a-practical-kurdish-grammar

SYNTAX, 235
Interrogative Sentences are generally introduced by the in¬
terrogative particle (_$jl (are) 'yes'. Example : jlj\j t^jl
cJjli (are baran dabare) 'Does it rain?' (ht. Yes, rain rains?) ;
4, 03^ J3J o^i^ c5jI (are kurdistan zor gaûra-ya)
'Is Kurdistan very large?'.
The Oblique Narative is little used in Kurdish. The words
of another are generally quoted in direct speech and intro¬
duced by 4S (ka) 'that'. Example: jy>\>- j\x^-j> O ^^ ji
ry3y l> (aii kuti ka haspakan, hazirn, ba biröin) 'He said
(that) the horses are ready, let us go'.
SPECIAL EMPLOYMENT OF VARIOUS PARTS
OF SPEECH
Articles
When the definite article in English denotes preeminence,
as 'the sun', 'the sky', 'the world', etc., it is usually omitted
in Kurdish. Example : 4../ jj3 3-?J (lözh zör germ-a)
333 3^ (taû zör germ-a) '(The) sun is very
hot'; ojL? jU>T (asman saû-a) '(The) . sky is clear';
43 Jli Lii (dunya shulûq-a) '(The) world is disturbed'.
The indefinite article suffix dl (ek) 'a' or 'an', is also some¬
times omitted. Example: t_^a; yS (kasim na-di) 'I did not
see (a) person'; eyi^ 4j iCiU -^5 ^---a (hasp la manga
ba qimattir-a) '(A) horse is more valuable than (a) cow'.
Nouns
Between nouns in opposition, the conjunction j_^_ (y'"')
'namely', is sometimes employed. Example : iJU ^y)y^
%. 1m^ dJLXj 4I 4y 40 (hichkas chak niya bajga la