêdikir
I was making a plan in my head to …
çêlik the young of any animal, puppy,
kitten, cub, etc.
çêl f subject, topic; ~î kirin v.t. to talk
about
çêre f grazing, pasturage
çêrîn v.i. to graze
çêtir better
çi1 what?; ~ bigire practically speaking,
pretty much
çi2 no; ~ tiştî nothing
çiçek = çîçek
çiftexas m cotton batiste
çik exhausted; ~ bûn v.i. to become exhausted, to sink down (into snow)
çikandin v.t. to drip; to plant (tree); to
push s.th. in as far as it will go
çikîn v.t. to plant; to crackle; to dry up
(mother’s milk): şîrê berê wê çikî her
breast milk dried up
çiko, çiku because
çil1 forty
çil2 greedy
çil3 only in çil û çiya hills and mountains
çile f the coldest period of winter; ~ya
paşîn January; ~ya pêşîn December
çilmisandin v.t. to make wither
çilmîsîn v.i. to wither
çilvilîn = çilwilîn
çilwilîn v.i. to gleam
çima why?
çimkî because
çiqas how much
çiqçiqî kirin v.t. to rip to shreds
çir, çira why?
çira f lamp, stove
çirandin çirîn- v.t. to tear, tear up
çirav f muck
çire why
çiriya paşê/paşîn f November
çiriya pêşê/pêşîn f October
çirisîn = çirûsîn
çirûsîn v.i. to sparkle, shine, glow
çirûsk f spark
çiv trick, game; ~ dan xwe v.t. to zigzag
çivanok f a formula used in storytelling
çivik, çivîk bird, sparrow
çiwal m sack
çiya m mountain; ~yî mountaineer, hillbilly
çîçek f flower
çîl bright
çîmen m grassy meadow
çîp f calf (of the leg)
çîrîn v.i. to creak
çîrok f story; ~van storyteller
çîya = çiya
çîzçîzik f buzz
ço m stick
çog = çok2
çok1 m stream
çok2 f knee
çol f desert, wilderness
çong = çok2
çûçik f bird
çûk f bird
çûn ç- (subj. stem ç-/her-) v.i. to go
çûr a type of sheep
çûyîn v.i. to go
da1 a dialectal variant of de1
da2 a preverb that forms compounds,
generally indicating ‘down’
da-anîn v.t. to set down, establish: Mam
Reşîd satil danî û li dora xwe mêze
kir Uncle Rashid set the bucket down
and looked around himself; ~ li xwe
(+ subj.) to lower oneself, deign,
bring oneself to do s.th.: gelek ji wan
jî li xwe danaynin bi vî zimanê xweş û
şêrîn bipeyivin many of them can’t
even bring themselves to speak this
nice, sweet language
da-avêtin v.t. to put together, throw
205
KURMANJI KURDISH
together
da-çikandin v.t. to set up, plant (tree,
flag, &c.)
dad f justice; ~geh f court; ~gêr m judge
da-dan v.t. to place, put in, install; to
light (fire)
da-gerandin v.t. to turn, send back
dagirker m occupier
da-girtin v.t. to occupy, take over, to
take down; guhên xwe ~ v.t. to prick
up one’s ears
dagirtî well-built
dagîr kirin v.t. to occupy
dahl f grove
dahn m season, period of time
da-hûrandin v.t. to research, investigate
daîre f office
da-ketin v.i. to fall down, come down,
swoop down, subside; to be lowered
(gaze); ~ bi to take up, involve oneself with
da ku (+ subj.) in order that
da-kutan v.t. to shake
da-liqandin v.t. to string up, hang
da-liqiyan v.i. to hang, dangle
da-mezran v.i. to be set up, established;
~din da-mezrîn- v.t. to set up, establish
dan1 = dahn
dan2 d- v.t. to give
da-nan da-nê- v.t. to lay, put down
da-niştin da-niş- v.i. to sit down, alight
danîn = da-anîn
danûstendin f transaction, exchange;
relation
da-qurtandin qurtên- v.t. to swallow
dar f tree, stick, gallows; bi ~ ve kirin
v.t. to hang; bi ~ da-kirin v.t. to
hang; ~istan f forest
dar m wood
darbe f blow; ~ xwarin v.t. to suffer a
blow
darik m stick
darîn wooden
davêtin = da-avêtin
da‘we f legal case
da‘wet f festive occasion
dawî f end; ~ anîn v.t. to put an end to;
~ hatin v.i. to end, come to an end;
~n (adj) last, final
dax f brand; sorrow
da-xistin v.t. to take down: polîsan
tabeleya me daxist the police took
down our sign
daxwaz f request; ~ kirin v.t. to request,
beseech; ~î f desire
dayik m mother; ji ~ê bûn v.i. to be
born; ~tî f motherhood, maternity
dayin = dan
dayîn = dan
de1 postposition forms the second part
of a number of circumpositions, generally indicating stationary position in
or at; see the prepositional element
de2 (precedes an imperative): de were
come on!
defter f register, roll, notebook
deh ten
dehl f valley; orchard
dehol f drum
dek f trick
delal dear, beloved
delîve f opportunity, occasion
dem1 f time, season; ~a ku (conj.)
when; ~dirêj long-term; ~kurt shortterm; ~ û dewran f olden times
dem2 steeped; ~ girtin to steep (of tea)
demançe f pistol
deng m voice, sound, noise; ~bêj m
singer
dengiz sea
depdepe wooden
deq1 f part, region, place: di vê deqê de
in this place
deq2 m tattoo; ~ bi ~ exactly alike
deqe = deqîqe
deqîqe f minute
der1 f place; ~ek(ê) somewhere; ev ~
206
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
here; li vê ~ê here; li ku ~ê where?
der2 outside; ~eke foreign: welatên
dereke foreign countries
der3 f door
der-anîn v.t. to take out
derb f blow
derbas passing, passsage; ~ bûn v.i. to
pass, to pass by (ji); ~ kirin v.t. to
spend (time); ~î hundur bûn to enter
derbaz = derbas
derbeder bûn v.i. to be driven from
pillar to post
der-bûn di to burst out on
derd m pain, trouble: her yekî derdekî
wan hebû everyone had some trouble
derece f degree: di çi dereceyê de to
what degree?
dereng late, long time; ~ man v.i. to lag
behind, be late
derewîn lying, false
derêxistin = derxistin
derfend f opportunity
derheq: di ~(ê) … de about, concerning
deriya = derya
derizî cracked
derî1 m door; ~yê xwe girtin li ber to
close one’s door to; li ~ dan v.t. to
knock at a door; ~ girtin v.t. to shut a
door; ~ li ser xwe girtin to shut oneself up
derî2 (prep) outside of
der-ketin v.i. to go in/out, to turn out to
be; ~ li dijî … v.i. to oppose; ji gîra
… ~ to fail to catch
derman m (obl dermên) remedy, treatment, medicine; ~geh pharmacy; ~
kirin v.t. to treat
derpê m underpants; longjohns
ders f lesson; ~ dan v.t. to give lessons
der û dor environs; ~a (prep.) around
derve outside; ~karî external: wezîrê
dervekarî minister of foreign affairs;
~yî (prep.) outside of: derveyî welêt
outside of the country; (adj.) foreign;
ji ~ from outside
der-xistin v.t. to bring out (publication),
to issue (an order), to cast out; ji hev
~ to to tell apart, to discern
der-xwendin -xwîn- v.t. to take to task
derya f sea; ~ya Sipî the Mediterranean
Sea
derzî f crack, split; see also şûjin û
derzî
dest1 m hand; ~ bi ~ continuously; ~
bûn ji to lose, to be left without:
destên me ji te bûne we have been left
without you; ~ dan hevdu v.t. to join
hands; ~ kêşan ji v.t. to let go of; ~
kirin bi (+ inf.) v.t. to start; ~ê xwe
kişandin ji to give up, abandon; bi ~
xistin to attain, obtain; di ~ên … for
… to do: di destên min de bi tenê
razan mabû the only thing I could do
was go to sleep; ji ~ kirin v.t. to lose;
ji bin destê … by, by means of …;
xwe avêtin ~ û lingên kesekî to
throw oneself at someone’s feet, to
beg; xwe dan ~ to let oneself be captured
dest2 f group, set
destan f story
destbirak m blood brother
deste f group, set
destenan loaf of bread
destik m oar
destmal f handkerchief
destpêk f beginning
destteng poor
destûr f order, command; ~a ziman
grammar
destvala empty-handed
destve-înan v.t. to catch
deşt f plain
dev m mouth; entrance; ~ berdan ji to
leave, to give up, to stop: te dev ji
kêşana cixarê berdaye? have you
stopped smoking cigarettes?; dev ji
min berde, ez bêxew im leave me
207
KURMANJI KURDISH
alone—I’m sleepy; ~ di … da cî
kirin to bite down on; (li) ~ (û) dora
prep. all around
devendeştî f brush, brambles
deverû face down
devî f bush
devken f smile
devkî oral: edebiyata devkî oral literature
devojenî hev bûn li ser to squabble
with each other over
devok f accent
dewam kirin v.t. to continue
dewar m domestic animal, cattle
dewir = dewr; f circle; ~ dan v.t. to
circle
dewlemend rich, wealthy
dewlet f state: ~a Frensayê the state of
France
dewr f age, time, epoch; role; ~ leyistin
to play a role; ~an f age, time
dews f place, spot, trace
dexisîn v.i. to be jealous (ji of)
deyn m debt; ~ dan to pay a debt; ~dar
indebted; ~ê indebted to
dê1 f (const diya) mother
dê2 future auxiliary + subj. for future
tense
dê3 3rd-person sing. present indicative
of hatin
dêl1 f tail
dêl2 f female animal; ~egur f female
wolf; ~ik f female wolf or dog, bitch
dêrîn ancient, of long standing
dêv1 m demon
dêv2 = dev
dêw = dêv1
di … de ccmp. in: di salên 70’î de in the
’70s; di destên min de in my hands
di … re ccmp. by, via, upon: bi bihîstina deng re upon hearing the noise;
av di tifingên wan re dihate xwar
water ran down their rifles
di … ve ccmp. through
dí- habitual and progressive verbal
prefix
dia = dua
di bareya … de ccmp. about, concerning
dibistan f school: dibistana destpêk elementary school
Dicle f the Tigris River
didan m tooth
didu two; ~yan second
difin nostril
digel with; ~ ku although
dihanî = dianî (see anîn)
dijî, li (prep.) against
dijmin m enemy; ~atî f enmity
dijûn kirin v.t. to curse
dijwar difficult; ~î f difficulty
dikan f shop
dike nake no matter what s/he did
dil m heart; hope: min dil heye (+ subj.)
I hope to; ~ girtin bi to be offended
by: bi çûyîna min ya hotêlê dilê xwe
girtin they were offended by my
going to a hotel; ~ şewitîn bi to feel
sorry for: dilê midûr bi vî xortê
çeleng û evîndarê xwendinê dişewite
the principal feels sorry for this attractive young man so avid to study;
~êşî f heartache; ~germ warm, hearty,
kind; ~geş happy; ~nexweş sorry,
upset, ill at ease; ~pak pure of heart;
~qayim confident; ~qayimî f confidence; ~soz sympathetic; ~şa happy,
glad; ~şewat heart-rending; ~şikestî f
disappointment; ~şikestî kirin v.t. to
disappoint, to dishearten; ~tengî f
sadness, loneliness; ~xwaz fond of;
bêî ~ê against the wishes of; ne bi ~ê
min bû it did not appeal to me
dilêr intrepid
dilnîya assured, confident
dilop m drop
dilovan kind, affectionate, dear; ~î f
affection; death (euphemism): berî
208
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
dilovaniya nivîskarê dilovan bi salekê
a year before the dear writer passed
away
diltezîn ???
din other
di nav … de ccmp. in the midst of: di
nav wî erdî de in the midst of that
land
dinê = dinyayê (see dinya)
dinya f (obl. dinyayê, dinê) the world,
the weather: dinya pirr sar bû the
weather was very cold; bi ~yê hatin
v.i. to be born; ~dîtî worldly, sophisticated
diran (dial. var.) = didan
dirb track, path
dirêj long, lengthy; ~ ajotin to last a
long time; ~ kirin to lengthen; ~î f
length; ~î … kirin to hand to …;
dest ~ … kirin to stretch the hand out
to
diriyan v.i. to be ripped
divabû, diviyabû (impersonal + pres.
subj.) had to: diviyabû ku tiştekî bikin
they had to do something; (impersonal + past cond.) ought to have …, was
supposed to have …, would have to
…: diviyabû Sovyet ji Îranê derketa
the Soviet ought to (was supposed to)
have withdrawn from Iran, divabû ku
ew kêzik bihata kuştin that bug would
have to be killed
divê (impersonal + pres. subj.) ought to
dixan f smoke
diyar clear; ~î f clarity
diyarî f gift
Diyarbekir f Diyarbekir
diz m thief
dizî secret, concealed; bi ~ secretly,
stealthily; ~tî f secret
dî other; yê ~ the other one
dîl m prisoner; ~ girtin v.t. to take prisoner; ~î f imprisonment
dîlan f dance, dancing
dîmen f view, sight, aspect
dîn1 m religion; ~itî f religiosity; ~î,
~dar religious; ~perwer religious
dîn2 crazy, mad; ~ bûn li ser to go crazy
over; ~ kirin to drive s.o. crazy; ~ik
slightly crazy, “screw loose”; ~itî f
madness
dîn3 f gaze, attention
dîrok f story, history; ~î historical
dîsa(n) again, (+ neg) still…not
dîtin bîn- v.t. to see
dîwan f reception room; collected works
of a poet; ~çe f (obl ~çê) small reception room
dîwar f (obl dîwêr) wall
dîz knee
dîzik f pan
do = dû
dol valley
dom kirin v.t. to continue
doman v.i. to continue
domandin domîn- v.t. to continue
dor1 f environs; li ~a (prep.) around;
~hêl f environs, parts, region; ~a …
girtin v.t. to surround
dor2 m turn; ~alî f circumference
dorandor m circumference; li ~ê (prep.)
all around
dost friend; ~ane friendly; ~ayetî f
friendship
doş- → dotin
doşab m/f grape molasses ???
doşeg f mattress
doşik = doşeg
dot f daughter; ~mam f cousin
dotin doş- v.t. to milk
doz f cause, reason; aim, ideal; revenge;
~a … kirin to aim for; ~ger vengeful,
litigant
du two
du‘a f prayer; ~ kirin, ~ xwendin v.t. to
pray
ducar kirin v.t. to repeat
dudil hesitant, of two minds; ~î f hesita-
209
KURMANJI KURDISH
tion
duduyan (dial. var.) = diduyan
duh(î) yesterday
dunya = dinya
durû hypocritical; ~tî f hypocrisy
duşemb f Monday
duv = dû
duwemîn second: şerê dinyayê yê
duwemîn World War II
duyem(în) second
dû1 behind; ~dirêj of long standing; ~re
then, afterwards; li ~ hev re one after
the other; li ~ xwe behind oneself; bi
~ … ketin v.i. to pursue
dû2 m smoke
dûkel f smoke
dûman f smoke
dûpişk f scorpion
dûr far; ~ xistin v.t. to throw away, exile; bi ~ ketin to go/get away; ~ nêzîk
sooner or later; ~ahî f remoteness,
distance; ~bîn farsighted
dûre → dû1
dûrebîn f binoculars
dûv m tail, end
dûvre = dûre
ebeden (+ neg.) never, not at all
‘ecem Persian
‘ecêb strange; ~mayî dumbfounded, stupified
edebiyat f literature; ~van literateur
edebî literary
‘edilandin v.t. to ameliorate, make better
edîb m litérateur
efendî m westernized gentleman; ~tî f
gentlemanliness
efraz up
‘efû f amnesty; ~ya giştî general amnesty
‘egal f headband
eger if
ekîb f team
ekol f school
ekonomîk economic
elbik f wooden bucket
elektrîk f flashlight
elem pain
‘eleqedar kirin v.t. to concern
‘eleyh: di ‘eleyhê … da ccmp. against;
~dar m supporter; ~darî kirin v.t. to
support
elman German; ~î German (language)
em (obl. me) we
emanet m deposit, anything held on
loan or for safekeeping
emir1 f order, command
‘emir2 m age
emperyalîsm f imperialism
‘en‘anetî traditional
endam m member
enerjî f energy
‘enî f forehead; front (mil.)
