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The 'Kurdish alphabet' is a writing system for the Kurdish language. Three systems currently exist. The form used in Turkey was derived from the Latin alphabet by Jaladat Ali Badirkhan in 1932, and thus is also called the 'Bedirxan script'. It is used by Kurds in Turkey and Syria.

Contents

Kurmanji Alphabet

Sorani Alphabet

Cyrillic Alphabet

Comparison of Sorani and Kurmanji Alphabets

References

External links

Kurmanji Alphabet

The Kurmanji Kurdish dialect contains 31 letters.
A, B, C, Ç, D, E, Ê, F, G, H, I, Î, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, Ş, T, U, Û, V, W, X, Y, Z
There are seven vowels in this alphabet, four short and three long. The long vowels are represented using a circumflex. The short vowels are (E, I, U) and the long ones are (A, Ê, Î, O, Û). The Kurdish vowel system is almost the same as English [1]. The Turkish state does not recognise the alphabet, and use of the letters ''X'', ''W'', ''Q'' which do not exist in the Turkish alphabet have led to persecution in 2000 and 2003 (see [2], p.8, and [3]). Since September 2003, many Kurds have applied to the courts seeking to change their names to Kurdish ones written with the letters ''Q'', ''W'', and ''X'' but eventually failed. Submission to the Sub-Commission on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights: Working Group of Minorities; Tenth Session, Agenda Item 3 (a)

Sorani Alphabet

The Sorani Kurdish dialect is mainly written using a modified Arabic-based alphabet with 33 letters. Unlike the regular Arabic alphabet, which is an abjad, vowels are mandatory, making Sorani easy to read.
ى, ێ, ﮪ , ﻭﻭ, ﻭ , ﯙ , ﻥ , ﻡ , ﻝ, ڵ, ﮒ, ﮎ, ﻕ, ڤ, ﻑ, ﻍ, ﻉ, ﺵ, ﺱ, ﮊ, ﺯ, ڕ, ﺭ, ﺩ, ﺥ, ﺡ, ﭺ, ﺝ, ﺕ, ﭖ, ﺏ, ﺋ, ﺍ
Kurds in Iraq and Iran mainly use this alphabet, though the Kurmanji alphabet is also in use.

Cyrillic Alphabet

A third system, used for the few (Kurmanji-speaking) Kurds in the former Soviet Union, uses a modified Cyrillic alphabet, consisting of 32 letters.
А, Б, В, Г, Г', Д, Е, Ә, Ә́, Ж, З, И, Й, К, К', Л, М, Н, О, Ö, П, П', Р, Р', С, Т, Т', У, Ф, Х, Һ, Һ', Ч, Ч', Ш, Щ, Ь, Э, Q, W

Comparison of Sorani and Kurmanji Alphabets

Kurmanji	Stand-alone (Sorani)	Initial (Sorani)	Medial (Sorani)	Final (Sorani)	IPA
A,a			—
B,b
C,c
Ç,ç
D,d		—
E,e			—
Ê,ê
F,f
G,g
H,h
I,i	—
Î,î
J,j		—
K,k
L,l
—	,	,	,	,
M,m
N,n
O,o			-
P,p
Q,q
R,r		—
—	, ,	—		, ,
S,s
Ş,ş
T,t
U,u		—
Û,û		—
—		—
V,v
W,w		—
X,x
—
Y,y			—
Z,z		—

References

External links

★ A table of the various Kurdish alphabets

★ Kurdish language, alphabet and pronunciation

★ Kurdish Unicode Fonts