Words carry a living tradition.

Creation or the act of bringing the world into being.

IPA

/afɪrandɪn/

Arabic reading

افِراندِن

Fire; lights and flames appear in domestic, seasonal, and shrine observances.

IPA

/aɡɪr/

Arabic reading

اگِر

Water, a central element in ordinary life and many sacred-place and purification contexts.

IPA

/av/

Arabic reading

اڤ

Earth, soil, or land.

IPA

/ax/

Arabic reading

اخ

The hereafter or world to come; the word also appears in names for ritual kinship relations.

IPA

/axɪrɛt/

Arabic reading

اخِرەت

The custodian and senior servant associated with the sanctuary at Laliş.

IPA

/baba t͡ʃawuːʃ/

Arabic reading

بابا چاوووش

The senior religious authority in the traditional Yazidi hierarchy.

IPA

/baba ʃeːx/

Arabic reading

بابا شێخ

A town near Mosul with a long-established Yazidi community, noted together with Behzanê for Arabic-speaking qewal families.

IPA

/baʃiːqa/

Arabic reading

باشیقا

A regional winter ritual cycle especially associated with Çêlka communities; dates and household customs vary.

IPA

/batɪzmiː/

Arabic reading

باتِزمی

A major Yazidi town in the Şêxan area and the traditional residence associated with the Yazidi Mîr.

IPA

/baʕadreː/

Arabic reading

باعادرێ

A historical and cultural region of northern Iraqi Kurdistan closely associated with Kurmanji-speaking Yazidi communities.

IPA

/bɛhdiːnan/

Arabic reading

بەهدینان

A regional name for Kurmanji varieties spoken in northern Iraqi Kurdistan.

IPA

/bɛhdiːniː/

Arabic reading

بەهدینی

A town near Başîqa with a long-established Yazidi community and important qewal traditions.

IPA

/bɛhzaneː/

Arabic reading

بەهزانێ

A winter observance known in some Yazidi communities, with regional forms and differing calendar placement.

IPA

/beːleːnda/

Arabic reading

بێلێندا

A stanza, section, or bounded unit of verse.

IPA

/bɛnd/

Arabic reading

بەند

A conventional introductory or opening passage associated with the performance and organization of qewls.

IPA

/bɛraneː qɛwlan/

Arabic reading

بەرانێ قەولان

A small sacred token traditionally made from clay and water associated with Laliş and carried for blessing.

IPA

/bɛrat/

Arabic reading

بەرات

Blessing, abundance, or beneficent power associated with a sacred person, place, object, or act.

IPA

/bɛrɛkɛt/

Arabic reading

بەرەکەت

A genre of Yazidi religious verse distinct from but related to the qewl corpus.

IPA

/bɛjt/

Arabic reading

بەیت

Spring.

IPA

/bɪhar/

Arabic reading

بِهار

A ritually chosen spiritual brother in the Yazidi institution of otherworldly kinship.

IPA

/bɪrajeː axɪrɛteː/

Arabic reading

بِرایێ اخِرەتێ

The prescribed first cutting of a child's hair, traditionally performed by the family's sheikh.

IPA

/bɪsk bɪriːn/

Arabic reading

بِسک بِرین

Wednesday; the word appears in Çarşema Sor, Red Wednesday.

IPA

/t͡ʃarʃɛm/

Arabic reading

چارشەم

The Yazidi New Year, observed on the first Wednesday of April in the Eastern or Julian reckoning.

IPA

/t͡ʃarʃɛma sor/

Arabic reading

چارشەما سۆر

A feast, festival, or religious celebration.

IPA

/d͡ʒɛʒn/

Arabic reading

جەژن

The principal annual autumn assembly and pilgrimage at Laliş.

IPA

/d͡ʒɛʒna d͡ʒɛmajeː/

Arabic reading

جەژنا جەمایێ

The Friday feast that follows the three-day Rojiyên Êzî fast in December.

IPA

/d͡ʒɛʒna eːziː/

Arabic reading

جەژنا ێزی

A winter feast associated with Xidir Nebî and preceded in some communities by fasting.

IPA

/d͡ʒɛʒna xɪdɪr nɛbiː/

Arabic reading

جەژنا خِدِر نەبی

An assembly or communal gathering; the word also occurs in the name of the great autumn feast.

IPA

/d͡ʒɛma/

Arabic reading

جەما

A named forty-day summer period used in seasonal and devotional reckoning.

IPA

/t͡ʃɪlɛja haviːneː/

Arabic reading

چِلەیا هاڤینێ

A named forty-day winter period used in seasonal and devotional reckoning.

IPA

/t͡ʃɪlɛja zɪvɪstaneː/

Arabic reading

چِلەیا زِڤِستانێ

A lamp or light kindled in a sacred or domestic ritual context.

