a-practical-kurdish-grammar

80 A PRACTICAL KURDISH GRAMMAR
two kinds, separable, and inseparable
(1) The separable prefixes are \i (da) or jj (ro) for
'down', ^}^ (hal) for 'up', ji (dar) or jioj (wa-dar) for
'out', j_j (war) for 'back', or 'around', \j (ra) for 'straight',
or 'firm', ^ (le) for 'on', V (la) for 'away', ^J (te) for
'in', and occasionally ej (wa) for 'ward' (direction). Verbs
employing any of these separable prefixes are called 'Com¬
posite Verbs'.
(2) The inseparable prefixes are J (bi) and i (da).
The prefix > (bi) forms the imperative, the present, per¬
fect, and pluperfect subjunctive, and is considerably used in
all tenses of the conditional and optative. The prefix i
(da), when substituted for the imperative prefix > (bi), forms
the present and future indicative, and when prefixed to the
preterite, forms the imperfect indicative. In 'composite verbs'
the prefixes J (bi) oi ^ (da), are inserted between the verb
and the separable prefix. Examples: j,JLJ.>b (da-da-nishim)
or ^^ijj (rö-da-nîshim) 'I sit down'; eSjl* (hal-bi-gra)
or o^^lst (hal-gra) 'carry thou!', or 'take thou up!';
Oj>^,33 (war-bi-gra) or oy 33 (war-gra) 'receive thou!'
or 'take thou back!'. The prefix > (bi) is very often omitted in
composite verbs.
(3) The prefix ,ej (wa), given under 'separable prefixes'
above, is one of the most difficult subjects in the Kurdish
language. It is sometimes employed as a prefix, and some¬
times as a suffix. In some words it is separable, and in others
it is inseparable. Some dialects employ it as a prefix to a