4. Consonants and pronunciation
🟢 Beginner · Lesson 4 of 23
Consonants you already know
Most Sorani consonants sound much as in English: ب b, پ p, ت t, د d, ف f, ک k, گ g (always hard, as in go), م m, ن n, س s, ز z, ه h (always pronounced, also at the end of a word), و w, ی y.
A few English sounds have their own letter:
| letter | IPA | English sound | example |
|---|---|---|---|
| ش | ʃ | sh in ship | شار city |
| چ | tʃ | ch in church | چاو eye |
| ج | dʒ | j in jam | جوان beautiful |
| ژ | ʒ | s in measure | ژن woman |
Sounds English does not have
| letter | IPA | how to make it | example |
|---|---|---|---|
| خ | x | the ch of Scottish loch or German Bach: friction at the back of the mouth | خەو sleep |
| غ | ɣ | the voiced partner of خ, a gargled g, close to the French r | غەریب stranger |
| ق | q | a k made further back, against the soft palate’s very end | قەڵەم pen |
| ح | ħ | a strong breathy h from the throat | حەوت seven |
| ع | ʕ | a tightening of the throat, voiced | عەقڵ mind |
| ڕ | r | a rolled r (Spanish perro) | ڕۆژ day |
| ڵ | ɫ | a “dark” l, tongue pulled back (English full) | ماڵ house |
ح and ع come mainly in words borrowed from Arabic. Many speakers soften them to ه and ئ, but the spelling keeps them.
| Kurdish | Latin | IPA | syllables | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| خەو | xew | /xæw/ | xæw | sleep |
| غەریب | ẍerîb | /ɣæɾiːb/ | ɣæ.ɾiːb | stranger; foreign |
| قەڵەم | qellem | /qæɫæm/ | qæ.ɫæm | pen |
| حەوت | ḧewt | /ħæwt/ | ħæwt | seven |
| عەقڵ | 'eqill | /ʕæq(ɯ)ɫ/ | ʕæ.qɯɫ | mind, reason |
| ڕۆژ | roj | /roːʒ/ | roːʒ | day; sun |
| ماڵ | mall | /maːɫ/ | maːɫ | house, home |
Pairs that change meaning
Some words differ only in one of these sounds, so the difference matters:
| pair | meaning |
|---|---|
| کەر · کەڕ | donkey · deaf |
| کار · کاڵ | work · unripe, pale |
ر vs ڕ. ر is a single tap of the tongue (like the tt in American butter); ڕ is a trill. At the very start of a word only the trill occurs, so a word-initial r is always written ڕ: ڕۆژ, ڕێگا road.
ل vs ڵ. ڵ never starts a word. Compare گوڵ flower with the clear l of لاو young man.
Stress
Sorani words are normally stressed on the last syllable: ki-TÊB “book”, zi-MAN “language”. Endings you will learn later (the definite -eke, the plural -an) take the stress with them: ki-tê-be-KE “the book”. Verbs are different: the prefix دە-, نا- or ب- usually carries the stress (DE-çim “I go”).
Practice
- Which word starts with a trilled r: ڕۆژ or بەرد?
- Say خەو xew and then the same word with ه instead of خ. Feel where the friction is.
- Find the dark l in: گوڵ، لاو، ماڵ.
Answers
- ڕۆژ: the trill is written ڕ, and every word-initial r is a trill. The ر in بەرد is a tap.
- خ is made at the back of the mouth (velar); ه is just breath.
- گوڵ and ماڵ (ڵ); لاو has a clear l.
Summary
- Learn خ غ ق ح ع ڕ ڵ, the sounds English lacks.
- A word-initial r is always the trill ڕ; ڵ never starts a word.
- Stress normally falls on the last syllable; verb prefixes take the stress.