Time and days in Kurdish
Now, later, tomorrow, what time it opens and one moment please. 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
- nihani-HA
- Now
- paşêpa-SHE
- Later
- îroEE-ro
- Today
- sibêsi-BE
- Tomorrow
- Îşevee-SHEV
- Tonight
- Kengî?ken-GEE
- When?
- Kengî vedibe?ken-GEE ve-DI-be
- What time does it open?
- Hinekî bisekinehi-ne-KEE bi-se-KI-ne
- One moment, please
- Deqede-QE
- Minutes
- Saetsa-ET
- Hours
Niha means now; niha niha adds urgency, right this second. As everywhere, the elasticity of "now" is a local matter, and it stretches further in villages than in city offices.
Literally "afterwards". Paşê em ê biçin: we will go later. Paş is the back or the after of anything, in time or in space.
From roj (day), which you already know from roj baş. Îro, îsal (this year) and îşev (tonight) all share the same î- prefix meaning "this".
Tomorrow, and only tomorrow: unlike Hindi, Kurmanji keeps the two directions of time in separate words. Sibê also means morning, so context does one small piece of work here.
Literally "wait a little".
Also means clock and watch.