O'1ł Y/1 Oć2
Sorani Kurdish
A Reference Grammar
with Selected Readings
W. M. Thackston
ii
CONTENTS
PHONOLOGY
The Phonology of Sorani Kurdish..................................................................1
Stress ..............................................................................................................3
The Writing System .......................................................................................4
SUBSTANTIVES
ż 1. The Absolute State .................................................................................8
ż 2. The Indefinite State ................................................................................8
ż 3. The Definite State...................................................................................9
ż 4. Demonstratives.....................................................................................10
ż 5. Attributive Adjectives: The Open Adjectival Izfa..............................10
ż 6. Possession: The Izfa Construction......................................................10
ż 7. Attributive Adjectives with Demonstratives and Definites: The
Close Izfa Construction................................................................11
ż 8. Attributive Adjectives with Definite Nouns.........................................12
ż 9. Synopsis of Noun States.......................................................................13
ż 10. Personal Pronouns ...............................................................................15
ż 10.1 Possessive Pronouns..........................................................................15
ż 11. Enclitic -sh .........................................................................................16
ż 12. Cardinal Numbers ...............................................................................17
ż 12.1 Ordinal Numbers ...............................................................................18
ż 12.2 Days of the Week ..............................................................................18
ż 12.3 Months of the Year and the Kurdish Calendar..................................18
ż 13. Comparative and Superlative Adjectives ............................................19
ż 14. Prepositions, Postpositions, Circumpositions .....................................20
ż 14.1. Preposed Pronominal Prepositional Complements ..........................22
iii
THE VERB
ż 15. Present Copulas ...................................................................................25
ż 16. To Have ............................................................................................26
ż 17. The Present Habitual/Progressive .......................................................26
ż 18. Verbs in -awa ......................................................................................29
ż 19. The Present Subjunctive......................................................................30
ż 20. To Want ............................................................................................34
ż 21. To Be Able ........................................................................................35
ż 22. To Remember ...................................................................................36
ż 23. Pronominal Objects of Verbs ..............................................................37
ż 24. The Imperative ....................................................................................38
ż 25. The Simple Past (Intransitive).............................................................40
ż 26. The Past Habitual/Progressive (Intransitive).......................................41
ż 27. The Simple Past (Transitive): The Ergative........................................42
ż 27.1 The Ergative in South Sorani ............................................................45
ż 27.2 Pronouns as Logical Objects of Past Transitive Verbs .....................46
ż 27.3 Pronominal Prepositional Complements with Agent Affixes ...........48
ż 27.4 Displacement of a Possessive Pronoun by a Preposed Prepositional
Complement...................................................................................51
ż 28. The Perfect Active Participle ..............................................................53
ż 29. The Present Perfect Tense (Intransitive) .............................................53
ż 29.1 The Present Perfect Tense (Transitive) .............................................54
ż 30. The Past Perfect Tense (Intransitive) ..................................................55
ż 30.1 The Past Perfect Tense (Transitive) ..................................................56
ż 31. The Past Subjunctive...........................................................................57
ż 32. The Irrealis Mood................................................................................60
ż 33. The Past Conditional ...........................................................................61
ż 34. The Passive Voice ...............................................................................63
ż 34.1 The Past Passive Participle................................................................65
ż 35. Postposed Verbal Complements..........................................................66
ż 36. Factitive Verbs ....................................................................................68
iv
OTHER SYNTACTICAL FEATURES
ż 37. Expressions of Temporal Duration .....................................................70
ż 38. Subordinating Conjunctions................................................................71
ż 39. Relative Clauses ..................................................................................72
ż 40. Directional Nouns in -Ł .......................................................................75
ż 41. Orthographic Peculiarities of Sorani Kurdish .....................................75
ż 42. Vowel Contractions.............................................................................77
Verb Tenses and Moods...............................................................................78
Synopsis of Tenses and Moods ....................................................................85
Conditional Sentence Types.........................................................................86
Conversion Table for the Sorani and Kurmanji Alphabets ..........................88
READINGS..................................................................................................91
92...................................................................... F
X IęX Hż I1l" (a)
101............................................................. 1ę ł H ć ż O'2ęć1 /ęćę (b)
102.............................................................ę ćę I 1 1 łX ć łŁ /ęćę (c)
104.......................................................... Eęć I1' H Dłę FęH1 1ę ()
108......................................................................... /1ęę ę" ęć Dę ()
120........................................................... FżęX : /ę I ęę ł ()
122................................................................................. E1ę Cę /1ęÓ (g)
129...................................................... *Hę IX Ó ó ęćę ż (h)
142...............................................................X /ęę Ó ó ęćę ż (i)
149....................................................................O 2 H Eęć H ćć 1'Śę (a`)
156.................................................................................................*ł/1 (aa)
159................................................................................................... * ę (ab)
160..................................................... The New Anatolian ę O'21 Flę (ńó)
Kurdish English Vocabulary .....................................................................163
v
vi
PREFACE
KURDISH BELONGS to the Western Iranian group of the Indo-Iranian branch
of the Indo-European family. The two principal branches of modern literary
Kurdish are (1) Kurmanji, the language of the vast majority of Kurds in
Turkey, Syria, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, the area designated by Kurdish
nationalists as North Kurdistan, with an estimated fifteen to seventeen
million speakers, and (2) Sorani, the language of most Kurds in Iraq (four to
six million speakers) and Iran (five to six million speakers), the area desig-
nated as South Kurdistan. Although the two are closely related, Kurmanji
and Sorani are not mutually intelligible and differ at the basic structural
level as well as in vocabulary and idiom. Since Kurdish is fairly closely
related to and has been massively influenced by Persian, the dominant
literary and cultural language of the area for the last millennium, Kurdish is
best approached with a basic knowledge of Persian.
While Kurmanji is still far from being a unified, normalized, or standard-
ized language, Sorani has been the second official language of Iraq since the
creation of that country after World War I and has many decades of literary
activity behind it. In Iran, Kurdish has never been accorded official status,
but in Iranian Kurdistan there has been noteworthy publication in Kurdish,
particularly after the Iranian revolution. The area in which Sorani is spoken
in Iran is more or less the region designated as Kurdistan. Outside of that
area, south to Kermanshah and east as far as Bijar, the language is known as
Gorani, or South Sorani, which is a Mischsprache that is basically Persian
in structure but Kurdish in vocabulary.
The readings, chosen to give samples of a broad range of prose writing
ranging from fairy tales to the internet, are provided with running glosses
beneath the texts, and the glosses in the readings are also contained in the
Kurdish English vocabulary at the end of the book. Words considered to be
absolutely basic vocabulary are not glossed in the notes, since it is assumed
that these words either are known already or will be actively acquired by
looking them up in the vocabulary in the back. Generally words are not
glossed more than once in the notes because any word encountered a second
vii
SORANI KURDISH
time should be learned actively. Words are glossed after the first instance
only if they are considered rare enough to warrant being ignored for acquisi-
tion. Because Sorani Kurdish dictionaries are not easily obtainable, I have
made the vocabulary as large as possible. It contains around 4,000 words,
which represent a basic working vocabulary for the language.
For dictionaries of Sorani, the following may be consulted:
Hazhr, Hanbna borna: Farhang-i Kurd Frs, 2 vols. Tehran: Su-
rsh, 1368 [1989]. With definitions in both Kurdish and Persian,
this is by far the most comprehensive dictionary of Kurdish, but
Kurmanji words are also included without any differentiation.
Hazhr uses OH instead of HH for ; otherwise the orthography is stan-
dard.
McCarus, Ernest N. Kurdish English Dictionary, Dialect of Sulaima-
nia. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1967.
Qazzaz, Shafiq. The Sharezoor Kurdish English Dictionary. Erbil:
Aras, 2000.
Sulaymn, Mustaf. Ferheng zarawey zanist. Sulaymani, 2001.
Wahby, Taufiq. A Kurdish English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1966.
An on-line Sorani dictionary is available at www.namonet.com.
viii
The Phonology of Sorani Kurdish
Vowels:
i u
e o
a
is like the ee in beet and tree, International Phonetic Alphabet
(IPA) [i], as in hch [hitS] nothing.
i is like the i in bit, IPA [I], as in girtin [gIrtIn] to take
e is like the ai in bait, IPA [e], without the y-offglide of English, as in
hez [hez] power
a is like the a in bat, IPA [Q], as in tanaka [tQnQkQ] tin can, ex-
cept (1) in the sequence aw, where it is pronounced [], (2) when it is
followed in the same syllable by y, in which case it is pronounced [],
as in tanakakay [tQnQkQky] his tin can, and (3) when it is fol-
lowed by y but not in the same syllable, in which case it is pronounced
[E], as in tanakayek [tQnQkEyek] a tin can.
is like the oo in boot, IPA [u], as in gr [guR] calf
u is like the u in put and pull, IPA [U], as in gurg [gURg] wolf
o is like the oa in boat, IPA [o], without the w-offglide of English, as
in goY [gor] level
is like the a in father and balm, IPA [A], as in g [gA] cow
Consonants:
bilabial labiodental dental/alveolar palatal velar uvular glotto-pharyngeal
plosive p t k q
b d g
fricative f s kh %, h
v z gh
1
SORANI KURDISH
sh ch
zh j
nasal m n
approximants w y
flap, trill r, Y
laterals l ł
b is like the b of English, IPA [b]
ch is like the ch in church, IPA [tS]
d is like the d of English, IPA [d]
f is like the f of English, IPA [f]
g is the hard g of English in go and get, IPA [g]
gh is a voiced velar fricative, IPA [ł], like the Arabic :; it rarely occurs
word-initially and is usually replaced by kh in borrowed words (e.g. ,
gham grief > kham); word-finally it is often in free variation with kh.
h is like the h of English, IPA [h]
% where it exists (according to regional dialect: fairly generalized in Iraq,
rare in Iran), it is a voiceless pharyngeal fricative, IPA ['], like the
Arabic - ; otherwise it is not distinguished from h
j is like the j in judge, IPA [dZ]
k is like the k of English, IPA [k]
kh is a voiceless velar fricative, IPA [x], like the ch in German Bach and
the Arabic .
l is a liquid l [l] as in Persian, like the l in lee
ł is like the dull l of English in all [Ą]; in some areas it is a lateral
fricative, like the ll of Welsh [Ź]; it does not occur word-initially (cf.
gul leper with guł flower and chil forty with chił stalk )
m is like the m of English, IPA [m]
n is like the n of English, IPA [n]
2
PHONOLOGY
p is like the p of English, IPA [p]
q is a voiceless uvular stop, like the Arabic B, IPA [q]
r is a flap as in Persian and Italian, IPA [R]; does not occur word-initially
Y and rr are trills, IPA [r], like the rr of Spanish (cf. khor [xoR] sun
with khoY [xor] blood and bar [bQR] breast with baY [bQr] rug );
all initial r s are trilled (verbal stems beginning with r are trilled re-
gardless of prefixes, as in Yoysht he went and daYoysht he was go-
ing )
s is like the s of English in see, IPA [s]
sh is like the sh in ship, IPA [S]
t is like the t of English, IPA [t]
v is like the v of English, IPA [v], but it is of rare occurrence in Sorani
w is like the English w except before e, i, and , when it is a close back
unrounded semivowel, IPA [], like the u in French cuire and huit.
y is like the y of English, IPA [j]
z is like the z of English, IPA [z]
zh is like the French j and the g in beige, IPA [Z]
Stress. All nouns and adjectives are stressed on the final syllable: tanak
[tQnQkQ] tin can, gawr [gwRQ] big . When enclitic endings are
added, stress remains on the final syllable of the base word: tanakyŁk
[tQnQkEyek] a tin can, tanakyŁk i gawr [tQnQkEyeki gwrQ] a big
tin can. The definite suffix is stressed: tanakayak [tQnQkEyQkQ] the tin
can.
The hierarchy of stress in verbs is as follows:
(1) The negative prefixes na- and n-, as in nch [nQtSu] he didn t
go and nche [nAtSe] he doesn t go.
(2) Preverbs like war-, hał-, and d-, as in wrgeYm [wQRgerAm] I
returned, hłdagirim [hQŹdQgIRIm] I pick up, and dnshtim [dAniS-
tIm] I sat down.
3
SORANI KURDISH
(3) The modal prefixes (d)a- and bi- as in dbnim [dQbinIm] I see
and bbnim [bIbinIm] let me see.
(4) When there are no prefixes on finite verbal forms, the final syllable
of the verb stem is stressed, as in htin [hAtIn] they came and krdibet-
mnawa [kIRdIbetmAnwQ] that we have opened it.
(5) The infinitive is stressed on the final syllable, as in htn [hAtIn] to
come.
The Writing System
The Kurdo-Arabic alphabet consists of the following letters:
' alif / d (6 z) Ż g
( b (0 z) (7 t) D l
~ p 1 r (8 z) ł
* t Y 9 E m
(+ s) 2 z : gh F n
, j Ś zh A f H w
ą ch 3 s ń v G h
- % 4 sh B q I y
. kh (5 s) C k @ hamza
Letters in parentheses are not normally used. Some writers occasionally
import these specifically Arabic letters for use in words borrowed from
Arabic, even though the vowels are written in the Kurdish manner. Thus,
khsatan especially (from the Arabic "K @@ ), usually written Fę@ę@ł@ , may
Q
be written Fę@@@ę@@@@@@ ; and khat line (from the Arabic @@@ż), usually written
*ę@@@@@@ , may be written as 7ę@@@@@@ . There are very few doubled consonants in
Kurdish; the few that exist are written with a double consonant, as in @@@ @@@
shłł God willing. Ayn (9) is almost always retained in Arabic words
(@Ł@ę@ć ma n meaning and (1ę@ arab Arab ); in Iraq the ayn is usually
pronounced as it is in Arabic; in Iran it is either a glottal stop or a prolonga-
4
PHONOLOGY
tion of a preceding vowel, as in Persian.
The vowels are written as follows:
a is written (1) word-initially with hamza + final h, as in Eę am
(2) elsewhere with a final (or alone) h, as in 1ę@@@@@ę bar and E/
dam
is written (1) word-initially with hamza + alif, as in *'H@@@@ wt, or, al-
ternatively, with alif-madda, as in *'H" wt
(2) elsewhere with an alif, as in 1 br
e is written (1) word-initially with hamza + y with a caret above, as in
1' ewra
(2) elsewhere with y with a caret above, as in ę ber
i is written (1) word initially as alif, as in H ć' imYo
(2) elsewhere i is not indicated in the writing system, as in @
bir and ć@@@@ @@@@" girtin; it is the only vowel not indicated in
the writing system (see below)
is written (1) word-initially with hamza + y, as in p tir
(2) elsewhere with y, as in ęę br
o is written (1) word-initially as hamza + vv with a caret above, as in
/ oda
(2) elsewhere with a ww with a caret above, as in 1ę bor
u is written (1) word-initially as hamza + vv, as in @ @ć@ umed; alterna-
tively initial u can be written as alif + vv, as in @@@@@@ @@@@@@ćH'
umed
(2) elsewhere with one ww, as in 1ę bur
is written with two wws, as in 1Hę br.
The vowel i of the izfa is written as y () attached directly to words end-
ing in letters that join to the left. Thus, kurdakn i kurdistn i erq ( the
Kurds of Iraqi Kurdistan ) is written: B'@ @ O@Ś@@ł/1@ O7/1@ . When added to
words ending in letters that do not join to the left, the y is written in the
alone form, as in tanaka i gawrak, written ę1Hę" ęęę.
The trilled Y is indicated by a caret over or under the r, as in ę@Ć @Ó or ę@Ć@Ó
fiYoka airplane. Since all initial r s are trilled, they are rarely marked.
5
SORANI KURDISH
The dull l, called lm i qaław fat l in Kurdish, is indicated by a caret
over the l, as in Hę ę qaław.
The only illogicality in the system lies in the writing of the sequence ye,
which is written ę@@, as though it were ya, as in nmayek, written Cę@@ę@@ć , and
ę'/ dyŁ. For this and other orthographic peculiarities and variants, see ż41.
The letters with their various initial, medial, final, and alone shapes are as
follows (those marked with an asterisk do not connect to the left and are
followed by an initial or alone form):
NAME ALONE FINAL MEDIAL INITIAL
alif* ' @ @ '
alif + madda (initial only) "
hamza ! ! @ @ @
b ( @ @ @ @ę
p ~ W@ @ @ @X
t *
@ @ @ @
s + @ @ @ @
j , ś@ @ @ @ź
ch ą {@ @}@ @|
% - ó@ @ń@ @Ł
kh . Ś@ @@ @ż
d* / @ @ /
z* 0 Ź@ Ź@ 0
r* 1 @ @ 1
Y* @ @
z* 2 @ @ 2
zh* Ś @ @ Ś
s 3 @ @@ @ł
sh 4 ś@ @@ @
s 5 @ @ź@ @
z 6 @ @Ą@ @ż
t 7 @ @@ @
6
PHONOLOGY
z 8 @@ @@ @
9 Ę@ @@ @
gh : @ @@ @
f A @ @@ @Ó
v ń k@ @m@ @l
q B @ @@ @
k C @ @@ @
g Ż @ @@ @"
l D @ @ą@ @
ł @ @ @ @
m E @ @@ @ć
n F ć@ @ @ @
w* H @ @ H
h G ę@ @@ @
y I @ @ @ @
Vowels:
a G ę@ ę@ ę
' @ @
e @ @ @ @
i _ _ _ '
I @ @ @ @
o Ć @ @
u H @ @
HH H@ H@ H
7
THE GRAMMAR OF SORANI KURDISH
SUBSTANTIVES
ż 1. The Absolute State of the Noun. A Kurdish noun in the absolute state,
i.e. without any ending of any kind, gives a generic sense of the noun. It is
also the lexical form of the noun, i.e. the form in which a noun is given in
a vocabulary list or dictionary. The absolute state is normally used for the
generic sense, as in ę@1 H@ qwa rash a coffee is black and ę@ @ @ł @ÓH wafr
sp a snow is white .
ż 2. The Indefinite State. The sign of the indefinite singular ( a, any,
some ) is an unstressed enclitic -(y)Łk (i.e. @@@ -Łk after consonants and Cę@@@
-yŁk after vowels) added to the end of the absolute singular noun.
HX pyw man > HX pywŁk a man
ŚĆ1 rozh day > ŚĆ1 rozhŁk a day
"1/ darg door > Cę"1/ dargyŁk a door
ęć nma letter > Cęęć nmayŁk a letter
Among the modifiers that demand that a following noun be indefinite are
@@ę@@ chand a few, H@@ćę@@ ham every, ą chi what?, and 1ę@@ har each,
as in
a few men
HX ę chand pywŁk
every day
ŚĆ1 Hćę ham rozhŁk
what page?
CęęX ą chi lpaYayŁk?
each direction
Cę 1ę har lyŁk
The construction & i zor many, a lot of also takes a preceding indefinite
singular noun:
8
SUBSTANTIVES
a lot of Kurds
1Ć2 /1 kurdŁk i zor
many men
1Ć2 HX pywŁk i zor
The indefinite plural is formed by adding -n to the absolute singular. If the
absolute singular ends in -, the indefinite plural ending is -yn. Nouns with
absolute singulars ending in -a, like nma, form the indefinite plural by
dropping the final -a and adding -n.
HX pyw > F'HX pywn (some) men
"1/ darg > F "1/ dargyn (some) doors
ęć nma > Fć nmn (some) letters
1ęćę amark > F 1ęćę amarkn (some) Americans
ż 3. The Definite State. Singular nouns are made definite ( the ) by adding
the suffix -(a)k (i.e. -ak after consonants, u, e, and , and -k after the
vowels a, , and o). The combination ak often results in a vowel contrac-
tion to ek, sometimes so spelled in Kurdish.