enstîtu f institute
‘eql m mind, reason
‘erd f earth; li erdê dan to throw to the
ground
erdim f region
‘erdhêj f earthquake
‘ereb Arab; ~î Arabic
‘erebe f cart, carriage, any wheeled
vehicle
‘Erebistan f Arabia
erê yea, yes
erk f responsibility
ermen Armenian
ermîşim silk
Ernewid Albanian
erz f hope; ~a … şikandin v.t. to dash
s.o.’s hopes
erzan cheap
‘erzihal f description, report, petition
Erzerom f Erzurum
esas m foundation, basis; ~î basic, essential, original
eser f work, monument: esereke edebî a
literary work
210
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
esil m origin; bi ~ê xwe originally
esilzade aristocratic
‘esker m soldier; ~î f the military; (adj)
military
‘esman = azman
esmer olive complected
‘eşîr f tribe; ~tî tribal
eşkere clear, obvious
eşk û teşk tangled (hair)
ev (obl. masc. sing. vî, obl. fem. sing.
vê, obl. pl. van) he, she, it, they, this,
these
evîn f love, affection; ~dar desirous, in
love: ew evîndarê xwendinê bû he
was desirous of studying
evqasî so much
ew (obl. masc. sing. wî, obl. fem. sing.
wê, obl. pl. wan, pl. const. ewên) he,
she, it, they, that, those
‘ewd m revenge
ewel, ewelî first
ewên pl. const. of ew; ~ din the others
ewir = ewr
ewle security, reliance, assurance; ~ bûn
to be secure
‘ewr m cloud
ewraq (pl) papers
Ewrûpa f Europe; ~yî European
Ewrûpî European
‘ewt f bark; ~e ~ constant or repeated
barking; ~în v.i. to bark
‘eynî the same: di eynî salê de in the
same year
ey O (vocative)
‘Eyndîwer ‘Ayn Dīwār, a small place in
Syria south of Cizre
Eyûb Job; ~î Job-like
eywan f salon, sitting room
ez (obl. min) I
ezbenî sir (mode of polite address)
‘ezman m sky, heaven
‘ezîz dear
‘Ezrayîl Azrael, the angel of death
ê1 = yê
ê2 future auxiliary + subj. for future
tense
êdî now; still, yet
êgir → agir
êh: gewro êh berçavara nedihat
“Whitey” didn’t notice it
ên = yên
êrîş = hêriş
êş f pain, ache; ~andin êşîn- v.t. to hurt,
cause pain, trouble; ~iyan êş- v.i. to
hurt, suffer pain: ser û çavê te neêşe
“may your head and eye not suffer
pain,” thank you
êvar f evening
êxur m stable
êzing m firewood
fahm (dial. var.) = fehim
fal f augury, omen, fate; ~ vekirin to
predict: ev fala ko herkesî ji min re
vedikir, wusan derneket the prediction everyone was making for me did
not turn out like that
fam (dial. var.) = fehim
faqa under (prep.); ketin ~ to fall beneath
faris pl Persians; ~î f Persian (language)
faşîst fascist
fedakar, fedekar self-sacrificing, devoted; ~î f self-sacrifice
fedî f embarrassment; ~ kirin to be embarrassed
fed-kirin v.t. to look, watch
fehim kirin v.t. to understand
felat f freedom, liberation
felsefe f philosophy;
felsefî philosophical
fen f trick; bi ~ û fîtan by hook or by
crook
fener f lamp
feodalî feudal
feqeh m theology student
feqî Muslim cleric; ~tî f the clerical pro-
211
KURMANJI KURDISH
fession
feqîr poor; ~tî f poverty
fer one, single item (of a pair)
ferheng f culture: wezareta ferhengê
ministry of culture; dictionary
ferman f order, command; ~a … derxistin v.t. to issue an order for …
fermî formal
fermo please (said when offering s.th.)
ferq f difference: çi ferqa me û cîranên
me dimîne? what difference is left between us and our neighbors?; ~iyet f
distinction
ferz kirin v.t. to assume
fetwa legal opinion
fex f trap; xistin fexê to put in a trap
feyde f benefit, profit; bi ~ beneficial
fêde f (const. fêda) benefit: ji bo fêda
xwe for one’s one benefit, in one’s
own interests
fêhm = fehim
fêlbazî f cunning
fêre bûn v.i. to learn; fêreyî … bûn to
learn s.th., to become accustomed to
s.th.
fêrî … bûn v.i. to learn: ew di demeke
kurt de fêrî tirkî bû he learned Turkish in a short time
fihêt kirin v.t. to assess, to price
fikar(e) f worry
fikir f idea, thought; ~în v.i. to think,
contemplate
filitîn ji v.i. to get rid of
filosof m philosopher
find f candle
fir- → firîn
firaq m dishes
firar kirin to escape, to flee
firavîn f lunch, midday meal
firax (pl) dishes, pots and pans; ~ şustin
v.t. to wash the dishes
fireh open, wide, spacious; ~ kirin v.t.
to open; dil ~ kirin to gladden the
heart
firiyan v.i. to fly away
firîn fir- v.i. to jump, fly: Mûsa ji kêfan
difire Musa is jumping for joy
firîşte m angel
firk a rapid motion
firne f bakery
firotin froş- v.t. to sell
firq = ferq
firtone f storm, gale
fitil dan v.t. to twist and turn
fîstan m dress
fort m boast
fransiz m/f French (person)
frensî f French (language)
frensizî French (language)
froş- → firotin
fursend f opportunity
fûrîn v.i. to bubble, gurgle, boil
galegal f conversation
galon m gallon
gamêş ox
garan f herd of cattle
garis m millet; ~ê misrî corn
garsîn f village square
gav1 f time; moment, instant; ~a (ku)
when (sub. conj.); ~ û saet at all
times; di ~ê da in an instant; li ~ê de
at that moment
gav2 m step, pace; ~ kirin v.t. to step,
cross; ~ avetin to take steps: edebiyata kurdî di van salên dawî de
gavine baş avetiye Kurdish literature
has taken some good steps in these
recent years
gavan cowherd; ~tî f herding
gazin = gazind
gazind m rebuke, complaint; ~ kirin v.t.
to rebuke, reproach; ~ok rebuking,
complaining
gazî1 m warrior
gazî2 f call, shout; ~ kirin v.t. to call,
speak to
geh when; geh … geh sometimes …
212
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
sometimes
-geh suffix of place
gehandin (dial. var.) = gihandin
gehîştin (dial. var.) = gihîştin
gel much, many, most; ~ejmar plural;
~ek(î) very, a lot, many: ~ek ji wan
many of them; ~êrî popular
gelemper general, public; bi ~î mostly,
generally
gelî m mountain pass, canyon
gelo whether; interrogative particle, “I
wonder if”
gemar f filth
gemî f ship
genim m wheat
ger if; ~çi even if, although
gerandin gerîn- v.t. to turn, rotate; to
take for a walk; to produce
gerden f neck
gerdenî f necklace
gerdûnî universal
gerek necessary, should, must, ought to;
~ bûn to be necessary
geremol f complexity, confusion
gerihan (dial. var.) = geriyan
geriyan v.i. to go around, roam around;
~ li (pey) to look for
germ warm, hot: ~a havînê the heat of
summer; ~a, ~ayî f warmth; ~î f
warmth
Germanya f Germany
gerş dirty
geş red, blossoming, flaming, happy; ~
bûn to blossom, flame up (fire), be
happy; ~î f happiness, flourishment
gevde f mange; bi ~ mangy
gevez crimson
gevizandin v.t. to make writhe; xwe ~ to
roll oneself around
gevizîn v.i. to writhe
gewde m body; ~ê xwe dan hev to curl
up; ~ê xwe girtin to hug oneself
gewr light grey, whitish; ~o “whitey”
gewre large, big
gêj dizzy, spinning; ~ bûn v.i. to be
dizzy; ~ kirin v.t. to make dizzy,
make lightheaded: germa havînê tu
gêj kiribûyî the heat of summer had
made you dizzy
gêr crooked, uneven
gêrik ant
gêrt lethargic
ghêj- → gihîştin
giha = giya
gihan gihê- v.i. to reach; ~din -gihînv.t. to deliver; xwe gihandine ser to
get oneself to
gihaştin gehîj- v.i. to reach, arrive; to
mature
gihîştin gihîj-/gîj-/gihêj-/ghêj- v.i. to
reach, arrive
gihîj- → gihîştin
gijgijîn v.i. to be knit (brow)
gincir ???
gir m hill
gir m rancorous, grudging; ~-girtin v.t.
to have a grudge
gir- → girtin
giramgîr respectful
giramî f respect
giran heavy, deep (voice); serious,
grave, plodding; ~î f gravity, weightiness; ~biha precious, expensive; ~
firotin v.t. to sell at a high price,
overcharge
girav f island
gircî gircî frozen solid
girê f knot, tumor; ~-dan v.t. to tie, to
connect: navê bajêr li cem min bi
navê nanê firnê, şekir û helawê hatibû
girêdan for me the word ‘city’ was
connected to the words ‘bakery
bread,’ ‘sugar,’ and ‘halvah’; pişta
xwe ~ dan bi to turn one’s back on,
to be unmindful of
girêkî Greek
girik f conundrum; hillock
giriyan v.i. to weep
213
KURMANJI KURDISH
girî m weeping, crying
girîn v.i. to weep; f weeping
girîng important; ~î f importance
girs great; bi ~î greatly
girtin gir- v.t. to catch, seize
girtîgeh f prison
girtîxane f prison, place of detention
giştî general, public; totally
givaştin givêş- v.t. to press, squeeze
givegiv f gentle blowing of the wind
givîn v.i. to roar (wind)
giya f grass, greenery
giyan m soul
gîj- = gihîjgîr f grasp; xistin ~ û helboqê v.t. to ensnare
gîrodarî f struggle
gîr û helboq f trap, entrapment
gîya = giya
gol f lake: ~a Wanê Lake Van
golik m calf
gopal m stick; ~ das sickle
gor1 f method, manner, way; li ~(a) …
according to, in the opinion of
gor2 f grave; ~istan f cemetery
gorî f sacrifice; ez bi ~ please
gorn f tomb
goşt m meat
gotar f article
gotin bêj- v.t. to say: tu bêjî nebêjî no
matter what you say; f word: bi ~eke
din in other words; ji X re Y ~ to call
X Y: gelo mirov kane ji berhemên ku
bi zimanên din têne nivîsandin re
bibêje berhemên kurdî? I wonder if
can one call works that are written in
other languages Kurdish works?;
~xweş well-spoken
gotûbêj f talk, conversation
gov f barn
govend f Kurdish line dance; ~ê girtin
v.t. to dance a line dance
goya you’d think
gr- = gir- (girtin)
guçik m/f ??? ear
guh m ear; ~ dan v.t. to listen; bi ~
girtin v.t. to grab by the ear; ~dar m
listener; ~darî kirin v.t. to listen; ber
guhan ketin v.i. to be heard
guhan m udder
guhar m/f pearl ??? earring???
guharîn v.i. to change
guhartin guhêr- v.t. to change
guhastin = guhaztin
guhaztin guhêz- v.t. to transport, carry,
move; mala xwe ~ to move one’s
home
guhdar m listener; ~î kirin v.t. to listen
guherandin guherîn- v.t. to change
guhertin (dial. var.) = guhartin
guj fierce (storm)
gujîn v.i. to howl
gul f flower
gulan f May
gule f bullet; ~baran kirin v.t. to fire,
open fire on
gulik f flower
gulî m braid, tress
gulle = gule
gulte f clump
gund m village; ~î m/f villager; ~îtî f
rusticity
guneh m sin, fault; ~karî f crime, offense, fault; avêtina ~ên xwe expiation for one’s sins
gungilî thick, matted
gunîçin ??? a thick protective mat
against thorns, etc.
gupe gup kirin v.t. to pound (heart)
gur1 m wolf
gur2 strong, powerful; ~ kirin to fill
gurdarî f attention; ~ kirin to pay rapt
attention
gurg = gur1
gurî bald, scabby
gurîn f clamor, noise
gurmîn gurm- v.i. to make a loud noise
gurz m hank of hair
214
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
guvahî f testimony
guvaştin (dial. var.) = givaştin
guveguv (dial. var.) = givegiv
ha = han
hakim m ruler, governor
hal m condition, state; ji ~ ketin to be
exhausted, worn out
halan f yell, shout
halhalk (dial. var.) = al’al
han (in constr. w/ word it modifies) this
very, that very: wê roja han on that
very day; ev tirsa han bi serpêhatiya
te girêdayî bû this very fear was connected to your experience
hatin yê-/wer- (v.i., pres. ind. têm, neg.
nayêm, pres. subj. bêm/werim) to
come; (+ inf.) passive
hatî f future
havêtin (dial. var.) = avêtin
havîn f summer
havîtin (dial. var.) = avîtin
hawîrdor f surroundings, environment;
~ên wê those around him
hawurdor (dial. var.) = hawîrdor
hay f feeling, awareness (ji of), attention: ~a min jê tune bû I had no
awareness of it; ~dar aware
hazir ready, present; ~î f preparation; ~î
kirin to make preparations
heb1 m grain, bit; pill: ~ekî aqil a grain
of sense; ~ek(î) a little, a bit, slightly
heb2 f a single thing, item, individual,
one
hebandin v.t. to love
hebe nebe one way or another
hebkî = hebekî (see heb)
hebûn v.i. to exist: di zimanê me de pir
gotinên kurdî hene ku me nebihîstine
there are many Kurdish words in our
language we haven’t heard; (with
subject + possessive) to have; hebû
tunebû once upon a time
hechecik martin, swallow
hecûm f attack, assault
heçê whatever, whoever
hedam sense ???
hedef f goal
heft seven; ~e f week: bi ~yekê within a
week; ~eyî weekly; ~ê seventy
heger if
hej movement; li ~ û liv û weş ketin v.i.
to toss and turn
hej = hez
hejandin v.t. to shake: wî serê xwe hejand he shook his head; min destê wî
hejand I shook his hand
hejar poor: ~ên kurdan the poor Kurds
hejiyan v.i. to move, shake
hejîk love, affection
hejîn = hejiyan
hejmar f number, issue (of a journal)
hejmartin hejmêr- v.t. to count, enumerate: dihatin hijmartin le ser her
deh tiliyên destan they could be
counted on all ten fingers of the hands
hejmêr- → hejmartin
hek m right; di ~ê prep. concerning,
about
heke if
hel m protected place
helaw f halvah
helbest f poetry, verse: ~a serbest free
verse; ~kar m poet; ~van m poet
helbet of course
hel-bijartin v.t. to select, choose
hel-dirandin v.t. to tear apart
Heleb f Aleppo
heliyan v.i. to melt, disappear
heliz an herb
helk û bêhn breath
hel-pekandin li xew v.t. to rouse from
sleep
helqe f ring
hem…hem both…and
hema thus
heman that very
hember equal; ~î f equality; li ~î
215
KURMANJI KURDISH
towards, vis-à-vis, across from
hembêz = hemêz
hemd m will, volition; bê ~ reluctantly,
involuntarily; hatin ser ~ê xwe to
come to one’s senses
hemdemî contemporary
hemêşe always
hemêz, hembêz f bosom, embrace; ~
kirin v.t. to embrace
hemî = hemû
hemmanê scarcely, barely
hemû all, every; ~ya(n) all of them
hengam time: di ~ekê de at one and the
same time, at once
heps f prison, imprisonment; ~xane f
prison
her every; ~ û ~ always and ever; ~ku
… -tir the more … the more: dengê ji
ezmên herku diçû bêtir dibû the sound
from the sky kept getting louder; ~
tenê at least: her tenê çend heftiyan
carekê at least once every few weeks
her- → çûn
herbî f war department
herd valley ???
