Kurdish_phonology

Kurdish phonology

Kurdish phonology

Sounds and pronunciation of Kurdish languages

For assistance with IPA transcriptions of Kurdish for Wikipedia articles, see Help:IPA/Kurdish.

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]

This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Consonants

Geographic distribution of Kurdish languages[3]
  Kurmanji (Northern Kurdish)
  Sorani (Central Kurdish)
  Zaza language
  Southern Kurdish (Xwarîn) and Gorani
  Mixed dialect areas
More information Labial, Dental/ Alveolar ...
  • /n, t, d/ are laminal denti-alveolar [n̪, t̪, d̪], while /s, z/ are dentalized laminal alveolar [s̪, z̪],[6] pronounced with the blade of the tongue very close to the back of the upper front teeth, with the tip resting behind lower front teeth.
  • Kurdish languages contrast plain alveolar /l/ and velarized postalveolar[7] /ɫ/ lateral approximants. Unlike in English, the sounds are separate phonemes rather than allophones.[8]
  • Postvocalic /d/ is lenited to an approximant [ð̞]. This is a regional feature occurring in other Iranian languages as well and called by Windfuhr the "Zagros d".[9]
  • Kurdish has two rhotic sounds; the alveolar flap (/ɾ/) and the alveolar trill (/r/). While the former is alveolar, the latter has an alveo-palatal articulation.[10]

Kurmanji

  • Distinguishes between aspirated and unaspirated voiceless stops, which can be aspirated in all positions. Thus /p/ contrasts with /pʰ/, /t/ with /tʰ/, /k/ with /kʰ/, and the affricate /t͡ʃ/ with /t͡ʃʰ/.[2][8][11]
  • Although [ɥ] is considered an allophone of /w/, some phonologists argue that it should be considered a phoneme.[12]

Sorani

Xwarîn

  • [ɲ] is an allophone of /n/, occurring in the about 11 to 19 words that have the consonant group ⟨nz⟩. The word "yanze" is pronounced as [jɑːɲzˠɛ].[16]

Labialization

  • Kurdish languages have labialized counterparts to the velar plosives, the voiceless velar fricative and the uvular stop. Thus /k/ contrasts with /kʷ/, /ɡ/ with /ɡʷ/, /x/ with /xʷ/, and /q/ with /qʷ/.[17] These labialized counterparts do not have any distinct letters or digraph. Examples are the word "xulam" ('servant') which is pronounced as [xʷɪˈlɑːm], and qoç ('horn') is pronounced as [qʷɨnd͡ʒ].[18]

Palatalization

  • After /ɫ/, /t/ is palatalized to [tʲ]. An example is the Sorani word "galte" ('joke'), which is pronounced as [gɑːɫˈtʲæ].[8]
  • /k/ and /ɡ/ are palatalized before close vowels.[8]
  • When preceding /n/, /s, z/ are palatalized to /ʒ/. In the same environment, /ʃ/ also becomes /ʒ/.[19]

Pharyngealization

  • In some cases, /p, t, k, s, z/ are pharyngealized to [pˤ, tˤ, kˤ, sˤ, zˤ]. For example, the word "sed/ṣed" is pronounced as [ˈsˤɛd][8][4][20]
  • Furthermore, while [fˤ] and [ɡˤ] are unique to Sorani,[5] Kurmanji has [t͡ʃˤ].[21]

Consonants in loanwords

  • /ɣ/ is a phoneme that is almost exclusively present in words of Arabic origin. It is often replaced by /x/ in colloquial Kurdish. Thus the word "xerîb/ẍerîb" ('stranger', /ɣɛˈriːb/) may occur as either [xɛˈriːb] or [ɣɛˈriːb].[22]
  • /ʕ/ mostly occurs in words of Arabic origin, mostly in word-initial position.[23]
  • /ʔ/ is mainly present in Arabic loanwords and it affects the pronunciation of adjacent vowels. The use of the glottal stop in everyday Kurdish may be seen as an effort to highlight its Arabic source.[24]

Vowels

The vowel inventory differs by language, some languages having more vowel phonemes than others. The vowels /iː ʊ uː ɛ eː oː ɑː/ are the only phonemes present in all three Kurdish languages.

More information Front, Central ...

Detailed table

More information Grapheme, Phoneme ...