IPA

/t͡ʃɪra/

Arabic reading

چِرا

A story or tale in Kurmanji oral narrative.

IPA

/t͡ʃiːrok/

Arabic reading

چیرۆک

A teller or performer of stories.

IPA

/t͡ʃiːrokbeːʒ/

Arabic reading

چیرۆکبێژ

Society, community, or organized social life.

IPA

/d͡ʒɪvak/

Arabic reading

جِڤاک

A short tale, anecdote, or narrative form in Kurdish oral tradition.

IPA

/t͡ʃiːvanok/

Arabic reading

چیڤانۆک

A gathering, assembly, or group of people meeting together.

IPA

/d͡ʒɪvat/

Arabic reading

جِڤات

A long narrative or epic account, often concerning named heroes and remembered events.

IPA

/dastan/

Arabic reading

داستان

A frame drum traditionally played by qewals during the performance of sacred hymns.

IPA

/dɛf/

Arabic reading

دەف

A singer-poet known for orally performed songs and narratives in Kurdish culture.

IPA

/dɛnɡbeːʒ/

Arabic reading

دەنگبێژ

A doorway, gate, or sacred precinct; in religious contexts it can refer to the threshold of a sanctuary.

IPA

/dɛrɡɛh/

Arabic reading

دەرگەه

A dervish or devoted religious person; the word also occurs as a personal title and in oral narratives.

IPA

/dɛrweːʃ/

Arabic reading

دەروێش

A hero and holy personage known from Yazidi oral narratives and sacred history.

IPA

/dɛrweːʃ qatan/

Arabic reading

دەروێش قاتان

Religion, faith, or religious law; its nuance depends on the phrase and speaker.

IPA

/diːn/

Arabic reading

دین

The present world or worldly life, often contrasted with axiret, the hereafter.

IPA

/dɪnja/

Arabic reading

دِنیا

History or a historical account.

IPA

/diːrok/

Arabic reading

دیرۆک

A pearl. In Yazidi cosmogonic narratives the image of a primordial pearl is associated with the beginning of creation.

IPA

/dʊr/

Arabic reading

دور

A prayer or supplicatory formula; forms, occasions, and permissions differ across the tradition.

IPA

/dʊʕa/

Arabic reading

دوعا

A region of north-western Syria with historic Yazidi villages and sacred places.

IPA

/ɛfriːn/

Arabic reading

ەفرین

A tribe or large descent-based social grouping.

IPA

/ɛʃiːr/

Arabic reading

ەشیر

A Yazidi locality in the Şêxan region associated with named families and sacred traditions.

IPA

/eːsɪjan/

Arabic reading

ێسِیان

Evening.

IPA

/eːvar/

Arabic reading

ێڤار

The principal Kurmanji self-designation for a Yazidi person.

IPA

/eːzdiː/

Arabic reading

ێزدی

A community language label used especially in parts of the Caucasus and diaspora; scholars often classify the speech as Kurmanji.

IPA

/eːzdiːkiː/

Arabic reading

ێزدیکی

A cultural and political expression for the land or collective homeland of Yazidis; its scope depends on speaker and context.

IPA

/eːzdiːxan/

Arabic reading

ێزدیخان

A Kurmanji name for the Yazidi religion or Yazidi religious way.

IPA

/eːzdɪjatiː/

Arabic reading

ێزدِیاتی

A central divine or sacred name in Yazidi tradition, especially prominent in the winter fast and Cejna Êzî.

IPA

/eːziː/

Arabic reading

ێزی

A member of a devotional religious group distinguished traditionally by discipline, dress, and service.

IPA

/fɛqiːr/

Arabic reading

فەقیر

A female member of the feqîr devotional tradition.

IPA

/fɛqra/

Arabic reading

فەقرا

Literally an order or decree; in Yazidi historical memory ferman commonly denotes a campaign of persecution or massacre.

IPA

/fɛrman/

Arabic reading

فەرمان

A prominent Yazidi sacred figure named in religious lineages and oral tradition.

IPA

/fɛxrɛdiːn/

Arabic reading

فەخرەدین

A wick used in a lamp or sacred light.

IPA

/fɪtɪl/

Arabic reading

فِتِل

A grave or burial place; a common Kurmanji equivalent alongside loanwords such as mezar.

IPA

/ɡor/

Arabic reading

گۆر

A saying, utterance, or act of speaking; it can refer broadly to transmitted words.

IPA

/ɡotɪn/

Arabic reading

گۆتِن

Summer.

IPA

/haviːn/

Arabic reading

هاڤین

Pilgrimage or the act of making a pilgrimage, especially to a sacred destination.

