Comparative and superlative
| ending | example |
|---|
| comparative -er | -tir | mezintir bigger |
| superlative -est | -tirîn | mezintirîn biggest |
- than is ji: Ew ji min mezintir e. “He is older (bigger) than me.”
- The superlative stands before the noun without ezafe: mezintirîn bajar “the biggest city”. Also common: herî + adjective after the noun: bajarê herî mezin.
| # | Kurdish | Arabic script | IPA | English |
|---|
| 1 | Amed ji Mêrdînê mezintir e. | ئامەد ژ مێردینێ مەزنتر ئە. | /aːmɛd ʒɪ meːɾdiːneː mɛzɪntɯɾ ɛ/ | Amed is bigger than Mardin. |
| 2 | Ev baştirîn pirtûk e. | ئەڤ باشترین پرتووک ئە. | /ɛv baːʃtɪɾiːn pɪɾtuːk ɛ/ | This is the best book. |
| 3 | Birayê min ji min biçûktir e. | برایێ من ژ من بچووکتر ئە. | /bɪɾaːjeː mɪn ʒɪ mɪn bɪtʃuːktɯɾ ɛ/ | My brother is younger than me. |
Building words with suffixes
| suffix | makes | example | from |
|---|
| -î | adjectives of origin, languages; abstract nouns | kurdî Kurdish | kurd |
| -tî / -ahî | abstract nouns | hevaltî friendship, bilindahî height | heval friend, bilind high |
| -van / -kar / -ger | people who do something | rojnamevan journalist, xebatkar worker | rojname newspaper, xebat work |
| -dar | having | birîndar wounded | birîn wound |
| -stan / -geh / -xane | places | Kurdistan, zanîngeh university, nexweşxane hospital | zanîn knowing, nexweş sick |
| -ane | adverbs, -ly | mêrane bravely | mêr man |
| -ik / -ok | diminutives | keçik little girl | keç girl |
How zimankit takes words apart
| word | segmentation | morpheme tags | lemma | features |
|---|
| mezintir | mezin+tir | STEM+CMPR | mezin | · |
| mezintirîn | mezin+tirîn | STEM+SUPL | mezin | · |
| Kurdistan | kurd+istan | STEM+PLACE | kurd | gender=m |
| hevaltî | heval+tî | STEM+ABST | heval | gender=m |
| rojnamevan | rojname+van | STEM+AGENT | rojname | gender=f |
| birîndar | birîn+dar | STEM+POSSR | birîn | · |
| zanîngeh | zanîngeh | STEM | zanîngeh | · |
As in Sorani, derivational suffixes are less reliable than inflections: -î can be a derivation, the masculine oblique or the copula î. The analyzer gives a derived reading high confidence only when the stem is a known word.
Practice
- more beautiful (xweşik).
- the biggest house (xanî).
- What does xwendekar mean? (xwendin to study)
Answers
- xweşiktir
- mezintirîn xanî / xaniyê herî mezin
- student (a person who studies)
Summary
- -tir + ji than; -tirîn before the noun, or herî after it.
- Suffixes: -î, -tî/-ahî, -van/-kar/-ger, -dar, -stan/-geh/-xane, -ane, -ik.
