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5.4.1.3.3 Use of alternate word forms to vary language
The use of alternate word forms for the purposes of varying language was already
mentioned in § 5.4.1.3.1. In his poem Gutgutik, ‘Rumors,’ Silêman used two forms of the
word meaning ‘if.’ In line 37, shown in (298), he used the word ger. In line 40, shown in
(299), he uses eger. Note that Silêman’s poetry is in poetic prose, which therefore puts no
demands on him for syllable length of line. I think it likely that only one of the forms is
used in his common speech. Personally, I have observed many forms of this word
meaning ‘if’: eger, ger, 117 gel, heger, heker and heku. Chyet (2003) lists even more
possibilities. I recall having a conversation about this word with one friend of mine. I had
learned the word heker, which is the word used in Zaxo. 118 My friend said, Em bêijîn
eger, ‘We say eger.’ He seemed perplexed with heker, perhaps being unfamiliar with the
subdialect of Zaxo Kurds. What is important to realize is that there are regional
differences among Northern Kurdish speakers and that the language is not yet
standardized. In Silêman’s case below, I would surmise that he simply wanted to vary his
word usage.
(298) ger direw bû-Ø (SS1:37)
if lie COP.PST-3SG
‘If it was a lie,’
(299) eger rast bû-Ø we=bû-Ø 119 (SS1:40)
if correct COP.PST-3SG truth=COP.PST-3SG
‘If it was correct, it was the truth.’
In one poem, Sindî used two words meaning ‘today’ in adjacent lines, evro and
îru. Both words are two syllables long, so Sindî must have had some other reason for his
differentiation. In other poems Sindî used evro. Potentially, îru is commonly used by
117 According to my consultant, ger is only used in writing.
118 My introduction to Northern Kurdish came by means of Şirîn’s dictionary and language learning
materials (2006), which are based on the language of Zaxo.
119 Use of webû seems to be idiomatic. If a person says, webû yan wenabû, the meaning is, ‘Is it true or not
true.’ The word webû must then comprise both the noun ‘truth’ (or adjective ‘true’) and the copula.
However, the word we is not listed in either Chyet (2003) or Şirîn (2006) as meaning ‘true’ or ‘truth.’