Decreolization Of Kurdish, A Return To The Great Past

As has earlier been discussed in previous posts, Kurdish language has a strong Hurro-Urartian substratum in its vocabulary and  morphology. This is combined with a heterogeneous Iranic super-stratum especially in Kurdish vocabulary, and to some degrees its morphology.
Regarding Iranic words in Kurdish vocabulary, there has been since decades an attempt by Kurdish scholars, writers, poets and linguists to purify Kurdish from the often unnecessary foreign loanwords. Although the attempt for clearing the language from Arabic and Turkish words has been to a great degree successful there still remains a significant number of useless Persian loanwords for which there exist native Kurdish equivalents.

Usually the most important episode in decreolization of a language turns around its grammar. In fact Hurro-Urartian and Kurdish morphology and syntax are to a great extent similar. A number of morphological lexemes which appear to be Iranic (or at least Indo-European) influences can be identified in Kurdish which are presented below:
The verb bu-n (to be) with its personal enclitics -m- î, -e, -în, in, -in.
Some pronouns and possessive enclitics.
introduction of some redundant pre-positions which is often combined with the native post-positions.
Some verbal proclitics. 

But actually most of above mentioned morphological lexemes go under lexical borrowings (vocabullary), rather than morphological features and does not affect Kurdish and Hurro urartian grammatical continuity. in worst case one could argue that it's OK with keeping enclitics but verbal roots such as bu-n can be  preferably changed and replaced with original.
To some up, in order to decreolize Kurdish The greater effort should be focused on saving the language from Iranic loans.
Finally, decreolazition of Kurdish could be regarded as an important step in standardization of Kurdish.
  

Hittite in Kurdish

After enlisting numerous remnants of Hurro-Urartian in Kurdish vocabulary and morpheme system,  now it is time to recognize loans which have entered Kurdish via Hurro-Urartian. The largest group of loans which have entered Kurdish via Hurro-Urartian belongs to Hittite, being in contact with Hurro-Urartian for millennia. It is worth reminding that the Hurro-Urartian form alongside the Iranic ''Syctho-Cimmerian'' the other pillar of Kurdish language.We had already listed Slavic lexemes entered Kurdish via Scytho-Cimmerian.
To clarify the situation following formula is helpful:

Kurdish is formed of
1) Hurro-Urartian (+ Hittite loans)
2)Scytho-Cimmerian (+ Slavic loans)
Of course at later periods, especially during post-Islamic period, Kurdish has also adopted loans from some other languages: (Persian, Arabic, Turkish, French, English)

Now, list of Hittite words in Kurdish:

pillar
Hittite: kulaka
Kurdish: kolaka (typical o<u in central and northern Kurdish)

kin
Hittite: hasmi
Kurdish: xizm

clay
Hittite: purut
Kurdish: pûrûd

star
Hittite: haster
Kurdish: astera, hastêrk (sounds more relevant to Hittite than to Iranic equivalents)

father
Hittite: tati
Kurdish: tati

Hittite: karpi (fury, anger)
Kurdish: kilpa (fiery)

Hittite/Luwian: kisha (to comb)
Kurdish: qizh (hair of head)

Hittite: tarkumia (to annonce)
Kurdish: dirkan-(divulge, disclose)

Hittite/Luwian: Hinkan (to die)
Kurdish: Xinkan (to die, smother)

The list is to be completed.

On The Kassites And Kurds

The Macro-Comparative Journal. 2011. 

The Kassite Language In a Comparative Perspective with Hurrian and Urartean

A very interesting article about the Kassites and their language.
In this article, the writer has tried to explain the origin of the Kassites (Kuri-Galzu, Karduniash), explore the etymology of their name and its relation with that of the the Kalds (Urartians,) and the obvious relationship of the Kassite with Hurro-Urartian languages.
The author concludes that the Kassites may have been the forfathers of Hurro-Urartians.

A Proposal For Latin-Based Kurdish Alphabet (Sample Text)

The following text is from the first paragraph of Kurdistan constitution, found in this link in Kurdo-Arabic script.

Firstly, in current Latin Kurdish alphabet:
Ême, gelî Kurdistan - Êraq, le hestkirdinmanewe bew dijwarîyey newekanman le siyasetekanî hikumete yek le dway yekekan le encam danî serkut kirdin û sitem û çewsanewey le radebeder çeştûyane, û bêbeşkirdinman lew mafaney xwa le azadî û yeksanî dadperwerî be ademîzadî bexşîwin, û çendîn tawanî dije mirov û helmetî cinosayd û paktawî nejadîyan le dijman encamda, ke mêjû be degmen wêney way be xowe bînîwe, ke xoyan le xapûr kirdinî pitir le çuwar hezar u pênsed gund nuwanduwe û gorankarî le beşekî firawan le Kurdistan - Êraq le rêgey be zore milê koch pê kirdinî danîştuwan, yan naçar kirdinyan bo gorînî şunasî neteweyan û be kar hênani çekî kîmyawî u çeke qedexe kirawekanî tirî nêw neteweyî le dijî danîştuwani sivîlî şarî helebcey şehîd û Balîsan û Germiyan û Badînan û çendîn nawçey firawanî tir, û be hezaran lawî Kurdî Feylî le nêw kêlgekanî taqî kirdinewey kîmyawî û gorî be komel berew merg rapêçkirdin, ewaney maneweş xêzanekanyan naçar kiran, bo derewey Êraq koç biken û wilatnamey êraqiyan lê sendinewe û dwa be dway eweş çendîn helmetî be komel qir kirdinyan encamda ke pitir le heşt hezar barzanî girtewe û pirosekanî le naw birdinî be dwa dahêna, ke be enfal naw nirawin û qurbanî pitir le sed û heşta û dû hezar mirovî lê kewtewe.

Secondly, reformed alphabet based on proposal 1 & 2:

Ême, gel Kurdistan - Êraq, le hestkrdnmanewe bew djwariyey newekanman, le syasetekan hkumete yek le dway yekekan le encam dan serkut krdn û stem û çewsanewey le radebeder çeştûyane, û bêbeşkrdnman lew mafaney xwa le azadi û yeksani û dadperweri be ademizadi bexşiwn, û çendin tawan dje mirov û helmet cinosayd û paktaw nejadiyan le djman encamda, ke mêjû be degmen wêney way be xowe biniwe, ke xoyan le xapûr krdn ptr le çuwar hezar û pênsed gund nuwanduwe u gorankari le beşêk frawan le Kurdistan - Êraq le rêgey be zore mlê koç pê krdn daniştuwan, yan naçar krdnyan bo gorin şunas neteweyan û be kar hênan çek kimyawi û çeke qedexe krawekan tr nêwneteweyi le dj daniştuwan sivîl şar helebcey şehid û Balisan û Germyan û Badinan û çendin nawçey frawan tr, û be hezaran law Kurd Feyli le nêw kêlgekan taqi krdnewey kimyawi û gor be komel berew merg rapêçkrdn, ewaney maneweş xêzanekanyan naçar kran, bo derewey Êraq koç bken û wlatnamey êraqiyan lê sendnewe û dwa be dway eweş çendin helmet be komel qr krdnyan encamda ke ptr le heşt hezar barzani grtewe û prosekan le naw brdni be dwa dahêna, ke be enfal naw nrawn û qurbani ptr le sed û heşta û dû hezar mrovi lê kewtewe.

Thirdly, reformed alphabet based on proposal 1 & 2 & 3 & 4:

Yme, gel Kurdistan - Yraq, le hestkrdnmaneue beu djuariei neuekanman le siasetekan hkumete iek le duay iekekan le encam dan serkut krdn u stem u çeusaneuei le radebeder cewtuiane, u bybewkrdnman leu mafanei xua le azadi u ieksani u dadperueri be ademizadi bexwiun, u cendin tauan dje mrov û helmet cinosayd u paktau nejadiian le djman encamda, ke myju be degmen uynei uai be xoue biniue, ke xoian le xapur krdn ptr le cuar hezar u pynsed gund nuandue, u gorankari le bewyk frauan le Kurdistan - Yraq le rygei be zore mly koc py krdn daniwtuan ian nacar krdnian bo gorin wunas neteueian u be kar hynan cek kimiaui u ceke qedexe krauekan tr nyuneteueii le dj daniwtuan svil war helebcei wehid u Balisan u Germian u Badinan u cendin nawcei frauan tr, u be hezaran lau Kurd Feili le nyu kylgekan taqi krdneuei kimiaui u gor be komel bereu merg rapyckrdn, euaney maneuew xyzanekanian nacar kran, bo dereuei Yraq koc bken u ulatnamei Yraqiian ly sendneue u dua be duai euew cendin helmet be komel qr krdnyan encamda ke ptr le hewt hezar barzani grteue u prosekan le nau brdni be dua dahyna, ke be enfal nau nraun u qurbani ptr le sed u hewta u du hezar mrovi ly keuteue.

A Proposal For Latin-Based Kurdish Alphabet (4)

If our previous suggestions accepted, then remains only two controversial letters in the alphabet: ç and ş, both directly adopted from Turkish. The negative thing with them is that they include circumflexes, something most people who propose a reformed Latin alphabet for Kurdish tend to avoid. Some have suggested diphthongs such as ch and sh, as in Yekgirtu and Izady's suggestions.

In the current latin alphabet we have c for voiced palato-alveolar affricate, (= English j) and ç for voiceless palato-alveolar affricate (= English ch). While in Yekgirtu, one of the most well-known alternatives for the current Latin-based Kurdish alphabet, instead we see j and c, respectively. As can be seen c is treated differently in the two alphabets. but since yekgirtu has j for the voiced consonant, it has adopted jh a diphthong for voiced palato-alveolar sibilant (= /si/ as in English vision).

I've got a proposal which solves both of the shortcommings i.e. neither uses a circumflexe nor a diphthong. though due to the Turkish influence it may at the first sight sound stupid but it really works. The proposal is to use c for both voiced and viceless palato-alveolar affricates. Well this is not the first case we use one letter for two consonants in Kurdish alphabet!

We already have accepted x for both ( خ and غ), h for ( ه and ح) nothing for (ء and ع) l for (ل and ڵ) r for (ر and ڕ); also p, t, k and g each represent several different consonants, many of them pure Kurdish.

but we we cannot use the same method for voiceless and voice palato-alveolar affricates? It's worth of note that the voiceless consonant is much more frequent in Kurdish vocabulary and more interestingly while most Kurdish words containing the voiceless consonant are native Kurdish words, most Kurdish words containing the voiced consonant are foreign loans (with the exeption of a handful of words where the old iranic initial platal approximant /y/ has developed to voiced palato-alveolar affricatve, and that is most likely under Persian influence.)

The second letter with a circumflexe is ş, which basically is an s with a circumflex. One must confess that this is a little bit more difficult to solve, since both the voiceless alveolar sibilant and voiceless palato-alveolar sibilant are legitimate native Kurdish consonants. Although use of the second in modern Kurdish has dramatically decreased due to many historic phonetical developments, where it has eroded (f.ex: chaw<chashma, gwê< goasha, nas<shnas, êwe<shma etc, but this does not affect our case much since there are still a lot of Kurdish words with this consonant.

Returning to the previous post, we see that there will be one letter in our proposed alphabet that will be useless (used only for a few loanwords). it is the letter /w/ which accidentally resembles much the cyrillic letter for voiceless palato-alveolar sibilant: / Ш /, used already even in the Cyrillic-based alphabet for Kurdish. I agree that at the begining it would sound difficult for many, but it is not far-fetched idea since a lot of Latin-based alphabets use different letters for different consonants.

A Proposal For Latin-Based Kurdish Alphabet (3)

In this post two other issues related to Kurdish orthographic system are discussed.
1) Ancient Iranic inter/post-vocalic /p/ and /m/ have developed in two different ways in modern Kurdish dialects. In northern Kurdish (Kurmanji), the first one has developed into /w/ and the second one into /v/, while in Central Kurdish (Sorani) and Southern Kurdish, both have developed only into /w/. This may be due to influence from other Iranic and non-Iranic languages. In any case, there are not many languages which have both /w/ and /v/ simultaneously, as northern Kurdish does.
At the same time, the homogenization of the two vowels does never cause ambiguity in the central and southern dialects. In other words, here we are facing a choice between two options: keeping both /w/ and /v/ which reflects some traces of archaism (distinction between / p/ and /m/ reflected as /w/ and /v/) on one hand, and on the other ''simplification''. Personally, I would rather go for simplification.

Examples:
Çaw, instead of Çav
Naw, instead of Nav
Netewe, instead of Neteve,

Expetions: But, of course, we can keep the letter /v/ for numerous foreign loanwords in Kurdish such as visa, vitamin, video, sivil, etc, as well as native Kurdish words which exist only in one form, with /v/ and not with w; such as tavge, govar, mrov, bve, dever, etc

2) In Arabic-based alphabet for Kurdish, unlike as in the current Latin-based alphabet, there is only one symbol characterizing i/y and u/w, respectively. This is true even for other languages written in the same alphabet such as Persian and Arabic. As long as the easier way, i.e. as in Arabic-based script, functions as it is expected and never does cause ambiguity in reading and writing of Kurdish language why should not keep it even in the Latin-based alphabet too?

Examples:

Currently: zawa

Proposal zaua (bridegroom)

Currently: Wan

Proposal: Uan (a city)

Currently: naw

Proposal: nau (name)

Currently: Diyar
Proposal: Diar (evident)


Currently: Yar
Proposal: Iar (companion)

Currently: Televiziyon
Proposal: Televizion (television)

Alternatively:

Currently:  Bûk

Proposal: Bwk (bride)

Currently: Kerkûk

Proposal: Kerkwk (A city)

In my opinion, it makes the alphabet both much easier and prettier, and creates no confusions at all since Kurdish phonetic system allows us to choose and effectively use such a method.
We can still keep the letter /w/ ([anlternaively] /u/) and /y/ for foreign  proper names and loanwords such as ''Washington''/''Samsung'', and ''New York''.
Besides, one can even adopt the symbol /y/ for the mid front unrounded vowel which in current Kurdish alphabet is shown with a diacritic mark as /ê/.

Examples:
Currently: Jêr
Proposal: Jyr (under)

Currently: Belên
Proposal: Belyn (oath)

Currently: Êsk
Proposal:  Ysk (bone)

Currently: Hewlêr
Proposal: Hewlyr (Erbil)