Serhan Aksöyler: Kurdish Ortography Project

Kurdish Ortography Project

May 2nd, 2026

Hawar+ aims to increase the consistency of transcriptions. However, adoption of Ä ä, Ë ë, and Ü ü as part of the default Hawar ortography would prove use for other Kurdish varieties. Work is still in progress and prone to errors.

Non-phonemic sound inventory is found below.

IPA	Hawar	Hawar+	Arabic	Êzidî	Armenian	Cyrillic	Hawar Example	Notes
[ɑː]	A a	A a	ا	𐺀	Ա ա	A a	av 'water'
[a]	A a	À à	ا or عا	𐺀	Ա ա	A a		f. Soranî; Xwarîn
[ɑ̃] [õ̝]	A a	Ä ä				Ą ą	dewan	f. Zazakî
[b]	B b	B b	ب	𐺁	Պ պ	Б б	bav 'father'
[d͡ʒ]	C c	C c	ج	𐺆	Ճ ճ	Щ щ	ciwan 'young'
[t͡ʃ]	Ç ç	Ç ç	چ	𐺇	Ջ ջ	Ч ч	birç 'hunger'
[t͡ʃˤ]	Ç ç	Ç̀ ç̀	چ	𐺇	Ջ ջ	Ч ч		f. Kurmancî
[t͡ʃʰ]	Ç ç	Ḉ ḉ	چ	𐺈	Չ չ	Чʼ чʼ	çiya 'mountain'
[d]	D d	D d	د	𐺋	Տ տ	Д д	adar 'March'
[dˤ]	D d	D̀ d̀	د	𐺔	Տ տ	Д д
[ð̞]	D d	Ð ð				Ҙ ҙ
[d͡z]	DZ dz	Ḑ ḑ			Ձ ձ	Ѕ ѕ
[ɛ]	E e	E e	ه	𐺦	Ա̆ ա̆	Ә ә	mezin 'big'
[ɛ]	E e	È è	عه	𐺦	Ա̆ ա̆	Ә ә	ehd 'promise'	f. Soranî
[æ] [ə]	E e	Ë ë	ە	𐺦	Ա̆ ա̆	Æ æ	ez 'I'	c.s.r. A a
[eː]	Ê ê	Ê ê	ێ‎	𐺩	Է է	Э э	rê 'road'
[f]	F f	F f	ف	𐺙	Ֆ ֆ	Ф ф	def 'tambourine'
[fˤ]	F f	F̀ f̀	ف	𐺙	Ֆ ֆ	Ф ф		f. Soranî
[g]	G g	G g	گ	𐺟	Կ կ	Г г	gul 'flower'
[ɡˤ]	G g	G̀ g̀	گ	𐺟	Կ կ	Г г		f. Soranî
[gʷ]	GW gw	GW gw	گو	𐺟𐺤	ԿՈՒ կու	ГW гw	gwêre 'ant'
[ɟ]	G g	Ǧ ǧ	گ	𐺟	Կ կ	Г г	gel 'people'
[h]	H h	H h	ھ‎	𐺧	Հ հ	Һ һ	ahû 'deer'
[ħ]	Ḧ ḧ	Ḧ ḧ	ح	𐺉	Հ’ հ’	Һʼ һʼ	ḧeps 'prison'	c.h.r. H h
[ɪ] [ɘ]	I i	I i	ـِ		Ը ը	Ь ь	bira 'brother'	c.z.r. I ı
[ɨ]	I i	Ï ï	ـِ		Ը ը	Ь ь		f. Zazakî; Xwarîn c.z.r. I ı
[iː]	Î î	Î î	ی	𐺨	Ի ի	И и	sî 'thirty'
[ʒ]	J j	J j	ژ	𐺐	Ժ ժ	Ж ж	jin 'woman'
[k]	K k	K k	ک	𐺝	Գ գ	К к	arkîsk 'cricket'
[kˤ]	K k	K̀ k̀	ک	𐺝	Գ գ	К к
[kʰ]	K k	Ḱ ḱ	ک	𐺝	Ք ք	Кʼ кʼ	kurd 'Kurd'
[c]	K k	Ǩ ǩ	ک	𐺝	Ք ք	К к	rekeh 'cage'
[cʰ]	K k	K̂ k̂	ک	𐺝	Ք ք	К к	kef 'foam'
[kʷ]	KW kw	KW kw	کو	𐺝𐺤	ՔՈՒ քու	КW кw	kwê 'mountain'
[l]	L l	L l	ل	𐺠	Լ լ	Л л	heval 'friend'
[ɫ]	Ł ł	Ł ł	ڵ‎	𐺰	Լ’ լ’	Лʼ лʼ	dil 'heart'	c.h.r. L l (! LL ll)
[m]	M m	M m	م	𐺡	Մ մ	М м	mêr 'man'
[n]	N n	N n	ن	𐺢	Ն ն	Н н	nav 'name'
[ŋ]	NG ng	Ǹ ǹ	نٚ or نگ	𐺢𐺟	ՆԿ նկ	Ң ң	deng 'sound'
[ɲ]	NZ nz	Ň ň	نز				yanze 'eleven'	f. Xwarîn
[oː]	O o	O o	ۆ‎	𐺥	Օ օ	О о	por 'hair'
[o]	O o	Ò ò	ۆ‎	𐺥	Օ օ	О о		f. Xwarîn
[o̽ː]	O o	Ö ö	وێ	𐺥	ԷՕ էօ	Ө ө	sor 'wedding'	f. Xwarîn