herehereyî worldly strife, turmoil
herejor steep
herê = erê
herêm f district, region
herf f letter of the alphabet
herikîn v.i. to move, to flow
herimandin v.t. to ruin, make a mess of:
wî jiyan li wan herimandiye it has
ruined their lives
herî1 very, exceedingly, most (superlative prefix)
herî2 f mud
hertim always; ~î usual
herweha thus, so also
herwiha (dial. var.) = herweha
hes f feeling, emotion; ~asiyet f sensitivity
hesibandin v.t. to count, take into consideration: ew xwe weke kurd nahesi-
bînin they don’t count themselves as
Kurds
hesin m iron; ~gêr m blacksmith; ~î
made of iron; ~ker m blacksmith
hesiyan/hesîn v.i. to feel; ~ bi to perceive, be aware of
hesp m horse
hesret f pining, longing, regret; li ~a
longing for
hest f feeling
heste f lighter
hestik m bone
hestî m bone
heşî = êşîn
heşîn green; ~ahî f greenness
heşt eight; ~ê eighty
heta even; (prep.) up to, until; ~ (ku)
(conj. + neg. subj.) until: heta neyê
guhartin jî dê wiha bidome until it is
changed it will remain like that
hetanî = heta
hev each other, together, co-, same; ba
~ hatin to get together, cooperate; bi
~du re together; bi ~ re with each
other, together; ji ~ ketin to fall apart;
li ~ together; li ser ~ altogether; ~
dan v.t. to collect, put together
heval m/f friend; ~bend m proponent;
~tî f friendship
hevedudanîn v.t. to put together, to
compound
hevdû each other
hevgirtî assembled
hevîr m dough
hevkar m/f co-worker; ~î f cooperation
hevok f sentence; ~sazî syntax
hevpeyvîn f conversation
hevraz (dial. var.) = efraz
hevrîşim m silk
hevwelatî m/f compatriot
hew no more, not any more: hew dixwim
I can’t eat any more
hewa f air, weather; ~ guhastin v.t. to
have a change of climate
216
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
hewale m air
hewandin -hewîn- v.t. to give shelter to,
protect
hewcedar needy, in need; ~î f need,
necessity
hewe (dial. var.) = we
hewes f passion
hewg f throat
hewil f attempt; ~-dan v.t. to attempt
hewk = hewg
hewqas that much, so much
hewranî m a type of cloak; ~yekî reş a
black cloak, a sign of mourning
hewş f courtyard
hey continuously, (+ verb) to keep on
heya = heta for, up to, until: heya
demeke dirêj for a long time; ~ ku
(conj.) while, as long as
heybet m fearfulness; ~girtî fearful
heyecan m excitement
heyf f pity; ~a … it’s too bad about …;
~a … hatin bi to feel sorry for: heyfa
min bi te tê I feel sorry for you
heyhat alas!
heyîn v.i. to live
heyran amazing!, incredible!
heyşt eight
heyştê eighty
heyv f moon, month; ~a çarde şevê the
full moon
heyran … çi? what do you mean …?
heywan f animal
hez kirin ji v.t. to like, enjoy: min jê hez
kir I liked it
hezar thousand
hê still, yet
hêç furious, quick-tempered
hêdî hêdî little by little
hêdîka slowly, softly
hêj still, (with comparative) even
hêja valuable, worthy; ne ~ worthless
hêk f egg
hêl1 f side, direction
hêl2 vigor, strength, power; bi ~ vigor-
ously, aloud
hêl3 trace, track
hêl- → hiştin
hêlan v.t. to leave
hêlûn f bird’s nest; ~ kirin v.t. to nest,
to settle in
hênik cool; ~ayî f coolness
hêre kirin v.t. to look
hêriş f attack; ~ kirin/anîn/birdin v.t. to
make an attack: cendirme hêrişî ser
malê dikin the gendarmes are attacking the house
hêrişker attacking
hêrs f anger; ~ kirin v.t. to anger; ~ê
ketin v.i. to get angry
hêsan easy; ~ kirin v.t. to facilitate,
make easy; ~î easy
hêsir m tear
hêsîr captive, prisoner
hêstir1 f mule
hêstir2 = hêsir
hêşîn green (of plants), bluish (of animals); ~ayî f greenery, verdure; ~î f
greenery
hêştir f camel
hêt f thigh
hêvar = êvar
hêvî f hope; ~dar hopeful; bê~ hopeless; li ~ya … bûn to wait for, be in
expectation of …; (li) ~ya … man to
lie in wait for …
hêwan f porch
hêwir at rest, calm
hêz f strength, power
hicûm f attack
hijmartin hijmêr- (dial. var.) = hejmartin
hikim m sovereignty, power; verdict,
judgment; hatine ser ~ to come to
power; ~ dayîn to make a judgment
hilanî kept, preserved
hil-anîn (hil-în-) v.t. to take away; to
keep, preserve
hil-avîtin v.t. to go, stick (li … ra
217
KURMANJI KURDISH
through something)
hil-bijartin v.t. to choose
hil-dan v.t. to lift, raise
hil-dirandin (dial. var.) = hel-dirandin
hil-girtin v.t. to bear, endure; to shoulder (a responsibility, burden)
hil-ketin v.i. to come about by chance
hil-kêşan v.i. to climb up, out
hil-kutan v.t. to knock, rattle
hilmis poke; ~ dan bi to poke
hil-pekandin (dial. var.) = helpekandin
hil-qedimîn v.i. to stand up
hil-şandin li ser v.t. to bring down on
hil-weşandin v.t. to break up, split
apart: piştî hilweşandina sîstema Sovyetê after the break-up of the Soviet
system
hil-weşîn v.i. to break up, split apart
him…him both…and
himber (dial. var.) = hember
himbêz kirin v.t. to embrace
himêz armful; ~ kirin = himbêz kirin
hin some, a few, several: hin rûpel a
few pages, several pages; hin ji wan a
few of them; ~ên wan some of them;
~ekan … ~ekan some … others
hinarok cheek
hind1 = hin; hinde cara hindek every
once in a while
hind2 f measure, extent: ji ber hindê jî to
a certain extent; ~ik slight, few, little
bit; ~ikahî f minority
hinda prep. until
hindav f direction; ~a …da toward
hindir = hundur
hiner = huner
hingê then, at that time; therefore, for
that reason
hingiv m honey
hingî then, at that time
hingûr f twilight
hirî f wool
hirşiyan v.i. to fall down, spill over or
out
hiş m awareness, sense; ~ be be quiet!;
bi ~ intelligent, smart
hişin = hêşîn
hişk dry, solid, frozen; ~ bûn v.i. to
freeze; ~ahî f solidity, rigidity; ~asayî
f dry, cold air
hiştin hêl- v.t. to let go, leave, allow;
Xwedê te bihêle may God preserve
you!
hişyar awake, sober; ~ bûn v.i. to
awaken; ~ kirin v.t. to wake
hizandin (dial. var.) = hejandin
hizib f political party
hizir f thought, idea; li hizra … da bûn
to be thinking about …
hîm1 m foundation, basis; ~avêj m
founder
hîm2 = hîn2
hîn1 still, yet: ew ~ nehatiye he hasn’t
come yet; ~ bêtir even more
hîn2: ~ bûn v.i. to learn; ~î kirin v.t. to
teach: wê ez hînî pir tiştan kirim she
taught me many things; ~î … bûn to
learn how to (+ inf.)\
hîna = hîn1
hînga = hingê
hîs f feeling, emotion; ~ kirin v.t. to feel
hîştin = hiştin
hîv (dial. var.) = heyv
hîvî (dial. var.) = hêvî
hîz m/f skin sack
hogiç m mountain ram
hogir accustomed, intimate friend; m
environment
hol f environment, surroundings; xwe
gihandin ~ê to come forth, come
about, arrive
holê thus, in this manner; in view
holik f hut
hon (dial. var.) = hun
honik cool; ~ kirin v.t. to cool down;
dilê xwe ~ kirin bi to console oneself
with
218
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
hov wild; ~îtî f wildness
hovan over there
hoy m condition, circumstance: di hoyên
teng de in narrow straits, in a tight
spot
hozantî f poetry
h.p. = heta paşî etc., et al.
hukum m order; ~darî f rule; ~darî
kirin v.t. to rule
hukûmet f government
humanîst m humanist; ~î humanistic
hun (obl. we) you (pl.)
hundir (dial. var.) = hundur
hundur m inside; ~ê prep. inside of; di
~ê … de within: di ~ê deh salan de
within ten years
huner, hiner f art, skill; ~mend m artist
hur free, at liberty
hurmetgir respectful
hustu m neck
huzûr f presence
hûn = hun
hûr1 small, little; ~ ~ in little bits, in
small pieces; ~ ~(î) bûn v.i. to be
smashed to bits; ~ kirin v.t. to crumble; ~ mûr small items, little things
hûr2 m paunch
hûrik m small piece, bit, sliver; ~ ~
slight(ly)
hwd (her wekî din) etc.
(because the distinction between initial i
and î is not consistently maintained,
the two letters are alphabetized together)
î‘dam f execution, death sentence
idare kirin v.t. to direct, manage
îdeolojî f ideology
ifade f testimony
iflas f bankruptcy; çûne ~ v.i. to go
broke
î‘lan kirin v.t. to announce
ilham f inspiration
‘ilmî scientific
Îlon f September
imkan m possibility
împaratorî f empire
imtihan f examination
imtiyaz f concession: imtiyaza neftê oil
concession
înca then, in that case
Îngilîstan f England
Îngilîz m/f English; ~î f English language
inkar kirin v.t. to deny
insan human being, one; pl people
inşa m composition
iptidaî elementary
îrad f objection
Îran f Iran
Iraq f Iraq
îro, îroj today
îrû (dial. var.) = îro
îsal this year
îsfehanî wrought silver
Îskenderûn f İskenderun, Alexandretta
Islamiyet f the religion and traditional
learning of Islam
ispat kirin v.t. to prove, establish
israf f expenditure: israfeke enerjiyê an
expenditure of energy
israr kirin v.t. to insist
istifade kirin ji v.t. to make use of
îstgah f station
‘îsyan f rebellion
îş m work, affair, job: çi îşê min bi
tirkan re heye? What do I have to do
with the Turks?
îşellah God willing, I hope
îşev tonight
işk dry
işkence f torture; ~ kirin bi v.t. to torture, torment
işkestin (dial. var.) = şikestin
îtiraz f objection
‘iyar m skin, pelt
jahr (dial. var.) = jehr
219
KURMANJI KURDISH
jan f pain, ache; ~ dan v.t. to pain
jar poor; ~î f poverty
jehr f poison
jendirme f gendarmerie
jengorî rusty
jê = ji + wî/wê
jêhatî worthy
jê-kirin v.t. to excise, cut out, cut off
jêr down
jêrbar heavy laden; ~î f being heavy
laden
ji prep. from, to, for, with
ji … re ccmp. with
ji … ve ccmp. from
ji ber … ve ccmp. before
jibîrkirin → bîr
jihevdeketî fragmented, fallen apart:
civateke ~ a fragmented society
jimar f number
jin f woman, wife; ~ik f woman
jinûvezayin f rebirth, renaissance
ji weşdaketî scattered about
jiyan1 f life
jiyan2 jî- v.i. to live
jiyin = jiyan2
jî enclitic also, even, emphasizes preceding word
jî- → jiyan2, jîn
jîn jî- v.i. to live
jîndar alive, living; dinya ~ the world
of the living
jîr talented, skillful; ~î f diligence, talent
jmartin jmêr- v.t. to count, to enumerate
jor above, up
k- → kirin
ka (attention-getting particle): ka mêze
ke come, look!; ka li ku ye? now
where is it?
ka f straw, hay
kabûs f nightmare
kafiye (dial. var.) = qafiye
kal aged; m old man, grandfather; ~e-
mêr m elderly gentleman
kalîte m good quality
kalkabûs m nightmare demon
kalo m old man
kambax ruined, devastated; devastating;
~ kirin v.t. to ruin, devastate
kanê = kanî2
kanî1 f spring, source
kanî2 where is/are?
kanîn (dial. var.) = karîn
kanun pl winter months
kapan a narrow, steep mountain road
kapik f bran
kar1 m job, work; ~bidest m authority;
~ker m/f worker; ~ûbar m work, business, everything entailed by s.th.; ~
kirin to work, to penetrate; bi~ anîn
v.t. to use
kar2 kid (goat, deer, &c.)
karik kid goat
karîn (v.i., neg. pres. níkarim, past
(dí)karibûm, neg. past. níkaribûm,
subj. (bi)karibim) to be able (+ subj.
to)
karneval f carneval
karto stale
karxezal baby deer, fawn
karzan expert
kasik m globe
kastîn f howl
kaş m slope, hill; ~ bûn to fall backwards
kat kirin v.t. to divulge
kaxet = kaxez
kaxez f paper
kaxiz = kaxez
kazkaz f wail
kebanî f lady: kebaniya malê the lady of
the house
keç f girl; ~ik f little girl
ked f stick; ~a kesekî xwarin to get
beaten by s.o.
kef1 f foam: ~a sawûnê soapsuds; ~ dan
v.t. to foam
220
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
2
kef f palm (of the hand)
kefen m burial shroud; ~ kirin v.t. to
shroud
kefî f kefiya, Arab headdress
kefteleft f activity, work, enterprise
kej f fur; ~ da-bûn v.i. to get long fur
kek m elder brother
kel1 boiling; ~ û gerî crying and weeping
kel2 m bull
kelandin kelîn- v.t. to boil
kelaş m corpse, body
kelberû wild
kel f an outcropping of rock
kelem1 oak
kelem2 m thorn; obstacle, difficulty,
trick
kelem3 m cabbage; ~ê Brukselê Brussel
sprout
kelemçe f handcuff; ~ kirin v.t. to handcuff
kelên f opportunity, chance
kemîn f ambush; ~ girtin to lie in ambush
ken m laughter; ~iyan v.i. to laugh
ken- → kenîn
kendal f side, slope, bank
kengê, kengî when?
kenîn v.i. to laugh
ker1 donkey; ne ker ketiye, ne hîz
diriyaye, û ne doşab rijiyaye (prov.)