IPA

/hɛd͡ʒ/

Arabic reading

هەج

A revered personage named in Yazidi oral and religious traditions.

IPA

/hɛd͡ʒiː feːrɪs/

Arabic reading

هەجی فێرِس

A week or seven-day period.

IPA

/hɛftɛ/

Arabic reading

هەفتە

The traditional expression that Yazidis have endured seventy-two campaigns of persecution; it is a memory formula, not a closed archival count.

IPA

/hɛfteː uː dʊ fɛrman/

Arabic reading

هەفتێ وو دو فەرمان

The Seven Mysteries or sacred angelic beings through whom divine activity is expressed in Yazidi tradition.

IPA

/hɛft sɪrr/

Arabic reading

هەفت سِرر

The master or senior instructor associated with the qewal tradition.

IPA

/hostajeː qɛwalan/

Arabic reading

هۆستایێ قەوالان

Friday.

IPA

/iːn/

Arabic reading

ین

A natural spring or fountain; several springs form part of Yazidi sacred geography.

IPA

/kaniː/

Arabic reading

کانی

The White Spring at Laliş, whose water is used in the mor kirin initiation rite.

IPA

/kanɪja spiː/

Arabic reading

کانِیا سپی

December, literally the first Kanûn in a common regional month-name system.

IPA

/kanuːna peːʃiːn/

Arabic reading

کانوونا پێشین

Stone or a stone object; particular stones can form part of local sacred landscapes.

IPA

/kɛvɪr/

Arabic reading

کەڤِر

Tradition or inherited custom passed across generations.

IPA

/kɛvnɛʃopiː/

Arabic reading

کەڤنەشۆپی

Literally changing the garment, a Kurmanji expression used for the transmigration or rebirth of the soul.

IPA

/kɪrasɡoriːn/

Arabic reading

کِراسگۆرین

The special New Year loaf or cake prepared with a token used in household divination and blessing customs.

IPA

/klot͡ʃa sɛreː saleː/

Arabic reading

کلۆچا سەرێ سالێ

Migration, departure, or displacement from one place to another.

IPA

/kot͡ʃ/

Arabic reading

کۆچ

A religious specialist associated in published accounts with visions, divination, and sacred knowledge.

IPA

/kot͡ʃɛk/

Arabic reading

کۆچەک

Northern Kurdish, the principal community and liturgical language of most Yazidis.

IPA

/kʊrmand͡ʒiː/

Arabic reading

کورمانجی

The sacred valley and sanctuary complex north of Mosul, centred on the tomb of Şêx Adî and the main destination of Yazidi pilgrimage.

IPA

/lalɪʃ/

Arabic reading

لالِش

A lamenting or devotional song genre in Kurdish and Yazidi oral tradition.

IPA

/lavɪʒ/

Arabic reading

لاڤِژ

A family or household-based kin group.

IPA

/malbat/

Arabic reading

مالبات

A month in calendar reckoning.

IPA

/mɛh/

Arabic reading

مەه

An angel or divine messenger. The word appears in the names and descriptions of Yazidi sacred beings.

IPA

/mɛlɛk/

Arabic reading

مەلەک

A named figure connected in Yazidi tradition with Êsiyan and its local sacred landscape.

IPA

/mɛmeː eːsɪjan/

Arabic reading

مەمێ ێسِیان

Literally a man; in religious language mêr can title a revered holy figure, patron, or saintly personage.

IPA

/meːr/

Arabic reading

مێر

A grave or burial place.

IPA

/mɛzar/

Arabic reading

مەزار

A local guardian or custodian responsible for a shrine and its service.

IPA

/mɪd͡ʒeːwɪr/

Arabic reading

مِجێوِر

The hereditary temporal head or prince of the Yazidi community in the traditional institutional order.

IPA

/miːr/

Arabic reading

میر

A lay member of the Yazidi community within the traditional hereditary social order.

IPA

/mɪriːd/

Arabic reading

مِرید

A prose discourse or learned religious conversation used to explain and transmit tradition.

IPA

/mɪʃabɛt/

Arabic reading

مِشابەت

The initiation rite commonly described as baptism or sealing with water at Kaniya Spî in Laliş.

IPA

/mor kɪrɪn/

Arabic reading

مۆر کِرِن

A named Yazidi sacred figure appearing in scholarly surveys of holy beings and religious tradition.

IPA

/nasɪrdiːn/

Arabic reading

ناسِردین

A name, including a personal or place name.

IPA

/nav/

Arabic reading

ناڤ

April. Yazidi New Year is reckoned from the first Wednesday of Eastern April.

IPA

/niːsan/

Arabic reading

نیسان

Light, especially sacred or divine light in cosmological and devotional language.