HX pyw > ęHX pywak the man
1ęćę amark > ęę 1ęćę amarkak the American
IHŚ ktw > ęęHŚ ktwak the student
/ de > ęę / deak the village
"1/ darg > ę "1/ dargk the door
ęć nma > ęęć nmak the letter
The definite plural is made by adding (a)kn to the singular, i.e. by chang-
ing the -(a)k of the definite singular to -(a)kn.
ęHX pywak > F7HX pywakn the men
ęęHŚ ktwak > F7ęHŚ ktwakn the students
ę "1/ dargk > F7 "1/ dargkn the doors
ęęć nmak > F7ęć nmakn the letters
9
SORANI KURDISH
ż 4. Demonstratives. As attributive adjectives the demonstratives ( this,
that ) envelop the nouns they modify. This is ę@(@@@@@@@)& Eę@@@@@@ am& (y), and
that is ę@(@@@@)& Hę@@@ aw& (y). The forms of nouns enveloped by demonstra-
tives are the absolute singular and the indefinite plural.
HX pyw > HX Eę am pyw this man, ę'HX Eę am pywn these men
IHŚ ktw > ęHŚ Eę am ktw this student, ę HŚ Eę am ktwn these students
"1/ darg > ę"1/ Eę am dargy this door, ę "1/ Eę am dargyn these doors
ęć nma > ęęć Hę aw nmay that letter, ęć Hę aw nmn those letters
The demonstrative pronouns are ę@@ćę@@ am this, ę@@@@ćę@@ amn these, Hę@@
aw that, and ę'Hę awn those.
ż 5. Attributive Adjectives: The Open Adjectival Izfa. The attributive
adjective following a noun that is (1) absolute singular, (2) indefinite singu-
lar, or (3) indefinite plural is linked to the noun by the unstressed vowel i
(called the izfa vowel). The izfa is written as added directly to words
that end in joining letters or an alone after non-joining letters.
good hotel1
4 ą hotel i bsh
\
a good hotel
4 ą hotelŁk i bsh
#
\
(some) good hotels
4 O hoteln i bsh
#
long letter
1/ Ięć nma i drezh
ż#
\
a long letter
1/ =ęęć nmayŁk i drezh
#
\
(some) long letters
1/ Oć nmn i drezh
#
ż 6. Possession: The Izfa Construction. The same izfa vowel i links the
two parts of a possessive construction and is equivalent to the English of.
Cęęś O7ęHŚ ktwakn i qutbkhna- the students of a school
yŁk
1
This also has the generic sense, as in good hotels are hard to find or a good
hotel is hard to find. It contrasts with the following indefinite hotelek i bsh, as in
there is a good hotel on the corner.
10
SUBSTANTIVES
HX Hę Ięę / deak i aw pyw that man s village
ęę / O7HX O7ę ć młakn i pywakn i the houses of the men of
deak the village
ęę Ię "1/ dargk i chykhnak the door of the teahouse
HŚ Eę O7ęł1/ darsakn i am ktw the lessons of this book
ż 7. Attributive Adjectives with Demonstratives and Definites: The
Close Izfa Construction. When noun-adjective constructions are envel-
oped by the demonstratives or modified by the definite suffix, the linking
vowel changes to a. The indefinite is, of course, excluded from this cate-
gory.
ęę {hotel a bsh}ak the good hotel
ż#
#
ę Eę am {hotel a bsh} this good hotel
#
ęę 1ęćę HX {pyw a amark}ak the American man
ż#
#
ę 1ęćę HX Hę aw {pyw a amark} that American man
#
ęęł ęł1/ {darsn a sn}ak the easy lessons
ż#
#
ęł ęł1/ Eę am {darsn a sn} these easy lessons
#
ęę żęł ęł1/ {darsn a sakht}ak the hard lessons
ż#
#
ę żęł ęł1/ Hę aw {darsn a sakht} those hard lessons
#
If the noun in a close-izfa construction ends in -a, the linking a is omitted,
as in the following:
F7ę'Śę' ęś {qutbkhna ibtid}akn1 the elementary schools
ę1Hę" ę {chykhna gawra}k the big teahouse
ę1Hę" ę Eę am {chykhna gawra}y this big teahouse
ę Hęę {natawa yekgirt}akn the United Nations
F7H
1
ibtidakn may contract to F@@ @@'@@Ś@@ę' ibtidekn. For the contraction a > e, see
ż42.
11
SORANI KURDISH
The envelopment of the demonstrative is extendable indefinitely and in-
cludes all matter immediately related to a demonstrative phrase.
O/@@@ I1 / Eę@@@ @@@ @@@'@@@ @@@ę bo twnn i am {dyr in order to enable this
ę1Hę" ęć I ź kirdin i jeg i Mr Gaw- clarification of Mir
ra}y Gawra s position
Close izfa constructions may be mixed with open izfa constructions, as in
the following:
ę@ć@ę@ 1ę@ł Ię@1Hę@" ę@@@ {chykhna gawrak} i the big teahouse on the
1 Ięę 1ęł sar {shaqm a sarak- major street in town
ak} i shr
ż 8. Attributive Adjectives with Definite Nouns. Attributive adjectives
modifying definite nouns also are linked to the noun by the izfa vowel i,
but the placement of the definite suffix, both singular and plural, is variable.
żęł O7ęł1/ darsakn i sakht #
\
\
ęę żęł ęł1/ darsn a sakhtak the hard lessons1
Ź#
\
\
F7ę żęł ęł1/ dars a sakhtakn
#
Noun adjective constructions in which the izfa is embedded (the second
and third examples above), where plural and definite suffixes fall at the end
of the izfa string, represent a very close connection, inseparable in the
mind of the speaker, between noun and adjective.
1
These three examples all have the same meaning in English, but they connote
different aspects of noun-adjective linkage to the speaker of Kurdish.
@żę@ł O7ę@ł1/
darsakn i sakht are the lessons (about which we already know), which happen to be
hard, not necessarily in contrast to anything else. ę@ę@ @żę@ł ę@@ł1/ darsn a sakhtak
points out the specific lessons that are hard, as in ę@@@@ł1/ Eę@@Hę@@ 1G/ H E1'@@| 1/
FH@Ś@ Eę@ Ię@ę@ @żę@ł dars i chwram u dars i hawtam darsn a sakhtak i am ktwn
lesson four and lesson seven are the hard lessons in this book. F7ę@ @żę@ł ę@ł1/ dars
a sakhtakn is the hard lessons as opposed to, say, F7ę@@@@ł@@ ę@@ł1/ dars a snakn
the easy lessons, where the adjectives hard and easy are inextricably linked to
lessons, i.e. we are considering hard-lessons vs. easy-lessons.
12
SUBSTANTIVES
A good example is 1H@@ł @@ @@" guł i sr red flower, rose. If the speaker is
thinking of a flower that simply happens to be red, say a red carnation, the
indefinite is 1H@ł @ @ @" gułŁk i sr, the definite is 1H@ł Ię@ę@ @" gułak i sr,
the indefinite plural is 1H@@@@@@@@ł O @@@@@@@@" gułn i sr, and the definite plural is
1H@@@ł O7ę@@@ @@@" gułakn i sr. If by guł i sr the speaker means the rose, in
which case sr is inseparable from guł, the indefinite is @@@ 1H@@@ł ę@@@ @@@" guł a
srŁk, the definite ę@@1H@@ł ę@@ @@" is guł a srak, the indefinite plural is ę@@ @@"
F'1H@@@ł guł a srn, and the definite plural is F71H@@@ł ę@@@ @@@" guł a srakn.
Similar close constructions are the following:
F7ęę1ę ęłHHH ć mezhns a arabakn the Arab historians
Here we are considering only Arab historians, not historians who happen to
be Arabs, who would be (1ę O7ęłHHH ć mezhnsakn i arab.
F7/1 ęę qutb a kurdakn the Kurdish students
Similarly here only students who are Kurdish are under consideration. The
students who happen to be Kurdish, but not as an exclusive category, would
be /1 O7ęę qutbakn i kurd.
ż 9. Synopsis of Noun States.
SINGULAR PLURAL
ż# HŚ ktw book
absolute
#
ęć nma letter
#
ż# HŚ ktwŁk F'HŚ ktwn
indefinite
#
Cęęć nmayŁk Fć nmn
#
ż# ęHŚ ktwak F7HŚ ktwakn
definite
#
ęęć nmak F7ęć nmakn
#
demon- ż# HŚ Eę am ktw ę'HŚ Eę am ktwn
#
strative ęęć Eę am nmay ęć Eę am nmn
#
LOOSE-IZFA NOUN-ADJECTIVE CONSTRUCTIONS
ż# 1Hę" IHŚ ktw i gawra
absolute
#
1/ ęć nma i drezh
#
13
SORANI KURDISH
indefi- ż# 1Hę" HŚ ktwŁk i gawra 1Hę" O'HŚ ktwn i gawra
#
nite 1/ =ęęć nmayŁk i drezh 1/ Oć nmn i drezh
#
ż#1Hę" IęHŚ ktwak i gawra 1Hę" O7HŚ ktwakn i gawra
definite
#
1/ ęęć nmak i drezh 1/ O7ęć nmakn i drezh
#
HŚ Eę am ktw a gaw- ę'HŚ Eę am ktwn a
ż#
demon- \
ę1Hę" ray ę1Hę" gawray
#
strative
\
1/ ęć Eę am nma drezh 1/ ęć Eę am nmn a drezh
#
CLOSE-IZFA NOUN-ADJECTIVE CONSTRUCTIONS
1Hę" HŚ ktw a gawra
ż#
absolute
#
1/ ęć nma drezh
#
Cę1Hę" HŚ ktw a gawrayŁk F'1Hę" HŚ ktw a gawrn
indefi-
ż#
#
nite
1/ ęć nma drezhŁk F' 1/ ęć nma drezhn
#
F71Hę" HŚ 1. ktw a gawrakn
ż#
ę1Hę" HŚ
ktw a gawrak
\
\ ę1Hę" ę'HŚ 2. ktwn a gawrak
#
definite
\
F7 1/ ęć 1. nma drezhakn
\
ę 1/ ęć
nma drezhak
#
ę 1/ ęć 2. nmn a drezhak
HŚ Eę am ktw a gaw- HŚ Eę am ktw a gawrn
ż#
\
demon-
ę1Hę" ray ę'1Hę"
#
strative \
#
1/ ęć Eę am nma drezh ę' 1/ ęć Eę am nma drezhn
ż 10. Personal Pronouns. The independent personal pronouns are as fol-
lows:
ćć min I ę ema we
to you (sing.) ewa you (pl.)
Hę aw he, she, it F'Hę awn they
The independent personal pronouns are used as (1) subjects of equational
sentences:
14
SUBSTANTIVES
.E/1 ćć Min kurdim. I m a Kurd.
(2) emphatic subjects of verbs and topics of topic-comment sentences:
.ć ę * Hę Aw ht; ewa nhtin. He came; you didn t.
.ę " Hęę EHę ćć Min awim balwa giring For me, that s not
niya. important.
and (3) emphatic possessors in an izfa string:
my book
ćć IęHŚ ktwak i min
ę Ięę nshtimnak i ema our homeland
For pronominal objects of verbs, see ż23.
ż 10.1. Possessive Pronouns. The normal possessive pronouns are un-
stressed enclitics added to the noun. They take the following forms:
AFTER CONSONANTS AFTER VOWELS
E -im Fć -mn E -m Fć -mn
* -it F -tn * -t F -tn
- F -yn -y F -yn
Examples of possessive pronouns with kuY son and pra money :
E kśYim Fć kśYmn E1X prm Fć1X prmn
* kśYit F kśYtn *1X prt F 1X prtn
kśY F kśYyn 1X pry F 1X pryn
The enclitic possessive pronouns may be added to the absolute (E@@@@@ kśYim,
E1@X prm), the definite (Eę@@ kuYakm, Eę@1@X prakm), or the indefinite
(@@@ @@@ kśYekim, <ę@@@1@@@X pryekim) forms of the noun. When added to the
absolute, the noun has a figurative meaning; for actual, concrete meanings
the definite form is used. For instance, money (1@@@@@@@@@X pra) you can hold in
your hand you would call Eę@1@X prakm my money, while E1@X pram is
figurative, more like my wealth. Someone who writes for a living can be
said to earn his livelihood by means of Ię@@@ ę@@@ qałam his pen, but what he
actually holds in his hand is Ię@@ę@@ćę@@ ę@@ qałamakay his pen. Compare and
contrast the following:
15
SORANI KURDISH
FIGURATIVE ACTUAL
*1X prat your money, your *ę1X prakt your (real) money,
wealth your cash
E kuYim my son, sonny Eę kuYakm my (real) son
F nnmn our livelihood Fćęę nnakmn our bread
FŚ ć młtn your home F ęę ć młaktn your house
Exceptions to the general rule. Prominent exceptions to the general forma-
tion are the family members (CH bwk father, @'/ dyik mother, '@ bir
brother and @@ @ż khwayshk sister ) and H nw name. When modified
by pronominal possessives, these nouns are the reverse of the formation
described above. Eę@ @ Birkm and Eę@ę@@@ @ż khwayshkakm are used to
address or refer to anyone other than one s real brothers and sisters, who are
called E'@@@@ birm and @@@@@@@@ @@@@ż khwayshkim. IH Nw means his (real)
name, as opposed to Ię@@H nwaky, which means his name in the sense
of a label or sobriquet given to someone, not his actual name.
When possessives are added to the indefinite form of the noun, they mean
a & of mine, &c., e.g. @ @ kuYekim a son of mine,
@ę@ H@Ś@ ktwekit a
book of yours, and żę ć ę qalamek a pen of his, &c.
ż 11. Enclitic -sh. The enclitic particle -sh ( too, also, even and often
equivalent to a simple raised voice inflection in English) is added to nouns,
noun adjective phrases and pronouns. It cannot follow a finite verb form.
When added to words ending in vowels, -sh loses its own vowel in favor of
the preceding vowel, becoming sh. When added to words that have an en-
clitic pronoun attached, -sh intervenes between the noun and pronoun.
ćć min I/me > ś ć mnsh I/me too
4ę ema sh we/us too
ę ema we/us >
=H bwk his father > ż H bwksh his father too
F ę1X prakyn their money > F ę1X prak shyn their money
too
16
SUBSTANTIVES
N7ę Ó1 rafqaknim my friends >
7ę Ó1 rafqaknshim even my
friends
ż 12. Cardinal Numbers. The cardinal numbers are as follows:
Cę a 1 yek
20 bst
ę b`
HH/ b 2 d Cę H
21 bst u yek
ę ba
ł c 3 se HH/ H
22 bst u d
ę bb
1'| d 4 chwr ł H
23 bst u se, &c.
ę bc
ś X e 5 penj c` 30 s
4ę f 6 shash Cę H ca 31 s u yek
*Hę g 7 %awt HH/ H cb 32 s u d
ę h 8 hasht ł H cc 33 s u se, &c.
i 9 no d` 40 chil
/ a` 10 da ęX e` 50 panj
aa 11 ynza
łę f` 60 shast
'H/ ab 12 dwnza Óę g` 70 %aft
ł ac 13 synza Ś ę h` 80 hasht
/1'| ad 14 chwrda /Hę i` 90 nawad
/ X ae 15 pnza /ęł a`` 100 sad
af 16 shnza 1'2ę a``` 1000 hazr
lę ag 17 %avda 1'2ę HH/ 2000 dhazr
/Śę ah 18 hazhda 1'2ę ł ó 3000 sehazr
/2 ai 19 nozda 1'2ę 1'| d``` 4000 chwrhazr, &c
All words having to do with time and instance follow the cardinal number
immediately in the absolute state:
two days
ŚĆ1 HH/ d rozh
six months
ć 4ę shash mng
a hundred years
ł /ęł sad sł
With other words the cardinal number is followed by a classifier, which is
followed by the singular noun in the absolute state, as in Persian. The most
common classifiers, and those which can be used, practically speaking, for
almost anything are ę@@'/ dna for things, 1ę@@Óę@@ nafar for people, and 1ę@@ł sar
17
SORANI KURDISH
for animate beings other than people.
four books
HŚ ę'/ 1'| chwr dna ktw
five people
1ęÓę ś X penj nafar
ten sheep
ęć 1ęł / da sar maY
ż 12.1 Ordinal numbers. The ordinal numbers are formed from the cardi-
nal numbers plus the suffix -(h)am, as follows:
1st Eęę yekam 7th EęHę %awtam
2nd EęHH/ dham 8th EęŚ ę hashtam
3rd Eę seham 9th Eę noham
ł
4th E1'| chwram 10th Eę/ daham
5th Eę X penjam 11th Eę ynzaham
6th Eęę shasham 12th Eę 'H/ dwnzaham, &c.
ż 12.2 Days of the Week and Months of the Year. The days of the week,
made up mostly of cardinal numbers and ęŃę shamma, are as follows:
ęŃę shamma Saturday ęŃę1'| chwrshamma Wednesday
ęŃę ę yekshamma Sunday ęŃę penjshamma Thursday
X
ęŃęHH/ dshamma Monday ęćź jum a Friday
ęŃę seshamma Tuesday
ł
ż 12.3 Months of the Year and the Kurdish Calendar. The traditional
months of the year, which correspond to the signs of the zodiac, are as fol-
lows:
1ęę BAHR SPRING FŚ łH TWISTN SUMMER
ę khkalęwa Aries, March 21 ęY X pushpaY Cancer, June 22
April 20 July22
ęćę bnamaY or F" guln Hę" galwezh Leo, July 23
Taurus, April 21 May 21 August 22
F'/12ź jozardn Gemini, May 22 F ć1ę kharmnn Virgo, August
June 21 23 September 22
18
SUBSTANTIVES
F'2ę XAZN AUTUMN FŚ ł2 ZISTN WINTER
1ęę razbar Libra, September 23 1ł'Óęę bafrnbr Capricorn, Decem-
21
October 22 ber 22 January 20
1 2ę khazałwar or F' 1ę" gal- F'ęł@ 1 rebandn Aquarius, January
rezn Scorpio, October 23 21 February 19
November 21 ęćę1 rashama Pisces, February 20
2Hć1ęł sarmwaz Sagittarius, March 20
November 22 December 21
The names of the Western (Roman) months are as follows:
EęHH/ OH7 knn i dham January 2Hćę tamz July
* shubt February ( b August
1'/ dr March DHąę ayll September
F nsn April Eęę )ż tishrn i yekam October
1 yr May EęHH/ )ż tishrn i dham Novem-
F' 2Ł %uzayrn or F' 2ę ber
%azrn June Eęę OH7 knn i yekam December
The recently instituted Kurdish era dates from 612 B.C., and the Kurdish
year, like the Iranian, begins on 2Ć1Hę@@@@@@@@@@ nawroz, the vernal equinox, on or
about March 21.
ż 13. Comparative and Superlative Adjectives. The comparative degree
of the adjective is made by suffixing @@ -tir, e.g. 1Hę@@" gawra big > @@ 1Hę@@"
gawratir bigger, E1ę@@" garm warm > p@@ć1ę@@" garmtir warmer, and 2 zy
much > @@ 2 zytir more. The preposition of comparison is la, as in the
following examples.
. /1ł H/ Ć ćę AmYo la dwene srdtir a. Today is colder than yes-
terday.
.p H ęćę Ama l awa chktir a. This is better than that.