“no donkey has fallen, no skein has
been ripped, and no molasses has
been spilled,” i.e. nothing at all has
happened
ker2 deaf
ker3 quiet, silent
keramet f miracle
kerb f sorrow, grief; bi ~a … çûn v.i. to
empathize with …
kerem generosity, benefit; ji ~a xwe
please, if you would be so kind
kerî f herd; piece
kermî f snout
kerpîç m sun-baked mud brick
kerwan m caravan
keser f sorrow, grief; ~vedan f sorrowing
kesk green
keşf kirin v.t. to discover
keştî f boat
ketin kev- v.i. to fall; ~ li ber … to object to, oppose; bi ser ~ to come up,
to surface
kev- → ketin
kevanî = kebanî
kevçî m spoon
kever spotlessly white
kevin ancient
kevir m stone, rock
kevnar ancient
kevnebajar f ancient seat
kevneperest conservative
kevnesovyet f the ex-Soviet Union
kew partridge
kewanî = kebanî
kewtîn v.i. to bark
keys f opportunity, advantage
kezeb f liver; womb; ~ şewitan to feel
sorry, be distressed
kezî f braid of hair
kezk f strand of hair
kez kirin v.t. to bite
kê → kî
kêf f pleasure, joy: li ~a wî nedihat she
wasn’t enjoying it; ~xweş happy;
~xweşî f happiness, pleasure, rejoicing; ~ û sefa pleasure
kêl m grave
kêlek f side, edge
kêm few, little bit; ~ kirin v.t. to lessen;
~ mabû ku (+ subj.) almost: kêm
mabû ku dila te ji kêfa ji sînga te
derkeve your heart almost leapt out of
your breast from joy; ~anî f deficiency, inadequacy; ~asî f paucity; ~
û zêde more or less; bê~asî flawless(ly); bi ~anî f at least
221
KURMANJI KURDISH
1
kêr f knife
kêr2 f benefit, profit, effect; bi ~î …
hatin to be of benefit to …: bi kêrî çi
tê? what’s the use of it?; bi~ useful
kêrûşk rabbit
kês = keys
kêşan v.t. to pull, draw; cixar ~ to
smoke cigarettes
kêz f bug, insect; ~ik f bug
kibrît match; ~firoş matchseller
kifş clear, apparent
kil1 f collyrium; ~ kirin to paint the eyes
with collyrium
kil2 kirin v.t. to wave; dest ~ ji … re to
wave the hand at
kim m corner
kin short; ~î f shortness; bi ~î shortly,
slightly
kinc pl clothes
kincik m rag
kir → kirin
kiras m shirt
kirêt ugly, shameful; ~î f ugliness, defilement, shame
kirêwe m blizzard
kirin k- v.t. to do; ~ ku (+ pres. subj.) to
make (as if to do s.th.), almost to do
s.th.: wî kir ku tiştekî bibêje, lê ne got
he almost said something, but he
didn’t; ji xwe ~ to take off (clothes),
disrobe: min kincên xwe ji xwe kir I
took off my clothes; te dikir û nedikir do what you might; min kir û
nekir no matter what I did
kirîn kir- v.t. to buy
kirûmat in stony silence
kişandin kişîn- v.t. to pull, draw; dest ~
ji to withdraw from
kişkişandin v.t. to drag
kitêb f book; ~xane f library
kitkit f detail
kivş = kifş
kî (obl. kê) who?
kîjan which?
kîn f revenge, feud: kîna xwe bi hev re
hene they are having a feud; ~ girtin
v.t. to take revenge
kînga ever; when
kîs m sack, bag; ji ~ê xwe out of one’s
own pocket
kîso f tortoise
klasifikasyon f classification
klaşnîkov f Klashnikov rifle
ko = ku2
koç kirin v.t. to decamp, move; ~î …
kirin to move to
kok1 f stitch
kok2 f root, stub
kolan f street
kolan kol- v.t. to dig, dig out, research;
~din kolîn- v.t. to dig
kole1 trick, deceit; ~ kirin v.t. to
deceive; ~dar tricky, deceitful
kole2 captive, slave
kolonyalîst colonialist
kom f pile, group; ~ bûn to gather, assemble; ~a san pack of dogs
komar f republic: Komara Mehabadê
the Republic of Mahabad
komel f society, organization: Komela
Karkerên Kurd Kurdish Workers
Society; ~ayetî social
komik f small group
kon m tent
kongre f congress
kor, kûr blind; ~ ~ fikirîn to be lost in
thought
kor û kend m depression
koşik f pavilion
kovar f journal
kovî wild, ferocious
kox f coop: koxa mirîşkan chicken coop
koxik f hut, shack
ku1 where?; ji ~ where from?, li ~
where, where at?
ku2 that (subordinating conj.); unless
kuç f large rock
kuderê where?
222
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
kufuk m snot; kufkê poz snot; kufkê
guh earwax; ~girtî snotty
kuj m corner
kuj- → kuştin
kul f wound, pain, suffering; adj. infected, inflamed, suffering
kulav m felt mat
kulek f smoke hole
kulfet f job, duty: xudê kulfet employed,
holding down a job; maid, female servant; wife
kulik m finger; ~ekî dan ser to put a
finger on, point to
kulî f flake of snow
kulîlk f wild flower
kullî cotton
kulm f fist; ~ik f fist
kulmoz m beehive
kultur f culture
kum m cap; keça ~sor Little Red
Riding Hood
kun f hole; kun kun kirin v.t. to poke
holes in
kundkî rûniştin v.i. to hunker down
kunkunî pitted, pockmarked
kur m boy, son
kur kirin v.t. to cut (the hair)
kurd m/f Kurd; ~andin v.t. to Kurdicize; ~istan f Kurdistan; ~ayetî f
Kurdishness; ~hiz Kurdophile; ~iyetî
f Kurdishness; ~î Kurdish
kurdmancî Kurmanji Kurdish
kurm m worm; ~ik m little worm; ~î
wormy, mangy, maggoty
kursî f chair, seat: kursiya şerefê the
seat of honor
kurş f frozen snow; ~enegirtî not frozen
solid
kurt short, brief; ~ayî f shortness: bi
kurtayî briefly; ~eçîrok f short story;
~edem f moment
kuruf f mound of snow
kusan how
kuskusandin v.t. to squint
kuştin kuj- v.t. to kill
kut xistin li v.t. to take a puff on (a
cigarette)
kut peck, (dog’s) bark; ~ kirin v.t. to
clack, clatter, rattle
kutan v.t. to strike; çavên xwe jê ~ to
blink the eyes
kutatirîn least
kuxîn v.i. to cough
kuxuyan v.i. to cough
kûç call to a dog
kûçe f (obl kûçê) lane
kûçik m dog
kûd lame
kûl f ???
kûlîlk = kulîlk
kûr1 (dial. var.) = kor
kûr2 deep; ~ nêrîn to look closely; ~ahî
f depth; ~anî f depth
kûşke small, tiny
kûvî (dial. var.) = kovî
kwîr blind
kwêsî, kwîsî (dial. var.) = kîso
labîrent f labyrinth
lablabik m marsh: kwêsiyê lablabik
marsh turtle
laîk secular
lal mute, speechless
lampe f lamp, light
land f belly
landik f cradle
laş m body, corpse
lat f boulder
latînî Latin
lava kirin v.t. to plead; ~yî f pleading
lavan = lava
law m/f youth, child; ~ik m infant
lawur m wild animal
layiq worthy
lazim necessary
lebitîn v.i. to move about
leheng m champion, hero
lehî f flood, torrent
223
KURMANJI KURDISH
lekim m/f tentacle ???
lenger f tray
lep m paw
leplepî twinkling ???
lerizîn = lerzîn
lerizîner trembling
lerizok trembling
lerz m trembling
lerzandin lerzîn- v.t. to shake
lerzîn v.i. to tremble, shake
leş m body; ~bizdîn ???
leşker m soldier
lev aimless ???; ~ ketin v.i. to chatter
(of the teeth)
lewaş thin flat bread
lewhe f sign
lewma for this reason, therefore
lewra, ji lewra because
leyistin leyiz-, lîz- v.t. to play, play (a
part); to play around (bi with): wî bi
nivîsên min dileyist he used to play
around with my writings
leyiztin (dial. var.) = leyistin
leylan f mirage
Leypiçig f Leipzig
lez m haste; ~ kirin v.t. to make haste;
bi ~ in haste, hastily; bi ~ û bez in all
haste, as fast as possible
lezandin lezîn- v.t. to hasten, to accelerate
lezet f pleasure
lê1 but; ~belê on the other hand
lê2 = li + wî/wê
lê bûn bi to be afflicted with
lê-dan lê-d- v.t. to strike, play (instrument); cut off: bila mîr serê min lêbidit let the prince cut my head off
lê-gerîn v.t. collect
lêh: di lêhê … de ccmp. for, in support
of
lêkolîn f research; ~er m researcher
lêv f lip, seashore
lêvişkestî with a broken lid
lê-xistin v.t. to beat, to play (musical
instrument), to ring (telephone)
li prep. in, at, to; also forms the first element of a number of compound prepositions; see the second element
lib m copy (of a book), flake (of snow),
drop (tear); unit, single item
liberxwe free, unhindered
Libnan f Lebanon
lihêf f quilt
lihîstin (dial. var.) = lîstin
likumîn v.i. to trip
ling m foot, leg; li ser ~an standing, on
foot
lipaşmayî backward; ~n f backwardness
liq f branch
liqandin v.t. to hang; xwe ~ to hang
(int.)
liser vebûn v.t. to diagnose
liv f motion, movement; ~ lê dan, ~ lê
xistin v.t. to put in motion
livandin livîn- v.t. to move, put in motion: destikên keştiyê zû dilivandin he
was moving the oars of the boat
quickly
liviyan = livîn1
livîn1 v.i. to move, be in motion, stir
livîn2 m bed, bedding
livok unstable
lixwekirin f manner of dress
lîlandin v.t. to ululate
lîsê f high school; ~ xwendin to attend
high school
lîstik f game, play, sport
lîstin lîz- v.i. to play
lîz- → lîstin
lojman f lodging
loma for that reason, therefore
luht naked, bare
luks deluxe
lûle f pipe, barrel (of a rifle)
lûrîn v.i. to bay
lûsîn v.i. to perch
ma interrogative particle: with affirma-
224
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
tive questions a negative answer is
expected: ma rast e? that’s not right,
is it?; with negative questions an affirmative answer is expected: ma ne
rast e? isn’t that right?; with other
interrogatives ma gives the sense of
“ever”: ma tu yê çi bikî bi kêrê? What
ever are you going to do with a knife?
maç kirin v.t. to kiss
Maden f Maden, also known as Paxirmaden, city northwest of Diyarbekir
maf m share, portion; right; ~nas appreciative
makîne f machine, car
mal1 f house, home: mala min mala te
my house is your house; ~bat f family; ~mezin belonging to a great family; ~xwê paterfamilias
mal2 m goods, possessions, wealth: ~ê
ticaretê commercial goods
mal- → maliştin, miştin
malava (vocative particle) hey!, see
here!
maliştin mal- v.t. to rub, rub out
maliye f tax office
ma‘lûmat (pl) information
mam m paternal uncle
mamostatî/etî f pedagogy; ~atî/etî
kirin v.t. to teach: wî mamostetiya
zimanê erebî dikir he used to teach
the Arabic language
mamostayî kirin v.t. to teach: wî
mamostayiya rewşenbîrî ya gelek
rewşenbîrên kurd kir he taught many
Kurdish intellectuals how to be intellectuals
mamoste m teacher;
man mîn- v.i. to remain, stay, dwell;
ne~ to cease to exist, to be no more:
nema xweya kir he never appeared
again; hindik ~ (+ subj.) to be about
to, to be on the verge of: hindik dima
fener bitemire the lamp was on the
verge of going out
mandî exhausted; ~bûn f exhaustion
ma‘ne (const ma‘na) f meaning; ~wî
moral, spiritual
mange f cow
manî constraint, obstacle
mantiq m logic
ma‘qûl reasonable; ~ dîtin to consider
reasonable: wî pêşniyaza min maqûl
dît he considered my proposal reasonable
mar m (obl mêr) snake
mar kirin v.t. to marry (li to)
marş f march, anthem
mase f (obl masê) table
mast m yogurt
maşellah goodness! (said to ward off
the evil eye when something is admired or praised)
mat silent
matmayîn f astonishment
mayî(n) other
mazlûm tyrannized; ~iyet f tyrannization
mazot f kerosene
me → em
me- alternative negative subjunctive
and imperative prefix = nemebest f intent
mebin (archaic negative 3rd pl subjunctive of bûn) they may not be: gelek
mebin jî even though they may not be
many
mecal f opportunity: ta niha mecal tune
bû until now there has been no opportunity; ~ birrîn v.t. to take an opportunity away
mecbûr obliged; ~ kirin v.t. to oblige,
force
meclis parliament
medeniyet f civilization
medinî civil
medrese f religious school
mefhûm f concept
meh f month
225
KURMANJI KURDISH
Mehabad f Mahabad
mehkeme f court
mehkûm condemned; ~ kirin v.t. to
condemn
mehlûl dissolved; ~ bûn to be dissolved
mehr f marriage contract; ~ birîn to
conclude a marriage contract
mehrûm ji deprived of
mehû kirin v.t. to wipe out
mejî m marrow
mejûl occupied; ~ bûn li ser v.i. to be
occupied, busy with
mekan stance, position
mekteb f school
mela m (obl. melê) mulla
mele (dial. var.) = mela
melevan m swimmer; ~î f swimming
melkemot the angel of death
me’mûr government official
mencel a copper pot
mendik an herb
meqale f article
merasîm f ceremony
merbend f bond, fetter
mereqdarî f interest, inquisitiveness,
curiosity
mereq kirin v.t. to wonder
merg f death
merhele f stage: di merhela ewel de in
the first stage
meriv m person, one (impersonal): gava
meriv li cihekî dimîne when one stays
in a place
merîd m disciple, devotee
merkez f center; ~î central: hukûmeta
merkezî central government
mesaj f message
mesel f example; ~en for example
mesele f matter
mestir larger, bigger
mes’ûliyet f responsibility
meş f walking: meşa xwe domand he
continued walking; ~andin v.t. to put
into practice; ~iyan/-în v.i. to walk
metleb ???
mewlûd f a poem celebrating the birth
of the Prophet Muhammad, traditionally recited on festive occasions
mexsed f intent, intention
meydan f field; anîn ~ê v.t. to bring to
the fore
meyeldar, meyildar = meyldar
meyîn v.i. to remain
meyl f inclination; ~dar predisposed (ji
…re to); ~darî f bias, predisposition
mezel1 m grave, tomb
mezel2 f room
mezheb m sect
mezin big, large, great; ~ bûn v.i. to
grow up; ~ kirin v.t. to raise, bring
up; ~ahî f greatness; bi ~bûna … as
vast as
mê f female
mêj long ago; ji ~ ve from long ago
mêjî f brain, mind
mêjîn v.i. to suck, suckle
mêjvemayî remnant, relic
mêr1 m man, husband; ~anî f manliness;
~ik m fellow, guy; ~xas m gentleman
mêr2 → mar
mêrg f meadow
mêrxas brave
mêş f bee; ~a hingivî honeybee
mêtro f metro, subway
mêvan m/f guest; ~darî f visit; ~perwerî f hospitality; ~xane f reception
room
mêze kirin li v.t. to look at, see
miç shut, closed; ~ kirin v.t. to shut,
cover
mideh m period of time
midûr m director, principal
mihî ???
mihrican f celebration, festival
mij m mist
mijîn (dial. var.) = mêjîn
mijûl bi … ve occupied, involved with;
~î f occupation, activity
226
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
mikan = mekan
mil m neck, shoulder; support, aid; side,
direction; bi ~ê yekî girtin v.t. to
come to s.o.’s aid, to lessen s.o.’s burden; ji ~ê din on the other hand
milet m nation; ~perwer nationalistic
milî national
min → ez
mindal m child
minet f obligation; bê ~ generous
minnet = minet
miqam m musical mode
miraz ??? wish
mircan coral, coral bead
mirin mir-/mr- (dimire, dimre) v.i. to
die
miriyan = mirin
mirî dead
mirîd m devotee
mirîşk f chicken
mirov m man; f woman; m/f person;
~atî f humanity, humaneness, chivalry
mirwarîd m/f ??? pearl
misilman Moslem
Misir f Egypt; misrî Egyptian
mişt ji full of, filled to the brim with
miştin mal- v.t. to sweep
mit man v.i. not to make a sound
mit û mat utterly silent
mixabin unfortunately
mizgîn m good news; ~î f present given
to a person bearing good news
mî f sheep
mîh = mî
mîn- → man
mîna (prep.) like; ~ ku (conj.) as, while
mînak equal, similar; m example: weke
mînak for example; ~î f similarity
mîr m prince; f princess; ~ek princeling
mohr f seal, stamp; ~ xistin v.t. to seal,
put a stamp on
mor = mohr
more cracked (as a mud wall)
moz(e) flying insect
mr- → mirin.