[p]	P p	P p	پ	𐺂	Բ բ	П п	tempo 'tempo'
[pˤ]	P p	P̀ p̀	پ	𐺃	Բ բ	П п
[pʰ]	P p	Ṕ ṕ	پ	𐺂	Փ փ	Пʼ пʼ	ap 'uncle'
[q]	Q q	Q q	ق	𐺜	Գ̇ գ̇	Q q	qend 'sugar'
[qʷ]	QW qw	QW qw	قو	𐺜𐺤	Գ̇ՈՒ գ̇ու	QW qw	qwû 'swan'
[ɾ]	R r	R r	ر	𐺍	Ր ր	Р р	ar 'flour'
[r]	Ř ř	Ŕ ŕ	ڕ‎	𐺎	Ռ ռ	Рʼ рʼ	řoj 'day'	c.h.r. R r (! RR rr)
[s]	S s	S s	س	𐺑	Ս ս	С с	ser 'head'
[sˤ]	S s	S̀ s̀	س	𐺓	Ս ս	С с
[ʃ]	Ş ş	Ş ş	ش	𐺒	Շ շ	Ш ш	aştî 'peace'
[t]	T t	T t	ت	𐺕	Դ դ	Т т	til 'finger'
[tˤ]	T t	T̀ t̀	ت	𐺄	Դ դ	Т т	tav 'sun'
[tʰ]	T t	T́ t́	ت	𐺄	Թ թ	Тʼ тʼ	tolk 'hibiscus'
[tʲ]	T t	Ť ť	ت	𐺕	Դ դ	Т т
[t͡s]	TS ts	Ț ț			Ծ ծ	Ц ц
[ʊ]	U u	U u	و	𐺣	Ւ ւ	Ö ö	kur 'boy'
[uː]	Û û	Û û	وو	𐺣𐺣	ՈՒ ու	У у	nû 'new'
[ʉː] [yː]	Û û	Ü ü	ۊ	𐺣𐺣	ԻՒ իւ	Ю ю	rû 'face'	f. Zazakî; Soranî; Xwarîn
[v]	V v	V v	ڤ	𐺚 or 𐺛	Վ վ	В в	vexwar 'drinking'
[w]	W w	W w	و	𐺤	ՈՒ ու	W w	awêne 'mirror'
[ɥ]	W w	Ŵ ŵ	و	𐺤	ՈՒ ու	W w
[x]	X x	X x	خ	𐺊	Խ խ	X x	ax 'soil'
[xʷ]	XW xw	XW xw	خو	𐺊𐺤	ԽՈՒ խու	XW xw	xwişk 'sister'
[ɣ]	Ẍ ẍ	Ẍ ẍ	غ	𐺘	Ղ ղ	Гʼ гʼ	aẍa 'agha, lord'	c.h.r. X x c.z.r. Ğ ğ
[ɣʷ]	ẌW ẍw	ẌW ẍw	غو	𐺘𐺤	ՂՈՒ ղու	ГʼW гʼw		c.h.r. XW xw c.z.r. ĞW ğw
[j]	Y y	Y y	ی	𐺨	Յ յ	Й й	yek 'one'
[ʕ]	'	Ÿ ÿ	ع	𐺗	Ա̈ ա̈	Әʼ әʼ	qe'le 'castle'	c.h.r. N/A
[z]	Z z	Z z	ز	𐺏	Զ զ	З з	rêz 'line'
[zˤ]	Z z	Z̀ z̀	ز	𐺌	Զ զ	Z z
[zʰ]	Z z	Ź ź	ز	𐺖	Զ զ	Z z
[ʔ]			ئ

Latin Diacritics:
◌̀ Grave is absent in Hawar. Marks pharyngealized consonants (except for [ŋ]) and shorter vowels in Hawar+.
◌́ Acute is absent in Hawar but present in Zazakî to mark femininity. Marks aspirated consonants (except for [r]) in Hawar+.
◌̌ Háček is nonstandardly used to mark the trill in Hawar. Marks palatalized consonants in Hawar+.
◌̂ Circumflex marks the long vowels in Hawar. Extended for [ɥ] in Hawar+.
◌̈ Diæresis is used to mark the voicing in Hawar and for [yː] in Zazakî. Has mixed use cases in Hawar+.
◌̧ Cedilla marks the post-alveolarization of consonants in Hawar. Extended use cases for [t͡s] and [d͡z] in Hawar+.

Abbreviations in notes:
f. Phone found in (Hawar example might not be shared across all the variants.)
c.h.r. Common Hawar Representation
c.z.r. Common Zazakî Representation
c.s.r. Common Soranî Representation
! Unconventional Hawar Use
N/A Not represented

Update Log:
May 2nd, 2026: Article created.
May 5th, 2026: Table updated.