The superlative degree is formed by suffixing ć@@@ @@@ -tirn. Superlative ad-
jectives so formed precede the nouns they modify, as in
the coldest day
ŚĆ1 ć /1ł srdtirn rozh
19
SORANI KURDISH
the best things
FŚ ć p chktirn shitn
the most beautiful child
' ć ć p'ź jwntirn mindł
ż 14. Prepositions, Postpositions, Circumpositions. Certain prepositions,
in particular the prepositions ę@ę ba in, at, / da to, in, into and la by, to,
in, at and from, occur as circumpositions that envelop the complement,
that is, the preposition itself marks the beginning of the prepositional
phrase, and the end of the complement is marked by a postpositional ele-
ment like -awa, -(d), or -r.
from afar
H1HH/ la drawa
by itself, by oneself
Hż la khoawa
on the ground
'21ę / da arzd
by itself, by oneself
'1ż la khor
in the middle of the night
'/Hę la nwashawd
at this time
'/ę żH E l am wakhtd
The d of d is often dropped, particularly but not necessarily after n, giving
- , as in
in Kurdistan
Ś ł/1 la Kurdistn
'1ł Ię H la nwcha i Sorn in the district of Soran
Ię@@@ @@@Ł O71'Hę@@@Ł@@@ @@@ la shwenawrakn i in the monuments of the
ć1ż n%iya i Khorml sh Khormal region too
after(wards)
X la psh
with me
ć ę" lagał min
The postpositional element does not usually, in and of itself, add anything
substantial to the meaning of the prepositional phrase, and most preposi-
tions occur without the postpositional element without any significant
change in meaning with the important exception of la& d in, at and
la& awa from, where the postpositions define the meaning of la. When la
lacks the postpositional element, the meaning must be ascertained from con-
20
SUBSTANTIVES
text.
Common prepositions and circumpositions:
ęę ba ( X pe) to; with, by Hę@... *ęę labbat & awa concern-
(instrumental) ing, about
Hę@& ęę babe & awa without Hę@... I1 labra i & awa concerning
Hę@& E/ęę badam & awa along with, labt i instead of
while, during ć labin beside
Hę@& Ięę bal i & awa in the opin- t labiret i instead of
ion of '/& E/ ladam & d behind
Xęę bape i according to ('/)& ę" lagał & (d) with, together
1ęę bar la before (temporal) with
'/... IH1ęę baraw i & d in the direc- Hę@& Fę lalyan & awa by (passive
tion of agent)
H1ęę baraw in front of, toward H lanw within
E/1ęę bardam before, in the face '/& lanew & d between,
of among
be without '/& IH X lapenw i & d for the
Hę@... ę ę bejiga la & awa except for sake of
ę bo for IH1 laraw i with respect to
( ) / da (te) on, in Hę@& 1 lare i & awa by means of;
ę"/ dagał with for
I'H/ dw i after '/& 1 lareg & d for the sake
ęź jiga la except for, aside of
from 1ęł lasar on, on top of;
( ) la (le) in, from according to
('/)& la & (d) in, at '/& Ś lazher & d under
Hę@& la & awa from, than H nw between, among
('/)& 1ęę labar & (d) in front of, F' newn between, among
before 4X psh after
Hę@& 1ęę labar & awa because of ś X pesh before (spacial)
'/& ęę labayn i & d between, CH wak like
among
ż 14.1. Preposed Pronominal Prepositional Complements. When pro-
21
SORANI KURDISH
nouns are complements of prepositions, they occur as enclitics unless they
are to be particularly stressed. Pronominal compliments may be either pre-
posed, i.e. added to the word preceding the preposition, or postposed, i.e.
added to the preposition itself. When the following prepositions have enclit-
ic complements, either pre- or postposed, they change their forms as fol-
lows:
ęę ba becomes X pe
/ da becomes te
la becomes le
ę@ -ą becomes -Ł (see ż35 below)
All prepositions may take an independent pronoun as complement, as in
ć@ć la min from me. If the pronoun is enclitic, the preposition changes to @
le. When the enclitic pronoun is postposed the phrase is @@@ @@@ lem from me,
and such phrases with postposed complements generally occur as tag
phrases, i.e. falling after the verb, or at the end of a clause or sentence.
When the prepositional phrase falls before the verb, or before the end of a
clause or sentence, the enclitic pronoun is usually preposed as @@@@@@@ @ -im le,
and the enclitic pronoun must be attached to some available preverbal mat-
ter.
For instance, in the sentence
7/ Ięę Ó1 1 ł pirsyrŁk la rafqakay he asks a question of his
dk friend
if rafqakay is changed to a pronoun and the prepositional phrase is a tag,
the sentence becomes
7/ 1 ł pirsyrŁk dk ley he asks a question of him
Normally, however, the prepositional phrase would have a preposed com-
plement as
he asks a question of him
7/ 1 ł pirsyrŁk le dk
In the sentence
7/ ćć 1 ł pirsyrŁk la min dk he asks a question of me
min me is stressed, but it could be expressed with an enclitic pronoun (and
22
SUBSTANTIVES
therefore not particularly stressed) as
7/ 1 ł pirsyrŁkim le dk he asks a question of me
It is important to realize that, for Kurdish speakers, the preposed enclitic
pronoun is inextricably linked to the word to which it is attached i.e., in
the example above pirsyrŁkim must be pronounced as one word. If there is
any pause, the place for it is between the pronoun and the preposition.
Other examples are:
l awn gwe dgirim > I m listening to them.
@ F@@ @" < E@"/ @" F'H
gweyn le dgirim.
E"/
darg bikanawa bo min > Open the door for me.
@ę E@"1/ < ć@ć @ę Hę@ę@ @"1/
@
dargm bo bikanawa.
Hęę
płaka l aw war dagire > He takes the money from
< @@@"/ 1H H ę@@@ę@@@ H@@@X
płakay le war dagire. him.
"/ 1H Ięę HX
qsa bikam bo to > qsat bo Let me tell you a story.
@ę *ę@@ < @ @ę Eę@@ ę@@
bikam.
Eę
ama błem ba to > amat pe Let me say this to you.
@X *ę@ćę@ < @ ę@ę @ @ @ę ę@ćę@
błem.
. ę
rwchyŁk henday nam- A hunter almost came
ę@@ H@ćę@ I Cę@@|H'1
@ @Ł@ @
wa bigtą rew > rwch- upon the fox > A hunter
I Cę@@|H'1 < I@ 1
@Ł@ @
yŁk henday namwa biy- almost came upon it.
. ę Hćę
gtŁ.
bałk shitŁk bidtą min > Maybe he ll give me
< ć@@ć ę@@'@@ę @@ @@ @@ H@@@@ ę@@ę
bałk shitŁkim bidtŁ. something.
'ę H ęę
qsa dak dagał to > qsat He speaks with you.
*ę@@ < @ ę@"/ 7/ ę@@
dagał dak.
7/ ę"/
aw bal i minawa giring- He is more important to
EHę@ < p@ @" Hę@ @ć I ę@ę Hę@
@
tir a > awim balwa me.
p " Hęę
giringtir a.
Similar is the construction involved in the idiom khaw- le kawtin literal-
ly for sleep to fall on (someone) to fall asleep, as in *Hę@ @ IHę@ kha-
23
SORANI KURDISH
w le kawt he fell asleep, *Hę@ę@ @ EHę@ khawim le nkawt I didn t/could-
n t fall asleep. In this construction the person upon whom sleep falls is
expressed by a pronominal enclitic on khaw-; if a 3rd-person subject is
expressed, the resumptive construction is used, as in
the girls fell asleep (lit.,
*Hę F Hę F7ę kichakn khawyn le kawt
the girls sleep fell
upon them )
In all the previous examples, the preposed complement has preceded the
preposition immediately, and generally this is the position it takes. How-
ever, a preposed complement separated from the preposition by other matter
also occurs.
Dabe khewatŁkim la dara- They will have to pitch a
1@ IH1/ @ @@ @ż /
wa i shr bo hałbidan. tent for me outside the
.Fł ę ę
city.
For the special cases in which preposed postpositional complements dis-
place enclitic possessive pronouns, see ż27.4.
24
THE VERB
ż 15. Present Copulas. The present-tense copulas ( am, is, are ) consist of
the following enclitics:
POSTCONSONANTAL POSTVOCALIC
E -im ć -n E -m ć -yn
I -(t) F -in
I -y(t) F -n
G -a F -in ę -ya F -n
Examples are with /1 kurd Kurdish and l era here :
ż# E/1 kśrdim I am Kurdish ć /1 kśrdn we are Kurdish
\
\ #
I/1 kśrd
# Ź#
you are Kurdish F/1 kśrdin you are Kurdish
/ kśrdt
\ #
\
/1 kśrda s/he is Kurdish F/1 kśrdin they are Kurdish
#
ż#
E l erm I am here ć l eryn we are here
\
\ #
l ery
# Ź#
you are here F l ern you are here
l eryt
\ #
\
ę l erya s/he is here F l ern they are here
#
When the 3rd-person possessive enclitic (-/-y) is followed by the 3rd-
person copula (-a), a special form, -yat, is used.
.HŚ ktw-a. It s a book.
.ęHŚ < IHŚ ktw > ktwyat. his book > It s his book.
The negative copula is formed on the base ny-:
nyim I am not " nyn we are not
ny(t) you are not " nyin you are not
ę nya he/she/it is not " nyin they are not
25
SORANI KURDISH
ż 16. To Have. There is no verb in Kurdish equivalent to the English verb
to have. Kurdish expresses possession through the following formula:
noun possessed (indefinite or absolute) + possessive pronoun + hya/nya
(present) or hb/hanb (past) or some form of the verb bn to be
.ęę 1 ł PirsyrŁkim hya. I have a question.
.Hęę 1 ł PirsyrŁkim hb. I had a question.
.ęę *1X Prat hya. You have money.
.ę ż HŚ KtwŁk i bsh nya. He doesn t have a good
book.
.Hęę Fćę ę Qałamnmn hb. We had some pens.
ęę F ę Chand kuYtn hya? How many sons do you
have?
.Hęęę F 1X 1Ć2 Zor prayn hanb. They didn t have much
money.
. / ę Tqa kuYek dabe. He has an only son.
ż 17. The Present Habitual/Progressive. The present habitual tense corre-
sponds to the English simple present used for habitual action ( I go ), pro-
gressive action ( I m going ), and the future ( I ll go, I m going to go 1). It
is formed from the present stem of the verb with a prefixed modal marker,
which receives the stress, and the following suffixed personal endings.
CONSONANT STEMS VOWEL STEMS
-im -n -m -yn
-(t) -in -y(t) -n
-e(t) -in -(t)/-(t) -n
The inherent (t) shown for the 2nd- and 3rd-persons singular is characteris-
tic of literary Kurdish and seldom appears in the more informal spoken lan-
1
Unlike Kurmanji, Sorani Kurdish has no future tense. The future may be ex-
pressed periphrastically ( I want to go, e.g.), but normally the future sense is
gained from context.
26
THE VERB
guage. It is recovered, however, when any enclitic or suffix is added to the
verb form (see ż18 below).
The modal prefix in Sulaymani Kurdish is ę@@@ -; in most other dialects the
modal prefix is / d-. Since otherwise verbs are conjugated identically in
all varieties of Sorani Kurdish, the modal marker will be shown in this book
as d-, and examples will be given with - or d- as they occur in the texts
from which they have been taken. Examples of the conjugation of verbs
with present stems ending in a consonant are as follows (examples are -ch-
go and -ns- write ):
FH| chn to go "łH nsn to write
1 / dchim " / dchn H/ dnsim "łH/ dnsn
|/ dcht
łH/ dnst
ż# ż#
2 ć|/ dchin ćłH/ dnsin
# #
ż|/ dch1 H/ dns
# #
|/ dchet
łH/ dnset
ż# ż#
3 ć|/ dchin ćłH/ dnsin
# #
|/ dche łH/ dnse
# #
In the negative, the modal marker - is replaced by stressed n- (< na +
a-).
nchim " nchn H nnsim "łH nnsn
| nch(t) ć| nchin
łH nns(t) ćłH nnsin
| nche(t) ć| nchin
łH nnse(t) ćłH nnsin
The negative of the modal marker d- is nda-:
/ę ndachim " /ę ndachn H/ę ndansim "łH/ę ndansn
|/ę ndach(t) ć|/ę ndachin
łH/ę ndans(t) ćłH/ę ndansin
|/ę ndache(t) ć|/ę ndachin
łH/ę ndanse(t) ćłH/ę ndansin
The negative of the Sulaymani habitual is occasionally used as an emphatic
1
Henceforth the second- and third-person singular forms will normally be given as
@ @|/ dch(t) and
@ @|/ dche(t), with only the literary form in Arabic script but
with both forms in transcription.
27
SORANI KURDISH
negative in dialects that normally have the negative in nda-, as in H@@@@@@@@
nnsim I don t ever write (which would then contrast with H@@@/ę@@@ n-
dansim I m not writing ) and 7 @@@@@ę@@@@@ qaydŁ nk it doesn t matter at
all.
For verbs with stems ending in a vowel, the personal endings combine
with stems in -a, -o, and -e as follows (examples, F/@@ kirdin to do, present
stem ę@@ ka-; s@@@@ Ć1 royshtin to go away, present stem Ć1 ro-; F'ę@@" gaYn
to turn, present stem ę@" gaYe-). The only forms that show changes in the
stem vowel are the 3rd-person singular of the -a- and -o- stems, which
change to -(t) and -w(t) respectively.
A-STEMS
Eę/ dkam ć ę/ dkayn
ę/ dkay(t) Fę/ dkan
(*)7/ dk(t) Fę/ dkan
Common verbs conjugated in the present tense like kirdin/ka- are s@@@@@@@@@@@@ż
khistin/ ę@@@ kha- to throw, F/@@@ birdin/ ę@@@ę ba- to carry, F'/ dn/ / da- to
give, and s ę" gayshtin/ ę" ga- to reach.
O-STEMS
EĆ1/ drom ć Ć1/ droyn
Ć1/ droyt FĆ1/ dron
(*)'H1/ drw(t) FĆ1/ dron
Like ro- are F/1'@@@@ż khwrdin/@@@@ż kho- to eat and s@@@@ shitin (or F/1@@@@
shurdin)/ sho- to wash.
Verbs with present stems in -e, of which there are many, keep the theme
vowel unchanged throughout the conjugation, and in the 3rd-person singu-
lar nothing is added other than the inherent -t.
E-STEMS
ę"/ dgaYem " ę"/ dgaYeyn
ę"/ ę"/ dgaYey(t) ć ę"/ dgaYen
ę"/ ę"/ dgaYe(t) ć ę"/ dgaYen
Like gaYe- are all verbs with infinitives ending in -n.
28
THE VERB
One verb with a peculiar present tense is ć@@@@@ @@@@@ htin to come (present
stem ę@@@ -ye). In Sulaymani Kurdish the present stem, ye-, is regularly conju-
gated but without the modal marker a-. In most other dialects, particularly
Iranian varieties, the present stem combines with the modal marker da- to
become de-. The two variants are conjugated in the present as follows:
SULAYMANI NON-SULAYMANI
Eę yem ć ę yeyn / dem " / deyn
ę Ię yey(t) Fę yen
/ / dey(t) ć / den
(*)ę ye(t) Fę yen (
/)/ de(t) ć / den
The negative is regularly conjugated on the stem nye-:
Eę nyem ć ę nyeyn
ę ę nyey(t) Fę nyen
*ę ę nye(t) Fę nyen
ż 18. Verbs in -awa. Many Kurdish verbs end with the suffix -awa, which
has the following basic meanings: (1) again, back, re-, as F@@@@@@ć mn to re-
main, be left > Hę@@@@ć mnawa to be left behind, ć@@ @@" gotin/ć@@ H witin to
say > Hę@Ł@@" gotinawa/Hę@Ł@H witinawa to say again, repeat, F'ę@" gaYn to
turn > Hę@@'ę@@" gaYnawa to return, (2) open, as in Hę@@/@@ kirdinawa to
open, and (3) to give a nuance of meaning to a verb, as F/@ 1H@ł sr-kirdin
to make red > Hę@@@@/@@@@ 1H@@@@ł sr-kirdinawa to saut. This said, it should
also be noted that -awa often adds nothing of any real lexical significance to
the verb but gives a perfective aspect instead. All such verbs are regularly
conjugated. With verbs ending in -awa, the -awa suffix is added after the
personal ending, as in
I( ll) open the door
Hęćę/ "1/ darg dakamawa
you/they( ll) return
HęŁ ę"/ dgaYenawa
Second- and third-person forms always recover the t inherent in the per-
sonal endings before -awa, as in
he ll return
HęŚ ę"/ dgaYetawa
29
SORANI KURDISH
you open
HęŚę/ dakaytawa
Full inflections of Hę'ę" gaYnawa and Hę/ kirdinawa are as follows:
Hę ę"/ dgaYemawa Hę ę"/ dgaYeynawa
Hę ę"/ dgaYeytawa HęŁ ę"/ dgaYenawa
HęŚ ę"/ dgaYetawa HęŁ ę"/ dgaYenawa
Hęćę/ dkamawa HęŁę/ dkaynawa
HęŚę/ dkaytawa Hęę/ dkanawa
Hę7/ dktawa Hęę/ dkanawa
ż 19. The Present Subjunctive. Like the present habitual, the present sub-
junctive is formed from the present stem of the verb and the personal suf-
fixes. The modal marker for the subjunctive is b-.
FH| chn Hę/ kirdinawa
bchim " bchn Hęćę bkamawa HęŁę bkaynawa
bch(t) ć bchin HęŚę bkaytawa Hęę bkanawa
bche(t) ć bchin Hę bktawa Hęę bkanawa
In compound verbs, the b- prefix is optional, and when it is omitted the
lack of a modal prefix identifies the verb as subjunctive. The modal prefix is
regularly omitted with close compound verbs with prefixes like war- and
hał-.
Eę bng (b)kam ć ę bng (b)kayn
ę bng (b)kay(t) Fę bng (b)kan
(*) bng (b)k(t) Fę bng (b)kan
E"1H wargirim ć "1H wargirn
"1H I"1H wargir(t) F"1H wargirin
"1H "1H wargire(t) F"1H wargirin
When the preceding word ends in a vowel and the verb stem begins with a
30
THE VERB
single consonant, the vowel of the modal prefix may be elided, giving, e.g.,
I think (lit., if I know thus)
N' 'H w b znim
"łHŁę ęęHH Eę am wushay b nsn let s write this word
This feature is not represented in the Kurdo-Arabic writing system.
The negative prefix for the subjunctive is n-, which replaces b- where it
occurs.
ę nchim " ę nchn Eęę nkam ć ęę nkayn
|ę |ę nch(t) ć|ę nchin
ęę Ięę nkay(t) Fęę nkan
|ę |ę nche(t) ć|ę nchin (*)7ę nk(t) Fęę nkan
The present subjunctive of the verb bn to be is based on the stem b-. It
occurs both with and without the b- prefix with the following conjugations:
WITHOUT PREFIX WITH PREFIX
bim "ę bn lę bbim "łę bbn
ę b(t) ć bin
łę nę bb(t) mę bbin
ę be(t) ć bin
łę ę bbe(t) mę bbin
When the verb means to be the b- prefix is omitted, but when it means to
become or is part of a compound verb like FH@@ę ć@@ ł@@ nzk-bn to get near
or FH@ę '@ę@@ shkir-bn to be revealed in the following examples, the b-
prefix is present.
. ć ńĆć Mirov nbe nhumed be. One should not be despon-
dent.
Nyndawer nzk i They didn t dare get near
F@@@@7ę@@ @@ć @@ ł@@ '@@ H@@ ę@@
młaknyn bibinawa. their houses.
.Hę ę
Dtirse rozhŁk bet am She fears there will come
ę@@ @ Eę@
@ @ę @ ŚĆ1 @ł@ /
nihen shkir bibe. a day this secret will be
. ę '
revealed.
The present subjunctive of htin to come is regularly conjugated on the
stem be- (for *bye-). Note that the 3rd-person singular subjunctive of htin
is identical to the 3rd-person singular subjunctive of bn, i.e. both are be(t).
