rachel wrote:and thankyou so much sohrab - chony, bashi? - for all that help your effort is priceless. i just wrote you a long mail but it got wiped. i'll try and cover the essence of it quickly before i go to bed.
'x' and 'q' sounds: i'm confused about these and find i am pronouncing them the same. can you explain them again and illuminate the difference?
it was so interesting to see badini in the language tree.
if i want to turn something into a question, do i simply use my voice? tu'yi sohrab? tu'yi kurdi? tu keyf xosi?
i wonder if you could teach me some simple nouns, some nationalities, some colours, and some feelings that i can use now to build small sentences with the verbs i am learning?
you are helpful, and i am lucky. i read tonight that three syrian kurds were killed yesterday. and yesterday for easter i was rolling eggs in the snow...
zor supas, shav bash
rachel
Hello Rachel - başim, sipas... Tu çanî? (standard: çawanî)
I'm really sorry for the late reply, but I've been away... I was in Copenhagen this weekend - for a Newroz party...
Yeah, I know - it's a strange thing to fly off to another country just to be at a party...
I had loads of fun, though...
Now - let me see how I can help you out...
X and Q are very distinctly different... The X sound is simply how English natives pronounce Ahmed as "Akhmed". It's also the sound found in "Khan" - which is a common Indian and Pakistani surname... But it's not pronounced "Kaan" - rather as "Khan" just as "H" is pronounced as "Kh" in "Ahmed"...
As for Q, I'm sorry to say it's impossible for me to explain how this sound is made... And it is impossible for anybody else to explain it too - since one can only understand its quality if one hears it personally... SO... How do I explain it - unless you already know it... Okey... Let me give it a try!
This sound is made as if you are swallowing... In linguistic terminology, it's called a "glottal stop"... Basically what you do is: you close the airways - to both oral and nasal cavities... It's a very "strange" or "odd" for a European - since no European language has this sound... It is however found in Kurdish, Arabic, Hebrew and Assyrian, while a lighter version of the sound exists in Persian...
I will basically have to record this sound by means of video or audio - and send it to you... Hmmm... GREAT! I found it - I searched Youtube for the Kurdish Alphabet - and I found a video in which the entire Kurdish alphabet is read out loud! So here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TjcmnfxflU&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&hd=1 Except - this man is reading the consonnants with an ê at the end whereas there should be an i instead...
Not that that means anything to you, of course...
Yes, you simply use your voice to convey the meaning of your words: either question, statement, declaration or surprise... It's all in your voice...
But you can't say "Tu'yi Kurdî"... Since that means "Are you [the one they call] Kurdî?" ---> You want to say "Tu Kurdî?" = "Are you Kurdish?"... Put the "î" at the end of words: "Tu Sohrab'î"? or "Tu keyfxoşî?"
The -î suffix in such cases is the verb "to be" in "are" form...
Repeat the list I wrote for personal pronouns...
Nationalities Nouns and Adjectives:
Înglîstan = England
Înglîsî = English
Ewrûpa = Europe
Ewrûpî = European
Efrîqa = Africa
Efrîqî = African
Asiya = Asia
Asiyayî = Asian
Tirkiye = Turkey
Tirk = Turkish
Îran = Iran
Îranî = Iranian
Fars = Persia
Fars = Persian
Erebistan = Arabia
Ereb = Arab
Kurdistan = Kurdistan
Kurd = Kurdish
Ermenistan = Armenia
Ermenî = Armenian
Aşûristan = Assyria
Aşûrî = Assyrian
Gurcistan = Georgia
Gurcî = Georgian
Azerbaycan = Azarbaijan
Azerî = Azerbaijani/Azeri
etc. Just ask if you want to know any specific ones...
ColorsReş = Black
Sipî = White
Sor = Red
Kesk = Green
Şîn = Blue
Zer = Yellow
Binefş = Purple
Pirteqalî = Orange
Zêr = Gold
Zîw = Silver
Asinî = Metalic
Feelings Hard subject... Since were talking about adjectives and nouns here - you have to start with "di" sometimes and other times not - depending on which feeling...
Just list which feelings you'd like to convey at first - and then I'll translate them... Again, the suffix will change from person to person: who you speak of... "-î" = you (singular), "-im" = I/me, "-in" = you/we (plural) etc...
For example:
Tirs = Fear
Ditirsim = I am afraid
Ditirsî = You are afraid (singular)
Ditirsin = You/We are afraid (plural)
As you see, there are only 3 forms to choose from... One singular for yourself, one singular for somebody else than yourself and one plural for "you" and "we" or "they" and "us" - depending on context...
As for your request for sources: dictionaries and other sources of help to learn Kurdish - I am sure if you search the earlier topics in this and the other section, you will find many links to sites and sources...
There are a couple of dictionaries - one of them the one written by Rizgar (if I'm not totally wrong about his name)... Which is in Soranî... But of no use to you...