Yes, no and the essentials in Kurdish
The small words that carry half of every conversation, and the ones that rescue it. Play the ten Kurdish words against the clock, with a note on how locals really use each one after every answer. All ten are written out below.
All 10 Kurdish phrases in this lesson
- Erêe-RE
- Yes
- NaNA
- No
- Baş eBASH e
- Okay
- Ez fam nakimez FAM na-kim
- I don't understand
- Tu bi îngilîzî diaxivî?tu bi een-gi-lee-ZEE di-a-khi-VEE
- Do you speak English?
- Dîsa bêje, ji kerema xweDEE-sa BE-zhe, zhi ke-re-MA khwe
- Can you repeat that?
- Hêdî, ji kerema xwehe-DEE, zhi ke-re-MA khwe
- Slowly, please
- Ev çi ye?EV CHI ye
- What is this?
- Pêwîstiya min bi ... heyepe-wees-ti-YA min bi ... HE-ye
- I need...
- Tu dikarî alîkariya min bikî?tu di-ka-REE a-lee-ka-ri-YA min bi-KEE
- Can you help me?
The everyday yes across Kurmanji. Belê (be-LE) is the slightly more formal alternative and the standard one in the Behdini speech around Duhok. Both are understood everywhere.
Short and clear. Na, spas (NA, SPAS), no thanks, is the graceful way to decline an offer, and you will need it: hospitality is offered relentlessly and a bare na can land harder than you intend.
The all-purpose agreement: fine, good, alright, understood. Baş is the same good from beyanî baş and roj baş, and this two-word phrase will carry an astonishing share of your conversations.
Your escape hatch, and the more literary version is ez tênagihîjim (te-na-gi-HEE-zhim) if you want to impress someone. Saying this in Kurdish rather than switching straight to Turkish or Arabic is itself a small courtesy, and it is noticed.
Common among younger people and in cities, rarer in villages. Note that most Kurmanji speakers are already fluent in the state language around them, Turkish or Arabic, so you are asking for a third or fourth language.
Literally "say it again".
Literally "slowly".
Point and ask. Kurdish cooks and shopkeepers tend to answer this question at length and then insist you try some, which is precisely the outcome you want.
Literally "I have need of ...".