31
SORANI KURDISH
ć htin
ę bem " ę beyn
ę ę bey(t) ć ę ben
ę be(t) ć ę ben
The verbs henn to bring and heshtin to let have subjunctives formed
both on the regular stems bhen- and bheł- and on the contracted stems ben-
and beł-:
REGULAR SUBJUNCTIVE CONTRACTED SUBJUNCTIVE
F
Ł henn
Ś bhenim " bhenn Ś ę benim " ę benn
Ł
bhen(t) ć bhenin
ę ben(t) ć ę benin
Ł
ę bhene(t) ć bhenin
ę bene(t) ć ę benin
s
heshtin
bhełim " bhełn ę bełim " ę bełn
bheł(t) ć bhełin
beł(t) ć ę bełin
ę
bhełe(t) ć bhełin
ę bełe(t) ć ę bełin
The present subjunctive is used in the following instances:
(1) independently i.e. not dependent upon a preceding construction as
a deliberative (English should ). In literary style, the interrogative particle
y often introduces the construction.
y pshawpsh bgaYe- Should he retrace his
HęŚ ę 4XHęX
tawa? steps?
Should I come tomorrow?
ę ęł ł Sbayn bem?
HęŁę "1/ Darg bkaynawa? Should we open the door?
(2) in the 1st persons as a cohortative ( let me, let s ) and in the 3rd per-
sons as a hortatory ( let him& , may he & ). The 1st-person is often pre-
ceded by b or 1H wra ( c mon ).
.ć Ć B broyn. C mon, let s go.
C mon, let s play a trick
.ć ę Ó 1H Wra, fełŁk le bikayn.
on him.
.I/ ę ęę Nbetą d. May it not happen.
32
THE VERB
.Hę D-binshinawa. Let them sit back down.
Ł Łę'/
(3) as complement to all verbs and constructions of wanting (see ż20),
ability (see ż21), necessity, etc.
. ć ę IHęćę Amawe bchimą młe. I want to go home.
.Ś Śę N'/ Datwnim btbnim. I can see you.
Pewst a ka sar i l aw It is necessary for her to
ę@lĆ@ć H I1ę@ł ę@ ę
@Ś@ @@ @ @X
mirov a kiłoł bdt ka pay a visit to that mis-
.7ę O'HH ę *'ę ę
chwaYwn ak. erable man who is wait-
ing.
It is not necessary that I
& ę ę ę
X Pewst nya ka błem&
say&
(4) after a number of conjunctions like IH 1ę@@@@@@@ę bar l awa before and
IHę ęę ba be awa without 1
& IH 1ęę bar l awa biche& before he goes/went&
& ć
Łę'/ IH 1ęę bar l awa ewa d- before you sit/sat down&
binshin&
.
Ć1 ę IHę ęę Ba be awa qsa bik, Without speaking, he left.
roysht.
& Śę IHę ęę ba be awa bitbne& without his/her seeing
you&
(5) in the protasis of a possible conditional:
Ama agar betą d, atwnn If this should come about,
"@'@ę@ I/ ę@ @ @ę 1ę@"ę@ ę@ćę@
błeyn& we can say that&
& " ę
Agar bitawe, datwn. If you want to, you can.
.O'/ HęŚę 1ę"ę
1
Bar l awa is always followed by the present subjunctive; the proper tense for
English translation is gained from context. In English without is followed by a
gerund, but in Kurdish it is followed by a subjunctive clause, which is necessarily
personal.
33
SORANI KURDISH
Agar bet u hez i atom bo If it should be that the
@ę E@ę@ I@ @ H
@ @ę 1ę@"ę@
shaY u kushtr u la nw power of the atom be
ę@ę F/@ H H 1@Ś@ @@ H ę@
birdin ba kr bhenre& used for war, slaughter,
& 17
and destruction&
ż 20. To Want. The Kurdish verb corresponding to the English verb
want is wstin (present stem we-). The construction that serves as the pres-
ent tense of this verb is compounded of the prefix (d)- (negative n-) +
possessive pronoun enclitic + -awe. The full inflection of the present tense
is as follows:
AFFIRMATIVE PRESENT
Hęć/ dmawe Hęć/ dmnawe
Hę/ dtawe Hę / dtnawe
Hę/ dyawe Hę / dynawe
NEGATIVE PRESENT
Hęćę nmawe Hęćę nmnawe
Hęę ntawe Hę ę ntnawe
Hęę nyawe Hę ę nynawe
PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE
Hęź bmawe Hęź bmnawe
HęŚę btawe HęŚę btnawe
Hęę byawe Hęę bynawe
When the complement, or logical object, of wstin (i.e. what one wants) pre-
cedes the verb, the subject pronominal enclitics are usually attached to the
complement, and the verb is the invariable 3rd-person singular (d)awe (neg-
ative nwe). The full present conjugation of this construction is:
AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE
H/ E -im dwe H/ Fć -mn dwe H E -im nwe H Fć -mn nwe
H/ * -it dwe H/ F -tn dwe H * -it nwe H F -tn nwe
H/ I - dwe H/ F -yn dwe H I - nwe H F -yn nwe
34
THE VERB
as in the following examples:
I want that.
Hę EHę Awm awe.
He doesn t want these
H IęŚ Eę Am shitny nwe.
things.
All verbal complements of want are in the subjunctive, as in the following
paradigm of want to go :
Hęć/ dmawe bchim " Hęć/ dmnawe bchn
Hę/ dtawe bch(t) ć Hę / dtnawe bchin
Hę/ dyawe bche(t) ć Hę / dynawe bchin
Other examples are as follows:
.HŁę Cęęć Hęę Atawe nmayŁk bins. You want to write a letter.
. HŚ Hęę Ayawe ktwŁk bikYe. He wants to buy a book.
."łHŁę Cęęć Hęć/ Damnawe nmayŁk bin- We want to write a letter.
sn.
Fę 1 ł Hę ę Atnawe pirsyrŁk bikan? Do you (pl) want to ask a
question?
.ć ś 31/ Hę ę Nynawe dars bikhwe- They do not want to study.
nin.
Wstin is conjugated as a transitive verb in the past (see ż27 below).
ż 21. To Be Able. The verb to be able is "@@@@'@@@@ twnn (pres. stem F'@@@@
twn-). Twnn is regularly conjugated in the present, and it is necessarily
followed by a subjunctive complement. Below is given the full present con-
jugation, affirmative and negative, of can/can t say :
ę N'/ dtwnim błem " ę "'/ dtwnn błeyn
ę
'/ dtwn(t) błey(t) ć ę ć '/ dtwnin błen
ę
'/ dtwne(t) błe(t) ć ę ć '/ dtwnin błen
ę N' ntwnim błem " ę "' ntwnn błeyn
ę
' ntwn(t) błey(t) ć ę ć ' ntwnin błen
35
SORANI KURDISH
ę
' ntwne(t) błe(t) ć ę ć ' ntwnin błen
The subjunctive is regularly formed: N'@Ś@ę btwnim,
@ @'@Ś@ę btwn(t),
@ @'@Ś@ę
btwne(t), &c., negative subjunctive: N'@@ę@@ ntwnim,
@@ @@'@@ę@@ ntwn(t),
&c. Twnn is conjugated as a transitive verb in the past (see ż27 below).
ż 22. To Remember. The idiom used for to remember is FH@ę ę@ę la br
bn, literally to be in the mind. The construction of the idiom, like the
present of wstin, depends upon whether or not there is preposed matter.
NOTHING PREPOSED WITH PREPOSED MATTER
ęćęę la brim a ęćęę la brmn a ęę @ -im la br a ęę F@ -mn la br a
ę la brit a ę ęę la brtn a ęę
@ -it la br a ęę FŚ@ -tn la br a
ęę
ęęę la br a ę ęę la bryn a ęę @ - la br a ęę F@ -yn la br a
Simple I remember, you remember, &c. (without mentioning what one
remembers) are ę@ćę@ę la brim a, ę@ę@ę la brit a, &c. (negative ę@@ Eę@ę la
brim nya, ę@@@@ *ę@@ę la brit nya). However, if anything is preposed to the
construction, that is, what one remembers, the enclitic pronouns are de-
tached from br and attached to the preposed matter, as in the following:
.ęę Eę'ŚĆ1 Hę Aw rozhnm la br a. I remember those days.
Hence, the prepositional phrase is actually -m la br, where the complement
to la br, -(i)m, has been preposed, or placed before the preposition. Other
examples are the following:
Nwim la br nya. He doesn t remember my
.ę ęę IH
name.
Wałm i pirsyrakt la br You didn t remember the
ęę *ę1 ł I H
nb. answer to the question.
.Hęę
Other constructions involving br are - ba br htin and - br kawtinawa
to remember, all of which usually take preposed pronominal enclitics.
Wt ba br ht ka& Thus you remembered
& ę * 'ęę ęę *'H
that&
36
THE VERB
ShitŁkim ht ba br. I remembered something.
.'ęę ęę *
Dykyn kawtawa br. They remembered their
.ęę HęHę F '/
mother.
wak shitŁkyn br kawti- as though they remem-
.Hę łHę ęę F H H
betawa bered something
and la br chn to forget.
Nw i aw pywm la br I forgot that man s name.
.H| ęę EHX Hę IH
ch.
ShitŁkit la br ch? Did you forget some-
H| ęę
thing?
ż 23. Pronominal Objects of Verbs. Direct-object pronouns of verbs in the
present tense and the present subjunctive mood are normally enclitics at-
tached to some part of the verbal conglomerate (i.e. the verb, any preverbal
prefixes, compounding agent). Identical to the possessive enclitic pronouns,
the direct-object pronouns are as follows:
AFTER CONSONANTS AFTER VOWELS
@ -im F@ -mn E -m Fć -mn
@ -it FŚ@ -tn * -t F -tn
@ - F@ -yn I -y F -yn
The enclitic pronouns are attached in the following order:
1. If the verb is compound, the pronoun object is added to the preverb:1
.Fę/ bngim dkan. They are calling me.
.ć "/ I1H war dgirn. We ll take it up.
."/ F ę /ęę A%mad hałyn dgire. Ahmad will pick them up.
.ę I Ó fer bim. I ll learn it.
1
A preverb may be (1) a noun like bng call as in bng kirdin to call, (2) an
adjective like shkir obvious as in shkir kirdin to clarify, or (3) a directional
element like war up as in war-girtin to take up.
37
SORANI KURDISH
2. If the verb is not compound, the pronoun object is added to the model
prefix (-, d-, b-) or the negative prefix (n-, n):
. ł / dynbne. He ll see them.
.Ś ł/ dtbnim. I ll see you.
. ę Ł nynsim/nydansim. I don t know him.
.E nykYim. I m not going to buy it.
.E ę Hęćę amawe bykYim. I want to buy it.
Haz akam bynerimawa bo I d like to send it to a
. Ó1 ę Hęć ę Eęę 2ę
rafqŁkim. friend of mine.
R bikayną wiłtŁk kas Let s go to a country
3ę H ęŁę HH1
namnnse. where nobody knows us.
. łŁćę
ż 24. The Imperative. The singular imperative of verb stems ending in
vowels is formed from b- + the present stem. The plural imperative is ex-
actly like the 2nd-person plural subjunctive. As in the subjunctive of close
compound verbs, the b- prefix is usually omitted; in open compounds it is
generally found but may be omitted.
INFINITIVE PRES. STEM SINGULAR IMPERATIVE PLURAL IMPERATIVE
kirdin ka- ę bka Fę bkan
royshtin ro- Ć bro FĆ bron
taww- taww-ka- ę(@ę) H'Hę taww- Fę(@ę) H'Hę taww-
kirdin (bi)ka (bi)kan
If the present stem ends in a consonant, the singular imperative is formed
from b- + present stem + -a. The plural imperative is identical to the 2nd-
person plural subjunctive.
bn b- ęłę bba mę bbin
chn ch- ę bcha1 ć bchin
1
In addition to bcha, chn has several alternative imperatives, viz. @@@@ bcho and
1 bchora.
38
THE VERB
girtin gir- bgira F bgirin
nsn ns- ęłHŁę bnsa ćłHŁę bnsin
gwe-girtin gwe-gir- "(@ę) " gwe-(bi)gira F"(@ę) " gwe-(bi)girin
d-nshtin d-nsh ę d-(bi)nsha ć d-(bi)nshin
(@ę)'/ (@ę)'/
wis-bn wis-b- ęę 3H wis-ba ć 3H wis-bin
Note the irregular singular imperatives of birdin, dn, khistin, and the total-
ly irregular imperative of htin:
birdin ba- 1ęłę bbara Fęłę bban
dn da- 1ę bdara Fę bdan
khistin kha- 1ęś bkhara Fęś bkhan
htin ye- 1H wra F1H wrin
The b- prefix of the imperative takes pronominal direct objects exactly like
the subjunctive prefix:
F| ę łź *ż IH ęę Ba chw i khot bmbna See (me) with your own
! HX chon pywŁkim! eyes what kind of man I
am!
!*ż ę" ę Byhena lagał khot! Bring him/her/it with
Ł ń
you!
Imperatives are often preceded by the attention-getting particle / da.
The negative imperative prefix is m-, which replaces b- where it occurs.
!I"ęć Mgr! Don t cry!
!ę Myhena! Don t bring it!
Ł ęć
!ę D-mnsha! Don t sit down!
ęć'/
ż 25. The Simple Past (Intransitive). The simple past (preterite) of in-
transitive verbs is formed by adding unstressed personal suffixes to the past
stem of the verb. The past stem is derived by deleting the -(i)n ending of the
infinitive, e.g., htin > ht-, bn > b-.
39
SORANI KURDISH
AFTER CONSONANTS AFTER VOWELS
-im -n -m -yn
-(t) -in -y(t) -n
-in -n
Examples of the simple past inflection are from ć@@@ @@@ htin to come, FH@@@ę
bn to be, "ę" gayn to arrive (int.), and Fć mn to remain.
htim " htn EHę bm ć Hę byn
ht(t) ć htin
HH by(t) FHę bn
* ht ć htin Hę b FHę bn
Xę" gaym "ę" gayyn Eć mm ć ć myn
ę" gayy(t) "ę" gayn
ć my(t) Fć mn
Yę" gay "ę" gayn ć m Fć mn
The negative is formed by prefixing n-:
ę nhtim "ę nhtn EHęę nbm ć Hęę nbyn
ę nht(t) ć ę nhtin
Hęę nby(t) FHęę nbn
*ę nht ć ę nhtin Hęę nb FHęę nbn
ę"ę ngaym "ę"ę ngayyn Ećę nmm ć ćę nmyn
ę"ę ngayy(t) "ę"ę ngayn
ćę nmy(t) Fćę nmn
Yę"ę ngay "ę"ę ngayn ćę nm Fćę nmn
The t of the 2nd-person singular form is recovered if the verb has any suf-
fixed ending like -awa or the directional suffix -ą. For example, the verbs
htinawa to come back and chną ml to go home are conjugated as fol-
lows:
Hęń htimawa Hę htnawa ć ęćH| chmą mł ć ęŁH| chyną mł
Hę httawa HęŁ htinawa ć ęŚH| chytą mł ć ęH| chną mł
Hę htawa HęŁ htinawa ć H| chą mł ć ęH| chną mł
ż 26. The Past Habitual/Progressive (Intransitive). The past habitual ( I
used to go ) and progressive ( I was going ) is formed by adding the habitu-
40
THE VERB
al/progressive prefix (d)- to the simple past.
/ dhtim "/ dhtn ę"/ dgaym "ę"/ dgayyn
/ dht(t) ć / dhtin
ę"/ dgayy(t) "ę"/ dgayn
*/ dht ć / dhtin Yę"/ dgay "ę"/ dgayn
For past habituals in -, the negative is formed by prefixing n- to the affir-
mative, but, unlike the present, the negative prefix does not combine with
the modal prefix:
ęę nahtim "ęę nahtn ę"ęę nagaym "ę"ęę nagayyn
ęę naht(t) ć ęę nahtin
ę"ęę nagayy(t) "ę"ęę nagayn
*ęę naht ć ęę nahtin Yę"ęę nagay "ę"ęę nagayn
For past habituals in d-, the negative is regularly formed by prefixing n-
to the affirmative:
/ę ndahtim "/ę ndahtn
/ę ndaht(t) ć /ę ndahtin
*/ę ndaht ć /ę ndahtin
ę"/ę ndagaym "ę"/ę ndagayyn
ę"/ę ndagayy(t) "ę"/ę ndagayn
Yę"/ę ndagay "ę"/ę ndagayn
As in the present tense, in the Suleymani dialect the marker is -, and it is
used as both past habitual and past progressive; in other dialects the marker
is d-.
ż 27. The Simple Past (Transitive): The Ergative. The simple past tense
of transitive verbs is formed from the past stem of the verb and an agent af-
fix the ergative construction.1 The agent affixes are identical to the enclitic
1
In ergative-type constructions what we think of as the subject is the agent (or
logical subject ) and what we think of as the direct object is the patient (for Sora-
ni we will also call it logical object ). In ergative languages that also have case, the
agent is in an oblique case (and/or otherwise marked) and the patient is in the nomi-
native (or subjective) case with the verb agreeing in number (and gender if applica-
41
SORANI KURDISH
possessive pronouns:
E -(i)m Fć -mn
* -(i)t F -tn
I -/-y F -yn
The agent affix usually precedes the verb and is attached to some preverbal
matter (more about which shortly) to give the following conjugation of
khwrdin to eat.
/1'ż E -im khwrd /1'ż Fć -mn khwrd
/1'ż * -it khwrd /1'ż F -tn khwrd
/1'ż I - khwrd /1'ż F -yn khwrd
If only the verb is expressed, or only the verb and its logical subject, the
agent affixes are added to the end of the past stem, as
E/1'ż khwrdim Fć/1'ż khwrdmn
*/1'ż khwrdit F /1'ż khwrdtn
I/1'ż khwrd F /1'ż khwrdyn
If anything other than the verb is expressed, then the agent is affixed to the
first available preverbal matter available preverbal matter includes the
following categories in hierarchical order:
(1) the negative prefix, as in
I didn t eat (it).
/1'ę nmkhwrd
you didn t see (him/her/it).
ę ntdt
ble) with the patient. In Kurmanji Kurdish, for example, where a distinction between
independent subject and oblique pronouns has been retained, the subject pronoun for
he is ew, and the oblique him is w; the subject I is ez, and the oblique me is
min. He saw me in Kurmanji is w ez dtim (where dtim agrees with the patient ez),
and I saw him is min ew dt. Sorani, having lost independent oblique pronouns,
resorts to pronominal enclitics to express the agent. An oversimplification is to think
of the ergative as a passive (e.g., the dog bit the man expressed as by the dog the
man was bit ), but it is important to realize that speakers of ergative-type languages
by no means think of the construction as passive (particularly since Sorani Kurdish
has a passive, see ż34 below).
42
THE VERB
he didn t write (it).
HŁę nyns
Full inflection of the negative past tense of khwrdin is as follows:
/1'ę nmkhwrd /1'ćę nmnkhwrd
/1'Łę ntkhwrd /1' ę ntnkhwrd
/1'ę nykhwrd /1' ę nynkhwrd
(2) the progressive prefix, as in
I was writing (it).
H ć/ dmns
he was tying (it).
łęł/ daybast
Full inflection of the progressive past tense of khwrdin is as follows:
/1'/ dmkhwrd /1'ć/ dmnkhwrd
/1'Ł/ dtkhwrd /1' / dtnkhwrd
/1'/ dykhwrd /1' / dynkhwrd
(3) a compounding preverb as in
I took (it).
* ę hałimgirt.
Ł 1/ he took (it) off/out.
darhen
Full inflections of the past tenses of hał-girtin to pick up and nma-nsn
to write letters are as follows:
* ę hałimgirt * ę hałmngirt
*Ś ę hałitgirt * Ś ę hałtngirt
* ę hałgirt * ę hałyngirt
H Eęć nmam ns H Fćęć nmamn ns
H *ęć nmat ns H F ęć nmatn ns
H Ięć nmay ns H F ęć nmayn ns
(4) the logical object (patient) of the verb, as in
.H Eęęć nmakm ns. I wrote the letter.
