Kurdish alphabets
Kurdish is written using either of two alphabets: the Latin-based Bedirxan or Hawar alphabet, introduced by Celadet Alî Bedirxan in 1932 and popularized through the Hawar magazine, and the Kurdo-Arabic alphabet.[1][2] The Kurdistan Region has agreed upon a standard for Central Kurdish, implemented in Unicode for computation purposes.[3] The Hawar alphabet is primarily used in
Hawar alphabet
Usually it is the northern languages spoken by
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
Majuscule forms (also called uppercase or capital letters)
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A | B | C | Ç | D | E | Ê | F | G | H | I | Î | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | Ş | T | U | Û | V | W | X | Y | Z |
Minuscule forms (also called lowercase or small letters)
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a | b | c | ç | d | e | ê | f | g | h | i | î | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | ş | t | u | û | v | w | x | y | z |
In this alphabet the short vowels are E, I and U while the long vowels are A, Ê, Î, O and Û (see the IPA equivalents in the Help:IPA/Kurdish table).
When presenting the alphabet in his magazine Hawar, Celadet Alî Bedirxan proposed using diacritics on ⟨ḧ ẍ⟩ to distinguish the Arabic غ and ح sounds (see [1] page 12, 13). These are not considered letters, but are used to disambiguate loanwords that would otherwise be conflated.
Turkey does not recognize this alphabet. Using the letters Q, W, and X, which did not exist in the Turkish alphabet until 2013, led to a trial in 2000 and 2003 (see [2], p. 8, and [3]). Since September 2003, many Kurds applied to the courts seeking to change their names to Kurdish ones written with these letters, but failed.[6]
The Turkish government finally legalized the letters Q, W, and X as part of the Turkish alphabet in 2013.[7]
History
The Kurdish Latin alphabet was elaborated mainly by Celadet Bedirxan who initially had sought the cooperation of
Kurdo-Arabic alphabet
Many Kurdish varieties, mainly Sorani, are written using a modified Persian alphabet with 33 letters introduced by Sa'id Kaban Sedqi. Unlike the Persian alphabet, which is an abjad, Central Kurdish is almost a true alphabet in which vowels are given the same treatment as consonants. Central Kurdish does not have a complete representation of Kurmanji Kurdish sounds, as it lacks i. Written Central Kurdish also relies on vowel and consonant context to differentiate between the phonemes u/w and î/y instead of using separate letters. It does show the two pharyngeal consonants, as well as a voiced velar fricative, used in Kurdish.
A new sort order for the alphabet was proposed some time ago by the Kurdish Academy as the new standard,[11] all of which are letters accepted included in the Central Kurdish Unicode Keyboard:[12]
ع | ش | س | ژ | ز | ڕ | ر | د | خ | ح | چ | ج | ت | پ | ب | ا | ئـ |
17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
ێ | ی | وو | ۆ | و | ە | ھ | ن | م | ڵ | ل | گ | ک | ق | ڤ | ف | غ |
34 | 33 | 32 | 31 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 18 |
The alphabet is represented by 34 letters including وو which is given its own position. Kurds in Iraq and Iran use this alphabet. Although the Kurdistan Region's standardization uses ک (Unicode 06A9) instead of ك (Unicode 0643) for letter kaf (22 in above table) as listed in the Unicode table on the official home page,[12] the latter glyph is still in use by various individuals and organizations.
Vowels
Central Kurdish has seven vowels, all of them except /ɪ/ are represented by letters:[13]
# | Letter | IPA | Example |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ا | aː | با /baː/ "wind" |
2 | ە | æ, ɛ | مەزن /mɛzɪn/ "great" |
3 | و | ʊ | کورد /kʊɾd/ "Kurd" |
4 | ۆ | oː | تۆ /toː/ "you" |
5 | وو | uː
|
دوور /duːɾ/ "far" |
6 | ی | iː | شین /ʃiːn/ "blue" |
7 | ێ | eː | دێ /deː/ "village" |
Similar to some letters in English, both و (u) and ی (î) can become consonants. In the words وان[a] (Wan) and یاری[b] (play), و and ی are consonants. Central Kurdish stipulates that syllables must be formed with at least one vowel, whilst a maximum of two vowels is permitted.
