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generally refer to the omission of a particular word or phrase that is understood by the
hearer (Adams 1997:121).
5.4.1.2.1 Ellipsis of anaphoric subject pronoun
In certain contexts, inclusion of subject pronouns is optional in Northern Kurdish.
The hearer can understand an unmentioned referent by means of verb endings, which
refer to one of the referents involved in the state of affairs. We still call such instances
ellipsis, because leaving out the subject pronoun is context dependent.
In line 5 of Bîrewerîa Barzanî Yê Nemir, ‘Memories of Immortal Barzanî,’ the
shown in (251) below, Sindî did not include the subject pronoun tu, ‘you,’ which would
normally come just before ruhinîya, ‘light.’ The subject is indicated by the 2SG copula, yî,
at the end of the line. Additionally, the entity expressed by the subject is known from the
context, having just been reiterated by the personal pronoun tu, ’you,’ at the beginning of
line 4 and in the second clause of the same line. The anaphor tu refers to Mustafa
Barzanî, who is mentioned only in the title, but not in the body, of the poem.
(251) tu bi-ke rehm-ê ji mirîd-an kengî (BS1:4)
2D IRR-do.IMP.SG compassion-OBL.F from disciples-OBL.PL when
dê tu hêye ve
will 2D come.PRS.2SG again
‘Be compassionate to (your) disciples; when will you be back?’
baz-ê baz-an şah-ê Kurd-an ruhinî-ya çav-ê (BS1:5)
falcon-EZ.M falcon-OBL.PL king-EZ.M Kurd-OBL.PL light-EZ.F eye-EZ.M
me=yî
1OP=COP.PRS.2SG
‘Falcon of falcons, king of Kurds―you are the light of our eyes.’
Example (252) from Sindî’s Bila..Bila, ‘OK..OK,’ shows both exclusion and
inclusion of subject pronouns. In line 5, the pronoun ez, 1D, was omitted. However, in the
following line, ez was included.
(252) sal bu sal-ê di-burîn-im (BS3:5, 6)
year by year-OBL.F IPFV-pass.away.PRS-1SG
‘I’m passing away year by year.’