./ ę I17 Hę aw kry nkird. He didn t do that.
43
SORANI KURDISH
When the logical object is modified by the enclitic -sh/-ysh too, also, the
enclitic comes between the logical object and the agent affix:
./ ż ęę birkn i zhinakysh He invited his wife s
Ś O7
bng kird. brothers also.
(5) a prepositional phrase other than temporal or manner,1 as in
.H F Ó1 ę Bo rafqŁkyn ns. They wrote it to a friend.
H HęHŁę O'2 r X ęę Ba pewstim zn byn- I considered it necessary
.Eę FX nsimawa u chpyn to write them down and
bikam. get them printed.
Generally speaking, the only things to which the agent affix cannot be
joined are (1) the expressed logical subject to which the agent affix refers
(pywak wit the man said ), (2) temporal adverbs and phrases like to-
day and at that time, and (3) prepositional phrases of manner (generally
with the preposition ba) like Hę@@@@H@@ ę@@ę ba tYaawa in anger, ę@@X ę@@ę ba
pala in haste, and ę ę ęę ba hała in error.
An overtly expressed logical subject in no way obviates the necessity for
a third-person agent affix, but the agent affix cannot be attached to the logi-
cal subject.
.*"1H O7ęć1/ ęX I' 7 Kbr i pr diramakn The old gent took the dir-
wargirt. hems.
.*H F
ć ęę F7 KuYakn ba minyn wit. The boys said to me.
.*H N7 ęę ćć Min ba kuYaknim wit. I said to the boys.
Each and every transitive verb in the past tense must have its own
agent affix, i.e. one agent affix cannot serve more than one verb. For exam-
ple, in the phrase @" H /@ IHH1 ry kird u gut ( he faced him and said ), the
first agent affix, -y, serves only the verb r-kird; the second verb, gut, must
also have an agent affix, and since there is no preposed matter, the affix is
on the end of the verb.
1
Prepositional phrases with pronominal complements present a special problem.
See ż27.3 below.
44
THE VERB
When a phrase consists only of an expressed logical subject (agent), prep-
ositional matter to which the agent affix cannot be attached, and verb, then
the agent affix is attached to the verb:
& H HęH ęę ęę kichak ba tYaawa the girl said angrily&
wit&
ż 27.1. The Ergative in South Sorani. In North Sorani the past tense of all
transitive verbs is made on the ergative model with agent affixes as de-
scribed above. In South Sorani, however, a split has occurred. Generally,
the ergative construction has been displaced by the non-ergative construc-
tion on the model of intransitive past verbs (and doubtlessly under the influ-
ence of Persian). However, the older ergative construction has remained for
certain figurative expressions. Although the ergative is theoretically avail-
able for any past transitive verb, its use may produce a statement on the fig-
urative plane that sounds funny or odd i.e. a figurative use that really
has no conventional application. For instance, the verb ć@@ H@@ł @@ć mł stin
to burn someone s house may have an actual, literal application, as in
Hł '1'/ Ięę ć młak i Dr stim I burned Dara s house
down
or it may have a figurative application, as in
*Hł E'1'/ Ięę ć młak i Drm st I burned Dara s house
but here, since it is ergative, it is figurative and really means I ruined him,
I did him in. The verb F/1'@@@@@@ż F nn-khwrdin to eat bread may be ei-
ther actually to eat (some) bread or figuratively to break bread, have a
meal, enjoy someone s hospitality. On the actual level the past tense is nn
khwrdim, as in
I ate bread.
E/1'ż F nn khwrdim
while on the figurative level the past tense is nnim khwrd, as in
/1'ż N Cę Latak ewa nnim khwrd. I broke bread with you (I
enjoyed your hospitality).
North Sorani, with no such differentiation, expresses these two examples as
45
SORANI KURDISH
młak i Drm st and nnim khwrd in all situations (nn khwrdim is
meaningless in North Sorani).
ż 27.2. Pronouns as Logical Objects of Past Transitive Verbs. With past
transitive verbs, when the agent affix precedes the verb, enclitic pronominal
logical objects are attached to the past stem of the verb, but the enclitics
used are the subject endings for the intransitive past,1 as in the following
paradigm of the verb g-kirdin to inform with the 3rd-person singular
agent affix -y.
E/ I" gy kirdim he informed me ć / I" gy kirdn he informed us
/ I" gy kird(t) he informed you F/ I" gy kirdin he informed you
/ I" gy kird he informed him/her F/ I" gy kirdin he informed them
A 3rd-person singular logical object is not overtly expressed with a pronom-
inal suffix since it is implicit in the zero ending of the verb (as in the second
example below).
I didn t see you
Śćę tćę nmdt(t)
I didn t see him/her/it
ćę nmdt
you picked them up
ć Ś ę hałitgirtin
we didn t see you (pl)
sćę nmndtin
you (pl) were pulling them
F / dtnkeshn
With a 3rd-person plural inanimate logical object, the verb optionally agrees
in number with the logical object. In the example, *@@"1H O7ę@@ć1/ ę@@X I'@@ 7
kbr i pr diramakn wargirt the old gent took the dirhems, the verb
could also be ć@@ @@"1H wargirtin to agree with the plural logical object. Simi-
larly, in the sentence
(ć ) I O7HŚ HX PywŁk ktwakn kY(n). A man bought the books.
the verb kY may agree with the plural logical object as kYn. With 1st- and
1
Another way of analyzing this pattern is to think of the past transitive verb dt as
meaning saw him/her/it. Similarly, dtim means saw me, dt(t) means saw
you. The logical subjects of these verbs must be expressed by agent affixes.
46
THE VERB
2nd-person logical objects and with animate 3rd persons, the verb perforce
agrees with the object in both number and person.
When the agent affix does not precede the verb (i.e. if only the verb, or
verb + logical subject, and no other element is present), the logical subject
agent affix is suffixed to the verb first, and the logical object follows the
agent affix except for the 3rd-person singular agent. When the logical
subject is 3rd-person singular, the order is reversed: the logical object cedes
the logical subject. In the table below are all available forms using dtin to
see as an example; the logical objects are given in boldface. Again, a 3rd-
person singular logical-object pronoun is not expressed; it is built into the
verb.
me you him/her us you them
I saw
@ / r/ ć@ / ć@ /
dtim(t) dtim dtimin dtimin
you saw r /
/ " Ś/ sŚ/
dtitim dtit dtitn dtitin
s/he saw ż@ / t Ś/ t/ Ś/ / /
dtim dtt dt dtn dtin dtin
we saw
/ F / ć / ć /
dtmn(t) dtmn dtmnin dtmnin
you saw N / F / " / ć /
dttnim dttn dttnn dttnin
they saw N /
/ F / " / ć / ć /
dtynim dtyn(t) dtyn dtynn dtynin dtynin
me you him/her us you them
I didn t see
Śćę
ćę sćę sćę
nmdt(t) nmdt nmdtin nmdtin
you didn t rę
ę "Śę sę
see ntdtim ntdt ntdtn ntdtin
s/he didn t rę
Śę
ę "Śę sę sę
see nydtim nydt(t) nydt nydtn nydtin nydtin
47
SORANI KURDISH
we didn t
Śćę
ćę sćę sćę
see nmndt(t) nmndt nmndtin nmndtin
you didn t r ę
ę "Ś ę s ę
see ntndtim ntndt ntndtn ntndtin
they didn t r ę
Ś ę
ę "Ś ę s ę s ę
see nyndtim nyndt(t) nyndt nyndtn nyndtin nyndtin
In South Sorani the situation is altogether different. Since, with the few ex-
ceptions noted above, the ergative construction has been lost, transitive
verbs are regularly conjugated exactly like intransitives, and pronominal ob-
jects are added directly to the end of the verb form all on the Persian
model. The normal forms for South Sorani are as follows (note that the nor-
mal South Sorani third-person plural ending is -an instead of -in):
me you him/her us you them
I saw
@ / ż@ / FŚć / F
@ /
dtimit dtim dtimtn dtimyn
you saw r Ś/ t Ś/ F Ś/ F
Ś/
dttim dtt dttmn dttyn
s/he saw r/
/ t/ F / F / F /
dtim dtit dt dtmn dttn dtyn
we saw
Ś/ Ś/ F
Ś/
Ś Ś/ F
dtnit dtn dtntn dtnyn
you saw Ś / / F / F Ś/
dtinim dtin dtinmn dtinyn
they saw NęŚ/
ęŚ/ OęŚ/ FęŚ/ FŚęŚ/ FęŚ/
dtanim dtanit dtan dtanmn dtantn dtanyn
ż 27.3. Pronominal Prepositional Complements with Agent Affixes. In
past transitive verbs the space normally available for a preposed pronominal
complement is taken by the agent affix. In this case, the preposition and its
complement are split the preposition precedes the verb, and the comple-
ment of the preposition is bumped to the end of the verb, but the pronouns
48
THE VERB
used are the endings used for intransitive past verbs (-im/-m, -(t)/-y(t), ,
-n/-yn, -in/-n, -in/-n). Note especially that when the prepositional comple-
ment is 3rd-person singular, nothing is added to the verb stem. Since the
past verb has built-in logical objects, these logical objects are used in such
constructions as prepositional complements. The example
.7/ F 1 ł PirsyrŁkmn le dak. He asks a question of us.
(present tense), can be viewed diagrammatically as follows:
Pirsyrek -mn le dk
prepositional phrase with
preposed complement
But in the past tense he asked a question of us the agent affix takes the
place that would be occupied by the preposed complement to the prepo-
sition, so the complement of the preposition is removed to the end of the
verb stem,
.ć / 1 ł PirsyrŁk le kirdn.1 He asked a question of us.
Pirsyrek - le kird -n
Agent Prepositional
affix phrase
In another example,
1
Or, the incomplete sequence pirsyrek-le-kird- can be thought of as meaning
asked-a-question-of and the personal ending -n supplies the object us. Such
an approach is probably closer to how native speakers feel all such constructions
involving a preposition + verb. In the next example, bo-nrd- is certainly felt to
mean sent-to and -in supplies the object them. Even in the present-tense
example bo-dnerim is felt to mean I-am-sending-to and the preposed -yn sup-
plies the object them. Native speakers do not seem to feel that -yn bo really go
together as a coherent unit in any way separable from the verb; they think of bo-
dnerim as the coherent unit and feel that the proper place to pause is between -yn
and bo, not between bo and dnerim. To a certain extent, in the minds of native
speakers bo-nrdin is not felt to differ substantially from hał-girtin or any other
compound verb.
49
TENSE
PRESENT
PAST
TENSE
SORANI KURDISH
.E / ę F ę'HŚ Hę aw ktwnyn bo I m sending those books to
dnerim. them.
the preposition bo has its complement -yn preposed:
aw ktwn -yn bo dnerim
prepositional phrase
with preposed complement
In the past, however, the agent affix -(i)m takes the place of the complement
of the preposition. The complement is deferred to the end of the verb stem
and is changed from -yn to -in, giving
.F/1 ę Eę'HŚ Hę aw ktwnm bo nrdin. I sent those books to them.
aw ktwn -m bo nrd -in
agent prepositional
affix phrase
When the first available element to which an agent affix can be attached is a
preposition, the complement of the preposition is bumped, as in the fol-
lowing:
H Hę/ 1Hł Ię F '/ dykyn boy sr kirdin- their mother fried it for
.F '/ Ię awa u boy d-nn. them and set it down
before them.
agent affix
dykyn bo -y sr kird -in -awa
prepositional phrase
Here the -y on boy in both parts of the sentence is the agent affix referring to
dykyn and the -in in kirdinawa and d-nn furnishes the complement of
the preposition bo. Another example is as follows:
50
THE VERB
& H X H " Ię1X praky le girtim u pey he took the money from
witim& me and said to me&
prepositional
prepositional
phrase
phrase
Prak -y le girt -im u pe -y wit -im
agent agent
affix affix
Here the -y on prak and on pe is the agent affix ( he ), and the -im suffix
in the verbs girt and wit are complements to the prepositions le and pe
respectively.
Other examples are as follows:
dargyn kirdawa bo min They opened the door for
< (Eę) ćć ę H/ F "1/
(bom) > dargyn bo kir- me.
Hęć/ ę F "1/
dimawa
płakay wargirt l ema He took the money from
<(F ) ę *"1H Ięę HX
(lemn) > płakay le us.
"1H
" Ięę HX
wargirtn
ammn wit ba to (pet) > We said this to you.
< (
X) ęę *H Fćęćę
ammn pe wit(t)
H X Fćęćę
witim pet > pem wit(t) I said to you.
H X <
X H
qsam kird bo ewa I told you a story.
< (F ę) ę / Eę
(botn) > qsam bo kirdin
F/ ę Eę
gwem girt l aw (ley) > I listened to him.
" < ( ) H *" "
gwem le girt
*"
wit ba awn (peyn) > He said to them.
ć H X < (F X) F'Hę ęę H
pey witin
Since the ergative construction is not in normal use in South Sorani, the
placement of these pronouns is quite the reverse of North Sorani. Therefore,
while in North Sorani pey witim means he said to me, in South Sorani it
means I said to him. Bot kirdim means you did it for me in North Sorani
but I did it for you in South Sorani, and bomn kirdin means we did it for
51
SORANI KURDISH
you/them in North Sorani but you/they did it for us in South Sorani.
ż 27.4. Displacement of a Possessive Pronoun by a Preposed Preposi-
tional Complement. Similar to the displacement of a prepositional comple-
ment by the agent affix is the displacement of a possessive pronoun by a
preposed prepositional complement. In a construction such as the following:
.*Hę N7ę Ó1 ęę EH chwim ba rafqaknim My eye fell upon my
kawt. friends.
if the noun rafqaknim is replaced by a pronoun, turning the phrase into
-yn pe, the preposed prepositional complement bumps the possessive -im
from its position on chw to the end of the verb, as:
Hę X F H chwyn pe kawtim my eye fell upon them
prepositional
phrase
chw -yn pe kawt -im
modifies
The endings on the verb in such situations are the verbal personal endings,
not the possessives. The first-person shows no difference, of course, but the
other persons are distinguished, as in the following:
chwyn ba min kawt > their eye fell upon me
X EH < *Hę ćć ęę F H
chwim pe kawtin
ć Hę
chw -im pe kawt -in
modifies
In a combination of the principles given in this and the preceding para-
graphs, when a possessive pronoun would be followed by an agent affix, the
possessive pronoun may also be bumped to the end of a past transitive
verb (turning into the intransitive past subject pronouns in the process), as
in
.r/ IęęX1 kuY a korpak y dtim. He saw my infant son.
52
THE VERB
.
Ś/ FćęęX1 kuY a korpak mn dt(t). We saw your infant son.
."Ś/ F7ęX1 kuY a korpakn yn dtn. They saw our infant sons.
The first example could also be expressed as
@/ Ię@ę@X1@ @ kuY a korpa-
km dt, but the combination of possessive pronoun + agent affix is gen-
erally avoided. Hence the bumped possessive.
ż 28. The Perfect Active Participle. The perfect active participle is formed
by adding - to the past stem of the verb. With past stems that end in vowels
the participle takes the form -w.
CONSONANT STEMS VOWEL STEMS
INFINITIVE PARTICIPLE INFINITIVE PARTICIPLE
ć htin > H ht Fć mn > Hć mw
s ę te-gayshtin > H tegaysht F'/HH1 r-dn > H'/HH1 rdw
Ś ę
HH/ kirdinawa > HHH/ kirdawa ć kYn > kYw
In meaning the perfect active participle corresponds roughly to the English
present perfect participle: H@@@@ ht having come, H
@@Ś@@ @@@@ ę@@@@ @@ tegaysht
having understood, HHH/@@@@@@@@@ kirdawa having opened, &c. Transitivity
and intransitivity are retained in the participle, i.e. @@@ @@@ kYw means having
bought in the active sense, not bought in the passive sense. (For the per-
fect passive participle, see ż34.1 below.)
The perfect active participle is principally used to form the present perfect
tense (see ż29 below), but it can also be used both adjectivally (H@@@Hę@@@@@@@@@X
pshkawt fallen behind, backward, H dnsht having sat down,
@@Ś@@ @@@@ @@'/
seated, and H@@@@Ś@@@@ @@@@ł@@@@ nust having gone to sleep, asleep ) and nominally
(H'/HH1 rdw event < F'/HH1 r-dn to happen, take place ).
ż 29. The Present Perfect Tense (Intransitive). The present perfect tense
of intransitive verbs is formed from the perfect active participle plus the
present copulas. Examples from F@@@ć mn to remain (perfect active partici-
ple H@@ć mw) and ć@@ @@ htin to come (perfect active participle H@@@@ ht)
are:
53
SORANI KURDISH
EHć mwim ć Hć mwn EH htm ć H htyn
Hć mw(t) FHć mwin
H hty(t) FH htn
Hć mwa FHć mwin H hta FH htn
The negative is formed by prefixing n-
EHćę nmwim ć Hćę nmwn EHę nhtm ć Hę nhtyn
&c.
Verbs ending in -awa are conjugated as follows. Note especially the infixed
-t- in the 3rd-person singular.
HęćHć mwimawa HęŁHć mwnawa HęćH htmawa HęŁH htynawa
HęŚHć mwtawa HęHć mwinawa HęŚH htytawa HęH htnawa
HęHć mwatawa HęHć mwinawa HęH htatawa HęH htnawa
For general purposes, the present perfect tense of Kurdish is equivalent to
the English present perfect ( I have come ). It is in all respects the exact
equivalent of the Persian past narrative (EH@@ htm = E'@ć" and H@ć mwa
=
@ł'@@ć), and this means that in Kurdish the present perfect is used in sit-
uations where an action or change of state in the past is felt to be of par-
ticular relevance to a present situation.
ż 29.1. The Present Perfect Tense (Transitive). The present perfect tense
of transitive verbs is made from the agent affixes plus the past participle
plus the 3rd-pers. pres. copula (-a), as in khwardin to eat and kYn to buy.
HH/1'ż E -im khwrda HH/1'ż Fć -mn khwrda
HH/1'ż * -it khwrda HH/1'ż F -tn khwrda
HH/1'ż I - khwrda HH/1'ż F -yn khwrda
E -im kYwa Fć -mn kYwa
* -it kYwa F -tn kYwa
I - kYwa F -yn kYwa
Verbs in -awa have a -t- inserted between the copula a and -awa, as in Hę@/@
54
THE VERB
kirdinawa to open and HęŁ2Ć/ doznawa to discover.
HęHH/ E -im kirdatawa HęHH/ Fć -mn kirdatawa
HęHH/ * -it kirdatawa HęHH/ F -tn kirdatawa
HęHH/ I - kirdatawa HęHH/ F -yn kirdatawa
Hę2Ć/ E -im dozwatawa Hę2Ć/ Fć -mn dozwatawa
Hę2Ć/ * -it dozwatawa Hę2Ć/ F -tn dozwatawa
Hę2Ć/ I - dozwatawa Hę2Ć/ F -yn dozwatawa
When nothing else is available to which the agent affixes may be joined,
they fall on the participle and are followed by the 3rd-person singular copu-
la -a (except the 3rd singular, which has the form -yat1), as in F/1'@ż khwr-
din and ć kYn:
ęćHH/1'ż khwrdma ęćHH/1'ż khwrdmna
ęHH/1'ż khwrdta ę HH/1'ż khwrdtna
ęHH/1'ż khwrdyat ę HH/1'ż khwrdyna
ęć kYwima ęć kYwmna
ę kYwita ę kYwtna
ę kYwyat ę kYwyna
When any other element is available, the agent affixes are joined thereto, as
in the negative:
HH/1'ę nmkhwrda HH/1'ćę nmnkhwrda
HH/1'Łę ntkhwrda HH/1' ę ntnkhwrda
HH/1'ę nykhwrda HH/1' ę nynkhwrda
ćę nmkYwa ćę nmnkYwa
ę ntkYwa ę ntnkYwa
ę nykYwa ę nynkYwa
1
The same -yat that results consistently from the 3rd-person singular enclitic -/-y
plus the 3rd-person singular copula. The spelling of this suffix is inconsistent. See
ż15 above.