mudet m period
mudîr m school principal
muesese f institution
muhlet f grace period, respite
munaqeşe f debate; ~ kirin v.t. to debate
munasebet f occasion; bi ~a on the occasion of
muxtar m village chief, elder
muzîk f music
mû m hair, strand of hair; iota: ne mûwek not an iota
mûrî f ant
na- (negative prefix for present indicative verbs) not
nalîn v.i. to wail, cry out
name f letter
namûs f honor; womenfolk
nan m bread; ~pêjî f bakery
nar m pomegranate
narîn delicate
nas acquainted, known, familiar; ~ kirin
v.t. to know, be acquainted with, recognize; ~andin v.t. to introduce,
make known; dan naskirin v.t. to introduce
nasiyar familiar
nasnav m identity
nav1 f middle; di ~a … de in the midst
of; li ~ hev de girtin to surround; ~în
middle (adj.), central: Rojhilata Navîn
the Middle East
nav2 m name; ~ kirin v.t. to name;
~andin v.t. to name; ~dar famous, renowned; ~no notorious; ~notî f notoriety
navbera prep. between, among
naverok f contents
navik f waist
navneteweyî international
navnîşan f address
227
KURMANJI KURDISH
navteng f girth
naxêr no
naxir f herd
naxwe this being so
naylon f plastic: tûrikên ~ plastic bags
naynik = neynik
nazik fine, delicate
ne not; ~ … ~ neither … nor; ~ … lê not
… but; ne- (negative prefix for subjunctive, imperative, and past-tense
verbs) not
nebeled uninformed, unknowing
neçar helpless; ~ man to have no alternative; ~î f helplessness; ji ~î with no
alternative
nedarî f poverty
nedî ve, ji suddenly
nefel f clover
nefes dan v.t. to huff and puff; to be out
of breath
nefret f hatred; ~ kirin ji v.t. to hate,
abhor
nefs f self; ~a xwe karîn to control oneself; ~piçûk humble; ~piçûkî, ~piçûkahî f humility
neft f oil
neh nine
neheqî f injustice
nehy prohibition
nejihevûdurebûyîn f indivisibility and
inseparability
nema not…again
nemaze especially
nemir undying, immortal: dibe xwediyê
navekî nemir he possesses an immortal name
nemirovane unmanly, cowardly
nenas unacquainted, unfamiliar, unknown; ~ê unacquainted with
nepixandin nepixîn- v.t. to blow up, inflate
nepixîn v.i. to swell
neqandin v.t. to select, choose
nerazî discontent; ~bûn f discontent-
ment
nerindî evil
nerm soft, gentle, fine; ~ahî f softness,
gentleness; ~ik softly, gently
nesir f prose
neşên unhappy
netewe f nation; ~yên Yekbûyî the
United Nations; ~yî national; ~yîtî f
nationalism
nevî m/f grandchild, offspring
Nevroz f Persian New Year’s day
newal f valley
nexş miracle; ~în miraculous
nexşe f map
nexwe otherwise
nexweş sick, ill; unpleasant; ~î f sickness, disease; ~xane f hospital
nexuyayî invisible
neyar m enemy, opponent, foe
neyînî f destitution
neynik f mirror
neynok f fingernail, toenail
neynûk = neynok
nezanî f ignorance
nêçirvan m hunter
nêçîr f game, prey; çûn ~ê v.i. to go
after game
nêçîrvan m hunter
nêrevan m scout
nêrîn v.i. to look; f view, speculation
nêşan f target, mark; ~ kirin v.t. to take
aim at, to focus on
nêv (dial. var.) = nîv
nêvî (dial. var.) = nîvî
nêzîk near; ~ahî f proximity; ~î near to,
nearly
nêzîkatî kirin bi v.t. to approach
nifirîn f malediction, curse
nifş m generation
nifûs f identity card
nig m foot; ~ên xwe zêdeyî xwe avêtin
to overstep one’s bounds
nigardar beautiful
niha now; berî ~ before now, ago
228
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
nihe = niha
nihêran expectant, apprehensive
nihêrîn li v.i. to look at, to notice; to
look upon, regard (wek as)
nihêrtin (dial. var.) = nihêrîn
niho (dial. var.) = niha
nijad m race; ~perest racist
nijde f brigandage
nik f side, direction; toward, to; prep.
next to, with, to, for
nikil m beak
nikilandin nikilên- v.t. to peck
nimêj f prayer; ~ kirin v.t. to pray
nimûne f example: ji bo nimûne as an
example, for example; ~nde f example
niqutandin v.t. to drip
niqutîn v.i. to drip
nisbet bi relative to
nisxe = nusxe
nişan = nîşan
nişk: ji ~ê (~a) ve suddenly
niştin nê-/niş- v.i. to sit
nitilandin v.t. to draw, to mark
nivistin -niv- v.i. to sleep
niviz ???
nivîn1 m (usually pl) bed; ~ê nexweşiyê
sick bed; destek ~ a set of sheets and
bedding material
nivîn2 -niv- v.i. to lie down, sleep
nivîsandin v.t. to write
nivîsar f writing, text
nivîsevan m writer
nivîsîn v.t. to write
nivîskar m/f writer; ~î kirin to write,
engage in writing
nivîskî written
nivş = nifş
nivz half
niwal f small valley
niyet f intention
nixabtin = nuxumandin
nixamtin = nuxumandin
nixumandin = nuxumandin
nizar m mountain side (where the sun
never shines)
nizim low
nîjad = nijad
nîn none, nothing
nîsan f April
nîşan f sign, mark, military decoration;
~ dan v.t. to show; ~ kirin v.t. to indicate
nîv half; ~ saetê half an hour; ~cî half
done; ~ê şevê midnight; ~roj f noon;
~sedsal f midpoint of a century
nîvek f half
nîveruh half-dead
nîvişkestî cracked
nîvî f middle, midpoint, half
nîzing (dial. var.) = nêzîk
nod ninety
nojdarû f panacea
nok f chickpea; ~a tahtê pebble
nola (prep.) like: nola hev like each
other
noqim bûn v.i. ???
not = nod
nozdeh nineteen
nu new; ji ~ ve all over again
nuçêbûyî new-born
nudem modern
nuh = nu
nuha (dial. var.) = niha
nuhatî new, newly come about: nivşê
nu the new generation
nuhîtî f newness, novelty
nujen newly invented, new-fangled,
modern
nuka (dial. var.) = nuha
nusxe f copy
nuvejîn f renaissance
nuxumandin v.t. to cover, veil
nuxumîn v.i. to be covered, veiled
nuyîtî f novelty
nuzewicî newly-wed
nû = nu
nûh = nu
229
KURMANJI KURDISH
nûjen = nujen
nûner representative
NY = Neteweyên Yekbûyî the United
Nations
oda, ode f (obl odê) room
okyanûs f ocean
ol f religion; ~dar religious; ~î religious;
~perwer religious
ordî f army: Ordiya Sor the Red Army
ordu = ordî
‘orre ‘or f roar
orte f middle
Osmanî Ottoman
otorîte f authority
pag stable
pak pure, clean; ~hilanîn ji v.t. to get
rid of
pakêt package
pal1 f mountainside
pal2 dan v.t. to push
palas ???
pale m worker
pan wide, broad
panatî f expanse, breadth
pansiman kirin v.t. to bandage
papor f stove
paqij pure, clean; ~ kirin v.t. to clean;
~î f cleanliness
paqiş (dial. var.) = paqij
par1 f part, share
par2 last year
par3 f back; ji ~ re from behind
parçe, perçe m piece: du sê perçên
kaxizên two or three pieces of paper;
~ bûn v.i. to be fragmented; ~ kirin
v.t. to fragment
parastin parêz- v.t. to protect, guard
Parîs f Paris
parsî Persian language
partî f political party: partiyên kurd yên
siyasî Kurdish political parties
parve kirin v.t. to distribute
paseport f passport
paş m the back; li ~ serê prep. behind;
~ê xwe avetin bi v.t. to throw oneself
into s.th.; ~eroj f past, the past; ~îngê
later; ~verû backward; ~verûtî f
backwardness
paşil f bosom
paşî f end; heta paşiyê until the end
patik f back of the head
paye f high rank, place of honor; ~tî f
honor
payîz f autumn
pejirandin v.t. to accept
pekiyan = pekîn
pekîn pek- v.i. to splash, splatter, rise
up suddenly
pekok: stêrka pekok shooting star
pel m leaf, page
pelikan stairs, stairway
pelk leaf
pembo m cotton
pena f refuge, asylum; ~ber m/f refugee;
~berî f refugee status
pencere f window
peng ???
pengizandin pengizîn- v.t. to make
jump, spurt
pengizîn v.i. to spray, spurt
penîr m (obl. penêr) cheese
per1 m side
per2 m feather
per3 f piece
peran heavy: cezayê peran heavy penalty
perçe = parçe
perçîn rivet; bi hev ~ kirin to rivet
together, to patch together
perde f (const. perda) curtain
perdî f ceiling beam
pere m money
pergal m compass; bi ~ derketin to be
encompassed
pergî (+ construct) hatin v.i. to come
across, find; çûn ~ to go to find
230
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
perpitîn v.i. to flutter: dilê min diperpite
I get sick at my stomach
perwaz f flight
perwerdî f education
pesin m praise; ~andin v.t. to praise, to
approve of; wesf û pesnê … dan to
praise and extol
pesnê m trace
petrol f petrolium
pevgirêdan f connection
pexşan f prose; ~nivîskar m prosewriter
pey: li ~ (prep.) behind, after; di ~ … de
(prep.) after
peya m man
peya bûn v.i. to get out, off, down (from
vehicle)
peyda bûn v.i. to be found: min zanîbû
wê saetê ava germ peyda nabe I knew
there was no warm water to be found
at that time; ~ kirin v.t. to find
peyitandin v.t. to prove
peyivîn v.i. to talk, speak: ez zêde pê re
nepeyivîm I didn’t speak to him long
peyî hev one after the other
peyman f pact, agreement; ~ê girêdan
ligel to conclude a pact with
peyv f conversation, talk, words: me
peyv dagerand ser huner û edebiyatê
we turned the conversation to art and
literature; ~ik f expression
peywendî f relation: peywendiyên navneteweyî international relations
pez f sheep
pezkîvî (dial. var.) = pezkûvî
pezkûvî mountain sheep
pê1 = bi + wî/wê
pê2 m foot
pêçandin pêçîn- v.t. to wrap, roll
pêçîn pêç- v.t. to roll, wrap;
pêjin f feeling
pêjîn pêj- v.i. to be cooked; v.t. to light
(cigarette)
pêk together; ~-anîn v.t. to get together,
collect, arrange; ~-hatin v.i. to come
about, come to be; ~-hatin ji v.i. to
consist of
pê-ketin v.i. to catch (fire)
pêkol kirin v.t. to stick together (snow)
pêkva together
pê-xistin v.t. to light (fire), to switch on
pêl f wave; ~ bûn v.i. to spread out
pêlpêlî wavy, undulating
pênc five; ~ih, ~î fifty
pêra along with him (see pê)
pêrgî → pergî
pêsîr f collar; windpipe; forefront; area
just below the summit of a mountain
pêş forward: mirov ê bi pêş de biçe one
will go forward; ~-ketin to advance;
bi ~ derketin to come out to the fore;
~eroj f the future; ~de xistin to promote; ~ketî advanced
pêşayîk f forefront
pêşber m guide, leader; ketin ~ê to be
faced with; ~î in the lead, leadership,
(prep.) in front of; ~î … derketin to
lead, go out ahead of
pêşdexistin f promotion, advancement
pêşeng m leader, vanguard
pêşepêşa, li prep. out in front of
pêşeroj f future
pêşevan m leader
pêşgotin f foreword
pêşiya prep. before, in front of
pêşî adj. first: cara pêşî the first time, di
du-sê salên pêşî de during the first
two or three years; f advance: ~ya …
girtin v.t. to prevent
pêşîk avant-garde, forerunner
pêşîn first
pêşkeş f present, gift, tribute; ~ kirin v.t.
to offer (as a gift), to present
pêşmerge m guerrilla
pêşniyaz f proposal, suggestion
pêşveketin f advancement, progress
pêt f flame
pêtgiran lazy, indolent
231
KURMANJI KURDISH
pêwendî bi f connection to
pêwîst necessary; ~î f necessity, requirement
pêxember m prophet
pê-xistin -xê- v.t. to light, turn on (light)
pêxwas barefooted
piç small, little; ~ek a little bit, for a
moment; a little thing
pife pif f huff and puff
pif kirin v.t. to blow, puff
pifinî kirin v.t. to hiss
pij scattered
pijandin v.t. to cook
pijîn v.i. to be cooked
pijiqandin v.t. to make (blood) gush
pijiqîn v.i. to explode, to blow up
piling m tiger
pilot m/f spark ???
pilpilî ???
piqpiqok f bubble
pir1 very, many, much; ~anî f most,
majority: piraniya wan most of them;
pirraniya caran most of the time
pir2 f bridge
pirç f body hair
piroze kirin v.t. to tear to shreds
pirs f question; ~ek ji… kirin v.t. to ask
a question of s.o.; ~gir skeptic;
~girêk f question: pirsgirêka kurdî
the Kurdish question
pirsan v.t. to ask (a question)
pirtepirt f sputtering ???
pirtik f sheet (glass, paper)
pirtûk f paper, sheet of paper
pirtve kirin v.t. to tear to pieces
pisîk f cat
pismam m cousin
pispor, pispûr m expert; ~î f expertise
pişaftin v.t. to assimilate
pişirîn to ruminate (?)
pişt f back, hill; ~a prep. behind, on the
other side of; ~a xwe dan v.t. to turn
one’s back; ~î prep. after; ~î ku conj.
after; ~germ supported, protected;
~gir m supporter; ~girî f support; ~re
then,
later,
afterward;
~xwar
hunched-over
piyale f glass, goblet
piyes f play
pizot m torch: çavên wê wek du pizotên
êgir bûn his eyes were like two fiery
torches
pîjame m pyjamas
pîn f kick; ~-avêtin v.t. to kick
pîne ???
pîpoq f glass
pîr old; m/f old man, old woman; ~ik f
grandmother
pîratî f old age
pîrhepok m monster ???
pîroz sacred, holy; ~ kirin v.t. to celebrate; to congratulate: ew wê roja han
mîna karnevalekê pîroz dikin they
celebrate that day like a carneval;
~bahî f congratulations; ~wer holy
pîs bad, dirty; ~ik nasty, awful; ~itî f
obscenity
pîsîr (dial. var.) = pêsîr
pîvan f measurement, criterion; ~din
pîvên- v.t. to measure
PKK = Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê
Kurdish Workers’ Party
plan f plan; ~çêker m planner; ~ çêkirin to make a plan
pola m steel
polîtîka f politics; policy
ponijîn v.i. to be engrossed in thought
por m hair (on the head); ~reş blackhaired; ~zer blonde
poşman regretful; ~ bûn li to regret
s.th./doing s.th.
poxsîde sad
poz m nose, snout
prensîp m principle
proje f project
protesto kirin v.t. to protest, go on
strike, boycott
PTT = Post Telefon Telexraf Post, Tel-
232
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
ephone, and Telegraph
pûç useless, unuseable
pûk f snowstorm, blizzard
pûrt f hair, fur, pelt; ~ û per feathery
coat
pûtperest idolator; ~î f idolatry
PZ = piştî zayînê anno domini (AD)
qaçaxçî m smuggler
qad f field, place; ~a şer field of battle
qaf f head
qahf m cave, cavern
qail bûn to accept (bi)
qal f statement; ~ kirin v.t. to state; ~ û
ceng f fight
qalçikdayî frostbitten ???
