Kurmanji survival kit

About this kit

Kurmanji is Northern Kurdish, spoken by approximately twenty million people in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. An Indo-European language written in the Latin alphabet, it is the main Kurdish variant and the cultural voice of Diyarbakir, Qamishli and Erbil.

Kurmanji, or Northern Kurdish, is the main variant of the Kurdish language, spoken by approximately twenty million people across four countries: Turkey (southeast), Syria (Rojava), Iraq (Bahdinan) and Iran (northwest). An Indo-European language of the Iranian family, Kurdish is close to Persian in structure but clearly distinct, with its own history, poetic genius and mountains as homeland.

Kurmanji is written in the modern Latin alphabet, codified in the 1930s by Celadet Bedirxan inspired by Turkish orthography. It uses diacritic letters like ç, ş, î, ê, û, which notate sounds familiar to French speakers. This script distinguishes it from Sorani (Central Kurdish), spoken mainly in Iraqi and Iranian Kurdistan, which is written in a modified Arabo-Persian alphabet. Kurmanji grammar features rich case inflection and an aspectual opposition between past and present that recalls ancient Indo-Iranian languages.

Beyond the language, the Kurdish world carries a strong culture: Newroz on March 21st, tribal hospitality, mountain cuisine, classical poetry of Ehmedê Xanî, music of the dengbêj. Knowing a few words like "Silav" (hello), "Spas" (thank you) or "Roj baş" (good day) immediately opens hearts, especially in a region where the language was long forbidden.

This kit gathers the bare essentials to handle an arrival in Diyarbakir or Erbil, a taxi ride, a meal around nan and çay, a medical emergency and a warm departure. You will find indispensable greetings, survival phrases, key words for eating and sleeping, as well as cultural tips to respect local customs. Memorize these expressions before leaving and you will gain confidence from the very first hours on site.