55
SORANI KURDISH
ż 30. The Past Perfect Tense (Intransitive). For intransitive verbs with
past stems ending in a consonant (like hatin > hat-), the past perfect tense,
which is functionally equivalent to the English past perfect ( I had come,
you had gone ), is formed from the past stem + i + the past tense of bn to
be. Verbs with past stems ending in a vowel (like bn > b) form the past
perfect tense from the simple stem + the past tense of bn.
EHł htibm ć Hł htibyn
Hł htiby(t) FHł htibn
Hł htib FHł htibn
EHęH| chbm ć HęH| chbyn
HęH| chby(t) FHęH| chbn
HęH| chb FHęH| chbn
The negative is formed by prefixing n- to the verb:
EHłę nhtibm ć Hłę nhtibyn
Hłę nhtiby(t) FHłę nhtibn
Hłę nhtib FHłę nhtibn
The past perfect of bn to be can be slightly irregular. In addition to the
expected H@ęH@ę bb, there is also a conjugation based on the form H@ł@ę bib,
as follows:
EHłę bibm ć Hłę bibyn
Hłę IHłę biby(t) FHłę bibn
Hłę bib FHłę bibn
The past perfect tense is commonly used in the expression hesht + nega-
tive past perfect + ka ( no sooner had& than, scarcely had& when ).
Hesht nnustib ka No sooner had he gone to
ę@ę @ @ / ę@ H@ @ @ł@ę@
@
@Ś@ @@ @
dangŁk ba gwe gaysht. sleep than a sound
.
ę" "
reached his ear.
ż 30.1. The Past Perfect Tense (Transitive). The past perfect tense of
56
THE VERB
transitive verbs is formed, like that of intransitive verbs, from the past stem
+ -i- + the past tense of bn with the addition of the agent affixes some-
where. Past stems that end in vowels add b directly without the -i-. Exam-
ples: dtin and dn:
H / E -im dtib H / Fć -mn dtib Hę'/ E -im db Hę'/ Fć -mn db
H / * -it dtib H / F -tn dtib Hę'/ * -it db Hę'/ F -tn db
H / I - dtib H / F -yn dtib Hę'/ I - db Hę'/ F -yn db
As with all past transitives, if there is nothing else to which the agent affixes
can be attached, they go onto the end of the verb form, as in
EH / dtibm FćH / dtibmn EHę'/ dbm FćHę'/ dbmn
*H / dtibt F H / dtibtn *Hę'/ dbt F Hę'/ dbtn
IH / dtiby F H / dtibyn IHę'/ dby F Hę'/ dbyn
And if there is any available preverbal matter, the agent affixes are attached
thereto, as in negative and compound verbs. Examples: dtin and dar-hęnn.
H ćę nmdtib H ćę nmndtib
H ę ntdtib H ę ntndtib
H ę nydtib H ę nyndtib
Hę darimhenb Hę darmnhenb
Ł 1/
Ł ć1/
Hę darithenb Hę dartnhenb
Ł Ą1/ Ł 1/
Hę darhenb Hę darynhenb
Ł 1/ Ł 1/
ż 31. The Past Subjunctive. The intransitive past subjunctive is formed
like the past perfect, but instead of the past tense of bn, the present sub-
junctive of bn is added. Examples: htin and chn:
l htibim "ł htibn H| chbim "ęH| chbn
ł htib(t) m htibin
ęH| chb(t) ć H| chbin
ł htibe(t) m htibin
ęH| chbe(t) ć H| chbin
The negative is formed by prefixing n- to the verb:
57
SORANI KURDISH
lę nhtibim "łę nhtibn H|ę nchbim "ęH|ę nchbn
łę nhtib(t) mę nhtibin
ęH|ę nchb(t) ć H|ę nchbin
łę nhtibe(t) mę nhtibin
ęH|ę nchbe(t) ć H|ę nchbin
Transitive verbs are similarly formed (here, as usual, a 3rd-person singular
patient is assumed). Examples: dtin and dn:
/ @ -im dtibe(t) / F@ -mn dtibe(t)
/
@ -it dtibe(t) / FŚ@ -tn dtibe(t)
/ @ - dtibe(t) / F@ -yn dtibe(t)
'/ @ -im dbe(t) '/ F@ -mn dbe(t)
'/
@ -it dbe(t) '/ FŚ@ -tn dbe(t)
'/ @ - dbe(t) '/ F@ -yn dbe(t)
If there is no preverbal matter available, the agent affixes are attached to the
verb, as follows in the examples dtin and kirdinawa:
r Ś/ dtibetim F Ś/ dtibetmn
dtibetit F dtibettn
Ś Ś/
ŚŚ Ś/
t Ś/ dtibet F dtibetyn
Ś Ś/
Hę kirdibetimawa Hę ę/ kirdibetmnawa
@ ę/
Hę ę/ kirdibetitawa Hę ę/ kirdibettnawa
Hę ę/ kirdibetawa Hę ę/ kirdibetynawa
And if there is any available preverbal matter, the agent affixes are attached
thereto, as in dtin and dar-henn:
Śćę nmdtibe(t)
Śćę nmndtibe(t)
Śę ntdtibe(t)
Ś ę ntndtibe(t)
Śę nydtibe(t)
Ś ę nyndtibe(t)
ę darimhenbe(t)
ę darmnhenbe(t)
Ł 1/
Ł ć1/
ę darithenbe(t)
ę dartnhenbe(t)
Ł Ą1/ Ł 1/
ę darhenbe(t)
ę darynhenbe(t)
Ł 1/ Ł 1/
58
THE VERB
The past subjunctive is used (1) after all constructions that take subjunctive
complements when the complement is in the past, as, for example
(a) after / dbe must, as in
Pywakn dbe royshti- The men must have gone.
.m / F7HX
Ś Ć1
bin.
Dbe aw shitnt dtibe You must have seen those
.(mŚ/) / *ęŚ Hę /
(dtibin). things.
(b) for a past tense complement to a predicate adjective. Such comple-
mentary clauses are often introduced by the conjunction ę@ ka that, but it
is optional.
Rang a ka brn brbe(t). It s possible that it (has)
.(
ł1 ) 1 F'1 ę ę 1
rained.1
Lzim niya (ka) dtibetim. It s not necessary for me
.r Ś/ (ę) ę E2
to have seen it.
(2) in past clauses after superlatives (note that a relative-clause antecedent
modified by a superlative is in the indefinite state, & Łk).
yekamn kasŁk a ka hawł He is the first person who
'/ Hę ę ę łę "ćęę
dbe& has attempted&
&
In this type of clause the subject of the relative clause must be the same as
the noun modified by the superlative. In an example such as
yekamn kasŁk a ka dtma he s the first person I ve
ęćHŚ/ ę ę łę "ćęę
seen
the relative clause is not subjunctive because the subjects of the main clause
( he ) and of the relative clause ( I ) are different.
(3) in past relative clauses after negatives ( there isn t anyone who has
& ) or expressions with an essentially negative sense ( there are few who
have& )
1
Compare this with the present subjunctive:
@@ 1@@ł@@ę F'1 ę@@ ę@@@@ 1 rang a ka brn
bibre(t) it s possible that it will rain.
59
SORANI KURDISH
Kas niya (ka) am ktwy There isn t anyone who
IH@@@Ś@@@ Eę@@@ ę@@@ ę@@@@@@ 3ę@@@
nkhwendibe. hasn t read this book.
. Ł żę
Kam kas haya %ikyat a Rare is the person who has
H F@ ę@ę@@Ł ę@ę@ 3ę@ Eę@
kon u lamezhnakn i not heard old Kurdish
H ę@Xę@'/ I/1@ O7ę@Ł@@ @ć
kurd la dyapra u bb u stories of long ago from
I17 H 3ę@@@ H @@@'/ H (
dyk u kasukr i khoy his grandmother, grand-
.
ęę Iż
nbstibe. father, mother, and rela-
tives.
(4) after (H@@@@@@ H) CH wak() as though in the past for hypothetical situa-
tions (note that wak() followed by the indicative means just as for situ-
ations that have actually occurred)
Wak shitŁkyn br kawti- As though they remem-
& Hę łHę ęę F H H
betawa& bered something& 1
(5) in the past protasis of a possible conditional
Agar gyn i khom bakht If I have sacrificed my life
/@
@żę@ę E@ż O@@" 1ę@"ę@
kirdibe la penw i for the sake of my son, I
Eę@ @}@@ ć@ć @ć@ IH@ @ @X
kuYim , min hch i ka m do not want anything
.H
nwe. else.
ż 32. The Irrealis Mood. The irrealis mood, which expresses an unfulfilled
or unfulfillable contrafactual statement, usually dependent upon an unreal-
ized conditional, is identical to the past habitual tense (a- or da- + past
tense).
(a) The irrealis is used in the apodosis of contrafactual conditionals (see
ż33 below) and expressions that are contrafactual apodoses with ellipsis, as
in
Namatwn hch i tir I couldn t have done any-
.Eę } O'ęćę
bikam. thing else (even if I had
wanted to).
1
This may be contrasted with *Hę@ ę@ę F ę@Ś@ @ Hę@ H@ H wak aw shityn br kawt
just as they remembered that thing.
60
THE VERB
Har kasŁ wy dazn. Anybody would have
.O'2/ I'H łę 1ę
known.
(b) The irrealis is used after ę@@@@@@"2@@@@@@ż khozga would that for unfulfilled
wishes in the past:
Khozga jrŁk i tirsh Would that you had come
!
ę ś 1 ę"2ż
ahtt! some other time!
Khozga zistn ndaht! Would that winter had not
!*/ę FŚ ł2 ę"2ż
come!
ż 33. The Past Conditional. There are two forms of the past conditional
mood ( if I had gone, had I gone ). The first past conditional mood is
formed of the subjunctive prefix b- (negative n-) + the simple past conju-
gation + -ya.
INTRANSITIVE
ęń bhtimya ę bhtnya
ę bhttya ęŁ bhtinya
ę bhtya ęŁ bhtinya
TRANSITIVE
ę łHŁę E -im bnsya1 ę łHŁę Fć -mn bnsya
ę łHŁę * -it bnsya ę łHŁę F -tn bnsya
ę łHŁę I - bnsya ę łHŁę F -yn bnsya
The second past conditional is similarly formed, but the b- prefix is op-
tional, and instead of the personal endings + -ya, the verb is formed like
the past subjunctive but based on b-, a variant of the subjunctive of bn.
INTRANSITIVE
Eł Eł (b)htibm ć ł ć ł (b)htibyn
ł
ł (b)htiby(t) Fł Fł (b)htibn
1
Or, if there is nothing preceding to which the agent affix can be attached, the
forms are ę łHŁź bmnsya, ę łH ę btnsya, ę łH ę bynsya, &c.
61
SORANI KURDISH
(ę)ł (ę)ł (b)htib(ya) Fł Fł (b)htibn
TRANSITIVE
(ę) łHŁę E -im (b)nsb(ya) (ę)ł łHŁę Fć -mn (b)nsib(ya)
(ę)ł łHŁę * -it (b)nsib(ya) (ę)ł łHŁę F -tn (b)nsib(ya)
(ę) łHŁę I - (b)nsb(ya) (ę)ł łHŁę F -yn (b)nsb(ya)
The past conditional mood is used in the following instances:
(a) In contrafactual conditional sentences, the protasis (the if clause)
contains a verb in the past conditional mood, and in the apodosis (the result
clause) the verb is in the irrealis. Note, as in the last three examples below,
that agar may be elipsed from the protasis.
Agar dwene bhttya, If you had come yester-
*/'2@ ę@@ @ @@ @ H/ 1ę@"ę@
zdit ddt. day, you would ve seen
.
//
Azad.
Agar nmakat bnrdya, If you had sent the letter, it
.Yę"ę ę'/1Łę *ęęć 1ę"ę
gay. would ve arrived.
Agar bitnsya, la brit If you had written it, you
*ę@@ę ę@@@@@@ @@łH@@ @@ @@ę 1ę@@"ę@@
ndach. wouldn t have forgotten
.H|/ę
it.
Min agar bimznbya If I had known that it
F@ć@Hę@ ę@@ @ @'@ź 1ę@"ę@ ć@ć
awhmn basar de, am would happen thus to us,
Eę@@@@@@ 1 Eę@@ / 1ę@@łę@@ę
regy m nadagirtą bar u I wouldn t have taken
H E@@@@ż H 1ę@@@@ę ę@@@@@@@@"/ę@@@@
khom u bwkshimim tsh this road and I wouldn t
H@ćę@ Eę@ żH@
@@@ @H
i am ham badbakht u have caused myself and
ę@@O'@@ @@ @@ć H t@@żę@@ę/ę@@ę
młwern nadakird. my father to encounter all
./ /ę
this misfortune.
Mł ba mł bgaYytya, Had you gone around
ę@ @ę ę@@Ś@'ę@ @ć ę@ę @ć
@ @ @
bejiga la frat u minł house by house, you
@ @@łę@ {@@ @ @ć H *@Ó@
hch kasŁk i tirit ndad. wouldn t have seen any-
.I//ę *
one other than women
and children.
62
THE VERB
NansywŁk biydbn, ba Were someone who didn t
1ę@ ę@ę F@ł@@@ę @ H@@ @ł ę@
har dkyn dagut choła- know to see them, he
.ęę | *"/ O HH/
ka. would call them both
swallows.
Biywitya biro l aw bar- Had he said, Go throw
*@ż ę@'21ę@ę H Ć @ ę@ @@ę
z khot bikha khwra- yourself off that high
ę E@ż H1'@ż ę@ś
@Ś@ @@ż/
wa, khom dakhistą khw- place, I would have
.H1'ż
rawa. thrown myself off.
(b) The past conditional mood is used for past complements to @ @ shłł
( I wish ) and @ biry ( would that, functionally equivalent to khozga + ir-
realis [see ż32, above]) for unfulfilled wishes.
Shłł swr i karŁkshyn I wish they had mounted
F
@@ @@ @@ 1ę@ I1'@ł @ @
bkirdtya u kołn ba you on an ass and
O @ ę@ę F @ H ę@@Ś@/@@
kołn i shr biyngeYy- paraded you through
.ęŚ' ę 1
tya.1 every street in town.
Biry aw kry nakirdi- Would that he hadn t done
.ę / ę I17 Hę
bya. that.
ż 34. The Passive Voice. The past passive stem is constructed from the
present stem of a transitive verb + -r. The present passive stem is the pres-
ent stem + -re-. For example, from the stem bn see comes F'@@ę bnrn to
be seen, '@@ę bnr it was seen, and
@ @@ę/ dbnre(t) it is/can be seen ;
from the stem ner send comes F'1@ @ nerrn2 to be sent, '1@ @ nerr it was
sent, and
@@ 1@@ @@/ dnerre(t) it is sent. The past and present passives are
regularly conjugated:
PAST PASSIVE
E'ę bnrm ć 'ę bnryn E'1 nerrm ć '1 nerryn
'ę bnry(t) F'ę bnrn
'1 nerry(t) F'1 nerrn
1
Byngerytya = b (subjunctive prefix) + yn (agent affix) + ger (verb stem)
+ yt (2nd-person singular patient suffix) + ya (conditional suffix).
2
Since rr = Y, the verb nerrn is often written alternatively as F'Ćąą.
63
SORANI KURDISH
'ę bnr F'ę bnrn '1 nerr F'1 nerrn
PRESENT PASSIVE
ę/ dbnrem " ę/ dbnreyn 1 / dnerrem " 1 / dnerreyn
ę/ dbnrey(t) ć ę/ dbnren
1 / dnerreyt ć 1 / dnerren
ę/ dbnre(t) ć ę/ dbnren
1 / dnerre(t) ć 1 / dnerren
The past perfect passive conjugation is regularly formed as a vowel stem ( I
had been seen, I had been sent &c.):
EHę'ę bnrbm ć Hę'ę bnrbyn
Hę'ę bnrby(t) FHę'ę bnrbn
Hę'ę bnrb FHę'ę bnrbn
EHę'1 nerrbm ć Hę'1 nerrbyn
Hę'1 nerrby(t) FHę'1 nerrbn
Hę'1 nerrb FHę'1 nerrbn
Irregular passives. Although the passive is regularly and predictably formed
from the vast majority of verbs, the following common verbs have irregu-
larly formed passives:
ACTIVE PASSIVE
s bstin > F' bstrn bstre-, as well as the regularly formed
ę p ę
F'
*ż ę bsrn bsre-
F'/ dn > F'1/ d(i)rn d(i)re-
s/ dtin > F'1 ę bndrn bndre-, as well as the regularly formed
F'ę bnrn bnre-
ć " girtin > F'ę" grn gre-
ć " gotin > F' " gutrn gutre-
sż khistin > F'ż khirn khire-
F/1'ż khwrdin > F'1ż khurn khure-
F/ kirdin > F' k(i)rn k(i)re-
64
THE VERB
F/1 nrdin > F'1/1 nrdrn nrdre-, F'1/ nerdrn nerdre-, and the
regularly formed F'1 nerrn nerre-
F nn > ' n(i)rn n(i)re-
ć H witin > F' H witrn witre-
Other moods and tenses of the passive are regularly formed. All passive
verbs are intransitive by definition and therefore never form their past tenses
on the ergative model. Examples of passive constructions are as follows:
Pewst a am %ikyatn It is necessary that these
ę@@ ę@@@@Ł Eę@@ ę
@@Ś@@ @@@@ @@ @@X
binsrenawa u la chp stories be written down,
ć@ 1/ ~@ H Hę@Ł@ żH@Ł@ę
dren u biłw bikrenawa. printed, and published.
.HęŁ H ę H
TanakayŁk la bar dukna- A can had been set down
ę@@ę@@7H/ 1ę@@ę Cę@@ę@@ę@@ę@@
k d-nrb. in front of the shop.
.Hę' '/
ż 34.1. The Past Passive Participle. The past passive participle is regularly
formed from the past passive stem in -r + -w, giving, for example, H'@@@@@@@@@@ę
bnrw having been seen, H'1@ @ nerrw having been sent, and H'żH@ ns-
rw having been written. The negative participle is regularly made by pre-
fixing n- (H'@@@@ęę@@ nbnrw not having been seen, H'1@@ @@ę@@ nnerrw not
having been sent ).
From the past passive participle is made the present perfect passive conju-
gation ( I have been seen, I have been invited, &c.):
EH'ę bnrwim ć H'ę bnrwn
H'ę bnrw(t) FH'ę bnrwin
H'ę bnrwa FH'ę bnrwin
EH' bng krwim ć H' bng krwn
H' bng krw(t) FH' bng krwin
H' bng krwa FH' bng krwin
Examples of passive constructions:
F/ HH wit-kirdin to iron > F' HH wit-kirn to be ironed
65
SORANI KURDISH
ć 1 rez le-girtin to respect > F'ę 1 rez le-grn to be respected
Hę łH nsnawa to write down > Hę'żH nsrnawa to be written
down
barg a pk u tamz a wit- his nice, clean, ironed
IęH' HH łćę H CX ę"1ęę
kirwaky clothes
pywŁk i barz i rezlegrw an eminent, respected
H'ę
1 I21ęę HX
man
Zorba i zor i am %ikya- The vast majority of these
ę@@ ę@@@@Ł Eę@@ I1Ć2 Ię@@ę
1Ć2
tn nansrwinawa. stories have not been
.HęH'żHę
written down.
