Kurmanji-kurdish for Beginners

Raperin Ekrat

Investigation of the regional variation in Kurmanji, especially its varieties spoken in Turkey, has been almost entirely neglected in the existing literature on Kurdish. In addition to earlier isolated examinations of Kurmanji dialects (cf. MacKenzie, 1961; Ritter, 1971, 1976; Blau, 1975; Jastrow, 1977), native-speaker researchers have recently provided a substantial amount of dialect material across the Kurmanji-speech zone. However, a methodologically-informed evaluation of these observations into a dialect classification is yet to be undertaken. This article aims at providing an initial classification of Kurmanji-internal variation into major regional dialects, based on lexical, phonological and morphosyntactic data collected from five localities in Southeastern Turkey.

The Kurdish Reader by Khanna Omarkhali comprises an exciting collection of texts in Kurmanji, the northern dialect of the Kurdish language. It is designed to help students with a basic knowledge of the Kurdish language to enhance their fluency by studying a variety of texts ranging from literary and folklore to non-narrative prose works. The first part of the book focuses on the literary works, both prose and verse, from all parts of the Kurmanji speaking countries. Many of the texts were produced in Armenia where the dialect evolved its written tradition. This is the first collection incorporating material from this important literary and cultural heritage. As the first part of the book presents the development of written tradition, part two introduces the reader to a range of variants of Kurmanji from Turkey, Armenia, Russia, Syria, Iraqi Kurdistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenia, and Khorasan, each conveying the richness of their forms. This part of the Reader is of interest for Kurdish Oral History Studies too for it consists of various recordings of historical information, based on the personal experience of the speakers. The Reader contains two Kurdish-English glossaries and a grammar section. This constitutes a comprehensive outline of the subjects under study along with a fundamental description of the cornerstones of Kurmanji grammatical categories, and explanations of the main discrepancies between the local Kurmanji variants and the literary language with examples taken from the selections. Additionally, the book offers English translations of selected texts with an English-Kurdish dictionary of linguistic terms.

Kurmanji (or Northern) Kurdish is spoken across a large territory encompassing most of southeastern Turkey, scattered communities in Armenia, parts of west Iran, northeast Syria, and parts of Iraqi Kurdistan. This paper provides an initial attempt at identifying the major lexical, phonological and morphosyntactic features that distinguish different regional varieties from one another.

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 247 KURMANJI KURDISH 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 248 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 249 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

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