5. Writing and reading
🟢 Destpêk · Dersa 5 ji 23
Ev rûpel niha bi îngilîzî ye.
Words and spaces
Kurmanji is written left to right with spaces between words, like English. Unlike Sorani, most grammatical pieces are separate words: prepositions (li malê “at home”), the copula (ez kurd im “I am Kurdish”) and the future particle (ez ê biçim). Only real suffixes (case, ezafe, -ek, plural -an) and verb prefixes (di-, bi-, na-) are attached.
| written apart | attached |
|---|---|
| ez kurd im I am Kurdish | dixwînim I read |
| li malê at home | malê house (oblique) |
| ji min re for me | pirtûkek a book |
Capital letters and apostrophes
Capitals start sentences and names. When a case or ezafe ending is added to a name, especially a foreign one or an abbreviation, an apostrophe separates it: Amedê but HDP’ê. Native Kurdish names usually take the ending directly: Rojdayê.
Numbers
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yek | du | sê | çar | pênc | şeş | heft | heşt | neh | deh |
| # | Kurdish | Arabic script | IPA | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | yek, du, sê, çar, pênc | یەک، دو، سێ، چار، پێنج | /jɛk dʊ seː tʃaːɾ peːndʒ/ | one, two, three, four, five |
| 2 | şeş, heft, heşt, neh, deh | شەش، هەفت، هەشت، نەه، دەه | /ʃɛʃ hɛft hɛʃt nɛh dɛh/ | six, seven, eight, nine, ten |
Punctuation
The same as English: . , ; : ? ! « » ( ). Quotation marks are often « ».
Kurmanji in Arabic script
In Behdînan (Duhok) and in Rojhilat, Kurmanji is also written in the Kurdish Arabic alphabet of the Sorani course. zimankit transliterates automatically. Note how short i disappears, because that script does not write it:
| # | Kurdish | Arabic script | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ez kurd im. | ئەز کورد ئم. | I am Kurdish. |
| 2 | Navê min Rojda ye. | ناڤێ من ڕۆژدا یە. | My name is Rojda. |
| 3 | Em li Amedê dijîn. | ئەم ل ئامەدێ دژین. | We live in Diyarbakır. |
Reading practice
| # | Kurdish | Arabic script | IPA | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bavê min mamoste ye. | باڤێ من مامۆستە یە. | /baːveː mɪn maːmoːstɛ jɛ/ | My father is a teacher. |
| 2 | Jin nan dikire. | ژن نان دکرە. | /ʒɪn naːn dɪkɪɾɛ/ | The woman is buying bread. |
| 3 | Ez kitêbekê dixwînim. | ئەز کتێبەکێ دخوینم. | /ɛz kɪteːbɛkeː dɪxʷiːnɯm/ | I am reading a book. |
Summary
- Spaces separate prepositions, the copula and particles; only suffixes and verb prefixes attach.
- Names + endings often take an apostrophe: HDP’ê.
- Numbers: yek du sê çar pênc şeş heft heşt neh deh.