qalik m shell, husk
qalind thick, fat
qam f stature, height; measurement for
the height of the sun in the sky
qamçî m whip
qamiş reed
qanser f cancer
qanûn f law
qarîn v.i. to cry bitterly
qasid m messenger, envoy
qasî ku as much as
qatil m murderer
qayiş, qayîş f strap, thong, belt; rivalry,
competition; bi … re ketin ~ê to
compete against: te digot qey ew bi
min re ketibû qayîşê you’d think he
was in competition with me
qaymeqam m provincial governor
qaz m goose
qazaxî f butane
qe no, none, at all: ez qe naxwênim I
don’t read at all
qebûl kirin v.t. to accept; wek … hatin
qebûlkirin to be accepted as
qedandin v.t. to finish, to complete
qedeh f cup, goblet
qeder1 m amount; ~ê … for the length
of …
qeder2 f fate, destiny
qedexe f prohibition; (adj) prohibited; ~
kirin to prohibit, to ban
qedir m worth; qedrê … zanîn to appreciate; qedrê xwe girtin to esteem
oneself; ~gir appreciative, estimable
qediyan v.i. to end, be finished
qefilandin v.t. to tire
qefilîn v.i. to get tired
Qefqasya f the Caucasus
qefsing f breastbone
qehbik f harlot
qehbîtî = qehpetî
qeherîn (dial. var.) = qehirîn
qehir f wrath, rage;
qehirîn v.i. to get angry (ji at)
qehpe f prostitute; ~tî f prostitution
qehwe f coffee
qelaş split open, wounded
qelaştin -qelêş- v.t. to split, split open;
qelaştina cerahî surgical incision
qelaw fat
qelem f pen
qelemrew m realm
qelew (dial. var.) = qelaw
qelêş- → qelaştin
qelişandin qelişîn- v.t. to split, cleave
qelişîn v.i. to be split
qelizandin v.t. to make disappear; xwe
~ to slip away
qelîşt f crack
qels weak: kultura devkî ya Kurdî xurt e
lê kultura nivîskî qels e Kurdish oral
culture is strong, but the written culture is weak; ~î f weakness
qelş = qelîşt
qelşqelşî cracked
qenc good, pretty, nice; ~î beauty, charitable act, good deed
qerar decision
qerax f edge, shore
qerçimî wrinkled
qerebalix f crowd, confusion; ~ kirin
v.t. to act up, to flail around
233
KURMANJI KURDISH
qereqol m police station
qerisîn v.i. to freeze solid
qermiç f wrinkle; ~î wrinkled
qerpeçe kirin v.t. to hold tightly in
one’s embrace
qesir f palace
qest f intention, purpose; ~a … kirin
v.t. to head toward
qeşa f ice
qet (+ neg.) never, not at all
qetan v.i. to be finished; be cut
qetandin qetîn- v.t. to finish; break, cut:
kurdên li derveyî welêt ev zincîra
kirêt qetandine Kurds outside the
country have broken this shameful
chain; ji hev ~ to part from one
another
qeter m scales, balance; ~ kirin v.t. to
spy (something in the distance)
qetiyan = qetan
qewimîn v.i. to happen
qewirandin v.t. to drive away
qewîn strong
qewl f promise; ji ~ên xwe vekişiyan to
reneg on one’s promises, go back on
one’s word
qey hey; why?; te digot qey you’d
think, it was as though
qeyd f bond, fetter
qeyde f rule
qeytankêş kirin v.t. ???
qeza1 f district
qeza2 f accident; fate; ~ û bela misfortune, calamity
qezenc f profit, earnings, advantage: bi
qezenca … to the advantage of …; ~
kirin v.t. to earn, gain, win
qêrîn v.i. to scream
qijak raven
qijik f crow
qilêr(în) filthy
qir kirin v.t. to eliminate, exterminate
qiral m king
qirax (dial. var.) = qerax
qirçeqirç creak, splintering sound
qirdik m clown
qirik1 f crow
qirik2 f throat; ~talî f bitter aftertaste
qirş f stem, branch; ~ik f twig
qise f conversation, talk
qismet m fate
qiyamet f resurrection; roja ~ê doomsday
qizwan terebinth, a small tree
qîjeqîj f loud cry, scream
qîjiyan v.i. to scream
qîl m fang, canine tooth; ber ~an dan to
sink the fangs into
qîm f contentment, satisfaction; ~a xwe
anîn bi to consent to
qîmet f worth, value
qîr f cry, shout; ~ kirin v.t. to shout;
~ewîr f cry, shout; ~în v.i. to cry out,
screech
qîrçîn v.i. to scream, screech
qîz f daughter
qoç m horn (of an animal)
qonax f inn; a one-day’s distance on a
journey
qontrol f check
qufulîn v.i. to feel very cold
qul f hole, opening: qula rêviyan fox
hole; ~ kirin to pierce
qulibîn v.i. to fall down, collapse,
scramble down
quling crane
quloç m league (measure of distance)
quloz bûn v.i. to rise up
qulqulî full of holes
qulubîn = qulibîn
qumandan m commandant
qunc f corner; xistine ~ekî asê to corner
quncik f little bit
quntar f foot of a mountain
quran f the Koran
qurane f hinge
qurban f sacrifice, victim; qurbana
armanca xwe a martyr to one’s cause
234
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
qurm m tree stump: mîna qurmê dara
mirî like a dead tree stump
qut cut, cut off; ~ bûn v.i. to get cut off
qutî f box
quwet power; bi ~ powerful
qûç f cliff, height, summit
qûn f back; ~a çiyê mountain skirt; li
ser ~ê xistin to topple
qûntar = quntar
qutîk f small box
ra = re
ra-bûn v.i. to rise, arise, get up; to
abandon, give up (li s.th.)
ra-girtin v.t. to pick up; xwe ~ to recover
rahetî f ease, comfort
ra-hiştin v.t. to put down
ra-ketin v.i. to sleep
ra-kirin v.t. to take away, pick up; to
wake up (trs.); to cancel, abolish; ji
navê ~ to eliminate
raman f stance
ra-man -mîn- v.i. to stand, stay, remain
standing; to be perplexed
ra-medandin v.t. to lay down
ra-mûsan -mûs- v.t. to kiss
ran m thigh
ra-pelikîn v.i. to crawl, creep
ra-pîvan v.t. to pick up; gav ~ to tread
rapor f report
raser superior
rast right, correct; ~ hatin li to come
across; ~ kirin v.t. to correct; bi ~î
really; ~e prep. straight toward;
~erast really and truly; ~erê correct;
~nivîsîn f orthography
rav f hunting
ra-westan v.i. to stand up, stop, stand
still; li ser … ~ to dwell on, stand up
against
ra-westandin v.t. to make stop
ra-westiyan = ra-westan
rawir wild animal
ra-xistin v.t. to spread
ray f opinion
ra-zan -zê- v.i. to lie down, sleep
razdar mysterious
razî contented (li with)
re postposition forms the second part of
a number of circumpositions, generally indicating accompaniment; see the
prepositional element
ref m row; flock (of birds)
reh f way, road; artery, vein; root; ~ û
penc roots
rehet easy, comfortable, quiet; ~î f
comfort, ease
rehm f mercy; ~ kirin li to have mercy
on; ~etî the late
rehmet f God’s mercy; çûn ~ê to pass
away
reîs m head, chief; ~î cumhûrê president of the republic
rencberî f hardship, trouble
reng m color; bi ~ colored, multicolored; bi çi ~î how?; ~e~ of all
colors; ~dêr f description, quality, adjective; ~în varied, colorful
renî f avalanche
req1 m turtle
req2 stiff; ~ û rût stiff as a board
reqem f number
reqisîn v.i. to dance
resim m picture
resmî official
reş black; ~ girêdan v.t. to go into
mourning; ~ kirin v.t. to blacken
reş û reşatî f anything black or blackish
in color
reşatî f blackness, darkness
rev f flight, retreat
revan rev- v.i. to run away
revandin v.t. to let escape, to take away
revde m herd, pack; ~ girtin v.t. to form
a pack
revîn = revan
rewneq brightness, brilliance
235
KURMANJI KURDISH
rewrewik f mirage
rewş f style, manner
rewşenbîr intellectual
rex m side, edge, shore; (prep.) next to,
beside
rexne f criticism; ~ girtin li v.t. to criticise; ~gir m critic
rext m cartridge belt
reyan v.i. to bark
rez m vineyard, orchard
rê f (const. riya) road, way: bi wê riyê
in that way; bi riya via; ~ girtin v.t.
to block the road, stop, prevent: kê rê
li ber wan girtiye? who’s stopped
them?; (bi) ~ ketin to set off, start
out; ~ kirin to dispatch, send; bi ~
kirin to see off
rêbendan f February
rêber m leader; ~î f leadership; ~î kirin
to lead
rêbwar m wayfarer
rêçe f trace, track; ~ hildan v.t. to pick
up a trail
rêj kirin v.t. to wash
rêk-xistin v.t. to arrange, put in order
rêkxistin f coalition
rêl f forest, wood
rêncberî kirin v.t. to struggle, suffer
hardship
rêveçûn f gait, walk
rêvebir = birêvebir
rêvî m fox
rêvîng m traveler
rêwitî f journey
rêwî m/f traveler; ~tî f journey, trip
rêz f line; ~ bûn v.i. to line up; ~kirin
v.t. to line up, arrange
rêz-girtin ji v.t. to respect, have respect
for
rêzik f law, rule
rêziman f system, arrangement, grammar
ricaf f shaking, trembling
ricifîn v.i. to tremble
rih f beard
rihet (dial. var.) = rehet
rihm (dial. var.) = rehm
rijandin rijîn- v.t. to pour out
rijiyan v.i. to flow, to spill
rijî f scorched part at the bottom of a pot
rik stubbornness, relentlessness, nervousness
rikrikîn v.i. to chatter (of the teeth)
rind good, beautiful; well: ew bi zimanê
îngilîzî rind dizanibû he knew English well
risk = rizq
rivî (dial. var.) = rêvî
rivîn f flame
riyê → rû
rizan v.i. to rot
rizandin v.t. to let rot
rizgar saved, rescued; ~ bûn v.i. to
escape, be rescued; ~ kirin v.t. to
save, rescue; ~kirî saved, liberated
rizî rotten
rizîn di … de v.t. to be thrown into
rizq m sustenance
rîş f beard
rîtm m rhythm
ro f sun: di bin ro(ye)ka havînê de under
a hot summer sun
roava m west, dusk; ~yî western
rohilat m dawn, east
rohnî bright
roj f day; ew ~ ev ~ e from that day to
this: ew roj ev roj e malbata min li vî
bajarî rûdinê my family has lived in
this city from that day to this; ~ane
daily; ~ava west; ~hilat f east: Rojhilata Navîn the Middle East; ~name
f newspaper; ~namegerî f journalism
rokrol f role
rom m the Ottoman Empire; Ottoman,
Turk
roman f novel; ~nivîs novelist
ronahî f light, brightness; bi ~yê derketin to come to light
236
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
ronakbîr intellectual
ronayî = ronahî
rondik f tear
ronesans f renaissance
ruh m spirit, soul; ~iyet f morale, spirit
ruhnî f brightness; ruhniya çavan light
of the eyes, favorite
rutbe m rank
ruvî (dial. var.) = rêvî
rû m (const riyê, rûwê) face
rûbar m river
rûhşêrîn convivial, amusing, lighthearted
rûj (dial. var.) = roj; ~kê = rojekê one
day, some day
rûkenî f smile, smiling
rûmet f honor, respect
rûn m oil
rûniştevan m inhabitant
rû-niştin -nê- v.i. to sit, dwell (the
present tense is used only for habitual
action; the pres. perf. tense rûniştiye
means ‘s/he is sitting,’ and the past.
perf. tense rûniştibû means ‘s/he was
sitting’); odeya rûniştinê sitting
room
rûpel f page, sheet
rûs Russian; ~î Russian (language)
rût naked, bare
rûxan v.i. to collapse
rûxandin v.t. to destroy
sa f (const. siya) shadow; ser siya …
ketin v.i. to get anywhere near …
sa‘et f hour
sal f year; ~mezin aged
salon f reception room
san → se
sar cold
satil f bucket
saw terror, fear
sawar f bulghur wheat, cracked wheat
sax healthy, well, whole
saxik honest
sayî bûn v.i. to clear up (weather)
saz kirin v.t. to establish
se m (obl. pl san) dog
sebeb m reason
sebir f patience; ~ neman to be impatient: êdî sebra min nemaye now I’ve
lost my patience
sed hundred; ~sal f century; ~salî f centennary; ji ~î per cent; bo ~î per cent
seda m/f sound ???
sedem f reason, cause
seff f classroom
seg m dog
seh f intuition, feeling; ~ kirin v.t. to
understand intuitively
sehol f ice
Seirt f Siirt; ~î native of Siirt
sekinan/-în v.i. to settle down, to be
quiet, to dwell; to tarry; to light
(gaze) (li ser upon): ez dixwazim li
ser pirsekê bisekinim I want to dwell
on a question
selik f basket
semax f endurance; ~ kirin v.t. to bear,
to endure
Sen m the River Seine
seqem f dry cold
seqer f Saqar, a poison that drips from a
tree in hell
ser m head; (prep.) to, toward, on, over;
bi ~ ketin v.i. to get ahead, succeed;
çûn ser v.i. to attack; ~ê xwe bi … re
êşandin v.t. to trouble oneself with,
bother with: serê xwe bi kultura kurdî
re naêşînin they don’t bother with
Kurdish culture; ~ û bin m the “ins
and outs,” everything: ser û binê vî
gundî ez ê bikanibim ji vî pîremêrî
hîn bibim I could learn all there is to
know about this village from this old
man; bê ~ û bin endless
seranser: li ~î (prep.) all over: li seranserê dinyayê all over the world
serbajar m capital
237
KURMANJI KURDISH
serberdayî stray, wandering
serbest free; ~î f freedom
serbilind bi proud of; ~ahî/~î f pride
serbixwe free; ~bûn f liberation
serdar m leader; ~î f leadership, command
serdest m overlord; ~î f mastery, rule; ~î
kirin v.t. to rule: yên ku îro serdestiya
kurdan dikin those who rule over the
Kurds today
sereke main
serencam f end, outcome
serêşî f headache
serfirazî f distinction
sergerdan perplexed
sergevez pride
sergiran important
sergîn m dung
sergovend f dance line; bi serê ~ê girtin to lead a dance line
serhed f frontier, border
serî m head; ear (of grain); ~ birdin to
complete; ~ hil-dan to rebel; ~ xistin
li to visit; to apply to; çûn serî to
come to fruition
serîhildan f uprising
serjorek û serjêrek ups and downs
serkarî f direction, leadership
serketin f success
serma f cold, coldness
sermawêj Libra
sermîyan m capital
sernivîs f fate
sernuxumandî veiled
serok m leader; ~atî f leadership; ~cumhûrê m president; ~eşîr m chieftain;
~wezîr m prime minister
serpêhatî f adventure
serqot bare-headed
serraf m jeweler
sersal f new year’s day
serserî careless
ser-şuştin v.t. to take a bath
sertûj towering
serve bûn v.i. to be attached
serwer m leader
serwext informed, knowledgeable
sewî f level: rojnameyên me yên roja
îroyîn negihîştine sewiya wan our
newspapers of today have not reached
their level
sewsen lily
seyda m savant
seyr f view; adj strange
seyran f outing; ~ çê-kirin v.t. to arrange an outing; ~geh f park, promenade, place for an outing
sê1 three
sê2 f (constr. siya) shadow; di bin siya
… de under the aegis of
sêpî f tripod
sêwî m orphan
sêwlek m sole (of a shoe)
sibat f February
sibeh f morn, dawn: sibeh heta êvarê
from morning till night; ~ê tomorrow;
vê ~ê this morning
sibetir f the next morning; ~a wê şevê
the morning after that night
sibê = sibeh
sih1 angry, irritated; ~itî f irritation
sih2 = sî2
sijî f puss, filth; ~n v.i. to ooze
sik û sar very sad (heart) ???