ż 35. Postposed Verbal Complements. With verbs of motion many verbal
complements are postposed, i.e. they come after the verb and are linked it
by the unstressed vowel ą. For example, chn is to go, but chną młŁ is
to go home. The linking vowel occurs in all persons in all tenses. In the
present tense the t inherent in the 2nd and 3rd persons singular is recovered
before the ą. An example of the present tense is that of chną młŁ:
ć ę / dchimą młŁ ć ę dchną młŁ
Ł |/
ć ę dchtą młŁ ć ę |/ dchiną młŁ
Ś |/
ć ę dchetą młŁ ć ę |/ dchiną młŁ
Ś |/
In the past tenses, the linking ą also comes between the verb and its comple-
ment. The t inherent in the 2nd person singular is always recovered. An ex-
ample of the paradigm for verbs with consonant-final stems is htiną darŁ,
to come out.
1/ ęń htimą darŁ 1/ ę htną darŁ
1/ ę httą darŁ 1/ ęŁ htiną darŁ
1/ ę htą darŁ 1/ ęŁ htiną darŁ
In 3rd-person singular past verbs ending in - and -, a t may be infixed (de-
pending upon dialect) between the verb and the linking ą, as in chną sh-
rawa to go to town and gayną mlawa to reach home.
66
THE VERB
H1 ęćH| chmą shrawa H1 ęŁH| chyną shrawa
H1 ęŚH| chytą shrawa H1 ęH| chną shrawa
H1 ęH| chtą shrawa1 H1 ęH| chną shrawa
Hę ć ę@ ę" gaymą mława Hę ć ę ę" gayyną mława
Hę ć ę ę" gayytą mława Hę ć ę ę" gayną mława
Hę ć ę ę" gaytą mława Hę ć ę ę" gayną mława
In past verbs that end in -, a y is infixed between the verb and the linking ą,
as in dną yek to throw together :
Cę ęć'/ dmą yek Cę ęć'/ dmną yek
Cę ę'/ dtą yek Cę ę '/ dtną yek
Cę ę'/ dyą yek Cę ę '/ dyną yek
Cę ę'/ E -im dyą yek Cę ę'/ Fć -mn dyą yek
Cę ę'/ * -it dyą yek Cę ę'/ F -tn dyą yek
Cę ę'/ I - dyą yek Cę ę'/ F -yn dyą yek
With verbs in -awa, the -awa suffix takes precedence over the directional
-ą, which is deleted. Compare the following:
I came to consciousness.
4 ęń Htimą hosh.
I regained consciousness.
4 Hęń Htimawa hosh.
When a postposed directional complement is turned into a preposed pro-
nominal enclitic, the directional -ą becomes -Ł.
Ayawe bigtą shr > He wants to get to town >
Hę@ę@ < 1@ ę@@@ Hę@ę@
Ayawe biygtŁ. He wants to get to it.
ę
Hargz ngamą aw kew a I ll never make it to those
@@@ @@@ Hę@@@ ę@@@ćę@@@" ł@@@"1ę@@@
drn > nyngamŁ. far-away mountains >
ćę < ę'1HH/
I ll never make it to
them.
1
H1 H| Chą shrawa also exists in some regions.
67
SORANI KURDISH
This also happens occasionally with the verb ę@@@@@@@@ę F'/ dn ba to give to, in
which case the preposition ba is deleted, its place taken by the directional
-Ł. A full conjugation of this phenomenon is illustrated by the following:
ć// *ęćę ama t dadamŁ I ll give this to you
// Eęćę ama m dadaytŁ you ll give this to me
'// F ęćę ama yn dadtŁ s/he ll give this to them
// ęćę ama y dadaynŁ we ll give this to him/her
// Fćęćę ama mn dadanŁ you ll give this to us
F// F ęćę ama tn dadanŁ they ll give this to you (pl)
Examples:
ShitŁk ba sulkarakn Let him give something to
< *'@ę F71ę@@ 'ą@ł ę@ę @ @ @
bdt > ShitŁkyn bdtŁ. the beggars > Let him
'ę F
give them something.
ShitŁkim b aw pyw I gave something to that
ć'/ < '/ HX Hęę
d > dmŁ man > I gave it to him.
Da dirwim bidarŁ. Give me ten dirhems.
.1ę EH'1/ /
Da hazr lrat dadamŁ. I ll give you ten thousand
. ć// *ę 1'2ę /
liras.
ż 36. Factitive Verbs. The factitive infinitive is formed from the present
stem of the intransitive (if the intransitive stem ends in -e, it is dropped) +
-(y)ndin. The present stem of all such verbs is in -(y)en-. Examples are:
F H1 rukhn (pres. stem rukhe-) F H1 rukhndin rukhen- to
to be destroyed > destroy
F/ć mirdin (pres. stem mir-) F'ć mirndin miren- to make
to die > die, to kill
s ę" gayshtin (pres. stem ga-) F ę" gayndin gayen- to make
to reach > reach, to deliver
s ę" te-gayshtin (pres. stem te- F ę" te-gayndin te-gayen- to
ga-) to understand > make understand
68
THE VERB
rew kher rkesh u khoy The fox quickly stretched
.'ć Iż H
1 ' I 1
mirnd. out and played possum
( made himself dead ).
lwakn khoyn gayndŁ. The youths got themselves
. ę" F ż F7H
to him.
agar %azim l am htin If I hadn t wanted to come
ę@'/@ ę@ ę@Ł@@ E E2ę@ 1ę@"ę@
nakirdya, damtwn ba on this trip, I could have
@@ @@ @@ 1@@ź ę@@ę O'@@ @@ć/
jorŁk tey bigayenim. made him understand
.Ś ę
somehow.
69
OTHER SYNTACTICAL FEATURES
ż 37. Expressions of Temporal Duration. For statives ( X state has been
going on for X amount of time ), the Kurdish temporal expression consists
of: the temporal + -(y)a + present perfect tense verb:
Chand słŁk a bs i cho- For several years now dis-
t@@ @@@@| ę@@@@ @@ @@ł @@ę@@
net i yekgirtin i shewa- cussion of how to unite
O@@ć2 O7@@ @@ @@ @@@@@@ę@@
kn i zimn i kurd ht- the dialects of the Kurd-
." ęH I/1
atą goYŁ. ish language has come to
the fore.
Chand s atek a l era I ve been sitting here for
.ęćH
Ś ęę ę ł ę
nshtma. several hours.
For present statives with the verb to be ( he s been here for X amount of
time ) the formula is: temporal + -(y)a + present copula:
Chwr sł a l era ya. He s been here for four
.ę ę ł 1'|
years.
For on-going, progressive action continuing to the present ( it s been rain-
ing for X amount of time ) the formula is: temporal + -(y)a + present pro-
gressive verb.
Chand rozhŁk a brn It s been raining for sever-
.1 / F'1 ę ŚĆ1 ę
dabre. al days.
Zor la mezh a daznim& I ve known for a very long
& N'2/ HH ć 1Ć2
time&
For negatives ( I haven t done X for X amount of time ) the formula is:
temporal + -(y)a + negative present perfect verb.
Chwr sł a nmndtna. We haven t seen them for
.ęHŚćę ę ł 1'|
four years.
Chand rozhŁk a brn It hasn t rained for several
.1 ę F'1 ę ŚĆ1 ę
nbrwa. days.
70
OTHER SYNTACTICAL FEATURES
For the past ( something had been going on for X amount of time ), the
formula is: temporal + (da)b + past progressive for affirmative or past per-
fect for the negative ( I hadn t done X for X amount of time ):
Chand rozhŁk dab brn It had been raining for
F'1 H@@@@ę/ @@@@ ŚĆ1 @@@@ę@@@@
dabr. several days.
.I1 /
Chand rozhŁk b brn It hadn t rained for several
F'1 H@@@@@ę @@@@@ ŚĆ1 @@@@@ę@@@@@
nbrb. days.
.Hł1 ę
Nizka i se chwr mng I hadn t seen him for near-
H@ę/ @ @ć 1'@| @ł Ię@@ @
dab namdtib. ly three or four months.
.H ćę
Zor la mezh b dam- I had known for a long
& O'ć/ Hę HH ć 1Ć2
zn& time that&
ż 38. Subordinating Conjunctions. Subordinating conjunctions generally
consist of prepositions + awa (ka), where the relative ka, as in relative
clauses (see ż39), is optional.
Conjunctions that mean after, like ę@ @@'H/ (la) dw ka, ę@ Hę@ 'H/
dw i awa ka, and ę@@@@ Hę@@@@ 4@@@@X (la) psh awa ka, are followed by an
indicative verb, present or past according to sense.
la dw ka chk After you are well again,
. łę Hę ęę C ę 'H/
abtawa, aybn. you ll see him.
dw i awa ka shr After the city was thrown
Ćż 1 ę IHę I'H/
khirosh, & into an uproar, &
Conjunctions that mean before (ę@@ IH 1ę@@ę bar l awa ka, ę@@ IHę@@ ś@@ @@X
pesh awa ka) are invariably followed by a present subjunctive verb. The
correct tense for English translation is gained from context.
bar l awa lfwak Before the torrent hurled
ę EŚ1@ ę@H@Ó IH 1ę@ę
@Ś@ @ @ @ę
hurizhm benetą sar zh- down on our rooms, the
F7ę@@ @@ @@ć F@@71HHŚ 1ę@@ł
raknmn, minłakn children were playing
./ ę F1 Hę X
pekawa yryn akird. together.
Other conjunctions that demand a subjunctive verb include ba be awa (ka)
without
71
SORANI KURDISH
ba be awa biybnim, dm- Without my seeing it, I
& ę O'ć/ Ś ę IHę ęę
zn ka& knew that&
and (ę) Hę ę bo awa (ka) in order that
aw yekam rozh bo kho- He had set that first day
F @ę IŚĆ1 Eę@ę@ Hę@
@Ł@ @'1@ż
rhenan, bo mashq dn- for getting ourselves ac-
@X IHę@ @ę H@ę '/ @ę@ć @ę
b, bo awa pe u pilmn customed, for practice, in
H@@@ćę@@@ H
@@@ @@@ę'1 F@@@ą@@@X H
rbet u la ham ryŁk- order that our legs and
ę@@ 1 Hę@ @ę F@ć@ż Hę@@ @HH1
awa khomn bo aw rega feet become accustomed
.ć ę /ć 1/ H 1HH/
dr u drezh mda bi- and that we make our-
kayn. selves ready in every way
for that long road.
bo awa pk u begunh i in order that he prove his
I@ż S @" H = @X IHę@ @ę
khoy bisałmene& innocence&
& ę
A short list of common subordinating conjunctions:
(ę) Ię 1ęć Hęę b aw marj (ka) provided that, on condition that (+
subj.)
(ę) IHę ęę ba be awa (ka) without (+ pres. subj.)
(ę) IH 1ęę bar l awa (ka) before (+ pres. subj.)
(ę) IHę ę bo awa (ka) in order that (+ pres. subj.)
H | chunk since
(ę) IHę I'H/ dw i awa (ka) after
ę j ka inasmuch as
ę ka when
7 7 ktŁ(k) when
(ę) Hę|Ięćę 4X psh ama/awa (ka) after
(ę) IHę ś X pesh awa (ka) before (+ pres. subj.)
ż 39. Relative Clauses. Relative clauses in Kurdish are often, but not nec-
essarily, introduced by the relative pronoun ka who, which, that. Syntac-
tically Kurdish relative clauses do not differ significantly from Persian rela-
tive clauses, with the exception of the omission of the relative pronoun,
72
OTHER SYNTACTICAL FEATURES
which does not happen in Persian. The antecedent of any relative pronoun,
expressed or omitted, is usually but not necessarily marked by enclitic -, -e,
or -Łk. Generally speaking, the relative pronoun ka may be omitted, particu-
larly when it functions as the object of the verb in the relative clause. The
relative pronoun is not often omitted when it functions as the subject
(logical or real) of the verb in the relative clause as in English ( the man
whom I met and the man with whom I went may be equally well ex-
pressed as the man I met and the man I went with, but the man who
came cannot become * the man came ).
If the syntactical function of the relative pronoun within the relative
clause is other than subject of the verb, the grammatical place is marked
within the clause by a referent pronoun that refers back to the relative.
The verb inside a relative clause modifying a true indefinite or nonspecific
antecedent is in the subjunctive, as in Persian. Examples follow.
sar i kuYak ka nustib, She took the head of the
H@ @ @ł@ ę@ Ię@@ I1ę@ł
la sar rn bird. boy, who had fallen
./ O'1 1ęł
asleep, from her lap.
In this example the relative pronoun ka functions as the subject of nustib
and is therefore not omissible and the antecedent is marked by -.
yekŁk la lwakn, ka bo One of the young men,
@@@@ę ę@@@@ F7H @@@@ @@@@ę@@@@
froshtin i barham ch- who had gone to town to
1@ H@ęH@| Eę@1ę@ę @ @Ć@Ó
bą shr, gaYyawa u sell produce, returned
.F'/ X "ć H Hę'ę"
mizgen pe dn. and gave them the good
news.
Here the relative pronoun ka refers to the antecedent yekŁk la lwakn. The
-Łk ending on yekŁk functions as the marker of the antecedent.
lt w nabe har arabŁ to Don t think every Arab
@@@ 1ę@@@ 1ę@@@ ę@@@ 'H *
tsh bt, am nwn gish you meet knows all these
ś@@" ę@@'H Eę@@
@@ @@ę żH@@
dazne. names.
. '2/
73
SORANI KURDISH
optional
relative
pronoun
relative clause
lt w nabe har arabe [ka] to tsh- bt am nwn gish dazne
referent
pronoun
In this example the referent pronoun - complementing tsh refers to the
antecedent, har arab, marked with the enclitic -e. The relative pronoun is
omitted. The verb tsh-bt is in the subjunctive because the antecedent is
nonspecific and the clause is hypothetical ( any and every Arab you may
meet 1).
to am kamn daynzn, Write down these few
O'@@@ / Ię@@@@@@ćę@@@ Eę@@@ @@@
biynnsawa. things you know.
.HęłHŁę
optional
antecedent relative
marker pronoun relative clause
to am kamn [ka] da- yn -zn biynnsawa
referent
pronoun
In this example the referent pronoun -yn in daynzn refers to the antece-
dent am kamn, which is marked as antecedent by - without the relative
pronoun. The -yn- in biynnsawa is a resumptive object pronoun, which,
strictly speaking, is optional since the object of binsawa has already been
stated (am kamn). Such resumptive object pronouns are often used after a
relative clause to make clear that the antecedent of the relative clause is
actually the object of the main verb.
l awna gilay le kirdn, It is different from those
FHH/@@@@ @@@@ I @@@@" Ię@@@@'H
jywz a. things he has complained
.2'H ź
of.
1
Compare the hypothetical subjunctive clause with the actual żH@@ ć@@ć 1ę@@ 1ę@@
ę@@@@@@@ćH@@@@@@@ę har arabŁ min tsh bma every Arab I ve met, where the antecedent is
definite and the verb of the relative clause describes something that has actually
happened.
74
OTHER SYNTACTICAL FEATURES
Here the referent pronoun -n, the bumped complement of the preposition
le, refers to the antecedent awna, which is so marked by - without the rel-
ative pronoun.
zor la khoy akird ka aw He was forcing himself to
HH/ Hę@ ę@ /@ ę@ I@ż I1Ć2
d firmesk a gawray hide those two large
Hę@ ę@ Ię@1Hę@" ę
@@@ @ć@Ó
aynawe bikawiną tears, which were about
.HęŚ 1 ę 1'ż ęHę
khwrŁ biynshretawa. to dribble down.
In this example the antecedent of the relative clause, d firmesk a gawray,
is marked by , and the relative pronoun is omitted. The -yn- in biyn-
shretawa is another example of a resumptive object pronoun.
brim la har shitŁk kirdi- Whatever I had thought
Eę@ę Hę@ @ @ę/@ @ @ @ 1ę@ Eę@ę
betawa, brim la mirdin about, I hadn t thought
.HHę/ćę F/ć
namkirdibawa. about dying.
In this example, @ @ @ 1ę@ har shitŁk whatever produces an indefinite rela-
tive clause; thus the verb brim kirdibetawa is subjunctive, and in this case,
past subjunctive.
ż 40. Directional Nouns in Ł. Certain nouns become quasi-adverbial direc-
tionals with the addition of unstressed -Ł. Among these are @ @ć młŁ home-
ward, 1HHŚ zhrŁ inward, and 1/ darŁ outward. These directionals
tend to occur as postposed directionals after -ą (see ż35).
ż 41. Orthographic Peculiarities of Sorani Kurdish. For the most part,
Sorani Kurdish is written in a phonetic version of the Arabic alphabet in
which all but one of the vowels are given graphic representations. Only the
vowel i is not represented internally in a word.
The only real inconsistency in the writing system is the representation of
the sequence ye, which is written ę@@@@@@, as though it were ya, which is written
the same. Both the writing of ye and the lack of indication of i go back to
early twentieth-century attempts to render Ottoman spelling more phonet-
ic and actually have nothing to do with Kurdish, but since Kurdish spelling
was devised during the late Ottoman period, it has been saddled with ę@@@@@ for
ye and nothing for i.
75
SORANI KURDISH
Writers of Kurdish, as well as writers of other languages using the Arabic
alphabet, are loathe to write several y s in sequence. It is probably safe to
say that a word like gayyn we arrived, which technically should be
spelled "@@@@ę@@", with three y s in a row (one for the first y, a second for the ,
and a third for the second y), will never be seen with all three y s. At most it
will appear as "@ę@", the same spelling as gayn you/they arrived. The same
applies to the sequence - i, i.e. a word ending in followed by the i of the
izfa: rarely is this sequence spelled with two y s; generally the - ending of
the word is spelled with y and the izfa y is omitted, as in
ę'Hę I1ęŁ / ę bo diłnarm i awna for placating them
%ikyat andza u brist i A story does not have a
Y@@Ś@@ @@ł1 H 2'@@ę@@ *ę@@@@Ł
dyrkrw niya. clearly defined size or
.ę IH' I1 /
length.
In the reading passages occasionally a zer vowel point has been inserted un-
P
der the y (I) to indicate the missing vowel of the izfa.
The same applies to the sequence y, where a word ends in and is fol-
lowed by the 3rd-person singular pronominal enclitic (possessive or agent
affix). Occasionally the sequence is spelled in full with the correct number
of y s, but normally only one y is written. This is particularly true when
there would be three y s, as in
młwy la khałk kird. He bade farewell to the
./ ę Y'Hć
people.
The sequence a, as in tnjak the hunting dog, is written as either
ę@ę@@ or ę@ę@@ , as though the sequence were -ya. The sequence Łk, given
the orthographic peculiarity of the -ek suffix after vowels, may be written as
ek or as yek, as in tnjŁk a hunting dog, which can be written either as
or more commonly as Cę .
There is also no unanimity among writers of Kurdish with regard to the
writing of compound words. Some put all the elements together, and others
leave each element separate. Thus, diłnarm is spelled either I1ę@@@@@@@@@@@@@/ or
I1ę@Ł@ /, and dyrkrw is either H'@ I1 / or H'@ 1 /. This is rarely troubling to
@
the reader, but the longer compounds like ś@@ @@ @@1ę@@ł sarinjYkesh attrac-
76
OTHER SYNTACTICAL FEATURES
tive become, the more difficult they become to recognize.
ż 42. Vowel Contractions. (1) The sequence -a- is often contracted to -e-,
as in ęę 1ęćę amarkak > ę 1ęćę amarkek.
