Lektion 1: Aussprache der Buchstaben

Vokale:
î û
i u
e o
a â

î is like the ‘ee’ in ‘beet’ and ‘tree,’ International Phonetic Alphabet
(IPA) [i], as in hîch [hitS] ‘nothing.’
i is like the ‘i’ in ‘bit,’ IPA [I], as in girtin [gIr»tIn] ‘to take’
e is like the ‘ai’ in ‘bait,’ IPA [e], without the y-offglide of English, as in
hez [hez] ‘power’
a is like the ‘a’ in ‘bat,’ IPA [Q], as in tanaka [tQnQ»kQ] ‘tin can,’ except
(1) in the sequence aw, where it is pronounced [´], (2) when it is
followed in the same syllable by y, in which case it is pronounced [´],
as in tanakakay [tQnQkQ»k´y] ‘his tin can,’ and (3) when it is followed
by y but not in the same syllable, in which case it is pronounced
[E], as in tanakayek [tQnQ»kEyek] ‘a tin can.’
û is like the ‘oo’ in ‘boot,’ IPA [u], as in gûr [guR] ‘calf’
u is like the ‘u’ in ‘put’ and ‘pull,’ IPA [U], as in gurg [gURg] ‘wolf’
o is like the ‘oa’ in ‘boat,’ IPA [o], without the w-offglide of English, as
in goř [gor] ‘level’
â is like the ‘a’ in ‘father’ and ‘balm,’ IPA [A], as in gâ [gA] ‘cow’


Konsonanten:

b is like the ‘b’ of English, IPA [b]
ch is like the ‘ch’ in ‘church,’ IPA [tS]
d is like the ‘d’ of English, IPA [d]
f is like the ‘f’ of English, IPA [f]
g is the hard ‘g’ of English in ‘go’ and ‘get,’ IPA [g]
gh is a voiced velar fricative, IPA [ƒ], like the Arabic غ; it rarely occurs
word-initially and is usually replaced by kh in borrowed words (e.g. ﰬ
gham ‘grief’ > kham); word-finally it is often in free variation with kh.
h is like the ‘h’ of English, IPA [h]
ḥ where it exists (according to regional dialect: fairly generalized in Iraq,
rare in Iran), it is a voiceless pharyngeal fricative, IPA [ħ], like the
Arabic ح ; otherwise it is not distinguished from h
j is like the ‘j’ in ‘judge,’ IPA [dZ]
k is like the ‘k’ of English, IPA [k]
kh is a voiceless velar fricative, IPA [x], like the ch in German Bach and
the Arabic خ
l is a liquid ‘l’ [l] as in Persian, like the ‘l’ in ‘lee’
ł is like the dull ‘l’ of English in ‘all’ [¥]; in some areas it is a lateral
fricative, like the ll of Welsh [¬]; it does not occur word-initially (cf.
gul ‘leper’ with guł ‘flower’ and chil ‘forty’ with chił ‘stalk’)
m is like the ‘m’ of English, IPA [m]
n is like the ‘n’ of English, IPA [n]
SORANI KURDISH
2
p is like the ‘p’ of English, IPA [p]
q is a voiceless uvular stop, like the Arabic ق, IPA [q]
r is a flap as in Persian and Italian, IPA [R]; does not occur word-initially
ř and rr are trills, IPA [r], like the rr of Spanish (cf. khor [xoR] ‘sun’
with khoř [xor] ‘blood’ and bar [bQR] ‘breast’ with bař [bQr] ‘rug’);
all initial r’s are trilled (verbal stems beginning with r are trilled regardless
of prefixes, as in řoysht ‘he went’ and dařoysht ‘he was going’)
s is like the ‘s’ of English in ‘see,’ IPA [s]
sh is like the ‘sh’ in ‘ship,’ IPA [S]
t is like the ‘t’ of English, IPA [t]
v is like the ‘v’ of English, IPA [v], but it is of rare occurrence in Sorani
w is like the English ‘w’ except before e, i, and î, when it is a close back
unrounded semivowel, IPA [µ], like the ‘u’ in French cuire and huit.
y is like the ‘y’ of English, IPA [j]
z is like the ‘z’ of English, IPA [z]
zh is like the French ‘j’ and the ‘g’ in ‘beige,’ IPA [Z]