Historical alphabets
Old Kurdish script
An old Kurdish alphabet is documented by the Muslim author Ibn Wahshiyya in his book Shawq al-Mustaham written in 856 A.D. Ibn Wahshiyya writes: "I saw thirty books in Baghdad in this alphabet, out of which I translated two scientific books from Kurdish into Arabic; one of the books on the culture of the vine and the palm tree, and the other on water and the means of finding it out in unknown ground."[14] It has also been claimed by “Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies” that the Old Kurdish script, like several other scripts found in Ibn Washiyya's book, are fantastical inventions.[15]
Cyrillic alphabet
A third system, used for the few (Kurmanji-speaking) Kurds in the former Soviet Union, especially in Armenia, used a Cyrillic alphabet, consisting of 40 letters. It was designed in 1946 by Heciyê Cindî.[16]
А а | Б б | В в | Г г | Гʼ гʼ | Д д | Е е | Ә ә
|
Әʼ әʼ | Ж ж |
З з | И и | Й й | К к | Кʼ кʼ | Л л | М м | Н н | О о | Ӧ ӧ
|
П п | Пʼ пʼ | Р р | Рʼ рʼ | С с | Т т | Тʼ тʼ | У у | Ф ф | Х х |
Һ һ
|
Һʼ һʼ | Ч ч | Чʼ чʼ | Ш ш | Щ щ | Ь ь | Э э | Ԛ ԛ
|
Ԝ ԝ
|
Armenian alphabet
From 1921 to 1929, a modified version of the Armenian alphabet was used for Kurmanji, in the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic.[18][19]
It was then replaced with a Yañalif-like Latin alphabet during the campaigns for Latinisation in the Soviet Union.
Soviet Latin alphabet
In 1928, Kurdish languages in all of the Soviet Union, including the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, were switched to a Latin alphabet containing some Cyrillic characters: a, b, c, ç, d, e, ә, f, g, г, h, i, ь, j, k, ʀ, l, m, ɴ, o, ө, w, p, n, q, ч, s, ш, ц, t, u, y, v, x, z, ƶ. In 1929 it was reformed and was replaced by the following alphabet:[20]
A a | B b | C c | Ꞓ ꞓ
|
Ç ç | D d | E e | Ə ə |
Ə́ ə́
|
F f | G g | Ƣ ƣ
|
H h | Ħ ħ
|
I i | J j |
K k | Ⱪ ⱪ | L l | M m | N n | O o | Ɵ ɵ | P p |
Ҏ ҏ | Q q | R r | S s | Ş ş | T t | Ţ ţ | U u |
V v | W w | X x | Y y | Z z | Ƶ ƶ
|
Ь ь |
The Soviet Latin alphabet is no longer used.
Yezidi script
Yezidi | ||
---|---|---|
Unicode range | U+10E80..U+10EBF |
The
It is believed that historically, there existed two sacred Yezidi manuscripts known as Meshefa Reş and Kitêba Cilwe, but the originals were lost. Later copies of these manuscripts were found, written in a special Yezidi alphabet, however, their contents was distorted. As a result, while the Yazidi clergy do recognize the Yezidi alphabet, they do not consider the content of these two manuscripts to be sources of the Yezidi religion.[21][22]
