Hamza and the Particles De and Ae

On phonological grounds, this sound does not occur in Kurdish; within Kurdish phonetics it does not function or count as a phoneme. It nevertheless has a sign in right-to-left orthography, does not change a word’s meaning, and has no phonemic force. This is a special case, because one of the defining and important properties of a phoneme is its ability to change meaning. In Kurdish sound production, both (ا) and (ئا) are phones. The pronunciation and production of (ا) in the middle or at the end of any syllable or word are exactly the same as at the beginning. The phones (ئێـ، ئۆ، ئە، ئیـ، ئو، ئۊ، ئوٓ، ئیـٓ) behave in precisely this way: none undergoes a change. The sound and sound system of (ئۆ), for example, are identical to those of (ۆ). Yet Kurds have become accustomed to a right-to-left orthography in which a vowel never appears at the beginning of a word or syllable. This is attributed to the claim that the language’s phonetic system cannot pronounce the phone word-initially, although the phenomenon is not observed in Kurmanji. It is therefore orthographic rather than phonological. Hamza is used as an auxiliary letter at the beginning of a word; this is not a phonetic phenomenon but appears to reflect an orthographic preference for visual elegance, because the following spellings are considered unattractive:

ئەوە ـ ەوە

ئێوە ـ ێوە

ئۆخەی ـ ۆخەی

ئیلام ـ یلام

ئورمیە ـ ورمیە

ئۊشم ـ ۊشم

لە + ئێرە = لێرە

لە + ئەوێ = لەوێ

لە + ئەوان = لەوان

لە + ئەمە = لەمە

In left-to-right, Latin orthography, this orthographic phenomenon does not arise. Consequently, M. Celadet Bedir Khan did not select a letter corresponding to hamza (ئـ) for the left-to-right script, and the forms appear as follows:

ئەوە ـ Ewe

ئێوە ـ Êwe

ئۆخەی ـ Oxey

ئیلام ـ Îlam

The phone (ئـ) is glottal. A stream of air formed below the throat facilitates the production of the low, high, and open Kurdish vowel phones. To produce the phone (ی) alone, without introducing the low sound (ە) or the high (ا) at the start of a syllable, this airstream appears as an obstruction before the lungs and vocal cords, impeding the release of the air that forms these phones. The introduction of (ئـ) assists in forming the phone at the phonetic level and occurs only with vowels.

ـ There are ten vowel letters:

(ۆ، و، وو، وٓ، ۊ، ێ، یٓ، ی، ە، ا). They do not occur at the beginning of a word or syllable in right-to-left orthography. To represent these ten vowels at the start of a Kurdish syllable or word, we use (ئـ) as an auxiliary letter:

آ = ئا   A =

اَ = ئە   E =

اِ = ئێـ   Ê =

ٱ = ئۆ   O =

او = ئو   U =

ای = ئیـ   Î =

ـ This letter sometimes occurs in the middle of a word when two vowels appear consecutively, performing its auxiliary role. It often need not be written because it does not alter meaning, as in:

قوڕئاو، ڕۆژئاوا، خۆرئاوا، ماستئاو، شۆربئاو، ماڵئاوا، دەستئاو، بەرئاو، تێرئاو، مرئاوی، تیزئاو، میزئاو، پارئاو، بەندئاو، تاڵئاو.

In these words, the appearance of (ئـ) produces no change in meaning and does not become a phoneme. Its pronunciation makes the words heavier and more difficult. Within Kurdish processes of deletion and contraction, we therefore remove (ئـ) from these words:

قوڕ + ئاو ـ قوراو Quŕaw

ڕۆژ + ئاوا ـ ڕۆژاوا Ŕojawa

ماست + ئاو ـ ماستاو Mastaw

شۆرب + ئاو ـ شۆرباو Şorbaw

ماڵ + ئاوا ـ ماڵاوا Malawa

دەست + ئاو ـ دەستاو Destaw

بەر + ئاو ـ بەراو Beraw

تێر + ئاو ـ تێراو Têraw

مر + ئاوی ـ مراوی Mirawî

٭ Note: mał’awa (may your home be flourishing) is sometimes used respectfully and sometimes as criticism or dissatisfaction. It conveys the sense of a flourishing, bright, inhabited home.

(ماڵاوا) is used as a farewell in place of xwaha-fizî and mał’awayî.

ـ خۆر ئاوا بو، ڕۆژ ئاوا بو (sunset)

ڕۆژاوا، خۆراوا (west).

ـ ماستئاو: ماست + ئاو = ماستاو.

ـ قوڕئاو: قوڕ + ئاو = قوڕاو.

شۆڕبئاو: شۆڕب + ئاو = شۆڕباو.

دۆغئاو: دۆغ + ئاو = دۆغاو.

تێرئاو: تێر + ئاو = تێراو.

دەستئاو: دەست + ئاو = دەستاو.

ـ In the middle of a word, it appears as follows:

دەئاخڤێت، قورئان، ئنشائەڵڵا، ماشەئەڵڵا.

At this level, it becomes clear that (ئـ), whether in the middle or at the end of a Kurdish word, has no phonological or phonemic function and does not change the word’s meaning. Its appearance at the beginning of a Kurdish word is more a matter of orthography than of Kurdish phonological science.

That is, the letter performs a phonetic rather than phonemic function. For this reason, I have not counted (ئـ) as a letter in the Kurdish alphabet. Kurdish, in both speech and writing, has not become accustomed to this letter.

It is true that the letter was borrowed from Arabic orthography, and this is one of the causes. In words where Kurds have produced assimilation, it is clear that the word’s original phone was not (ئـ), as in:

Assimilation with (هـ):

ئاوێنە ـ هاوێنە

ئامراز ـ هامراز

ئێوارە ـ هێوارە

ئاوەڵناو ـ هاوەڵناو

ئاوەڵکار ـ هاوەڵکار

ئێستا ـ هێستا

ئیشتیا ـ هیشتیا

ئاست ـ هاست

ئی ـ هی

ئی من ــ هی من

ئومید ــ هومید

ئێستر ـ هێستر

ئالیکار ـ هالیکار

ئاواڵ ـ هاواڵ

ئەڤاڵ ـ هەڤاڵ

ئۊشم ـ هۊشم

Assimilation with (ە):

ئەچم ـ دەچم ـ ەچم

ئەکەم ـ دەکەم ـ ەکەم

ئەخۆم ـ دەخۆم ـ ەخۆم

Assimilation with (ع):

عەزیز ــ ئەزیز ــ ئازیز ـ هازیز ــ حازیز

عەشق ــ ئەشق

عەقڵ ــ ئەقڵ

عێراق ــ ئێراق

عەرەب ــ ئەرەب ــ ئارەب ــ هارەب ــ حارەب

This assimilation arose through a historical process. Kurds therefore did not habituate themselves to this letter. Throughout its historical chain of phonetic assimilation, the phone /ا/ has often assimilated to the phones (هـ، ع، ح، م).

This same assimilation led to the use of the morphemes (ئە) and (دە) in the process of developing a shared Kurdish orthography, with (دە) used in place of (ئە). When the letter enters orthography through deletion, verbs such as:

(ئەخۆم، ئەچم، ئەکەم، ئەنوسم، ئەبەم، ئەڵێم...تاد)

are represented by Kurds with the morpheme (دە):

(دەخۆم، دەچم، دەکەم، دەنوسم، دەبەم، دەڵێم...تاد).

Sabir Zhakaw

Source: A Linguistic Inquiry.