silav f greeting
silawat (pl) benedictions; ~an kêşandin
v.t. to give benedictions
simbêl m mustache
simsimîn v.i. to leave tracks, to make a
trail
sincirî flaming, burning
sindoq f box, trunk
sing f breast
sinif f class, grade
sipartin sipêr- = spartin
sipî = spî
sipîndar f poplar
sipîta f whiteness
238
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
sir f cold wind; ~ û seqem, ~ û serma f
biting cold weather
sirf only, purely
sirgûn f exile; ~ bûn to be exiled
siruşt f nature
sisê three
sist weak; ~ kirin v.t. to weaken, make
weak
sitar f protection
sitêrk = stêrk
sitirî m thorn
sitran = stran
siwarî mounted, on horseback
siya → sa
siyaset f politics; ~van m politician
siyasî political
sivik light, not heavy
sî1 thirty
sî2 f shadow; ~ dan to cast a shadow
sîleh (pl) arms, armament: sîlehên sivik
light arms
sîng f breast
sînor m border, boundary
sîstem m system
sîtil f (dial. var.) = satil
Sîwas f Sivas
sîwaxnekirî unpenetrated
sobe f heating stove; ~ vêxistin to light
a stove
sofî Sufi, respectful term of address for
an old man; ~tî f Sufism, mysticism
sohbet f conversation, talk
sol f shoe; ~çêker m shoemaker
sond f oath; ~ xwarin to swear an oath
sor red; threshed (wheat); ~ahî f redness
sorav red grape; ~î(n) dark red
sorgul rose
sosin f iris
sosret unusualness; bi ~ unusual
soz dan v.t. to promise
sparin spêr- v.t. to entrust
spartin = sparin
spas thank you; ~ kirin v.t. to thank;
~darî f gratitude
spehî good-looking, pretty, attractive
spêda, spêde f dawn
spêr- → sparin
spî white; ~tî f whiteness
standin (dial. var.) = stendin
stasyon f railway station
stelih ordinary, common
stemkarî f oppression
Stenbol f Istanbul
stendin stîn- v.t. to take, get; bi paş de
~ to take back
steyr = stêr
stêr f star; ~k f star; ~nas m astronomer;
~nasî f astronomy
stiran stirê- v.t. to sing
stîn- → stendin
sto = stû
stran f song; ~bêj singer
stû m neck; ~xwar obedient, cowed
stûn f column
stûr thick, stout
sufrik m tablecloth
sur f breeze
sur‘et f speed
surgûn = sirgûn
suwar on horseback; ~ bûn to mount
sûç m crime, fault
sûd m profit; ~ wergirtin ji v.t. to profit
from
sûl m waterfall
Sûriya f (obl Sûriyayê, Sûriyê) Syria
sûxte m theological student
Swêd f Sweden
şa happy, glad; ~ bûn bi v.i. to be happy
with, rejoice over s.th.; ~ kirin v.t. to
gladden: wê pirtûkê dilê min şa kiribû
that book had gladdened my heart;
~hî f gladness, happiness
şafiî Shafiite (school of Islamic jurisprudence)
şagirt m pupil, apprentice
şah m king
şahîd m witness
239
KURMANJI KURDISH
şahîk shining, brilliant
şaîr m poet
şal m traditional baggy Kurdish trousers
şalûl m magpie
şandin şîn- v.t. to send
şanî kirin, ~ dan v.t. to show
şano f stage
şans m chance
şareza competent; ~yî f competence, expertise
şaş wrong; ~ bûn v.i. to be wrong: ez ne
şaş bim I wouldn’t be wrong; ~ kirin
v.t. to mistake; reya xwe ~ kirin v.t.
to lose one’s way; ~î f mistake, fault
şaşfêhmkirin f misunderstanding
şaşik f turban; ~ spî white-turbaned
şax m branch
şe = şeh
şeh m comb; ~ kirin v.t. to comb
şehîd m martyr
şehsiwar m expert horseman
şekal f old shoe
şekir m sugar
şemitandin v.t. to make slide
şemitîn v.i. to slip, to slide
şeng tuft of hair
şep f blow, slap in the face
şepe f snowdrift
şepîn v.i. to sink down (into snow)
şeqeşeq noisy sound, chatter
şequdeq “hard knocks”
şer m war: şerê cîhanê yê yekemîn
World War I; ~ kirin, ~ dan (dayîn)
v.t. to fight war
şeref f honor
şerît f the Sharia, Islamic law
şerm f shame; ~dar modest; ~darî f
modesty; ~ kirin ji v.t. to be ashamed
of: min ji xwe şerm kir I was ashamed
of myself
şerpeze destitute; ~ bûn v.i. to be destitute; ~ kirin v.t. to put s.o. in a bad
situation, to best
şert f condition, qualification
şervan m warrior
şeş six
şeşt sixty
şev f night; ~reş f dark night
şewat f fire
şewitandin v.t. to burn
şewitîn v.i. to burn
şexs person; ~î personal; ~iyet f personality
şewq f light; ~a elektrîkê flashlight
şê- → şiyan
şêlandin şêlîn- v.t. to exploit
şêlî turbid, murky
şêlû (dial. var.) = şêlî
şênî m inhabitant, (pl) people
şêrîn sweet
şêx m sheikh
şidet violence, strength
şifêr m driver
şiîr f poetry
şidandin şidîn- v.t. to strike (a match)
şik f doubt; bê ~ doubtless(ly)
şikandin şikîn- v.t. to break
şikeft f cave
şikêr m rock, mountain crag
şikestin şikê- v.i. to break, be defeated
şikir thanks: şikir ji Xweda re thank
God
şikil form, symbol
şil damp, wet; ~ kirin v.t. to wet, dampen
şilfûtazî buck naked
şipê on foot
şiqitîn v.i. to slip
şirket f company
şirove f interpretation; ~ kirin v.t. to
interpret
şistin şo- v.t. to wash
şivan m (obl. şivên) shepherd
şivantî f shepherding; ~ kirin v.t. to
shepherd, to be a sheep herder
şivên → şivan
şivir m mountain goat
şixul m work; ~în v.i. to work, occupy
240
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
oneself
şiyan şê- v.i. to be able
şiyar awake; ~ bûn v.i. to wake up; ~
kirin v.t. to wake s.o. up
şîn1 blue, green
şîn2 = şwîn
şîn- → şandin
şîndar = şwîndar
şîr m milk
şîret f advice; ~ kirin li v.t. to advise
şîrîn sweet, pretty, nice
şît aware, sober
şîv f sunset; ~a êvarê nightfall
şkandin şkîn- = şikandin
şkev f cupboard
şo- → şistin
şop f footprint, trace; ~ê ji ser xwe
winda kirin to throw a pursuer off
track; ~gerên scout, tracker; ~ hiştin
v.t. to leave a trace
şor1 salty, brackish (water); ~ayî f saltiness
şor2 talk, words; ~ kirin v.t. to talk, chat
şorbe f soup
şoreş f rebellion, uprising; ~ger m rebel,
revolutionary: şoreşgerekî bolşevîk a
Bolshevik revolutionary
şorezar f desert, wasteland
şun = şûn
şuştin (dial. var.) = şistin
şuxul m work, occupation; ~ kirin v.t.
to work; ~andin v.t. to put to work;
~în v.i. to work
şû spouse
şûjin û derzî bûn v.i. to stand on end
(the hair)
şûlikîn v.i. to move stealthily
şûm gloomy, inauspicious
şûn f place; track, wake: divê ew têkeve
şûna bavê xwe he must follow in his
father’s footsteps; ~a … girtin v.t. to
follow in the wake of, take the place
of; ~da after: ji wê salê şûnda after
this year; nuha ~da henceforth; di ~a
ku (conj.) instead of
şûş quick, nimble, sleek; mirina ~ sudden death
şûşaşûş pieces of glass
şûşe f glass
şûştin (dial. var.) = şistin
şwîn f mourning; ~dar in mourning
ta1 prep. & conj. until: ta niha up till
now
ta2 m fever
tab m illumination; ~ anîn v.t. to illuminate
tabî‘et f nature
tacir m merchant; ~î f commerce
taht f rock; noka ~ê pebble
tal bitter, sharp
talde f shelter
talyanî Italian
tam f taste
tamar = temar
tanq f tank (mil.)
taqet endurance
ta‘qîb f surveillance: di bin taqîba
polîsan de under police surveillance;
~ kirin to keep under surveillance
tar f a path through snow
Taran f Tehran
tarî dark; ~tî f darkness
tarîx f history
tas f bowl
taşt m breakfast
tat m rise, hill
tav1 f light, sunlight
tav2 f rainshower
tavik f sunlight
tavilê quickly, soon; immediately
taybetî special; bi ~ especially
tayek kişandin ji v.t. to shake
ta‘yîn kirin v.t. to determine, assign,
appoint
tazî naked; ~ kirin v.t. to strip naked
te → tu
tebî‘î natural
241
KURMANJI KURDISH
Tebrîz f Tabriz
tecrube f experience
tedrîcen gradually
tefandin -tefîn- v.t. to put out (light,
candle)
tefeş f face, countenance
tefîn v.i. to go out (light, candle)
tefsîr Koranic commentary
tehlûke f danger
tehqîr f deprecation
tehsîldar m tax collector
teht m mountain range
tejî (dial. var.) = tijî
tek single, alone, by oneself; ~ û tenê
alone, all by oneself
tekane lone
teko alone, singly
telaş commotion
telefon f telephone
teletel on tiptoes
televizyon f television
telte f sheet (of ice), crust
tem m fog
temam perfect, complete
temar f artery, vein
temaşa kirin v.t. to watch, to look at
temaşe = temaşa
temaşevan spectator, watcher
tembel lazy; ~î f laziness
temen m life, lifespan, age
temene respect; bi ~ respectfully
temirîn v.i. to die ???
temiz kirin v.t. to clean
temsîlkar m representative
tena = tenha
tendûr f oven, pit; ~a zik the pit of the
belly
tenê alone, only, except for; bi ~ only:
em ferz bikin ku tu bi tenê bikaribî
Kurdistanekê çêbikî let’s assume that
you could only create one Kurdistan;
ne bi ~ … lê jî not only… but also;
~tî f misery, loneliness
teng narrow, tight; ~asî f difficulty,
straits
tenha alone; bi ~ xwe by him/her/itself,
alone
tenîşta next to
teorî f theory
tep f tap
tepan mallet
tepandin v.t. to pat, to tap
tepe m summit, mountain top
teperep kirin v.t. to rap
teq f a sharp sound; ~-û-req loud sound
teqandin teqîn- v.t. to burst, explode, to
fire, shoot (gun)
teqîn v.i. to burst, explode
ter fresh, verdant; ~î f freshness
tercîh kirin v.t. to prefer
tercuman m translator
teres pimp
terikî chapped
te‘rîf kirin v.t. to describe (ji … re for,
to)
terîqet m dervish order
terk f leaving; ~ dan/kirin v.t. to leave,
abandon: gava terka mala xwe da
when s/he left home
term m corpse
terorîzm f terrorism
terpilîn v.i. to roll
terrî f tail
terş livestock
tesewif Sufism; ~î Sufistic
te’sîr f influence
teslîm kirin v.t. to turn in, to turn over,
to submit
teşkîl f organization, formation
teşt f trough
teşwîq encouragement; ~ kirin v.t. to
encourage
teşxele f trouble, turmoil
tetik, tetîk f trigger
tev all, entire, altogether; together with;
~a all, entirely, totally; ~ahî/~ayî f
entirety: di tevayiya Ewrûpa all over
Europe; ~da, ~ de altogether, entire-
242
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
ly; bi ~ayî entirely, in toto; xwe
~girê-dan v.t. to get oneself together
tevdîr f plan
tevger f industry, activity, movement:
Tevgera Rizgariya Kurdistanê Kurdish Liberation Movement
tevizî numb
tevizîn f numbness; ~ok f numb feeling
tevî (prep.) along with; ~hev altogether;
~ ku (conj.) although
tevlihev confused, mixed up; ~î f confusion
tevlî f awareness
tewqif kirin v.t. to arrest
texçik f shelf
texlît sort, kind: her du texlît nivîsar
both sorts of writers
texmîn f guess, thought; ~ kirin v.t. to
guess, estimate
text m throne
texte m board
teyan a large basin used in bathhouses
teyr, têr m bird; ~ û tûy birds and fowl
teze new(ly), fresh(ly); ~ kirin to refresh
tê1 = di + wî/wê
tê2 = tu + ê
tê3 coming, next: meha ~ the coming
month
tê-gihîştin v.i. to understand, realize
têk çûn v.i. to break up, split apart
têkelî prep. along with
tê-ketin v.i. to go to, wind up (somewhere): ew dixwaze têkeve cepheyan
he wants to go to the fronts; ~ şûna to
take the place of: kengê azadî û
serbestî ê têkevin şûna sitemkarî û
zordariyê? when will freedom and independence take the place of injustice
and oppression?
têkil connected; ~bûn f connectedness;
~î f connection
tê-kirin v.t. to put on
têkoşer m activist, combatant
têkoşîn dan v.t. to strive, make an effort
têkûz (dial. var.) = tekûz
têr1 full, satisfied; ~ bûn v.i. to be satisfied (hunger), to be slaked (thirst); ~
kirin v.t. to satisfy, make full, to be
sufficient: emrê wî têr nekir he didn’t
live long enough
têr2 = teyr
têvel various, different
tê-xistin v.t. to include; xwe ~ to put
oneself
tif f spit
tifik f bellows, hearth
tifing f rifle
tije brimful
tijî full; ~ kirin v.t. to fill
tilî f finger
tilik, tilîk = tilî
tim1 always; her~ always
tim2 f desire
timobîl f automobile
tinê (dial. var.) = tenê
tiral lazy
tirb f grave, tomb
tirên f train; ~a di binê erdê de subway; ji ~ê by train
tirimpêl f automobile
tirk Turk; ~î Turkish (language); ~nijad
racially Turkish
Tirkiye f (obl Tirkiyeyê, Tirkiyê) Turkey
tirs f fear; ~an va out of fear
tirsandin v.t. to scare; to fear
tirsêner frightful, frightening
tirsiyan/tirsîn ji v.i. to be afraid of, fear
tirş bitter; rûyê xwe ~ kirin to scowl
tişt m thing: tiştekî din something else
titûn f tobacco
tiving f (dial. var.) = tufing
tiwê = tu wê
tixtor m doctor
tî thirsty
tîfal ???
tîj (dial. var.) = tûj; ~ û hûr nêrîn li to
243
KURMANJI KURDISH
look closely and carefully at, to
scrutinize
tîn1 f thirst
tîn2 → bêtîn
tîn- → anîn
tîp f letter of the alphabet; m type, sort
tîr thick, dense, dark
tîraj f print run; kêm ~ of a small print
run, printed in small numbers
tîrêj f sunlight, ray: tîrêjên hêviyê rays
of hope
tîş piece, group
tol f revenge; ~ wergirtin v.t. to extract
revenge
top f cannon, cannonball
topik f pile
torbe sack
torin m person of name, person of renown; descendant, offspring
toz f dust; ~ û telaz dust
trimbêl f automobile
tu1 (obl. te) you (sing.)
tu2 no, not any, none, nothing; ~ caran
never; ~ kes nobody; ~ tişt nothing
tucar never
tuf f spit; ~ kirin v.t. to spit
tufing f rifle, gun; ~ ber-dan to fire a
rifle at
tukesî (+ neg.) nobody
tûj sharp
tûk f hair, fur
tûle m pup, cub
tûlik m cub
tûr m bag; ~ik m sack
tûrt = turt
tûtin f tobacco
ummet f religious community
‘umr m life
unda (dial. var.) = wenda
unîversîte f university
urisî Russian
usa (dial. var.) = wisa
ustu = stû
ûzeûz f rumble
va = ve
vala empty; ~ kirin v.t. to empty; ~hî f
void; vikû~ totally empty
vazo f vase
ve (postposition) forms the second part
of a number of circumpositions, generally indicating motion away from;
see the prepositional element
ve-bûn v.i. to open
ve-ceniqîn (dial. var.) = ve-ciniqîn
ve-ciniqandin v.t. to make tremble with
fear, to make shudder, to startle
ve-ciniqîn v.i. to be seized by fright, to
be startled
ve-dan v.t. to give off; deng ~ to echo
veger f return
ve-gerandin -gerîn- v.t. to turn, to turn
back
ve-geriyan/gerîn v.i. to return; ~ ser to
turn to
ve-gevizîn v.i. to flounder, wallow
ve-hêrandin v.t. to grind up, crunch
vehûnayî spread out
ve-jandin -jîn- v.t. to revivify
ve-jenîn v.i. to rustle
ve-jinîn (dial. var.) = ve-jenîn
ve-kirin v.t. to open
ve-kişandin ji v.t. to pull out of, pull
back from, withdraw from
ve-kişîn v.i. to withdraw
ve-maltin v.t. to roll up the sleeves
ve-man v.i. to bog down
ve-miran (ve-mirîn) v.i. to go out (fire,
&c.); ~din v.t. to put out, extinguish,
quell, quench: min lampa xwe vemirand I put out my light
ve-poşandin v.t. to cover
ve-qetandin v.t. to distinguish, separate
ve-qetiyan v.i. to get separated: ji ber
perçebûna welêt riyên zaravayên kurmancî û soranî ji hevûdu vediqetin
244
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
after the division of the country the
paths of the Kurmanji and Sorani dialects part from each other; ~ bi to be
distinguished by
ve-qetîn = ve-qetiyan
verê-kirin to send off, dispatch
ve-şartin -şêr- v.t. to hide, bury
ve-texirîn v.i. to taper off
ve-xistin v.t. to throw down
ve-xwarin v.t. to drink
ve-zelan v.i. to lie down and roll
around; xwe ve-zelandin to throw
oneself down and roll around
ve-ziliandin = ve-zelandin
vê → ev
vêca therefore
vêcar then, so
vê-geriyan = ve-geriyan
vêk re together
vên f wish, desire
vê-xistin v.t. to light
vikûvala → vala.