(2) The sequences -wa- and -a- can be contracted to -o-, as in Hę@@@@H@@@@ę
bwatawa > Hę@@ę botawa, Hę@H@Ś@/ dtatawa > Hę@@Ś@/ dtotawa, and HH@ł@ę
bibawa > Hłę bibowa.
77
Verb Tenses and Moods
Present Habitual/Progressive (kawtin fall, nsn write, & qsa-kirdin speak )
SINGULAR PLURAL
EHę/ dkawim ć Hę/ dkawn
Hę/ dkaw(t) FHę/ dkawin
Hę/ dkawe(t) FHę/ dkawin
EHę nkawim ć Hę nkawn
EHę/ę ndakawim ć Hę/ę ndakawn
H/ dnsim "łH/ dnsn
łH/ dns(t) ćłH/ dnsin
łH/ dnse(t) ćłH/ dnsin
H nnsim "łH nnsn
H/ę ndansim "łH/ę ndansn
Eę/ ę qsa dkam ć ę/ ę qsa dkayn
/ ę qsa dkay(t) Fę/ ę qsa dkan
*7/ ę qsa dk(t) Fę/ ę qsa dkan
Eę ę qsa nkam ć ę ę qsa nkayn
Eę/ę ę qsa ndakam ć ę/ę ę qsa ndakayn
Present Subjunctive ( that I fall, &c.)
EHę bkawim ć Hę bkawn
Hę bkaw(t) FHę bkawin
Hę bkawe(t) FHę bkawin
EHęę nkawim ć Hęę nkawn
HŁę bnsim "łHŁę bnsn
łHŁę bns(t) ćłHŁę bnsin
łHŁę bnse(t) ćłHŁę bnsin
Hę nnsim "łHę nnsn
78
VERB TENSES AND MOODS
Eę(@ę) ę qsa (b)kam ć ę(@ę) ę qsa (b)kayn
ę(@ę) ę qsa (b)kay(t) Fę (@ę) ę qsa (b)kan
*7(@ę) ę qsa (b)k(t) Fę(@ę) ę qsa (b)kan
Eęę ę qsa nkam ć ęę ę qsa nkayn
Simple Past ( I fell, &c.)
FOR INTRANSITIVE: ć Hę KAWTIN TO FALL
Hę kwtim "Hę kwtn
Hę kwt(t) ć Hę kwtin
*Hę kwt ć Hę kwtin
Hęę nkawtim "Hęę nkawtn
Hęę nkawt(t) ć Hęę nkawtin
*Hęę nkawt ć Hęę nkawtin
FOR TRANSITIVE VERB FOLLOWED BY AGENT AFFIX: "łH NSN TO WRITE
łH nsm F łH nsmn
łH nsy(t) F łH nstn
łH nsy F łH nsyn
H ćę nmns HŁćę nmnns
HŁę ntns HŁ ę ntnns
HŁę nyns HŁ ę nynns
FOR AGENT AFFIX PRECEDING A TRANSITIVE VERB: F/ ę QSA-KIRDIN TO SPEAK
/ Eę qsm kird / Fćę qsmn kird
/ *ę qst kird / F ę qstn kird
/ Ię qsy kird / F ę qsyn kird
/ ę Eę qsam nkird / ę Fćę qsamn nkird
/ ę *ę qsat nkird / ę F ę qsatn nkird
/ ę Ię qsay nkird / ę F ę qsayn nkird
Past Habitual/Progressive (= Irrealis) ( I used to fall, I would have fallen, &c.)
79
SORANI KURDISH
Hę/ dkawtim "Hę/ dkawtn
Hę/ dkawt(t) ć Hę/ dkawtin
*Hę/ dkawt ć Hę/ dkawtin
Hęęę nakawtim (Sul.) "Hęęę nakawtn (Sul.)
Hę/ę ndakawtim "Hę/ę ndakawtn
H ć/ dmns HŁć/ dmnns
HŁ/ dtns HŁ / dtnns
HŁ/ dyns HŁ / dynns
Hęćę nmans (Sul.) Hęćę nmnans (Sul.)
Hćę nmdans Hćę nmndans
/ / Eę qsam dkird / / Fćę qsamn dkird
/ / *ę qsat dkird / / F ę qsatn dkird
/ / Ię qsay dkird / / F ę qsayn dkird
/ ęę Eę qsam nakird (Sul.) / ęę Fćę qsamn nakird
/ /ę Eę qsam ndakird / /ę Fćę qsamn ndakird
Present Perfect ( I have fallen , &c.)
EHHę kawtm ć HHę kawtyn
HHę kawty(t) FHHę kawtn
HHę kawta FHHę kawtn
EHHęę nkawtm ć HHęę nkawtyn
ęć łH nswima ęć łH nswmna
ę łH nswita ę łH nswtna
ę łH nswyat ę łH nswyna
łH ćę nmnswa łHŁćę nmnnswa
HH/ Eę qsam kirda HH/ Fćę qsamn kirda
HH/ *ę qsat kirda HH/ F ę qsatn kirda
HH/ Ię qsay kirda HH/ F ę qsayn kirda
HH/ ę Eę qsam nkirda HH/ ę Fćę qsamn nkirda
80
VERB TENSES AND MOODS
Past Perfect ( I had fallen, &c.)
EHłHę kawtibm ć HłHę kawtibyn
HłHę kawtiby(t) FHłHę kawtibn
HłHę kawtib FHłHę kawtibn
EHłHęę nkawtibm ć HłHęę nkawtibyn
EHł łH nsibm FćHł łH nsibmn
*Hł łH nsibt F Hł łH nsibtn
IH łH nsby F Hł łH nsibyn
Hł łH ćę nmnsib Hł łHŁćę nmnnsib
Hę/ Eę qsam kirdib Hę/ Fćę qsamn kirdib
Hę/ *ę qsat kirdib Hę/ F' ę qsatn kirdib
Hę/ Ię qsay kirdib Hę/ F ę qsayn kirdib
Hę/ ę Eę qsam nkirdib Hę/ ę Fćę qsamn nkirdib
Past Subjunctive ( that I have fallen, &c.)
lHę kawtibim mHę kawtibn
łHę kawtib(t) mę kawtibin
łHę kawtibe(t) mHę kawtibin
lHęę nkawtibim "łHęę nkawtibn
r łH nsbetim F łH nsbetmn
nsbetit F nsbettn
Ś łH
ŚŚ łH
t łH nsbet F nsbetyn
Ś łH
łH ćę nmnsbet
łHŁćę nmnnsbet
/ Eę qsam kirdibe / Fćę qsamn kirdibe
/ *ę qsat kirdibe / F ę qsatn kirdibe
/ Ię qsay kirdibe / F ę qsayn kirdibe
qsam nkirdibe / ę Fćę qsamn nkirdibe
/ ę Eę
Past Conditional I ( had I fallen, &c.)
ęńHę bkawtimya ę Hę bkawtnya
81
SORANI KURDISH
ę Hę bkawttya ęŁHę bkawtinya
ę Hę bkawtya ęŁHę bkawtinya
ęńHęę nkawtimya ę Hęę nkawtnya
ę łHŁź bmnsya ę łHŁź bmnnsya
ę łH ę btnsya ę łHŁŚę btnnsya
ę łH ę bynsya ę łHŁę bynnsya
ę łH ćę nmnsya ę łHŁćę nmnnsya
ę'/ Eę qsam bkirdya ę'/ Fćę qsamn bkirdya
ę'/ *ę qsat bkirdya ę'/ F ę qsatn bkirdya
ę'/ Ię qsay bkirdya ę'/ F ę qsayn bkirdya
ę'/ ę Eę qsam nkirdya ę'/ ę Fćę qsamn nkirdya
Past Conditional II ( were I to have fallen, &c.)
EłHę bkawtibm ć łHę bkawtibyn
IłHę bkawtiby FłHę bkawtibn
łHę bkawtib FłHę bkawtibn
EłHęę nkawtibm ć łHęę nkawtibyn
łHŁź bmnsb łHŁź bmnnsb
łH ę btnsb łHŁŚę btnnsb
łH ę bynsb łHŁę bynnsb
łH ćę nmnsb łHŁćę nmnnsb
/ Eę qsam bkirdib / Fćę qsamn bkirdib
/ *ę qsat bkirdib / F ę qsatn bkirdib
/ Ię qsay bkirdib / F ę qsayn bkirdib
/ ę Eę qsam nkirdib / ę Fćę qsamn nkirdib
PASSIVE TENSES AND MOODS
Present Passive ( I am seen )
ę/ dabnrem " ę/ dabnreyn
ę/ dabnrey(t) ć ę/ dabnren
82
VERB TENSES AND MOODS
ę/ dabnre(t) ć ę/ dabnren
ę nbnrem " ę nbnreyn
ę/ę ndabnrem " ę/ę ndabnreyn
Present Subjunctive Passive ( that I be seen )
bbnrem " bbnreyn
łę łę
bbnrey(t) ć bbnren
łę łę
bbnre(t) ć bbnren
łę łę
ęę nbnrem " ęę nbnreyn
Past Passive ( I was seen )
E'ę bnrm ć 'ę bnryn
'ę bnry(t) F'ę bnrn
'ę bnr F'ę bnrn
E'ęę nbnrm ć 'ęę nbnryn
Present Perfect Passive ( I have been seen )
EH'ę bnrwim ć H'ę bnrwn
H'ę bnrw(t) FH'ę bnrwin
H'ę bnrwa FH'ę bnrwin
EH'ęę nbnrwim ć H'ęę nbnrwn
Past Perfect Passive ( I had been seen )
EHę'ę bnrbm ć Hę'ę bnrbyn
Hę'ę bnrby(t) FHę'ę bnrbn
Hę'ę bnrb FHę'ę bnrbn
EHę'ęę nbnrbm ć Hę'ęę nbnrbyn
Past Subjunctive Passive ( that I have been seen )
'ę bnrbim "ę'ę bnrbn
ę'ę bnrb(t) ć 'ę bnrbin
83
SORANI KURDISH
ę'ę bnrbe(t) ć 'ę bnrbin
'ęę nbnrbim "ę'ęę nbnrbn
Past Conditional Passive ( had I been seen )
ęć' bibnrmya ęŁ' bibnrynya
łę łę
ęŚ' bibnrytya ę ' bibnrnya
łę łę
ę ' bibnrtya ę ' bibnrnya
łę łę
ęć'ęę nbnrmya ęŁ'ęę nbnrynya
84
Synopsis of Tenses and Moods
INTRANSITIVE TRANSITIVE PASSIVE
infinitive FH| F/ F'
chn bng kirdin bng krn
to go to invite to be invited
past EH| / E'
chm bngim kird bng krm
I went I invited him/her1 I was invited
past habitual EH|/ / / E' /
dachm bngim dakird bng dakrm
I used to go I used to invite him I used to be invited
pres. perf. EH| HH/ EH'
chwim bngim kirda bng krwim
I have gone I have invited him I have been invited
past perf. EHęH| Hę/ EHę'
chbm bngim kirdib bng krbm
I had gone I had invited him I had been invited
present / Eę/ /
(d)achim bng (d)akam bng (d)akrem
I( ll) go I( ll) invite I am (will be) invited
pres. subj. Eęę ę
bichim bng bikam bng bikrem
that I go that I invite that I be invited
past subj. H|
ę/ '
chbim bngim kirdibe(t) bng krbim
that I have that I have invited that I have been invited
gone him
1
Because of the ergative nature of the past tenses, a 3rd-person singular object is
built into the verb.
85
SORANI KURDISH
past cond. I ęćH ę'/ę ęć'ę
bichmya bngim bikirdya bng bikrmya
past cond. II E H|(@ę) / (@ę) E ' (@ę)
(bi)chbm bngim (bi)kirdib bng (b)krbm
had I gone had I invited him had I been invited
irrealis (= EH|/ / / E' /
past (d)achm bngim (d)akird bng (d)akrm
habitual) I would have I would have invited I would have been invited
gone him
Conditional Sentence Types
present/future possible (present subjunctive or simple past indicative protasis, in-
dicative apodosis)
.
ł / (H|)
1ę"ę Agar biche(t) (or ch), If he goes, he ll see them.
daynbne(t).
Ś
FŚ ł/1 (ęŚH|) ę 1ę"ę Agar bchtą (or chytą) If you go to Kurdistan,
. / I/1 I Ó Kurdistn, fer i kurd you ll learn Kurdish.
dab.
past possible (past subjunctive protasis, indicative apodosis)
.Fę 1 ÓH H 1ę"ę Agar l awe wafr brbe, If it has snowed there, they
nyen. won t be coming.
H| Ię N'2 H| 1ę"ę Agar chbe, nznim kay If he has gone, I don t
.1/ chą darŁ. know when he went out.
I Ó / FŚ ł/1 ę ęH| 1ę"ę Agar chbtą Kurdistn, If you have gone to Kurd-
.nę I/1 dabe fer i kurd bib. istan, you must have
learned Kurdish.
O' FŚ ł/1 ę ęH|ę 1ę"ę Agar nchbtą Kurdistn, If you haven t gone to
.nę I/1 I Ó ntwn fer i kurd bib. Kurdistan, you can t have
learned Kurdish.
contrafactual (past conditional protasis, past habitual apodosis)
86
SYNOPSIS OF TENSES AND MOODS
.s/ ę'H 1ę"ę Agar bichya, daydtin. If he had gone, he would
have seen them./ If he
were to go, he would see
them.
I Ó FŚ ł/1 ęŚH 1ę"ę Agar bchytya Kurdis- If you had gone to Kurd-
.IHę/ I/1 tn, fer i kurd daby. istan, you would have
learned Kurdish.
I Ó FŚ ł/1 ęŚH|ę 1ę"ę Agar nchytya Kurdis- If you hadn t gone to
.IHę/ę I/1 tn, fer i kurd ndaby. Kurdistan, you wouldn t
have learned Kurdish.
87
Conversion Table for the Sorani and Kurmanji Alphabets
Recently there have been attempts, particularly on the internet and on the
part of Kurds influenced by speakers of Kurmanji Kurdish, to write Sorani
in the Latin-based Kurmanji alphabet. The conversion is as follows:
Sorani Sorani Arabic Kurmanji
a G e
' a
b ( b
ch ą
d / d
e ę
f A f
g Ż g
gh : x
h G - h
i _ i
j , c
k k
kh . x
l D l
ł ll
m E m
n F n
o Ć o
p ~ p
q B q
r 1 r
Y rr
s 3 s
sh 4 _
t * t
u H u
HH
v ń v
88
CONVERSION TABLE FROM SORANI TO KURMANJI
w H w
y y
z 2 z
zh Ś j
9 (not indicated)
In writing Sorani in the Kurmanji alphabet, a one-to-one correspondence is
observed. The i of the izfa after consonants is written as joined directly to
the preceding word, but after vowels it is usually written as y, as in ray gi_t
for t@@ @@@@" '1 r i gisht public opinion and zarawey zanist for t@@ @@@@ '2 H'1'2
zrwa i znist scientific language. An example of such transcribed text
is given below:
Ber le Sedam Husęn h berpirsęk Ęraq newęrawe mza le ser rękkew-
tinęk bikat ke otonom bidate kurd, ew_ le 11- adar 1970 rękkewtin-
name benawbangekey adar legell Mela Mistefa Barzan mor kird, tefsr
ciyaciya bo karekey (cęgir berręz) dekira. Hendę deyanut be rast deyewę
ew birne qlley cestey Ęraq tmar bikat, hendęk dke_ deyanut deyewę
pi_tgr hęz serbazy bo xoy misoger bikat bxate jęr rikęf xoyewe,
diway ewey le biwarekan emn rageyandin hizb da ew pallpi_tiyey
misoger kirdib.1
In Arabic script the passage is as follows:
ę@ *@ Ź@ @ @Hę@ę@ę@ 1 1ę@ł '@@@ @ H'@ Hę@ 5'@ @ ż@ę@ @ @ł@ 1ę@ę {@@ ć@ @ł@Ł E'/ę@ł 1ę@ę
ę@ć ę@" 1'/@ ę@ę@ H ę@ę ę@ć@ @ @Hę@ęę 1 aig` 1'/@ aa ś@ Hę@ /1@ ę@'@ę ż@ć@@@
@ @ @
ę@ę *@ / @ę@ .'@ / (@ ę@ę @ @ź) ę@17 @ę @ @ź@ @ź ę@@Óę@ /@ 1@ć O'21 @Óę
@ @Ś@ @@ć
Hę@/ *@ / 4ę@ę / ż@ę @ę@ *@ 1 @ B'@ @ ę@Ś@ @łę@ ę@ H@ ę@Ł@@ Hę@ Hę@/ t@ @ł'1
@ @
Hę@ 'H/ Hę@@ż ż@@ @1 @ Ś ę@@ @ę H *@ 1ę@"@@ć @ż @ę Y2 1ę@ł @ @ @
@ ę@Ś@ @@
.Hę/ 1ę"ć ęt
X Hę '/ Ł H F ę" 1 H ćę O71'ę
An example of a slightly different form of transcription sometimes used on
the internet is as follows:
Ke delln ziman Kurd, mebest ew zimaneye ke sta Kurd qisey pdeken.
Gel zimanwan u rojh hellatnas hender (fereng) degell ziman Kurd
xerk bśne, zurbey ew zanayaney ke be shweyk gisht ya taybet le
ziman Kurd duwawin gutśyane ke em zimane le biney zimanekan Hnd
1
Taken from the internet at www.kerkuk-kurdistan.com/hevpeyvinek.asp?ser=1&
cep=4&nnimre=281).
89
SORANI KURDISH
u Urupay u binemalley Hnd u ran u le xzane ziman ran ye u degell
ziman Fars xizmayet nizk heye. Ja ziman Kurd ke ewe rewisht con
peyda buwe? Ashkiraye ziman hemś willat ziman danshtiwan willa-
teke deb, eger rodawekan mjhśy all u gorrk neteweyyan le willate-
keda pk nehnab ewa zimanekeysh her ziman danshtiwekan kon
willatekeye u pcewaney emesh pcewane deb. Ja bizann babeteke bo
ziman Kurd cone?1
In Arabic script, this text is as follows:
ę@ŚĆ1 H F'@@ć2 @ę@" .Fę@@ @X ę@@ /1@ ę@ ę@ę@@ć2 Hę@
@łę@ęę@ć /1@ O@ć2 "@ / ę@
@Ś@ @@ @
@ @ @ ę@ę ę@ ę@ '2 Hę@ ę@ę ę@H@ę Ź@ 1ę@ /1@ O@ć2 ę@"/ (ż@ 1ę@Ó) 1@ę@ @Ł@
1H2 @
H Y@XH1@H@Ł@ O7ę@@ć2 ę@Ł@ę ę@@ć2 Eę@ ę@ ę@ H@@" FH'H/ /1@ O@ć2 ę@ł@ t@ @@" =ę@
O@ć2 @ .ę@ę@ ż@ę @ ę@@ć@ż 1@Ó F@ć2 ę@"/ H ę@O'@ @ O@ć2 ę@'@ @ H O'@ @H@Ł@ ę@ @ćę@Ł@ę
@
ę@ę@ H O' O@ć2 H H@ćę@ O@ć2 ę@'@ę@@ H@ę '@ę@X F@| t@ @H1 Hę@ ę@ /1@
@Ś@ @@ @'/
ś@ ę@ę@@ć2 'Hę@ Ź@ @X '/ę@ę@ H F YHę@ę@ ż@ę @"@ @ YHH@ @ć O7H'/Ć1 1ę@"ę@ /
@Ł@ @ę@ @
@ę ę@ę@ę@ę "@'@ @ . / ę@'Hę@ @X 4ę@ćę@ ę@'Hę@ @X H ę@ę@ę@ H O@ O7 O@ć2 1ę@
@ @ @Ś@ @@ @'/
ę| /1 Oć2
1
Taken from the website www.kurdishacademy.org/ku/history/history.html.
90
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