4. Consonants and pronunciation
🟢 Beginner · Lesson 4 of 23
Consonants like English
b d f g h k l m n p s t v w y z are pronounced much as in English. g is always hard (go), h is always pronounced, also at the end of a word (deh “ten”), s is always s (never z).
Consonants with a special letter
| letter | IPA | as in | example |
|---|---|---|---|
| c | dʒ | jam | ciwan young |
| ç | tʃ | church | çav eye |
| j | ʒ | measure | jin woman |
| ş | ʃ | ship | şev night |
| x | x | Scottish loch | xew sleep |
| q | q | a k deep in the throat | qelem pen |
| Kurdish | Arabic script | IPA | syllables | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ciwan | جوان | /dʒɪwaːn/ | dʒɪ.waːn | young; beautiful |
| çav | چاڤ | /tʃaːv/ | tʃaːv | eye |
| jin | ژن | /ʒɪn/ | ʒɪn | woman; wife |
| şev | شەڤ | /ʃɛv/ | ʃɛv | night |
| xew | خەو | /xɛw/ | xɛw | sleep |
| qelem | قەلەم | /qɛlɛm/ | qɛ.lɛm | pen |
r and rr
Kurmanji has two r-sounds:
- a tap (one flick of the tongue, like American butter), written r between vowels and at the end: bira /bɪɾaː/ “brother”;
- a trill (rolled), written rr inside a word and r at the start of a word, where only the trill occurs: roj /roːʒ/ “day”, kerr /kɛr/ “deaf”.
The difference changes meaning: ker donkey, kerr deaf.
Aspirated and unaspirated p, t, k, ç
Kurmanji distinguishes a breathy (aspirated) and a tight (unaspirated) version of p, t, k and ç. The breathy one is like English p in pin; the tight one is like the p in spin. The Hawar alphabet does not write the difference, so you learn it word by word from listening. Dictionaries sometimes mark the tight one with an apostrophe (p’). zimankit’s narrow transcription mode shows both: plain letters as [pʰ tʰ kʰ tʃʰ], the apostrophe forms without aspiration.
Stress
Most words are stressed on their last syllable: zi-MAN “language”, ki-TÊB “book”, ba-JAR “city”. Case and ezafe endings, which you will meet soon, are usually unstressed, and the negative prefixes na- and ne- of verbs carry the stress.
Practice
- Is the r in roj a tap or a trill? And in bira?
- What is the difference between ker and kerr?
Answers
- roj: trill (word-initial). bira: tap.
- ker donkey (tap), kerr deaf (trill).
Summary
- c = j(am), ç = ch, j = (mea)s(ure), ş = sh, x = (lo)ch, q = deep k.
- r = tap, rr and initial r = trill.
- p t k ç come in aspirated and unaspirated variants that the spelling does not show.