A small translation

[hashamyim]

Dear All,

Sad to say, I don't speak Kurdish - I know, I know... But I'm currently writing a book about grammar and would love to include a small translation to demonstrate a feature of Kurdish that I think is, frankly, wonderful - circumpositions. As such, I'd love to be able to recruit some help with this.

My understanding is that whereas in English, you would say 'on the beach' or 'in the town', in Kurdish you'd say 'on the beach on' or 'in the town in' or similar.

Would anyone here be able to help me to translate these two small phrases? 'on the beach / à la plage' and 'in the town / dans la ville' - I have included the French so that no confusion reigns!

Your assistance is very much appreciated!

Robert Jacobs

[kalemiye]

PM ocmentos

[daristani]

"On the beach" is: li plajê ("plaj" is a feminine noun, and thus takes the final vowel ê in the casus obliquus)

"In the city" would normally be "li bajêr", although one could use a circumposition such as "di bajêr de" or "di nav bajêr de" with the meaning of "within the city". The circumposition "di ... de" ("di ... da" in some dialects) conveys the meaning of containment within something, while the preposition "li" expresses a more general location.

Another example: "li malê" (sometimes shortened to "li mal") generally means "at home", although it could also, naturally, mean "in the house". But to express the meaning of "insideness" more explicitly, one would use "di malê de" or "di mal de".

Pashto also has similar circumpositions. I think I've seen this form also expressed as an "ambiposition".

The above examples, by the way, are from Kurmanji Kurdish. Also, in some Kurmanji dialects, such as in/near the Caucasus, the first element of the circumposition can drop off, so that you're only left with the final part.