kurmanji_complete

The Phonology of Kurmanji Kurdish
Alphabet and sounds. The Kurdish alphabet is based on the Turkish adaptation
of the Latin alphabet, and for the most part words are written as they
are pronounced, although there are several important features that are not
indicated in the writing system. These are noted below. International Phonetic
Alphabet (IPA) equivalents are given in square brackets.
Vowels:
î û
i u
ê o
e a
î is like the ‘ee’ in ‘beet,’ IPA [i], as in nîv [niv] ‘half.’
i is like the ‘i’ in ‘bit,’ IPA [I] as in dil [dIl] ‘heart’; in closed syllables
ending in m, i is often pronounced as a close central unrounded vowel
[ˆ], i.e. very close to the Turkish ı, as in vedixwim [»vQdIxwˆm] ‘I
drink.’
ê is like the ‘ai’ in ‘bait,’ IPA [e], without the y-offglide of English, as in
hêz [hez] ‘power.’
e is like the ‘a’ in ‘bat,’ IPA [Q], 1 as in berhem [bQR»hQm] ‘product,’ except
(1) in the sequence ew, where it is pronounced [´] as in ew [´w]
‘that’ and dewlet [d´w»lQt] ‘state,’ (2) when it is followed by y but not
in the same syllable, in which case it is pronounced like the ‘e’ in ‘bet’
[E], as in odeya [o»dEyA] ‘room,’ and (3) in post-stress positions, particularly
word-finally, where it is pronounced [E], as in miróvek [mI»ro-
1 The [Q] pronunciation of this vowel is taken as standard; for many speakers,
however, it is closer to [E], the vowel of English ‘bet,’ in all environments.
1