In 2013, the Spiritual Council of Yazidis in Georgia decided to revive the Yezidi script and use it for writing prayers, religious books, on the organization letterhead and in the Yazidi heraldry.[23][24] Today, it is used by the Yazidi clergymen in the Yazidi temple of Sultan Ezid at Tbilisi, where the names of the Yazidi saints are written on walls in this alphabet. Furthermore, Dua'yêd Êzdiyan, a book containing a collection of Yazidi prayers, was written and published in the Yezidi alphabet.[23]
Comparison of Kurdish alphabets
Latin | Cyrillic | Arabic | Yezidi | IPA | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hawar | Soviet | (isolated) | (final) | (medial) | (initial) | |||
A, a | А, а | А, а | ا | ـا | — | 𐺀 | [aː] | |
B, b | B, b | Б, б | ب | ـب | ـبـ | بـ | 𐺁 | [b] |
C, c | Ç, ç | Щ, щ | ج | ـج | ـجـ | جـ | 𐺆 | [d͡ʒ] |
Ç, ç | C, c | Ч, ч | چ | ـچ | ـچـ | چـ | 𐺇 | [t͡ʃ] |
Ç, ç[25] | Ꞓ, ꞓ | Чʼ, чʼ | — | 𐺈 | [t͡ʃʰ][25] | |||
D, d | D, d | Д, д | د | ـد | د | 𐺋 | [ d ]
| |
E, e | Ә, ә | Ә, ә | ە | ـە | ە | 𐺦 | [ɛ] | |
Ê, ê | E, e | (Э, э)[c]; (E, e) | ێ | ـێ | ـێـ | ێـ | 𐺩 | [eː] |
F, f | F, f | Ф, ф | ف | ـف | ـفـ | فـ | 𐺙 | [f] |
G, g | G, g | Г, г | گ | ـگ | ـگـ | گـ | 𐺟 | [ɡ] |
H, h | H, h | Һ, һ | ھ | — | ـھـ | ھ | 𐺧 | [h] |
H, h[27][d] | Ħ, ħ | Һʼ, һʼ | ح | ـح | ـحـ | حـ | 𐺉 | [ħ] |
I, i | Ь, ь | Ь, ь | — | — | [] | |||
Î, î | I, i | И, и | ی | ـی | ـیـ | یـ | 𐺨 | [iː] |
J, j | Ƶ, ƶ | Ж, ж | ژ | ـژ | ژ | 𐺐 | [ʒ] | |
K, k | K, k | К, к | ک | ـک | ـکـ | کـ | 𐺝 | [k] |
K, k[29] | Ⱪ, ⱪ | Кʼ, кʼ | — | — | [c] | |||
L, l | L, l | Л, л | ل | ـل | ـلـ | لـ | 𐺠 | [ l ]
|
L, l; (ll)[30] | L, l | Лʼ, лʼ | ڵ | ـڵ | ـڵـ | — | 𐺰 | [ ɫ ]
|
M, m | M, m | М, м | م | ـم | ـمـ | مـ | 𐺡 | [m] |
N, n | N, n | Н, н | ن | ـن | ـنـ | نـ | 𐺢 | [ n ]
|
O, o | O, o | O, o | ۆ | ـۆ | ۆ | 𐺥 | [o], [o̟ː], [o̽ː],[31] [oː] | |
— | Ɵ, ɵ[e] | — | — | — | [o̽ː] | |||
P, p | P, p | П, п | پ | ـپ | ـپـ | پـ | 𐺂 | [p], [pʰ][32] |
P, p[32] | Ҏ, ҏ | Пʼ, пʼ | — | 𐺃 | [pˤ] | |||
Q, q | Q, q | Ԛ, ԛ | ق | ـق | ـقـ | قـ | 𐺜 | [q] |
R, r | R, r | Р, р | ر | ـر | — | 𐺍 | [ɾ] | |
R, r; (rr)[33] | R, r | Рʼ, рʼ | ڕ | ـڕ | ڕ | 𐺎 | [ r ]
| |
S, s | S, s | С, с | س | ـس | ـسـ | سـ | 𐺑 | [s] |
Ş, ş | Ş, ş | Ш, ш | ش | ـش | ـشـ | شـ | 𐺒 | [ʃ] |
T, t | T, t | Т, т | ت | ـت | ـتـ | تـ | 𐺕 | [ t ]
|
T, t[34] | Ţ, ţ | Тʼ, тʼ | — | — | [tʰ] | |||
U, u | U, u | Ӧ, ӧ | و | ـو | و | 𐺣 | [u] | |
Û, û | Y, y | У, у | وو | ـوو | — | 𐺣𐺣 | [uː], [ʉː][35] | |
— | — | — | ۊ | ـۊ | ـۊ | — | [yː] | |
V, v | V, v | В, в | ڤ | ـڤ | ـڤـ | ڤـ | 𐺚 𐺛 | [v] |
W, w | W, w | Ԝ, ԝ | و | ـو | و | 𐺤 | [w] | |
X, x | X, x | Х, х | خ | ـخ | ـخـ | خـ | 𐺊 | [x] |
X, x[f] | Ƣ, ƣ | Гʼ, гʼ | غ | ـغ | ـغـ | غـ | 𐺘 | [ɣ] |
Y, y | J, j | Й, й | ی | ـی | ـیـ | یـ | 𐺨 | [j] |
Z, z | Z, z | З, з | ز | ـز | ز | 𐺏 | [z] | |
— | Ə́, ə́ | Әʼ, әʼ | ع | ـع | ـعـ | عـ | 𐺗 | [ʕ] |
See also
Notes
- ^ Kurdish pronunciation: [wɑːn]
- ^ Kurdish pronunciation: [jɑɾiː]
- ^ At the beginning of a word.[26]
- ^ Unofficially, (Ḧ, ḧ) is used to distinguish the sound.