vir here
vizîn v.i. to buzz, to hum
vizvizkî tangled, knotted
vî → ev
vîrus f virus
vîzevîz f blowing, rustling (of wind)
waqewaq squeal of an animal
war1 m = bar
war2 m regard, respect; di ~ê … de concerning; di vî ~î de in this regard, in
this respect
war3 m camp, camping ground; ~geh m
camp site
warkor çûn to disappear without a trace
we → hun
wefakar faithful
wefat f death
weha thus, such
wek (prep.) like; ~e (prep.) like; ~e ku
(conj.) as: weke ku min got as I said;
~î din anything else
wekhev alike, equal; ~î f equality: li ser
esasên wekhev on a basis of equality
wekîl advocate, lawyer; ~darî f advocacy
welat m (obl. welêt) country, homeland;
~hez lover of the homeland, patriot;
~parêz defender of the homeland, patriot(ic); ~perwer patriot
wele = welle
weleh = welê
welê thus, like that
welle by God
wenda lost; ~ bûn v.i. to be lost; ~ kirin
v.t. to lose
wer bûn di v.i. to fall into
wer- → hatin
werger m translator; ~van m translator
wer-gerandin v.t. to transform, translate
wer-girtin v.t. to take up (see ber wergirtin, sûd wergirtin, tol wergirtin)
werimandin v.t. to cause to swell
werimîn v.i. to swell
wer-kirin li v.t. to wrap around
wesiyetname f will, testament
werîs m rope
wesf m attribute, quality; ~ dan to describe
westan west- v.i. to stand, stop; to be
exhausted
westiyan = westan
westiyayî exhausted
weşandin weşîn- v.t. to publish
weşanxane f publishing house
wext f time: di eynî wextê de at the same
time; di wexteke kurt de within a
short time; ~ê ku (conj.) when
wezin f poetic meter
wezîfe f duty
wezaret f ministry: Wezareta Ferhengê
the Ministry of Culture
wezîr m minister; ~tî f ministry
wê1 → ew
wê2 future auxiliary + subj. for future
tense
245
KURMANJI KURDISH
wêje f speech, literature
wêne m picture, painting; ~ger m artist,
painter
wêran destroyed, ruined; ~ kirin v.t. to
destroy, ruin
wêrîn v.i. (+ subj.) to dare
winda (dial. var.) = wenda
wir there
wirîn (dial. var.) = wêrîn
wisa(n) thus, such, so
wî → ew
wîjdan m conscience
wucûd f existence; hatin ~ê to come
into existence
wusan (dial. var.) = wisa
x- → xistin
xak f earth, ground
xal f mole
xalxalî in spots, spotted
xanim f lady, mistress
xanî m house
xapandin xapîn- v.t. to deceive, to fool,
to play a trick on: mîna ku hatibe
xapandin as though a trick had been
played on him
xapîn v.i. to be deceived, to be fooled
xapok deceptive
xapxapok deceitful
xar1 crooked, bent
xar2 (dial. var.) = xwar
xarin (dial. var.) = xwarin
xastin (dial. var.) = xwestin
xasûk cunning, shrewd
xatir m mind, heart; ~gir considerate,
obliging; ~ girtin to be considerate
of, respect: biçûk û mezinan xatirê wî
digirtin young and old were considerate of him; ~xwestin f affection; bi
xatirê re wî ji min re got he said to
me with affection; dan ~ê … to be
considerate of …
xav raw, immature
xayin traitor
xazî m ghazi, holy warrior
xazîk ???
xebat f work, struggle
xeber f words, speech: xebera wî ye
that’s what he says
xeberdan f talk, speech
xebitan li ser v.i. to work on, strive for
xebitîn = xebitan
xedar pitiless, cruel
xefk f trap
xelas kirin (v.t. to finish
xelasî f liberation; şerê xelasiyê war of
liberation
xelat f prize, reward; ~ kirin v.t. to reward
xelk m (construed as sing. for case but
pl. by sense) people
xem f grief, sadness; ~ xwarin ji v.t. to
sympathize with; ~gîn sorrowful;
~gînî f sorrow: ez bi xemgînî dibêjim
ku… I say with sorrow that…
xemilandin v.t. to adorn
xencer f dagger
xerab ruined; ~-bûn to be ruined; ~e
ruined; ~î f harm, ruination
xerez f rancor, grudge; ~karî f holding a
grudge
xerîfî senile
xerc kirin v.t. to spend
xerîb stranger, foreigner, exiled, away
from one’s homeland; ~î f estrangement, foreignness, the state of being
away from one’s homeland; welatê
~yê foreign country
xerîte f map
xertel f eagle
xesandin xesîn- v.t. to twist, wring
xesar f damage, loss; ~ dîtin v.t. to suffer loss, be damaged; ~nedîtî undamaged
xet f line
xew m sleep; ketin ~ê to fall asleep; ji ~
ra-kirin to rouse from sleep
xewle lonely, desolate
246
KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
xewlî f desolation, isolation
xewn f dream; ~ dîtin v.t. to dream,
have a dream; ~erojik daydream
xeyal f imagination, fantasy, dream
xeyidîn ji v.i. to get angry at
xeyn other; ji ~î (prep.) other than, aside
from: ji xeynî van tiştan other than
these things
xeyo (Syr. Ar. khayyo, voc. only) fellow, guy, friend
xezal gazelle
xezeb f rage, wrath
xezîne f treasury
xezûr m father-in-law; f mother-in-law
xêr f goodness; ~xweşî f chitchat;
bi~hatinî dan v.t. to welcome: jinekê
bixêrhatinî da min a woman welcomed me; bi ~a … re thanks to; bi ~
û bêr very good; ji ~a … re because
of, on account of; ~hatinê kirin li v.t.
to welcome; hatin ~ê to be a welcome guest
xêz f line; ~ik ditto
xidmet f service
xilas kirin to be saved
xilmamş = xilmaş
xilmaş half asleep, sleepy
xirab bad, evil
xisar f loss
xistin x- v.t. to cast, throw, put in, make
fall; ji hev de ~ to break up; ~ li to
beat
xisûsiyet = xusûsiyet
xişikîn v.i. to drag along, scrape across
xişr m/f ornament ???
xişxiş f rustling, scratching sound
xitab m address; ~ kirin v.t. to address;
~ê kesekî kirin to address, speak to
s.o.
xitimandin v.t. to close, seal: rê hatine
xitimandin the roads have been closed
xiyal f dream, imagination
xizmet f service; ~ kirin v.t. to serve
xînji (dial. var.) = xeyn ji
xîret f zeal, bravery, courage; ~ kirin
v.t. to try hard
xîze-xîze grating sound
xo f (dial. var.) = xwe; ~a xwe his own
self
xoce m master, teacher
xof f fear; ~ û tirs f fear and trembling
xort young, young man/woman; ~anî f
youth
xoşdivî beloved
xu (dial. var.) = xwe
xuda m (obl. xudê) God; ~ hefiz goodbye
xudan m owner; bê~ godless, Godforsaken, poor, pitiable
xuh f sister
xulam m slave; manservant
xunav f sprinkle, light rain
xur f itch
xure xur f snoring
xurên on an empty stomach
xurîn = xurên
xurme f date
xurt strong, powerful; ~ û gur strong,
puissant
xurû natural
xusûsiyet f characteristic, distinguishing
feature
xuşîn v.i. to rustle, to gurgle
xuşk f sister
xuya clear, obvious; ~ bûn v.i. to be obvious, appear, show up; ~ kirin v.t. to
seem, appear: hotel gelekî xweş û luks
xuya dikir the hotel looked very nice
and deluxe
xuyan v.i. to seem, to appear
xuyanî familiar; ~ kirin v.t. to familiarize
xûn f blood; ~a cegerê liver’s blood,
metaphor for tears of agony and suffering
xûs f snowdrift ???
xûyan = xuyan
xwar down; ser … da ~ bûn to lean
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over s.th.; ~ bûn v.i. to descend; ~
kirin v.t. to lower, take down; hatin
~ to come down
xwarin f food
xwarin xw- v.t. to eat
xwaroviçko coiled up
xwaz- → xwestin
xwe oneself, -self (refers to the subject
of the clause in which it occurs); ~
girtin li ber to defend oneself
against; ji ~ in and of itself; bi~ himself, herself, itself; li ~ kirin to put
on, wear (clothes)
xwebiçûkdîtin f inferiority: kompleksa
xwebiçûkdîtinê inferiority complex
xwedan m chief, head, leader
xwedê m God
xwedî m possessor, owner: xwediyê
paseporteke Swêdî bûm I possessed a
Swedish passport
xwehesîn f self-awareness
xweîfadekirin f self-expression
xwelî f dust, ash; ~ li serê xwe kirin to
pour dust on one’s head, to mourn;
~dan f ashtray
xwen f dream, vision
xwenas self-respecting
xwenav = xunav
xwendin xwîn-/xwên- v.t. to read, study
xwende/a learned, literate; ~geh f
school, university; ~kar student;
~van m reader, scholar
xwerû independent; pure(ly), exclusive(ly): ev kovar ne xwerû bi kurdî
ne these journals are not exclusively
in Kurdish
xweser unbridled
xwestin xwaz- v.t. to want, to ask for
xweş nice, pleasant, good; ~bûn f success; ~hal pleased, happy; ~haliya
xwe gotin to express one’s pleasure;
~ik nice, pretty; ~î f pleasure
xwey = xwe
xweya = xuya
xweyî = xwedî; ~ kirin v.t. to raise
(animals)
xwezî would that, I wish (+ past conditional); ~tî f desire, wish
xwê f salt; sweat
xwêdan v.t. to sweat
xwişk f sister
xwî m habit, disposition
xwîn f blood; ~egoşt flesh and blood;
~dar bloody; ~germ fervent; ~germî
f fervor; ~şêrîn likeable
xwîsgirtî damp
xwîzî f spit, saliva
xwûşk (dial. var.) = xwişk
ya fem. sing. construct extender; bi ~ te
in your opinion
yadê (voc. only) mother
yan or; ~ … ~ either … or
ya‘nî that is, i.e.
yar m friend
ya rebî O Lord!
yek one; ~ bûn v.i. to be united; ~bûyî
united; ~dengî f unanimity; ~dest of
one piece; ~ejmar singular; ~emîn
first; ~îtî f unity; ~îtiya Neteweyan
the League of Nations; ~netewetî f
uninationalism, monoethnicity; ~ser
direct; ~ta peerless, without equal
yekser right away, immediately
yê masc. sing. construct extender
yên pl. construct extender
YNK = Yekîtîya Nîştîmanperwerên
Kurdistanê Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)
yunan Greek
zabit m (obl zêbit) m officer
zaf (dial. var.) = zehf
zalim m tyrant, unjust
zang sheer (cliff) ???
zanîn v.t. to know (neg. present nízanim, past (dí)zanibûm, subj. bízanibim); ~ bi to know about: xelk bi
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KURDISH-ENGLISH VOCABULARY
siyasetê nizanin the people don’t
know anything about politics
zana = zane
zane learned, wise; ~bûn f wisdom;
zanyarî f knowledge
zar m language; ~ava m dialect; ~şêrîn
well-spoken, articulate
zaro small, young, m/f youngster; ~k
child; ~katî, ~ktî, ~tî f youth,
childhood
zarîn v.i. to wail, lament
zar û zêç (pl) kids
zava m bridegroom
zayin f birth
zehf many, lots of, very, very much
zehmet f trouble; ~ kişandin v.t. to have
difficulty, go to trouble, be bothered;
~î f ditto; ~kêş worker, laborer
ze‘îf weak, skinny
zelal clear, limpid; ~ kirin v.t. to make
clear, clarify
zelam = zilam
zeliqandin v.t. to stick
zeliqîn v.i. to stick
zelûl m despondent
zeman m time, era
zemzelîlk f icicle ???
zend f forearm
zengal m/f legging ???
zengil m bell; ~ê telefonê telephone
call; li ~ê dêrî xistin to ring the doorbell
zengîn rich; ~î f wealth
zer yellow; ~atî f yellowness; ~bûyî
yellowed; ~ û zinar “nooks and crannies”
zerar f detriment, loss
Zerdeşt Zoroaster
zevî f land, field
zewac f marriage
zewicîn bi … re v.i. to get married to
zewq m delight
zexim strong, sound; zexmî f strength
zêbit → zabit
zêc hide ???
zêde much, a lot; ~ bûn v.i. to increase;
~ kirin v.t. to increase
zêr m gold; ~în golden
zêrbenî ???
zêrekî f cleverness, intelligence
zihniyet f mentality
zik m belly; ~ekî têr xwarin v.t. to eat
to one’s fill; ~makî native, inborn
zilam m man, guy, fellow
ziliandin → ve-ziliandin
zilik straw
zilim f injustice, tyranny
ziman m (obl zimên) language, tongue;
bi ~ anîn v.t. to give voice to, express; ~van linguist; ~vanî f linguistics
zinar m (obl. zinêr) rock
zing ???
zingar f rust; ~girtî rusty, rusted; ~ girtin v.t. to rust, get rusty
zincîr f chain, bond
zindan f prison
zindî alive, energetic, lively
ziving f cave
zivistan f winter
zirav slender, slight
zivir twisted, knotted
zivirandin zivirîn- v.t. to turn around,
turn back; çavên xwe ~ ji … de to
turn one’s eyes away from …, avert
one’s gaze from …
zivirîn zivir- v.i. to turn, go/come back,
turn around, wander
ziwa dry
zixim (dial. var.) = zexim
zîn zê- v.i. to live, come to life
zîre cumin
zîrek clever
zîtbûyî ???
zîv m silver
zîvalzîvalî ???
zîving = ziving
zîvironekî sandy, dusty
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KURMANJI KURDISH
zman = ziman
zolilk blossom, bloom
zor f force; ~ dan v.t. to force, compel;
~ kirin v.t. to use force; bi (destê) ~ê
by force; ~betî f oppressiveness; ~dar
forceful, oppressive; ~darî f oppression; ~destî f force, pressure; ~kirin f
violence
zozan m summer pasture, meadow
zuha (dial. var.) = ziwa
zuk f prominent, obvious
zulf m/f tress, lock (of hair) ???
zulum = zilim
zurne f clarion; ~van m clarion player
zû quick, fast, soon, early; ~ an dereng
sooner or later; ~ be ~ very quickly; ~
de (+ pres. perf.) for a long time: zû
de ye me hev û du neditiye we haven’t
seen each other for a long time;
~bîrbirî f quick thinking; ~ka, ~~ka
hurriedly, hastily, quickly; ~kanî f
haste: zûkaniya te çi ye? what’s your
hurry?; ~ ve for a long time, since
long; ji ~ de from early on
zûrezûr f howling
zûrîn v.i. to howl
zûr man v.i. to be lost
250