Understanding and Philosophy of the Kurdish Language

Rastinews — Those who did not learn Kurdish from childhood, and only pick it up later in life, rarely grasp the depth of the language — from the meaning of certain words down to old sayings, their age simply does not leave room for the understanding and philosophy of Kurdish to take hold. But those raised in the language from childhood carry that deep understanding and philosophy within them. This is why every Kurd should raise their children in Kurdish from infancy. Across history, the Kurdish language carries a profound philosophy rooted in the beliefs of Mithraism, Yazidism, Zoroastrianism and Alevism. Kurdish is like a science in itself, full and rich with knowledge. So let us examine the understanding and philosophy of the Kurdish language, from the Sumerian era to today.

Looking at the Sumerian language, we find words identical to Kurdish ones. This means Kurdish is among the oldest languages in the world — its origins reach back six thousand years. Aramaic, Arab and Assyrian peoples have also drawn Kurdish words into their own languages. This is not merely my own claim: historians at universities in South Kurdistan and in East Kurdistan, and Persian historians as well, have researched the subject, and from that research a Kurdish-Sumerian dictionary has been produced. My friend, the writer and researcher Nezîr Ocak, worked on converting the Aramaic script into Latin letters and compiled a translation.

Below are a few examples from the Sumerian and Kurdish languages.

Sumerian: Kurdish:

- Egar Eger

- Etav Tav – hetav (sunlight)

- Awir Awir – lênêrîn (gaze, to look)

- Agirka Ar – agir (fire)

- Tor Tor – tora masî girtinê (fishing net)

- Dar nar Darhinar (pomegranate tree)

We could give thousands of examples like these.

The understanding and philosophy of the Pîr, the Hizirvan, the Sofî and the Derwêş of the highland communities became the foundation of scientific understanding and knowledge — deeper, in fact, than ancient Greek and Roman scholarship. Every word carries a feeling, a sensation, a profound meaning. Every word holds its own interpretation and commentary, and among words on related subjects there is a clear harmony. Take karwan (caravan), karsaz (craftsman) and karker (worker) — all begin with the letters K and A, and all relate to labor and work. Or take ba (wind), baran (rain), bafir (snow), bahoz (storm) and bablîsok (whirlwind) — Kurdish meteorological terms that all begin with B and A. Modern meteorologists confirm the same science found in this Kurdish meteorology: that changes in weather occur through wind. We could give thousands of examples like these. It shows the harmony and shared meaning running through these words. Most important of all, this language was not the product of deliberate design or the invention of any group of scholars. It arose from its own nature; no one worked to construct it.

Consider how we name the learned among us. In Kurdish culture, respect for knowledge shaped the names given to people, and through those meaningful names, individuals were entrusted with responsibility within the community. Take Pîr — one who holds the understanding and experience gained over a lifetime of learning. The Pîr is honored within the Zoroastrian, Yazidi and Alevi faiths. A Sofî is one who has reached an advanced stage of knowledge. A Derwêş is one who, through wandering, came to understand the world and life itself. A Dengbêj takes the events that unfold among the people and shapes them into a work of art and literature. And so on.

Some words carry especially deep meaning — bêbav, bext and bêbext, sêwî, qewil. These words are so laden with meaning that one could call them subjects of scholarly inquiry in their own right. Consider what they mean:

Bêbav (fatherless): this describes those whose father died early, left without a father's advice, support and protection. Because of this loss, such people come to understand life more slowly; their life is harder, more difficult, and constantly beset by trouble and hardship.

Bext and bêbext (honor and dishonor): bext means covenant, oath, promise, word, dignity, faith and conviction. Bêbext is stripped of all these values. During the South Kurdistan revolution, when Saddam's soldiers refused to surrender to the Peshmerga, the Peshmerga would give them their bext — their word — and only then would the soldiers surrender, after which the Peshmerga delivered them safely back to their families. Bext is a moral and conscientious covenant, bound to human dignity.

Sêwî (orphan, motherless): this describes those whose mother died early, deprived from childhood of her embrace and affection, denied a mother's care and appreciation. Such people go through life like broken trees, victims of the world; love and affection never took root within them from childhood on.

Qewil: we could call this the foundation of life's own dictionary. At every stage of a person's life there is a purpose, an understanding to be reached — from childhood to adolescence, from adolescence to youth, from youth to maturity, from maturity to old age. This understanding runs through Kurdish history; among Yazidi believers especially, it is still upheld and passed down as guidance for raising the new generation.

Unfortunately, because we are without a state and without sovereignty, we have not been able to pass on to our new generation our ancient culture and the deep philosophy of the Kurdish language. Unfortunately, because we are without a state and without sovereignty, we have not been able to write our own history. Yet today, thanks to our language and our ancient culture, we still stand — and we will go on standing. In this era, we have become a nation with knowledge and scholars of our own. Across all four parts of Kurdistan, we have thousands of university professors and scholars in every field. Now we must take pride in our language and our ancient culture, and write the history of our people and our homeland.

There is only one troubling exception: many of our children in families living in the diaspora are not learning this language and this ancient culture, and are drifting further from their own culture day by day. That burden falls on our politicians. Protecting the rights of our people and our homeland is their responsibility. Unfortunately, to this day our politicians have not been as active as our people; our people send a stronger, more advanced and more informed message in defense of their rights and their homeland than their politicians do.