- ^ Argues for the distinction of the letters. As can be used in the spelling of "Xoşe" instead of "Xweşe", for example. Soviet Latin: Xөşә.
- ^ Unofficially, (Ẍ, ẍ) is used to distinguish the sound.
References
- ISSN 2147-883X.
- ^ Thackston, W. M. (2006). "—Sorani Kurdish— A Reference Grammar with Selected Readings" (PDF). Harvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences: 4.
- ^ "Kurdistan Regional Government". cabinet.gov.krd (in Kurdish). Archived from the original on 2020-11-22. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
- ^ Syan, Karwan Ali Qadir (2017). Media in an emergent democracy: the development of online journalism in the Kurdistan region of Iraq (PhD thesis). University of Bradford.
- ^ "Language in Erbil | Erbil Lifestyle". erbillifestyle.com. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
- television channel in Turkey.
- ^ Mark Liberman (2013-10-24). "Turkey legalizes the letters Q, W, and X. Yay Alphabet!". Slate. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
- ISBN 978-3-03911-209-8.
- ^ Gorgas, Jordi Tejel (2007), p.305
- ^ Bahadur, Muhamadreza. "Kirmaşanî Alphabet and Pronunciation Guide". Retrieved 2023-08-13 – via Academia.edu.
- ^ (in Kurdish) گۆڤاری ئەکادیمیای کوردی، ژمارە (١٦)ی ساڵی ٢٠١٠ (The 2010 Journal of Kurdish Academy, Issue 16), 14-16
- ^ a b Unicode Team of KRG-IT. "Kurdish Keyboard". unicode.ekrg.org. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
- ^ "ڕێنووس". yageyziman.com. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
- ISBN 978-1498138833.
- ^ "The Occult Sciences in Pre-modern Islamic Culture" (PDF). Hypotheses. Orient-Institut Beirut, American University of Beirut. 2013-11-27. Retrieved 2021-11-17.
- ^ Һʼ. Щнди (1974). Әлифба (3000 экз ed.). Ереван: Луйс. p. 96.
- ^ "Different Kurdish Scripts' Comparison" (PDF).
- ^ (in Russian) Курдский язык (Kurdish language), Кругосвет (Krugosvet)
- ^ "Kurdish language, alphabets and pronunciation". omniglot.com. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
- ^ (in Russian) Культура и письменность Востока (Eastern Culture and Literature). 1928, №2.
- ^ "YAZIDIS i. GENERAL" at Encyclopædia Iranica
- .
- ^ a b Rovenchak, A., Pirbari, D., & Karaca, E. (2019). L2/19-051R Proposal for encoding the Yezidi script in the SMP of the UCS.
- ^ Rovenchak, A. (2019). Information on Yezidi UUM and hamza.
- ^ a b "ç", Wîkîferheng (in Kurdish), 2023-07-06, retrieved 2023-08-11
- ^ "Different Kurdish Scripts' Comparison" (PDF).
- ^ "h", Wîkîferheng (in Kurdish), 2023-07-06, retrieved 2023-08-11
- ^ "i", Wîkîferheng (in Kurdish), 2023-07-13, retrieved 2023-08-13
- ^ "k", Wîkîferheng (in Kurdish), 2023-07-06, retrieved 2023-08-11
- ^ "l", Wîkîferheng (in Kurdish), 2023-07-13, retrieved 2023-08-11
- ^ "o", Wîkîferheng (in Kurdish), 2023-07-06, retrieved 2023-08-11
- ^ a b "p", Wîkîferheng (in Kurdish), 2023-08-05, retrieved 2023-08-11
- ^ "R", Wîkîferheng (in Kurdish), 2023-07-13, retrieved 2023-07-19
- ^ "t", Wîkîferheng (in Kurdish), 2023-07-30, retrieved 2023-08-11
- ^ "û", Wîkîferheng (in Kurdish), 2024-02-22, retrieved 2024-02-22