IPA

/nuːr/

Arabic reading

نوور

Religion, faith, or a religious tradition in Kurmanji.

IPA

/ol/

Arabic reading

ۆل

Clean or pure in ordinary and religious usage.

IPA

/pak/

Arabic reading

پاک

Autumn or fall.

IPA

/pajiːz/

Arabic reading

پاییز

A seasonal song genre whose name is related to payîz, autumn.

IPA

/pajiːzok/

Arabic reading

پاییزۆک

Thursday, literally the fifth day in the traditional weekday naming sequence.

IPA

/peːnd͡ʒʃɛm/

Arabic reading

پێنجشەم

A high-ranking hereditary religious office in the traditional Yazidi hierarchy.

IPA

/peːʃiːmam/

Arabic reading

پێشیمام

One of the hereditary religious castes; each mirîd family is traditionally affiliated with a pir lineage.

IPA

/piːr/

Arabic reading

پیر

A named pir in Yazidi sacred and lineage traditions; accounts of the figure and the name vary across sources and regions.

IPA

/piːr afat/

Arabic reading

پیر افات

A named pir and sacred personage in Yazidi lineage and oral traditions.

IPA

/piːr aliː/

Arabic reading

پیر الی

A named pir and holy personage in Yazidi religious tradition.

IPA

/piːr dawɪd/

Arabic reading

پیر داوِد

A revered pir associated with Yazidi sacred history and named traditions.

IPA

/piːr mɛnd/

Arabic reading

پیر مەند

Holy, sacred, or blessed; also used in greetings and expressions of congratulation.

IPA

/piːroz/

Arabic reading

پیرۆز

A tribe or clan grouping; usage overlaps with eşîr and varies regionally.

IPA

/qɛbiːlɛ/

Arabic reading

قەبیلە

A lamp or luminous vessel; lamps and light imagery occur in Yazidi sacred language and ritual settings.

IPA

/qɛndiːl/

Arabic reading

قەندیل

A named genre of extended religious or praise poetry in the Yazidi oral corpus.

IPA

/qɛsiːdɛ/

Arabic reading

قەسیدە

A hereditary religious specialist who performs and transmits sacred hymns, traditionally with def and şibab accompaniment.

IPA

/qɛwal/

Arabic reading

قەوال

A prestigious genre of Yazidi sacred hymn transmitted and performed orally; individual qewls have named titles and recognized structures.

IPA

/qɛwl/

Arabic reading

قەول

A singer or reciter of qewls; usage and formal status vary by region and context.

IPA

/qɛwlbeːʒ/

Arabic reading

قەولبێژ

A sacred orientation or direction faced in prayer; the intended direction can depend on place and practice.

IPA

/qɪblɛ/

Arabic reading

قِبلە

One's allotted fate, portion, or destiny.

IPA

/qɪsmɛt/

Arabic reading

قِسمەت

A shrine or its characteristic conical tower, a recognizable element of Yazidi sacred architecture.

IPA

/qʊb/

Arabic reading

قوب

A sacrificial offering, commonly an animal offering, made in a religious or communal setting.

IPA

/qʊrban/

Arabic reading

قوربان

A named performance genre in scholarly classifications of Yazidi oral tradition.

IPA

/robariːn/

Arabic reading

رۆبارین

A day; the word also means sun in Kurmanji.

IPA

/roʒ/

Arabic reading

رۆژ

West, literally the direction of sunset.

IPA

/roʒava/

Arabic reading

رۆژاڤا

East, literally the place where the sun rises.

IPA

/roʒhɪlat/

Arabic reading

رۆژهِلات

A religious fast or fasting practice.

IPA

/roʒiː/

Arabic reading

رۆژی

The three fasting days, Tuesday through Thursday, immediately before Cejna Êzî.

IPA

/roʒɪjeːn eːziː/

Arabic reading

رۆژِیێن ێزی

The soul or spirit of a person.

IPA

/rʊh/

Arabic reading

روه

An adjective meaning spiritual or religious, also used substantively for a member of the religious estate.

IPA

/rʊhaniː/

Arabic reading

روهانی

A named holy personage and patron figure in Yazidi tradition.

IPA

/ʃahsɪwar/

Arabic reading

شاهسِوار

A year.

IPA

/sal/

Arabic reading

سال

A performed religious genre associated with ceremonial recitation and listening.

IPA

/sɛma/

Arabic reading

سەما

The Kurmanji name for Sinjar, including the mountain, district, and major Yazidi region in north-western Iraq.

IPA

/ʃɛnɡal/

Arabic reading

شەنگال

A repeated heading, opening, or refrain associated with sections of a performed text.

IPA

/sɛrbