Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The material for this course was developed by Mehmet Şerif Derince and Ergin Opengin under
the supervision of Geoffrey Haig. All rights for use of this material outside of this course reside
with the authors.
Kurmanji is spoken by the majority of Kurds; estimates of the number of speakers vary from 10
to 20 million (reliable figures are not available; much depends on how one defines a Kurdish
'speaker'). Kurmanji speakers have traditionally inhabited most of east and southeastern Turkey,
around Lake Urumiye in Iran, in Syria, and in north Iraq around the towns of Dohuk, Amediye
and Zakho. There is also a sizable Kurmanji speech community in Arbil (North Iraq). A number
of isolated pockets of speakers are also found in Azerbaijan and the ex-Soviet republics of the
Caucasus, and in Khorasan province of east Iran. These communities are the remnants of mostly
forced re-settlements that occurred over the last centuries. We must also mention the extremely
large groups of Kurmanji speakers in the larger cities of Turkey, in particular Istanbul with
perhaps as many as three million Kurds, but also Adana, Izmir and Mersin. Finally, there is a
very large diaspora community in western Europe (at least 600,000), mostly in Germany,
Britain and Sweden. Because there is quite a lot of controversy surrounding the terms like
'Kurdish', we will try to clarify some of the issues in the following points
Kurmanji Kurdish, Introduction 2
1.1
1.1 The language vs. dialect controversy
One question that is regularly asked is whether Kurdish is one language, with several different
dialects, or whether it is best considered a group of distinct languages. There is no
straightforward answer to this question, for the simple reason that the terms 'language' and
'dialect' are not clearly defined in linguistics, or indeed in common usage. One widely-quoted
definition is that dialects of a single language should be 'mutually intelligible', that is, speakers
of one dialect should be able to understand other dialects of the same language. But in practice,
this criterion does not really work. For example, Kurmanji-speaking Kurds from north Iraq can
usually understand Sorani, because they have been exposed to it through the media, and often
directly through contact with Sorani speakers. But Kurmanji speakers from, for example,
Erzurum in Turkey, cannot usually understand Sorani when they hear it for the very first time.
Nor can Sorani speakers from Iran (for example, around Kermanshah) readily understand
Kurmanji speakers from Turkey, unless they have had considerable exposure to it. Thus mutual
intelligibility between Kurmanji and Sorani depends heavily on the background of the speakers
involved, and therefore varies a great deal from speaker to speaker. A second serious drawback
with the criterion of mutual intelligibility is this: What does it mean 'to understand' something?
Does it mean to understand every single word, all the fine nuances, or does it mean to
understand just enough to have some idea of what a speaker is saying? There is no reliable and
generally accepted means of measuring degree of understanding, and no recognized minimum
level that mutual intelligibility must reach.
Generally, any Kurd is able to understand at least something spoken in a different variety of
Kurdish. But, for example, she will may also be able to understand at least some of what is said
in Persian, a language that is closely related to Kurdish. Conversely, many Persian speakers
understand quite a lot of what is said in Kurdish. But few people wish to call Persian a dialect
of Kurdish, or vice versa. So we must conclude that the criterion of mutual intelligibility does
not provide a practicable means of distinguishing between languages and dialects.
The truth is, linguists do not have a simple solution for how to distinguish languages and
dialects, and the whole discussion is, from a purely linguistic point of view, really quite
pointless. In fact, the difference between language and dialect is more generally decided on
political or historical grounds. Consider, for example, the Germanic languages of Scandinavia:
Danish, Swedish and Norwegian. Many Scandinavians readily understand all three, so on purely
linguistic grounds one could probably refer to them as three dialects. But few Swedes would be
happy to refer to Swedish as a 'dialect of Norwegian'! Another example are the national
Kurmanji Kurdish, Introduction 3
languages of India and Pakistan, Hindi and Urdu respectively. Before the creation of the state of
Pakistan, Hindi and Urdu were considered to be one language. But with the drawing of a
national border separating India and Pakistan, they suddenly became two. These examples could
be multiplied at will; the point is, decisions on whether a particular form of speech be
considered a language, or a dialect of some superordinate language, is more often a matter of
politics than linguistics. In the context of Kurdish, these issues are extremely sensitive, due to
the repressive policies against Kurdish pursued by many of the nation states where Kurdish is
spoken. Because of the often polemic nature of the discussion, and the difficulties with defining
terms like 'dialect' and 'language' outlined above, we will avoid a commitment on this issue.
Fortunately, for Kurmanji the degree of differences among speakers from the various parts of
the Kurmanji speaking area are not that great, so the problems of variation are comparatively
small, though we will be discussing them at various points in the lessons.
The literary tradition of Kurmanji is a matter of dispute. There are different views on the first
Kurmanji-writing poets and authors; however some of them are accepted as the forerunners of the
language. A Yezidi religious work, the Meshefa Reş can be considered as the oldest piece of
literature in Kurmanji. It is in a classic form of Kurmanji and thought to be written sometime in
the 13th century. It is held to have been written by Sheikh Hasan (born 1195 CE), a nephew of
Sheikh Adi, the prophet of the Yezidis. In most of the sources, Ali Hariri (1425-1490?) is cited as
the first Kurdish poet writing in Kurmanji after Islam. He has many verses known all over
Kurmanji Kurdish, Introduction 4
Kurdistan. Another well-known, sufi Kurdish poet is Malaye Jaziri (1570-1640). He lived in
Buhtan region and his collection of poems includes more than 2,000 verses. Malaye Bate is
known best for his Mewlûd in which the birth of Prophet Mohammed is told. He is believed to
live around the 17th century in Hekari region. Known for his folk stories in his book In the
Words of the Black Horse, Faqi Tayran (1590-1660) is well reputed among Kurds and some of
his verses are being used in modern Kurdish music. Another famous maybe the most cited figure
of the Kurdish literature is Ahmadi Khani (1651-1707), the author of Mem û Zîn. In his book, he
talked about the collective and national rights of the Kurds in a time when nationality was not
known even among Europeans. His book is a kind of declaration for the unification of the Kurds
ruled by different empires at that time. After Ahmadi Khani, no other influential works or writers
were reported for a long time up until the 19th century. Then we come across with the name of
Mala Mahmude Bayazidi (1799-1867) in the writings of the Russian researcher Alexander Jaba.
He conducts some researches with Jaba on the classical Kurdish literature and lists important
figures of the Kurdish literature.
Two most influential works in Kurmanji are “Mem û Zîn” and the story of “Dimdim”. Mem û
Zîn is a drama based on the story of Mem of the Alan clan and Zîn of Buhtan family. Mem and
Zîn are two lovers whose union is hindered by Bekir, a person from the Bekiran clan. The epic is
a rich source of Kurdish culture, history and mythology. Through the love of Mem and Zîn the
national aspirations of the Kurdish people are being conveyed. As for the story of Dimdim, it is a
mythologized epic of the battle taking place between a Kurdish prince, Khani Lep-Zêrîn (The
Khân with the Golden Arm) and the Safavid King Shah Abbas I in the early 17th century.
In his book titled Destpêka Edebiyata Kurdî (An introduction to Kurdish Literature), the famous
Kurdish novelist Mehmed Uzun gives a very coherent description of the Kurdish literature in all
parts of Kurdistan. In the book, the first newspapers, magazines and books published in Kurmanji
are recounted. The first newspaper, Kurdistan, was published in Cairo in 1898. The following
newspapers and magazines were published in Istanbul between 1910 and 1920. The classical
works were published for the first time in exile in cities such as Damascus, Beirut, Cairo,
Baghdad and some metropolises in Europe. During the Soviet regime, some Kurdish writers and
researchers such as Kurdoev and Shamilov (Erebê Şemo) were raised and they contributed very
much to the Kurmanji literature in the 20th century.
A breakthrough development in the Kurmanji literature is the creation of the first modern latin-
based alphabet for Kurdish by Jaladat Ali Badirkhan who was a diplomatist, writer, linguist,
journalist and political activist. He lived in Istanbul until after the foundation of Turkish Republic
in 1920s when he was blacklisted for his active and leading involvement in the search for
independence for Kurdistan and forced to escape from Turkey and lived in Syria until his death in
1951. Together with some other Kurdish intellectuals, he published Hawar and created a space
for those willing to write and publish in Kurdish. The first issues of the journal was written with
Arabic alphabet; however they started to publish the journal only with the latin-based alphabet
prepared by Badirkhan. Thanks to this journal and alphabet, the extremely rich traditional oral
Kurdish literature found a way to develop despite the restrictions and prohibitions on Kurdish
language. Later on he published another journal titled Ronahi. During the following years, some
important works were created in Europe particularly Sweden and Germany where many of the
immigrant Kurds are living. Some of the well known contemporary Kurdish writers publishing in
Europe in those years are Firat Cewerî, Mehmed Uzun, Mehmed Emin Bozarslan, Mahmud
Kurmanji Kurdish, Introduction 5
Baksi, Hesenê Metê and Rojen Barnas. Some other central figures for the Kurmanji literature in
the 20th century are Osman Sabri, Cegerxwin, Jan Dost, Eliyê Evdirehman, Laleş Qaso, Medenî
Ferho, Bavê Nazê and Musa Anter. The second important breakthrough was seen in 1990s when
some young Kurdish university students and intellectuals gathered around a literature magazine
named Jiyana Rewşen, later on Rewşen-name. The following years experienced a great increase
in Kurdish novels, modern short stories, theater plays and poems. Some of the figures in this
period are Kawa Nemir, Đbrahim Seydo Aydogan, Rênas Jiyan,Yaqob Tilermeni, Dilawer Zeraq
and Lal Laleş among others. During the last three decades, there has been a massive effort among
the Kurds in Turkey to write and to create literary works in Kurdish. The amount of printed
material has increased enormously since then.
There are academic centers for Kurdish literature and language such as Kurdish Institute of
Istanbul and Kurdish Institute of Paris (Institut Kurde de Paris) together with some other
institutes in Berlin, Stockholm, Brussels and some others from Europe, America and Australia,
which contribute to the efforts carried out to revive Kurdish language and literature.
3. Select bibliography
M.v.Bruinessen 1989b The Ethnic Identity of the Kurds. In Andrews (ed.) 1989: 613-621
P.J. Bumke 1989 The Kurdish Alevis: Boundaries and Perceptions. In Andrews (ed.) 1989
D. Butyka 1892 Das ehemalige Vilajet Dersim. Mitteilungen der geographischen Gesellschaft
Wien XXXV no 2-3, no.4
Th. Bynon 1979. The Ergative Construction in Kurdish. BSOAS 42: 211-224
M.N. Dersimi 1952 Kurdistan tarihinde Dersim [Dersim in the history of Kurdistan]. Aleppo
(repr. Cologne 1988)
C.J. Edmonds 1957 Kurds, Turks and Arabs. London: OUP
C.J. Edmonds 1969 The Beliefs and Practices of the Ahl-e Haqq of fraq. Iran 7: 89-106
A. Hassanpour 1989The Language Factor in National Development: The Standardization of the
Kurdish Language, 1918-1985. Diss. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
P. Lerch 1857-1858 Forschungen uber die Kurden und die iranischen Nordchalda~er. St.
Petersburg (reprinted Amsterdam 1979)
D.N. MacKenzie 1956 Bajalani. BSOAS 18: 418-35
D.N. MacKenzie 1961a Kurdish Dialect Studies I. London: OUP
D.N. MacKenzie 1961b The Origins of Kurdish. Transactions of the Philological Society: 68-86
D.N. MacKenzie 1966 The Dialect of Awroman (Hawraman-i Luhon). Copenhagen
MacKenzie 1989 The role of the Kurdish language in ethnicity. In Andrews (ed.) 1989: 541-542
D.N. MacKenzie n.d. Kurds: Language. Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed.
O. Mann 1909 Kurdisch-Persische Forschungen 11.1: Die Ta~ik-Mundarten der Provinz Fars.
Berlin
0. Mann/ K. Hadank 1930 Kurdisch-Persische Forschungen III, 2: Mundarten der Guran. Berlin
0. MannI K. Hadank 1932 Kurdisch-Persische Forschungen 111.4: Mundarten der Zaza. Berlin
I. Melikoff 1975 Le probleme kizilbas. Turcica 6 49-67
F. Mu~ller 1864 Zaza-Dialekt der Kurdensprache. Sitzungsberichte der Wiener Akademie der
Wissenscilaften, phil.-hist.Kl. Bd. 48
B. Nikitine 1922 Les valis d'Erdelan. Revue du monde musulman 49: 70-104
R. Olson 1989 The ShaikIi Said Rebellion and the Emergence of Kurdish Nationalism. Austin:
University of Texas Press
C.J. Rich 1836 Narrative of a Residence in Koordistan. Repr. London 1972
R. Schmitt (ed.) 1989 Compendium Linguarum Iran ica rum. Wiesbaden: L. Reichert Verlag
Sheref Khan Bitlisi 1596 Sherefname. (Persian text with French translation and commentary by
F.B. Charmoy, St. Petersburg 1868-1875)
A E.B. Soane 1921 A Short Anthology of Guran Poetry. IRAS jan.1921: 57-81
M Sykes 1908 The Kurdish Tribes of the Ottoman Empire. Journal of the Anthropological
Institute 38: 451-486
Kurmanji Kurdish, Introduction 7
AVLIANI, JU. JU. (1962): Materialy po složnomu glagolu kurdskogo jazyka. Samarkand:
Izdatel’stvo Samarkandskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta imeni Ališera Navoi.
BADILLI, K. (1992): Türkçe izahlı Kürtçe grameri. Istanbul: MED.
BEDIR KHAN, E. & LESCOT, R. (1970): Grammaire Kurde. Paris: Adrien Maisonneuve.
BIÇUK, S. (1997): Rêzimanê Kurdî (Kurmancî). Berlin: Weşanên Înstîtûta Kurdî.
BLAU, J. (1975): Le Kurde de ‘Amādiya et de Djabal Sindjār. Analyse linguistique, textes
folkloriques, glossaires. Paris: Klincksieck.
BOEDER, W. & SCHROEDER, C. (1998): Attribution und sekundäre Prädikate im Sprachvergleich:
Deutsch, Englisch, Kurdisch, Georgisch, Türkisch, in: Sprachtypologie und
Universalienforschung 51(207-227).
51
BULUT, C. (2000): Indirectivity in Kurmanji, in: Johanson, L. & Utas, B. (eds.). Evidentials in
Turkic, Iranian and neighbouring languages. Berlin: Mouton, 147-184.
BYNON, T. (1979): The ergative construction in Kurdish. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and
African Studies 42,
42 211-224.
BYNON, T. (1980): From passive to active via the ergative construction, in: Traugott, E.,
Labrum, R. & Shepherd S. (eds.). Papers from the Fourth International Conference on
Historical Linguistics. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 151-163.
CABOLOV, R. L.. (1976): Očerk istoričeskoj fonetiki kordskogo jazyka. Moskva: Akademija
Nauk.
CABOLOV, R. L.. (1978): Očerk istoričeskoj morfologii kordskogo jazyka. Moskva: Akademija
Nauk.
CHAZNADAR, M. (1967): Očerk istorii sovremennoj kurdskoj literatury. Moskva: Akademija
Nauk.
CUKERMAN, I. I. (1962): Očerki kurdskoj grammatiki. Moskva.
CUKERMAN, I. I. (1978): Očerki kurdskoj grammatiki. Glagol’nye formy kurmandži. Moskva:
Akademija Nauk.
CUKERMAN, I. I. (1986): Chorasanskij kurmandži. Moskva: Akademija Nauk.
DORLEIJN, M. (1996): The decay of ergativity in Kurmanci. Language internal or contact
induced? Tilburg: Tilburg University Press.
DŽALIL, O. & DŽALIL, D. (1978): Kurdskij fol’klor. Moskva: Izdatel’stvo Nauka [2 vols.].
Kurmanji Kurdish, Introduction 8
3.4 Dictionaries
For on-line and downloadable dictionaries and word lists for Kurdish and a variety of
languages, see www.ferheng.org
4. Useful links
http://www.kurdishacademy.org/english/indexe.html
A web page in which you
you can find some articles about Kurdish language and literature.
http://www.enstituyakurdi.org/index.php?newlang=english
Events related to teaching, preserving and improving Kurdish language
language and literature especially in
Turkey can be found.
found.
http://www.institutkurde.org/en/institute/
Articles and news about Kurdish world can be found.
http://www.dibistanakurdi.com/
In this page, recent news about teaching Kurdish and some useful teaching materials can be
Kurmanji Kurdish, Introduction 11
found.
http://www.cogsci.ed.ac.uk/~siamakr/kurd_lal.html
http://www.cogsci.ed.ac.uk/~siamakr/kurd_lal.html
Many valuable articles by several scholars can be found about Kurdish language and world
http://www.azadiyawelat.com/
The daily newspaper issued in Kurmanji in Turkey. The latest news in Kurdish world can be
traced in this page.
http://www.wejeuziman.hkmg.net/
Some useful articles and sources on Kurdish literature and language can be followed from this
page. Also a list of other Kurdish web pages
pages is given.
http://www.kerkuk-
http://www.kerkuk-kurdistan.com/
Analyzes of recent events in the Kurdish world can be read from here.
http://www.diyarname.com/
You can find daily news
news on Kurdish life as well as interesting news from all over the world.
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.
Closed î û
i u
Half-closed ê o
Open a
The vowels represented in the writing by <i> and <u> are quite close and may be difficult to
distinguish in some varieties of Kurmanji.
Fricative f v s z ş j x h
Affricate ç c
Nasal m n
Approximant w 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.
Greetings (Silav)
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’
The Oblique forms are used everywhere else, for example, to express the possessor of something:
We will discuss the use of the Direct and Oblique forms in more detail later.
Wordlist
baş
good
be
may
it
be
(a
form
of
the
verb
bûn
‘be,
become’)
biaxivin
‘let’s
talk’
(a
form
of
the
verb
axaftin
‘talk,
speak’,
see
future
lessons
bimîne
may
it
remain
(a
form
of
the
verb
man
‘stay,
remain’)
bi
rastî
really!
bi
xêr
good
bûm
(I)
have
become
/
was
(1st
pers.
sg.
past
tense
form
of
the
verb
bûn
‘be,
become’)
çi
what
dê
indicates
future
tense
of
the
verb
ders
lesson
diçim
I
go,
I
am
going
(a
form
of
the
verb
çûn ‘to go’)
em
we,
2nd
pers.
pl.
pronoun
erê
yes
êvar
evening
ez
I,
1st
pers.
sg.
pronoun
gelek
very,
many
ha
oh
ji
from
jî
too,
also,
as
well
(used
after
the
word
it
refers
to:
ez
jî
‘I
too
...’)
kêfxweş
happy
kek
an
address
form
for
males
kû
der
where
mamoste
teacher
merheba
hello
min
1st
pers.
sg.
object
pronoun
(see
Grammar
1)
na/ne
no
nav
name
ne
not
(negation)
niha
now
paşî
later
on
pir
very,
many
piştî
after
rojbaş
good‐day;
have
a
good
day
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 1 8
ser
çavan
you
are
welcome
(literally:
on
eyes)
şev
night
sibeh,
beyanî
morning
silav
greeting
te
2nd
pers.
sg.
oblique
pronoun
(see
Grammar
1)
tê
(he/she)
comes,
is
coming
(present
tense
of
the
verb
hatin
‘come’)
tu
you,
2nd
pers.
sg.
pronoun
xatirxwestin
to
take
farewell,
to
say
goodbye
xwendekar
student
xweş
good,
enjoyable
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 kû derê yî Dara?
Daner : Ez ji Qamişloyê me. 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 kû derê yî?
…………………………………………… …………………………………………
…………………………………………… …………………………………………
c. Tu kurd î? d. Tu xwendekar î?
…………………………………………… …………………………………………
…………………………………………… …………………………………………
Country names
Franse France Çîn China
Almanya Germany Rusya Russia
Îngilistan England Hindistan India
Îtalya Italy Iraq Iraq
Espanya Spain Amerîka USA
Swêd Sweden Îran Iran
Siwîs Switzserland Sûriye Syria
Tirkiye Turkey Norwêc Norway
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 1 10
LESSON
2
INTRODUCTION
In
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
20
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
Hekîm
e.
Ew
45
salî
ye.
Navê
dayika
min
Gulcan
e
û
ew
43
salî
ye.
Bavê
min
dukandar
e.
Dukana
wî
pir
mezin
nîne.
Dayika
min
naxebite.
Ew
bermalî
ye.
Dayika
min
her
sal
tê
vira.
Min
xuşkek
heye.
Navê
wê
Zelîxa
ye
û
ew
10
salî
ye.
Çavên
wê
reş
in
û
porê
wê
dirêj
e.
Ew
diçe
dibistana
seretayî.
Ez
di
tatîlan
de
diçime
cem
wan.
Wordlist
ap
uncle
baş
good,
well
bav
father
be
may
you
be
(present
subjunctive
2
person
singular
of
bûn
‘to
be’)
bermalî
housewife
bike
may
he/she
do
(present
subjunctive
3
person
singular
of
kirin
‘to
do,
to
make’)
bira
brother
birçî
hungry
cem
at,
to,
by
used
in
connection
with
people
and
their
homes,
cf.
French
chez,
Persian
piše.
çav
eye
çawan/çawa
how
cotkar
farmer
dayik
mother
di…de
in
(circumposition)
dibistan
school
diçe
he
/
she
goes
(3rd
person
singular
present
for
the
verb
çûn
‘to
go’)
diçime
(I)
go’
(1st
pers.
sg.
present
progressive
of
çûn
‘to
go’)
dijîm
(I)
live
(1st
pers.
sg.
present
progressive
of
jîn
/
jiyan
‘to
live’)
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 2 2
dijîn
(they)
live
(3rd
pers.
pl.
present
progressive
of
jîn
/
jiyan
‘to
live’)
dirêj
tall,
long
doktor
doctor
dukan
shop
dukandar
shop‐owner
emr
life,
age
gelek
many
her
every
heye
there
is,
exists
(also
used
in
expressions
of
possession,
see
below)
jin
woman
kar
work,
job
kêm
few
kurt
short
lê
but
li
in
(preposition)
li
vir
here
li
wir
there
mal
house,
home
mam/ap
uncle
mamoste
teacher
mêr
man
mezin
big
naxebite
does
not
work
(3rd
person
singular
neg.
present
for
the
verb
xebitîn
‘to
work’)
nav
name
nexweş
ill,
sick
pir
many,
much
pirs
question
por
hair
reş
black
sal
year
salî
literally
‘yeared’,
that
is,
with
years,
of
age
sax
healthy
seretayî
elementary,
primary
tatîlan
holidays,
vacations
tê
he/she
comes
(3rd
person
singular
present
for
the
verb
hatin
‘to
come’)
tenê
only
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 2 3
têhnî/
tî
thirsty
vira
here
(location)
xerab
bad
Xwedê
God
xuşkek
a
sister
(from
xuşk
‘sister’
with
an
indefinite
singular
ending
‐ek).
The
word
xweh
is
also
used
for
‘sister’
yên
te
yours
zanîngeh
university
zarok
child
Translation:
My
name
is
Gulchin.
I
am
20
years
old.
I
go
to
university
in
Istanbul.
I
live
here,
in
Istanbul.
But
my
home
is
in
Merdin.
My
mother
and
father
live
there.
My
father’s
name
is
Hekim.
He
is
45
years
old.
My
mother’s
name
is
Guldjan
and
she
is
43
years
old.
My
father
is
a
shopkeeper.
His
shop
is
not
very
big.
My
mother
does
not
work.
She
is
a
housewife.
My
mother
comes
here
every
year.
I
have
a
sister.
Her
name
is
Zelikha
and
she
is
10
years
old.
Her
eyes
are
black
and
her
hair
is
long.
She
goes
to
primary
school.
During
the
holidays
I
go
to
them.
1
Hejmar
/
Numbers
The
cardinal
numbers
are
as
follow:
1
yek
11
yazdeh
21
bîst
û
yek
40
çil
2
du/didu
12
dozdeh
22
bîst
û
du
50
pêncî
3
sê/sisê
13
sêzdeh
23
bîst
û
sê
60
şêst
4
çar
14
çardeh
24
bîst
û
çar
70
heftê
5
pênc
15
pazdeh
25
bîst
û
pênç
80
heştê
6
şeş
16
şazdeh
26
bîst
û
şeş
90
nod
7
heft
17
hevdeh
27
bîst
û
heft
100
sed
8
heşt
18
hejdeh
28
bîst
û
heşt
101
sed
û
yek
9
neh
19
nozdeh
29
bîst
û
neh
200
du
sed
10
deh
20
bîst
30
sî/sih
300
sê
sed
1000
hezar
2000
du
hezar
0
sifir
2008
du
hezar
û
heşt
Compound
numbers
are
formed
with
the
conjuction
û,
as
in
bîst
û
yek
(21)
çil
û
şeş
(46)
nod
û
neh
(99)
sed
û
yek
(101)
1.1
Exercise
Write
the
numbers
in
letter.
4
______
9
______
33
______
49
______
23
______
121
______
65
______
51
______
35
______
139
______
54
______
69
______
47
______
142
______
78
______
91
______
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 2 4
The
ordinal
numbers
are
as
follows:
yekem(în)
1st
heftem(în)
7th
sêzdem(în)
13th
nozdem(în)
19th
duyem(în)
2nd
heştem(în)
8th
çardem(în)
14th
bîstem(în)
20th
sêyem(în)
3rd
nehem(în)
9th
pazdem(în)
15th
bîstyekem(în)
21st
çarem(în)
4th
dehem(în)
10th
şazdem(în)
16th
bîstduyem(în)
22nd
pêncem(în)
5th
yanzdem(în)
11th
hevdem(în)
17th
bîstsêyem(în)
23rd
şeşem(în)
6th
dozdem(în)
12th
hejdem(în)
18th
sihem(în)
30th
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?
How
old
are
you?
Ew
çend
salî
ye?
How
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:
21.
Tu?
Gulçîn:
Ez
20
salî
me.
Dayik
û
bavê
te
çend
salî
ne?
Asli:
Dayika
min
48
salî
ye
û
bavê
min
jî
51
salî
ye.
Yên
te?
Gulçîn:
Dayika
min
43
salî
ye
û
bavê
min
jî
45
salî
ye.
Asli:
Xuşk
û
birayên
te
çend
salî
ne?
Gulçîn:
Xuşka
min
14
salî
ye
û
birayê
min
jî
22
salî
ye.
Yên
te?
Asli:
Min
tenê
xuşkek
heye.
Navê
wê
Şeyda
ye
û
10
salî
ye.
Gulçîn:
Baş
e.
Xwedê
emrê
wê
dirêj
bike!
Asli:
Sax
be.
Gulçîn:
Tu
saxtir.
Gulçîn:
Asli,
how
old
are
you?
Asli:
21.
(And)
you?
Gulçîn:
I
am
20.
How
old
are
your
mother
and
father?
Asli:
My
mother
is
48
and
my
father
is
51.
(What
about)
yours?
Gulçîn:
My
mother
is
43
and
my
father
is
45.
Asli:
How
old
are
your
sisters
and
brothers?
Gulçîn:
My
sister
is
14
and
my
brother
is
22.1
(What
about)
yours?
Asli:
I
have
only
one
sister.
Her
name
is
Sheyda
and
she
is
10
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.
1.
Asli
çend
salî
ye?
……………………………………...
2.
Gulçîn
çend
salî
ye?
……………………………………...
3.
Dayik
û
bavê
Asliyê
çend
salî
ne?
……………………………………...
4.
Dayik
û
bavê
Gulçînê
çend
salî
ne?
……………………………………...
5.
Xuşka
Asliyê
çend
salî
ye?
……………………………………...
6.
Xuşk
û
birayên
Gulçînê
çend
salî
ne?
……………………………………...
3
Kinship
Terminology
(nonobligatory
material)
bapîr
grandfather
bûk
û
zava
bride
and
groom
dapîr
grandmother
jin
û
mêr
wife
and
husband
bav,
bab
father
xizim,
nas
relative
dayik
mother
malbat
family
xuşk
sister
mam,
ap
father’s
brother
bira
brother
met
father’s
sister
keç
daughter
xalet,
xaltî
mother’s
sister
kur
son
xal
mother’s
brother
nevî
grandchild
xuşk
û
bira
sister
and
brother
3.1. Some examples for the usage of kinship words:
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 têhnî yî ‘You are thirsty’ (têhnî = ‘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 têhnî yî. (You are not thirsty) Hûn ne têhnî ne. (You are not thirsty)
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 2 6
B 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.
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: xwîşka min ‘my sister’
If it is plural, the ezafe is -ên hevalên me ‘our friends’ (me=Oblique form of 1st pers. pl pronoun)
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
birayê min 12 salî ye. 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:
Kitêba birayê min ‘My brother’s book’
Kitêba hevalê birayê min ‘The book of my brother’s friend’
Kitêba xwîşka hevalê birayê min ‘The book of the sister of my brother’s friend’
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.
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 dijîn. Ez sibehan zû radibim, di saet 8an de. Piştî ku
ser û çavên xwe dişom, taştê dixwim û diçim zanîngehê. Min 5 ders hene. Ez gelekî ji dersên
xwe hez dikim ji ber ku em di dersan de kitêbên gelekî balkêş dixwînin û nîqaşên baş dikin.
Ez di saet 1ê de li gel hevalên xwe firavînê dixwim û çay vedixwim. Min di zanîngehê de
gelek heval hene. Hindek hevalên min tirk in û hindek jî kurd in. Ez bi hevalên xwe yên kurd
re bi Kurmanji diaxivim, lê mixabin hindek hevalên min ên kurd Kurmanji nizanin. Piştî
firavîn û çayê, em dîsa diçin dersê. Min piştî nîvro tenê du ders 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 Kurmanji de jî helbestên Eliotê hene. Ez jî carînan
helbestan dinivîsim. Dersên min di saet 5an de xelas dibin. Paşî têm malê û di saet 7an de li
gel mam, jinmam û zarokên wan şîvê dixwin û çay vedixwin. Mamê min mamoste ye û
jinmama min jî parêzer e. Ez piranî heta 11an dersên xwe dixebitim û paşî jî bo saetekê kitêb
dixwînim û di seat 12an de dinivim.
Translation:
(lit. work on my lessons) until 11 o’clock and then I read (books) for one hour and at
midnight I go to sleep.
1.1 Exercise
Answer the questions according to the passege.
3. Saet / Time
3.1. Exercise
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 3 3
Saet çend e?
Wordlist
amûrên mitbaxê kitchen utensils
arvan flour
bajar city
balkêş interesting
baş good, well
bazar bazar
bo saetekê for one hour
carinan somtimes
cil û berg clothes
çarîk quarter
çay tea
danûstandin shopping
ders lesson, course, work
diaxivim I speak, I am speaking (1st person singular form of simple present
tense for the verb axavtin ‘to speak’)
dibore he/she/it passes, is passing (3rd person singular form of sîmple
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 3 4
kengî when
kîjan which
kuçe street
kurd Kurdish
lê but, however
li aliyekê din on the other side/ part
ligel with, together with
malbat family
mam paternal uncle
mamoste teacher
mast yoghurt
mijûl busy
mixabin unfortunately
navçe region
nêzik close
nizanin 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’)
niqaş discussion
nivîşk butter
nîvro noon
parêzer lawyer
pêlav / sol shoes
piranî majority; usually, generally, often
radibim I wake up (1st person singular form of simple present tense for the
verb rabûn ‘to wake up)
paşî later, then
piştî ku after
rûkenî cheer, being cheerful
sarinc refrigerator
sebze vegetable
ser û çav literary head and eye, face
sibehan in the morning(s)
şekir sugar
şêwirmend consultant
şîr milk
şîv dinner
taşt breakfast
taybetî especially, specifically
tax quarter (Swedish kvarter), neighbourhood
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 3 6
tekst text
tenê alone, only
têm I come/am coming (1st person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb hatin ‘to come’)
tirk Turkish
vedixwim I drink/am drinkng (1st person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb vexwarin ‘to drink’)
xelas dibin they finish (3rd person plural form of simple present tense for the
verb xelas bûn ‘to finish’)
xelk the folk, people
xwarin food
ya baştir what is more, moreover
ya rastî indeed, In fact
yek ji wan one of them
zanîngeh university
zarok child
zû quickly, early
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 3 7
Grammar / Rêziman 3
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:
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. ‘At the market there are many things.’
Vira jinek heye. ‘There is a 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 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.
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 I love my mother (xwe refers back to the subject Ez)
Tu ji dayika min hez dikî 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.
Here are examples of the basic forms of some verbs from this lesson:
If the verb stem ends in a vowel, the personal endings are as below:
3. The negative form of the simple present tense is derived by replacing di- with the na-
negation marker:
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 di-
with ni- instead of na-:
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 3 10
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:
6. Exercises
6.1 Translate the following phrases into Kurdish:
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.
1.1 Exercise
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 4 2
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 cadeyek heye.
Kuncî pir muzir e. Hergav diçe …… maseyê. Nêrgiz ….. halê xwe pir razî ye.
2. Vocabulary
2.1 Danên Rojê/Times of a day
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 êvarî zû vedigere mala xwe. Salih returns home early in the evening.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 4 3
Bi şev zû razin da sibehê zû rabin. Sleep early at night to wake up early in the
morning.
Nîvşevê li gundê me tu kes dernakeve. At midnight nobody in our village goes out.
niha now
paşî later
piştre later on
dûre afterwards
berê/berî before
duhî yesterday
îro/ewro today
sibe tomorrow
par last year
îsal/ewsal this year
sala tê next year
berî bi deh salan ten years ago
piştî deh salan after ten years
her roj every day
hergav/hertim always
her meh every month
her sal every year
tu/çu caran never
hindek caran sometimes
carinan sometimes
kêm caran rarely
gelek caran usually
1
All the weekdays can either end in -mbî or -mme. Thus Duşemme etc. are also correct
forms.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 4 4
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
Salih xwendekarekî bîst û du salî ye. Ew li Stenbolê (1)………….. Salih sibehan pir zû
(2)………….., taştê 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 saet 11an de radizê.
Wordlist
av water
av dide he/she waters (3rd person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb av dan ‘to water’)
bajar (syn. şehr) city
baran rain
bi dar bi: with; dar: tree. Somewhere where there are trees.
bi roj in the daytime, during daytime
bi şev at night
bi tenê alone, only
biçûk small
bikarî if you can (the present subjunctive form of the verb karîn ‘to be
able to’)
cade street
çawa/çawan how
çay tea
çend how many
çente (syn. kîf) bag
çi what
cih/cî place
çima (syn. bo çi) why
çîmen lawn
ciwan (ant. pîr) young
dan time of the day
dawiya hefteyê weekend (dawî: end; hefte: week)
delal beatiful, lovely
dereng (ant. zû) late
derî door
dernakeve 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’)
derve outside; abroad
dewlemend (ant. feqîr, wealthy
xizan, hejar)
di ……. re Through; ex: Kûçik di nav daran re çûn
di bin …… de Under (in locative case)
diaxive he/she/it speaks (3rd person singular form of simple present
tense for the verb axaftin ‘to speak’)
dibare it rains (3rd person singular form of simple present tense for the
verb barîn ‘to rain’)
diçe he/she/it goes (3rd person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb çûn ‘to go’)
dijî he/she/it lives (3rd person singular form of simple present tense
for the verb jiyan ‘to live’)
dil; dilan dil: heart; dilan: the plural of the noun dil.
dinive he/she/it sleeps (3rd person singular form of simple present
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 4 6
kursî chair
kurt short
lê belê but; however
leyîstin the infinitive form of the verb ‘to play’
li derveyî out of ….. (in oblique case)
li jêr below (in oblique case, by itself jêr would not be in oblique)
li jor above (in obl. case)
li rex next (in obl. case)
li ser on (in obl. case)
li vira here (in obl. case)
ligel together with
mafûr carpet
mal home
mal û hal general material and psychological situation of someone
mam (syn. ap) uncle
mase table
melevanî (syn. sobanî) swimming
metbex kitchen
mezin (ant. biçûk) big
muzir naughty
mûzîsyen musicien
nasekine he/she/it does not stop, stand (negative 3rd person singular,
simple present tense of sekinîn ‘to stop, to stand’)
nav name
navber interval, between
nazik fragile
nexoş ill, fatigue
nêzîk (ant. dûr) near, close
nivîn bedding
ode room
palgeh armchair
paqij; paqij kirin (syn. clean; to clean up
temîz, pak, xawên)
park park
pênûs (syn. qelem) pen
pere money
pîr (syn. kal; ant. old
ciwan, cahil)
pirtûk (syn. kitêb) book
pişîk (also kitik, pisîk) cat
piyal glass
por hair
qehwe coffe
radibe he/she/it wakes up (3rd person singular form of simple present
tense for the verb rabûn ‘to wake up, to stand up’)
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 4 8
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
şêrîn 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
tev cîhan the whole world (tev: all; cîhan: the world)
tiral, tembel lazy
tiştên din other things (tişt: thing; din: other)
tu kes nobody
tuwalet toilet
vedigere 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
xeşmê 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:
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
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’
Rule ii: Verbs which end in -andin (or -endin) in the infinitive replace this with -în in to make the present
stem:
xwandin ‘read, study’ xwîn-
şandin ‘send’ şîn-
şikandin ‘break’ şikîn-
kişandin ‘pull’ kişîn-
stendin ‘receive’ stîn-
For 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.)
Infinitive Present stem First Person Singular Present
ajotin (to drive) ajo- dajom
anîn (to bring) în- tînim (di-înim becomes tînim)
axaftin (to speak) axiv- diaxivim
avêtin (to throw away) avêj- davêjim
birin (to take away) b- dibim
bûn (to become) b- dibim
bûn (to be) - -im
çûn (to go) ç- diçim
dan (to give) d- didim
danîn (to place) da-în datînim (see anîn above; this verb is actually
from da-anîn, i.e. it has a preverb da-)
dîtin (to see) bîn- dibînim
firotin (to sell) firoş- difiroşim
gihiştin (to reach, to arrive) gih- digihim
girtin (to catch) gir- digirim
hatin (to come) ê têm
hêlan (to allow, to leave) hêl- dihêlim
jiyan (to live) jî- dijîm
ketin (to fall) kev- dikevim
kirin (to do) k- dikim
kolan (to dig) kol- dikolim
leyîstin (to play) leyîz- dileyîze
man (to remain) mîn- dimînim
mirin (to die) mir- dimirim
nivistin (to sleep) niv- dinivim
nivîsîn (to write) nivîs- dinivîsim
nêrîn (to look) nêr- dinêrim
(ê)xistin (to drop, strike) (ê)x- diêxim / dixim
xwarin (to eat) xw- dixwim
xwestin (to want) xwaz- dixwazim
şûştin (to wash) şo- dişom
Note that generally, the -i of the present tense prefix is dropped when the present stem of the verb begins
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 4 13
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.
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
Translation:
1.1 Exercise
Answer the questions below according to the text.
1. Çend kes rûdinin li maseyê?
2. Kî vedigere ji Kurdistanê?
3. Kî hevalan dawet dike bo şîvê?
4. Şîv kîjan rojê ye? Kengî ye?
Grammar / Rêziman 5
A) The modal verbs: expressing ‘can’, ‘want’ and ‘must’
The two modal verbs xwastin and karîn behave just like other verbs in the present tense (see last lesson); they take the
xwastin (xwaz-) karîn (kar-) viyan (vê-)
Ez dixwazim bêm Ez dikarim bileyîzim Divê ez bixebitim
‘I want to come’ ‘I can play’ ‘I must work’
Negative
nexwestin nikarîn divê ne-
Ez naxwazim bêm Ez nikarim bileyîzim Divê ez nexebitim
Tu naxwazî bêyî Tu nikarî bileyîzî Divê tu nexebitî
Ew naxwaze bê Ew nikare bileyîze Divê ew nexebite
Examples
Em naxwazin bên Hûn nikarin bileyîzin 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? Çi divê tu bikî ji bo îmtîhanê?
‘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
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-.
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.
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. Ceren …………. (xwestin) kitêbên 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
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 5 6
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:
(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.
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).
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… boyax dike.
4. Van sêv… berhev bike.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 5 8
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 kitêban hez dike.
b. Dilşa ji kitêb 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 or (Ex: Tu qelemê sor dixwazî an yê reş? Do you want the red
pencil or the black one?)
av f. water
bêm ‘to come’ e.g. ez jî diwazim bêm. ‘I also want to come.’ (1sg.
pres. subjunctive form for the verb hatin ‘to come’)
bên ‘to come’ e.g. lê em nikarin bên. ‘But we can’t come.’ (1pl.
pres. subjunctive form for the verb hatin ‘to come’)
berhev bike ‘to collect’ (1) 3sg. pres. subjunctive form for the verb berhev
kirin ‘to collect’.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 5 9
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)
zêde too much (French: trop)
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.
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.
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.
2. Comparatives and Superlatives (Read the grammar section below before doing these
exercises.)
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. Herwiha heke hûn fêkî û sebzeyên xwe ji bazarê
bikirin dê baştir be; ji ber ku ew tazetir in. Heke pereyê we têra we neke, hûn dikarin bi deyn
jî tiştan bistînin ji ber ku baweriya bazarvan û mûşteriyan ji 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.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 6 4
3.2. For the following sentences mark (R) (Rast) if correct and (X) (Xelet) if false.
3.3 Put the words in right order to form sentences of the present conditionals.
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. I will read
Tu dê bixwînî. you will read
Ew dê bixwîne. He/she/it will read
Em dê bixwînin. We will read
Hûn dê bixwînin. You will read
Ew dê bixwînin. 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 na-
replaces the subjunctive bi-. As is seen from the sample text, this form is used more frequently.
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
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 6 5
Examples
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. Meyrem is older than her brother.
Ev cil û berg ji yên modern bihatir in These clothes are more expensive than the modern ones.
Hevokên min ji yên te dirêjtir in. My sentences are longer than yours.
Tu ji min baştir dixebitî. You work better than me.
Ew ji me hemûyan bileztir dibezin. They run faster than all of us.
However, some adjectives also have irregular comparative forms as well as the regular one discussed above:
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. Mehmed Uzun is the most famous Kurdish author.
Diya min xweştirîn xwarinên cîhanê çêdike. 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.
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.
Present
Affirmative Negative
Heke ez biçim. If I go Heke ez neçim If I do not go
Heke tu biçî. If you go Heke tu neçî If you do not go
Heke ew biçe. If he/she/it goes Heke ew neçe If she/he/it does not go
Heke em biçin. If we go Heke em neçin If we do not g
Heke hûn biçin. If you go Heke hûn neçin If you do not go
Heke ew biçin. If they go Heke ew neçin 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 hûn biçin bazarê, hûn dikarin tiştên gelek erzan peyda bikin.
If you go to bazaar, you can find very cheap things.
Not: Other uses of conditionals and wishes will be dealt with in lesson 9.
Wordlist
dema bê future tense
dê also ê, wê will (see grammar section for details of the future tense)
xelas dibin ‘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’ )
biçin ‘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’)
xizm relative
ser dan to visit (as a noun: serdan f.: visit)
mezin big, old
behr f. syn. derya, zerya sea
avjenî m. swimming
her çend also her çiqas although
biçûk ant. mezin small, little
dêr f. church
cil û berg m. dress, costume
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 6 7
yek ji.... one of the... - yek ji kevîntirîn cihê Wanê ‘one of the oldest
places in Van’. This phrase is productively used with the
superlative phrases.
ji bilî also ji xeynî other than - ji bilî behr û dêrê ‘Other than the sea and the
church’
zarok child
kevin also kevn old, historical, ancient
keleh f. fortress
wêne m. syn. resm photo, picture
der syn. cih, cî place
mixabin unfortunately
wekî din syn. herwiha moreover, furthermore
biha expensive
modern syn. nûjen modern
lê dîsa jî 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. cuwan, 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
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 6 8
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.
Translation
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?
Zelal: 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.
Cindî: That means that you did not go out (at all)?
Zelal: Unfortunately not! But on Sunday evening I went to the cinema with a friend of
mine. We saw the last film by Behmen Ghobadî.
Cindî: How was the film? Did you like it?
Zelal: The film was very good. Don’t forget to see it, you too!
Cindî: 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.
Rabûm/ çû/ bû/ geriyan/ kir/ xwarin
a) Em bîstekê li nav sûkê ……………
b) Ez roja şembiyê hinekî dereng ………….
c) Te çi ………… dawiya heftiyê?
d) Min zeytûn, penîr û hêkên kelandî ………….
e) Paşî dayika min ……….. malê.
f) Hewa pir xweş ………..
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 saet çendê nivistî? What time did you sleep?
hatin hat Em berî du saetan hatin. We came two hours ago.
ketin ket Kitêbên 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:
Pirs / Question form: Tu duhî çûyî cem hevalê xwe? Did you go to your friend yesterday?
Hûn sibehê saet çendê rabûn? What time did you get up in the morning?
Tu têgihiştî? Did you understand?
Compare now the first of the above sentences with the corresponding present tenses forms:
Ez helbestek-î 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 kitêb 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.
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 diçûm ser daran. When I was a child, I used to climb trees.
Hingî, em hergav 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.
Ber mala me darek hebû û hergav çivîk diçûne ser. There used to be a tree in front of our
house and the birds would go on it all the time.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 7 5
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.
Heynê 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.
Wextê ez hatim vira, min ji bilî Kurdî bi çu zimanan nedizanî. When I came here, I did not
know any language other than Kurdish
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.
4. Below there are questions about your Saturday. Try to provide real answers.
1. Tu roja şembiyê sibehê li kêrê bûyî?
………………………………………..
2. Tu roja şembiyê saet çendê rabûyî?
………………………………………..
3. Tu kengî ji malê derketî?
………………………………………..
4. Te firavîn li kû xwar?
………………………………………..
5. Piştî nîvro te çi kir?
………………………………………..
6. Tu saet çendê hatî malê?
………………………………………..
7. Te piştî şîvê çi kir?
………………………………………..
8. Tu saet çendê 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.
………………………………………
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 7 7
25 Eylûl / Çarşembî
Hevala delal Şagul,
Ez duhî êvarî …………. (gihiştin) vira, 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 qedîm …….. (bûn). Paşî dîsa li trimbêlekê
……….. (siwar bûn) û çûm Bîstûnê. Li wir min fîgûrên qedîm ên li ser zinaran
………(dîtin). Ya Rebbî! Çend seyr û delal bûn! Min li wir gelek …………… (wêne
girtin). Îro pir westiyam û niha li odeya xwe ………….. (bêhn vedan) û sibe jî dê (çûn)
Cuwanruyê. Li Cuwanruyê Xorî Qela ………… (hebûn). Keleheke pir mezin e. Ez dê li
wir jî wêneyan bigirim û dê ji te re ………… (şandin). Ez dê heta sê heftiyan ………….
(vegeriyan) Wanê. Hingî dê ji te re bi dûr û dirêjî behsa sefera xwe bikim. Niha bi xatirê
te…
Bi xêr û xweşî.
Aram
baran f. rain
bêhna xwe veda ‘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’)
bername f. syn. program program
bi dûr û dirêjî in detail, at length
bi hev re together
birêz dear, worthy
bîstekê syn. bêhnekê for a while
çend how many/how much (It has also a usage for surprise:
çiyayekî çend bilind e! ‘What a high mountain’)
cil li xwe kirin ant. cil ji to put on ant. to take off one’s clothes
ber xwe kirin
cil f. syn. kinc clothes
cil û berg m. dress, costume
cîran f.m. neighbour (çû mala cîranan. ‘(S/he) went to neighbours.’)
çîrok f. story
çivîk f. bird
cotek pêlav a pair of shoes (cot: pair; cot+ek: a pair)
çu kes also tu kes anybody, nobody
çûn ‘we, you, they went’ zarok çûn bo dibistanê ‘the children
went to school’ (pl. of the simple past tense for the verb çûn
‘to go’)
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 7 8
da ku syn. da, ji bo ku so that (cilên germ li xwe bike da ku nesax nebî ‘wear warm
clothes so that you do not get sick’ )
daran (dar f.) 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.’)
dawî last, end (cara dawî ‘last time’)
dema syn. wextê, gava, when, while, at the time (dema em li gundî bûn, halê me baş
heynê bû ‘When we were in the village, our situation was good’)
derbas bû ‘he/she passed’ Ciwanî zû derbas bû ‘Jiwan passed quickly’
(3 sg. of the simple past tense for the verb derbas bûn ‘to
pass’)
dereng ant. zû late
dibîne ‘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’)
diçûne ser daran ‘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)
diherikî ‘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’)
dîtim ‘…saw me’ Xezalê ez dîtim ‘Khazal saw me’ (1sg. form of the
simple past tense for the verb dîtin ‘to see’)
dor f. turn (dora min e. ‘It is my turn.’)
dû re syn. paşî, piştre then, afterwards
edetî traditional, customary
erzan ant. biha cheap
fîlmê dawî last film
gava syn. wextê, dema, when, while, at the time (hava min mar dît, dest û pêyên min
heynê lerizîn ‘When I saw the snake, I shuddered’)
geriyan to wander, to travel
gihişte ‘he/she arrived’ Zelal duhî êvarî dereng gihişte malê ‘Zalal
arrived home late yesterday’ (3 sg. form of the simple past
tense of the verb gihiştin ‘to arrive, to reach’)
guh ear
guhdarî kirin to listen to
hêkên kelandî boiled eggs
her each; (2) all through ez duhî her li malê bûm ‘yesterday I was
at home the whole day’
hergav syn. tim, herdem always
heyn syn. heyam period, term
hîç none, never
hindî syn. bi qasî as much as
hinek also hindek some
hingî syn. wê demê then
hingivîn m.also hingiv honey
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 7 9
hosta m. master
hundir syn. jûr inside
jê a contracted preposition meaning from (him/her/somebody)
Ex: min duhî Elî dît û min kitêba xwe jê xwest ‘yesterday I
saw Ali and I wanted my book from him’ see Lesson 4
ji bîr neke do not forget
kebanî f. housewife
keleh m. castle
kêr f. knife
kevçik m. spoon
kir ‘he/she did’ wî qederê 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’)
kirîn to buy
lewma hence, therefore
li benda (somebody) to wait for somebody; Ex: em du saetan li benda otobûsê man
man ‘we waited for the bus for two hours’
mixabin unfortunately
meşhûr syn. navdar famous
mêvan m. guest
naîne ‘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’)
nedibarî ‘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’)
nîgar f. figure
penêr m. cheese
peyda kir ‘…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’)
qedîm ancient
qeymax f. syn. sertû cream
rastî yekî ketin/li yekî to run into somebody
rast hatin
rehet ant. nerihet comfortable
rêz dike ’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’)
şandin to send
şans m. luck
sefer f. voyage
ser m. head
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 7 10
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 nebû, carekê ji caran, li dora gundekî kerekî bêxwedî hebû. Pir rezîl bûbû. 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 ber gundiyan bêzar bûme, ber bi çiyê ve diçim.
Rovî gotiye:
- Tu min bi xwe re nabî?
Kerî gotiye:
- Ma çima nabim?
Her du bi hev re çûne, çûne rastî beranekî hatine. Beranî gotiye:
- Ho kero, tu diçî ku?
Kerî gotiye:
- Ez ji ber gundiyan bêzar bûme, ber bi çiyê ve diçim.
Beranî gotiye:
- Tu min jî bi xwe re nabî?
Kerî gotiye:
- Ma çima nabim?
Ker, rovî û beran bi hev re çûne, çûne rastî dîkekî hatine. Dîkî gotiye:
- Ho kero, tu diçî ku?
Kerî gotiye:
- Ez ji ber gundiyan bêzar bûme, ber bi çiyê ve diçim.
Dîkî gotiye:
- Tu min jî bi xwe re nabî?
Kerî gotiye:
- Ma çima nabim?
Ker, rovî, beran û dîk bi hev re çûne, çûne rastî kêvroşkekê hatine. Kêvroşkê gotiye:
- Ho kero, tu diçî ku?
Kerî gotiye:
- Ez ji ber gundiyan bêzar bûme, ber bi çiyê ve diçim.
- Kêvroşkê got:
- Tu min jî bi xwe re nabî?
Kerî got:
- Ma çima nabim?
Ker, rovî, beran, dîko û kevroşk 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.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 8 2
Kerî got:
- Nabe, divê ez bizirrim.
Axir, kirine 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, Dîko, Rovî û Kevroşk çûne ser gurî û bi vî awayî gur bê bêhn hiştine û paşî 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 çekûçan 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 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:
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 8 3
1.1 Exercise
a) Read the folk story above once and answer the questions below.
1. Di çîrokê de kîjan heywan hene?
2. Kî ji xelkê bêzar bûye?
3. Ker diçe ku?
4. Ker di rê de ewil rastî kîjan heywanî 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 ber gundiyan ……………. (bêzar bûn), ber bi çiyê ve diçim.
4. Ker û rovî bi hev re ……… (çûn), çûne rastî beranekî ………. (hatin)
5. Kirine nekirine, ker qayil ............. (ne/bûn)
6. Li deverekê nêzîkî wan heft gur ............... (hebûn)
7. Kerî jî sitûyê gurî ………… (şidandin) û ew zeft kiriye.
8. Beran, Dîko, Rovî û Kevroşk çûne ser gurî û bi vî awayî gur bê bêhn hiştine û paşî .……..(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:
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.
2. Peyv / Vocabulary
Navên Heywanan/Animals Mêwe û Sebze/Fruits and Vegetables
Hesp û çêlek heywanên kedî ne. Lavînê heta hingî qet tû nexwaribûn.
Horse and cows are domestic animals. Lavîn had not eaten mulberries up to then.
Teyrê kew di nav Kurdan de pir muhîm e. Ez nikarim bîberên tûj bixwim.
The bird partridge is very important among the I can not eat hot peppers.
Kurds.
Alanî wê rojê hirçek dîtibû li nav rêlê. Li Kurdistanê ji gûzê bigire heta hejîrê gelek cure
Alan had seen a bear that day in the forest. mêwe digihin.
In Kurdistan from walnut to figs many kinds of fruits
Gur ketibûn nav keriyê wan û deh mihî û bizinên are grown.
wan xwaribûn. Zebeşê Diyarbekirê li hemû Kurdistanê meşhûr e.
The wolves had raided in their herd and had The watermelon of Diyarbekir is famous all around
eaten ten sheeps and goats. Kurdistan.
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.
(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 duhî 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 After a consonant
Ez –me Em –ne Ez –ime Em –ine
Tu –ye Hûn –ne Tu –iye Hûn –ine
Ew --ye Ew –ne Ew –iye Ew –ine
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 objects and pay attention to the application of the above
principles.
a) Wê ez dîtime. She has seen me. Wê em dîtine. She has seen us.
Wê tu dîtiye. She has seen you. Wê hûn dîtine. She has seen you (pl.).
Wê ew dîtiye. She has seen him/her. Wê ew dîtine. She has seen them.
b) Min îro sê piyalên avê vexwarine. I have drunk three glasses of water today.
Te çend kitêbên kurdî xwendine heta niha? How many books in Kurdish have you read up to now?
Avestayê gelek kitêbên kurdî çap kirine. Avesta has published many books in Kurdish.
Xanzadê em duhî di konserê de dîtine. Xanzad has seen us in the concert yesterday.
Herwiha wî gelek nivîs di kovara… Also, he has published a lot of articles in…
Hawarê de weşandine. the Hawar magazine.
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 qederê 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.
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 8 8
Em hêj nû ji malê derketibûn ku telefona min lêda. We had just gone out of the house that my phone rang.
Note the changes in the conjugation of the verbs according to different objects in the below examples:
Gelek insan kom bûbûn di meydana Newrozê de. 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 kitêb 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).
Wordlist
avêtibû ‘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’)
axaftin f. speech, talk
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 8 9
dayê Mother ( vocative case) (“ê and yê” are the vocative case markers for
feminine nouns as in yar+ê; xuşk+ê; dayik+ê)
de here let you go
delaliyên min my dears
dendik the seed
dest pê kirin to begin, start; they began (saet heştê dest bi leyîstinê kirin “They
started playing at eight” )
dev m. mouth
dever f. syn. cih region
di rê de on the way
dîk m. cock
domandin to continue
erûg syn. alûçe plum
gelî hevalan oh friends (gelî is a plural adress form (vocative) with the same
function with –(i)no as in heval-ino, bira-no)
gor f. grave
gotin to say; word, saying
gur m. wolf
hebû nebû once upon a time (lit. there was (and) there was not)
hejmartin to count
helbet of course
hema thus
hemûyan all of them (in the oblique case)
her du both
herî xirab 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’)
heta until
hew no longer
hiştin to leave
ho kero oh donkey
jê from him/her
ji ber because of
ji hev re to each other
ji nişkê ve suddenly
ka attention-getting particle (ka ez lê binêrim çawa ye ‘now let me have a
look at it to see how it is’)
kêf f. enjoy, joy (kêf hatin: to be happy)
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 8 11
kefen m. shroud
kêm few; little; lacking
kenîbûn ’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’)
ker m. Donkey
kes m.f. person (when used with a negative predicate it means ‘anybody’)
(bila) kes wî nebîne lit. may anybody do not see him
kêvroşk f. Rabbit
kirîbûn ’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’)
kirin nava tiştekî to put into something
kirine nekirine whatever they have done; no matter what they have done
kola ’…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’)
law m.syn. kur lad, son
lawir m.syn. heywan animal
lep claw
li dora around (smt.) (li dora malê ‘around the house’)
loma also lewma therefore, for this reason
ma interrogative particle (ma tu nayê bi me re? ‘are not you coming with
us?’)
mal ava (1) thank you; (2) hey! (an expression used at the beginning of a
contrasting statement)
maye ‘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’)
mêr m. husband, man
meraq kirin to wonder
mêrg f. meadow
mêrik m. man
mêwe f.syn. fêkî fruit
mezin ant. biçûk big
nebaş syn. xerab bad (ne‘not’ +baş ‘good’)
nebiriye ‘…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’)
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 8 12
yasîn f. the name of a sura in the Koran recited when somebody is about to
die
yekî ji wan one of them (one is masculine and in oblique)
zeft kirin to capture
zer bûn 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
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 derûdora 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, hinek tirsiya. Paşî 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 Xocê Xizir im û qasidê Xwedê me, 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 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:
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 9 2
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?
