17. Comparison and building new words
🟡 Intermediate · Lesson 17 of 23
Comparative and superlative
| ending | example | |
|---|---|---|
| comparative -er | -تر | گەورەتر bigger |
| superlative -est | -ترین | گەورەترین biggest |
- than is لە: ئەو لە من گەورەترە. He is bigger / older than me.
- The superlative stands before the noun, without ezafe: گەورەترین شار the biggest city.
- The separate word تر means other: کابرایەکی تر another man. Do not confuse it with -تر -er, which is joined.
| # | Kurdish | Latin | IPA | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | هەولێر لە سلێمانی گەورەترە. | hewlêr le silêmanî gewretre. | /hæwleːɾ læ s(ɯ)leːmaːniː ɡæwɾætɾæ/ | Erbil is bigger than Sulaymaniyah. |
| 2 | ئەمە باشترین کتێبە. | eme baştrîn kitêbe. | /ʔæmæ baːʃtɾiːn k(ɯ)teːbæ/ | This is the best book. |
| 3 | براکەم لە من بچووکترە. | birakem le min biçûktire. | /b(ɯ)ɾaːkæm læ m(ɯ)n b(ɯ)tʃuːkt(ɯ)ɾæ/ | My brother is younger than me. |
Building words with suffixes
Sorani creates many words with a small set of suffixes. Once you know them you can guess the meaning of thousands of new words:
| suffix | makes | example | from |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ی | adjectives of origin, languages | کوردی Kurdish | کورد Kurd |
| -ایەتی / -یەتی | abstract nouns | مرۆڤایەتی humanity | مرۆڤ human |
| -ستان | places, countries | کوردستان Kurdistan | کورد |
| -کار | people who do something | کرێکار worker | کرێ wage |
| -دار | people/things that have something | پارەدار rich | پارە money |
| -انە | adverbs (-ly), -wise | ڕۆژانە daily | ڕۆژ day |
| -ە | nouns and past-stem adjectives | چاکە goodness, کردە done | چاک، کرد |
| -گەر، -چی، -وان | people who work with something | ئاسنگەر، ڕاوچی، باخەوان | ئاسن، ڕاو، باخ |
| -زانی، -ناسی | -logy, -nomy | زیندەزانی، ئەستێرەناسی | |
| بێ-، نا-، هاو- | without, not, co- | بێکەس، ناپاک، هاوکار |
How zimankit takes words apart
The analyzer recognises these suffixes and also tells you when it is unsure:
| word | segmentation | morpheme tags | lemma | features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| گەورەتر | گەورە+تر | STEM+CMPR | گەورە | degree=cmp |
| گەورەترین | گەورە+ترین | STEM+SUPL | گەورە | degree=sup |
| کوردستان | کوردستان | STEM | کوردستان | · |
| ڕۆژانە | ڕۆژ+انە | STEM+ADVZ | ڕۆژ | derivation=adverbial |
| پارەدار | پارە+دار | STEM+POSSR | پارە | derivation=possessor |
| کرێکار | کرێ+کار | STEM+AGENT | کرێ | derivation=agent |
Derivational suffixes are less reliable than inflectional ones. -ی can be a nisba, an ezafe or a clitic, and many words that look derived are simply lemmas, so the analyzer gives them a lower score unless the stem is a known word.
Practice
- smaller (بچووک small).
- the most beautiful city.
- What does ئازادانە mean? (ئازاد free)
Answers
- بچووکتر
- جوانترین شار
- freely
Summary
- -تر comparative with لە than; -ترین superlative before the noun.
- Word-building suffixes include -ی، -ایەتی، -ستان، -کار، -دار، -انە، -گەر، -زانی.