Notes

  • In Sorani, /a/ is realized as [æ], except before /w/ where it becomes mid-centralized to [ə]. For example, the word gewre ('big') is pronounced as [ɡəwˈɾæ].[37]
  • /ɪ/ is realized as [ɨ] in certain environments.[26][38][39]
  • In some words, /ɪ/ and /u/ are realized as [ɨ]. This allophone occurs when ⟨i⟩ is present in a closed syllable that ends with /m/ and in some certain words like dims ('molasses'). The word vedixwim ('I am drinking') is thus pronounced as [vɛdɪˈxʷɨm],[38] while dims is pronounced as [dɨms].[40]

Vowels in loanwords

  • /øː/ occurs in numerous dialects of Sorani where it is represented by wê/وێ (şwên/şön/شوێن, xwê/xö/خوێ, kwêr/kör/کوێر), as well as in Xwarîn, represented by ⟨ö⟩. In Kurmanji, it is only present in loanwords from Turkish, where it often merges with /oː/. The word öks (from Turkish ökse meaning 'clayish mud') is pronounced as either [øːks] or [oːks].[41]

Glides and diphthongs

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.

More information IPA, Spelling ...

References

  1. [1]
    Khan & Lescot (1970), pp. 3–7.
  2. [2]
    Haig & Matras (2002), p. 5.
  3. [3]
    The map shown is based on a map published by Le Monde Diplomatique in 2007.
  4. [4]
    Thackston (2006a), pp. 1–2.
  5. [5]
    Asadpour & Mohammadi (2014), p. 109.
  6. [6]
    Khan & Lescot (1970), p. 5.
  7. [7]
    Sedeeq (2017), p. 82.
  8. [8]
    Rahimpour & Dovaise (2011), p. 75.
  9. [9]
    Ludwig Windfuhr (2012), p. 597.
  10. [10]
    Rahimpour & Dovaise (2011), pp. 75–76.
  11. [11]
    Campbell & King (2000), p. 899.
  12. [12]
    Fattahi, Anonby & Gheitasi (2016).
  13. [13]
    Hamid (2015), p. 18.
  14. [14]
    McCarus (1958), pp. 12.
  15. [15]
    Fattah (2000), pp. 96–97.
  16. [16]
    Fattah (2000), pp. 97–98.
  17. [17]
    Gündoğdu (2016), pp. 61–62.
  18. [18]
    Gündoğdu (2016), p. 65.
  19. [19]
    "Kurdish language i. History of the Kurdish language". Iranicaonline. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  20. [20]
    Thackston (2006b), pp. 2–4.
  21. [21]
    Thackston (2006b), p. 2.
  22. [22]
    Khan & Lescot (1970), p. 6.
  23. [23]
    Asadpour & Mohammadi (2014), p. 114.
  24. [24]
    Sedeeq (2017), pp. 80, 105–106.
  25. [25]
    Khan & Lescot (1970), pp. 8–16.
  26. [26]
    Thackston (2006a), p. 1.
  27. [27]
    Thackston (2006b), pp. 1–2.
  28. [28]
    Thackston (2006a), p. 7.
  29. [29]
    Fattah (2000), pp. 110–122.
  30. [30]
    Soane (1922), pp. 193–202.
  31. [31]
    Fattah describes the sound as a voyelle brève antérieure ou centrale non arrondie (p. 119).
  32. [32]
    Fattah describes the sound as a voyelle longue postérieure, d'aperture maximale, légèrement nasalisée. (p. 110)
  33. [33]
    Fattah describes the sound as being the voyelle ultra-brève centrale très légèrement arrondie (p. 120).
  34. [34]
    Fattah describes the sound as being the voyelle longue d'aperture minimale centrale arrondie (p. 114).
  35. [35]
    Fattah describes the sound as being the voyelle postérieure arrondie (p. 111).
  36. [36]
    Fattah describes the sound as being voyelle longue centrale arrondie (p. 116).
  37. [37]
    Thackston (2006a), p. 3.
  38. [38]
    Thackston (2006b), p. 1.
  39. [39]
    Gündoğdu (2016), p. 62.
  40. [40]
    Gündoğdu (2016), p. 61.
  41. [41]
    Khan & Lescot (1970), p. 16.
  42. [42]
    Rahimpour & Dovaise (2011), p. 77.
  43. [43]
    Asadpour & Mohammadi (2014), p. 107.

Bibliography
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