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:
netirse!/
hatime
neyêyî kuştin
(go to the
grammar part
below)
domand
here
rabe
Grammar / Rêziman 9
• 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 kitêbekê 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 4
ACTİVE PASSİVE
Ez xwarinekê çêdikim Xwarinek tê çêkirin. ‘A meal is being made’
Siyabend kitêbekê dixwîne Kitêbek tê xwendin. ‘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:
• 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:
Present Subjunctive
(that I be known= recognised) (that I be not known)
Ez bêm nasîn Em bên nasîn Ez neyêm nasîn Em neyên nasîn
Tu bêyî nasîn Hûn bên nasîn Tu neyêyî nasîn Hûn neyên nasîn
Ew bê nasîn Ew bên nasîn Ew neyê nasîn Ew neyên 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.
Divê mirov bibêje ku di destpêkê de îthamên weha 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.
Wordlist
berê before
bi with, by, (bi is a preposition which functions as the initial particle of
many circumpositions. Ex. Ez bi te re me. ‘I am with you.’)
bihîst ‘…heard it’ Siyabendî dengek bihîst. ‘Siyabend heard a voice’ (3rd prs.
sng. past simple form for the verb bihîstin ‘to hear’)
bihurî ‘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’)
bike ‘do!’ Wan petat û balîcanan sor bike bo şîvê. ‘Fry those potatoes and
aubergines for dinner’ (imperative form for the verb kirin ‘to do’)
bûryan f. a traditional kurdish dish with meat
çilo also çawa, çito how
dan to give
daye ‘…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’)
di…………….de in, at (di is a preposition used together with the postposition de ) di
çîrokê de ‘in the story’
dema when
deng m. voice
dernexist ‘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)
dest m. hand
devî f. bush
dew m. airan (a cold drink made of youghurt, in India called lassi, in Iran
dugh)
dike ‘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’)
din other
dirêj long, tall
dîsa again
dît ‘…saw it’ Siyabendî zilamek dît. ‘Siyabend saw a man’ (3rd prs. sng.
past simple form for the verb dîtin ‘to see’)
diyarî f. gift
domand ‘continued it’ Siyabendî meşa xwe domand. ‘Siyabend continued his
walk’ (3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb domandin ‘to
continue’)
êdî anymore, no longer
erd m. land
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 9 7
erê yes
ev this
fikar f. concern
firotin to sell
gava when
geriya ‘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’)
giran heavy, expensive
girtin to grasp, to take, to hold
goşt m. meat
got ‘…said it’ Zilamê şevê got. ‘The man of the nigh said’ (3rd prs. sng. past
simple form for the verb gotin ‘to say’)
gram gram
guh ear
hat ‘he/she came’ Zilam hate nik Siyabend. ‘The man came near Siyabend’
(3rd prs. sng. past simple form for the verb hatin ‘to come’)
hatime ‘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’)
hatiye ‘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’)
hawîrdor syn. derûdor f. environment, aroundhood
hêj still
here ‘go’ Here mala birayê min.’Go to my brother’s home’ (imperative form
for the verb çûn ‘to go’)
hev also hevdu or hev û each other (Ex: Herdu hevalan bi hesret hev hembêz kirin. ‘The two
du friends embraced each other passionately.’
hinartine ‘…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’)
hinek also hindek some
îsot f. hot pepper
jê from him/her
ji from
kete ‘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)
kevan f. bow
kevanek a bow
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 9 8
kîlo f. kilo
kir ‘…made it’ Siyabendî daxwazek kir. ‘Siyabend made a wish’ (3rd prs.
sng. past simple form for the verb kirin ‘to do/ make’)
kir nekir whatever he/she did.
ku 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) 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’.
kuştin to kill
lê but, however
li in
metirse! don’t be afraid!
mîna like, as
mirov person, human being
mirovan plural onlique form of mirov
nabe ‘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’)
nav inside
nayê ‘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’)
neçûbû ‘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’)
nedît ‘…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’)
nehat ‘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’)
nekir ‘…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’)
nihêrî also nêrî ‘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’)
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 9 9
neyêyî also neyê ‘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.)
ling m. leg, foot
nîvro f. noon
pê with her/him or smth/smb (it is a contracted form of ‘bi wê/wî’)
paşî also piştre then, later on
qasid envoy
qederek f. for a time
rabû ‘he/she stood up’ Siyabend rabû ser piyan. ‘Siyabend stood up’ (3rd prs.
sng. past simple form for the verb rabûn ‘to stand up’)
rakeve ‘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’)
rehet comfortable, easy
selete f. salad
sed hundred
sekiniye ‘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’)
ser on, over
şev f. night
sêv f. apple
şevan at nights
sibeh also sibê f. morning, in the morning
sozek a promise
tarî f. dark, darkness
te you (in oblique case)
tê ‘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’)
tên ‘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’)
tenê also bi tenê alone, only
têr kirin yo be enough (Ew xwarin têra min dike ‘This food will be enough for
me’)
tîr f. arrow
tîrek an arrow
tirşî m. pickles
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 9 10
tirsiya ‘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’)
vê oblique form of ev ‘this’ (feminine)
vî oblique form of ev ‘this’ (masculine)
vira here
wa here
war m. place, land
welat m. country
welatî citizen
wî oblique form of ew ‘he’
wisa also wesa like that, in that way
xwarin to eat, food
Xwedê God
yekê one of them (one is feminine and in oblique)
yekî one of them (one is masculine and in oblique)
zilam m. man
zilamek a man
Xwarinên Taştê
zeytûn olives
rîçal jam
nivîşk butter
hêkên kelandî boiled egg
selete salad
goşt meat
nîsk lentil
birinc rice
fasûliye bean
savar dried crushed wheat
masî fish
çay tea
qehwe coffe
dew airan (a drink consisting of
yoghurt and water, Indian:
lassi)
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 9 12
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 10 11
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.
Çîroka ku me ji bo vê dersê neqandiye, li dor adeta kurdan a razana ser banan, ku havînan li Kurdistanê pir
berbelav e, hatiye hûnandin. Qehremanê çîrokê, mirovekî ji Mêrdînê ye, bajarekî Kurdistanê, ku bo demeke
dirêj li Ewrûpayê jiyaye. Gava ku di nav xeyalên rabirdûyê de li ser banê xanî li esman û stêrkên ronak
temaşe dike, dengedengek tê ji mala cînaran. Nivîskar, vê rûdanê ligel xuricîna stêrkekê eleqedar dike.
Çîrok ji kitêba nivîskarî ya bi navê Kevoka Spî hatiye wergirtin (Swêd, Nûdem, 1996).
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
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 10 22
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).
dikir. childhood.
(12) Em heta derengê şevê li benda We would wait until late at night for them to kiss
ramûsandina wan diman û em wilo di [see (10) above) stay in the expectation of
xew re diçûn. their kiss] and we would fall asleep in that way.
(13) Tiştê ecêb, gava ez li wan rojên xwe The interesting thing (was that), when I was
yên zaroktiyê difikirîm, min xwe mîna thinking of my childhood days [lit. ‘days of own
zarokan hîs dikir. 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 bi saetan ji xeyalên xwe voice, perhaps I would not return from my
venegeriyama jiyana rastî. imagination to the real life for hours.
(21) Ma tu firrek 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 qeşa wê throughout] I was startled by my mother’s
neheliyabû ji destê wê girtibû, çend gulp voice, I had taken that bowl of buttermilk whose
jê vexwaribûn, min paşê ew tas danîbû glace had not melted from her hand, I had taken
ser pirêketekî li ber serê xwe, min dîsa several gulps (sips) from it, than I had put that
xwe li ser piştê dirêj kiribû û li ezmanê bê bowl on a briquet next to my head, I had lied
ser û bin û li stêrkên bi şewq û rohnî down on my back again and I had looked at the
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
li nêzîkî Leyla û Mecnûn rijiya erdê. Mecnûn slid to the Earth.
[...] [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
“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
Kurmanji Kurdish, Lesson 10 44
Berken Bereh
Berken Bereh di sala 1954’ê de li Şirnexê hatiye dinyayê. Di sala 1978’ê 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.