Kurdish phonology is the sound system of the Kurdish dialect continuum. This article includes the phonology of the three Kurdish languages in their respective standard descriptions. Phonological features include the distinction between aspirated and unaspirated voiceless stops, and the large phoneme inventories. [1] [2]
Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
plain | velar. | plain | labial. | plain | labial. | plain | labial. | |||||
Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||||||||
Plosive | voiceless asp. | pʰ | tʰ | t͡ʃʰ | kʰ | |||||||
vcls. unasp. | p | t | t͡ʃ | k | kʷ | q | qʷ | ʔ | ||||
voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | ɡ | ɡʷ | |||||||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s | sˠ | ʃ | x | xʷ | ħ | h | |||
voiced | v | z | zˠ | ʒ | ɣ | ɣʷ | ʕ | |||||
Approximant | l | ɫ | j | ɥ | w | |||||||
Tap/flap | ɾ | |||||||||||
Trill | r |
Kurmanji
Sorani
Xwarîn
The vowel inventory differs by language, some languages having more vowel phonemes than others. The vowels /iːʊuːɛeːoːɑː/ are the only phonemes present in all three Kurdish languages.
Front | Central | Back | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | ||
Close | ɪ iː | ɨ ʉː | ʊ uː | ||
Close-mid | eː | øː | o oː | ||
Open-mid | ɛ | ||||
Open | a | ɑː |
Grapheme | Phoneme | ||
---|---|---|---|
Kurmanji [27] | Sorani [28] | Xwarîn [29] [30] | |
a | ɑː | a | a [31] |
a | – | ɑː | ɑː [32] |
e | ɛ | ɛ | ɛ |
ê | eː | eː | eː |
i | ɪ | ɪ | ɨ [33] |
î | iː | iː | iː |
o | oː | oː | o |
o | – | – | oː |
ö | – | ø: | øː [34] |
u | ʊ | ʊ | ʊ [35] |
û | uː | uː | uː |
ü | – | – | ʉː [36] |
The glides [ w ], [ j ], and [ ɥ ] appear in syllable onsets immediately followed by a full vowel. All combinations except the last four are present in all three Kurdish languages.
IPA | Spelling | Example Word | Language | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kurmanji | Sorani | Xwarîn | |||||
[əw] | ew | şew [42] | [ˈʃəw] | 'night' (Sorani) | |||
[ɑːw] | aw | çaw [42] | [ˈt͡ʃɑːw] | 'eye' (Sorani) | |||
[ɑːj] | ay | çay [42] | [ˈt͡ʃɑːj] | 'tea' | |||
[ɛw] | ew | kew [43] | [ˈkɛw] | 'partridge' | |||
[ɛj] | ey | peynje [42] | [pɛjˈnʒæ] [pɛjˈnʒɑ] | 'ladder' | |||
[oːj] | oy | birroyn [42] | [bɪˈroːjn] | 'let's go' (Sorani) | |||
[uːj] | ûy | çûy [42] | [ˈt͡ʃuːj] | 'went' (Sorani) | |||
[ɑɥ] | a | de [12] | [ˈdɑɥ] | 'ogre' (Xwarîn) | |||
[ʉːɥ] | üe | küe [12] | [ˈkʉːɥɑ] | 'mountain' (Xwarîn) | |||
[ɛɥ] | eü | teüle [12] | [tɛɥˈlɑ] | 'stable' (Xwarîn) | |||
[ɥɑ] | üe | düet [12] | [dɥɑt] | 'daughter' (Xwarîn) |
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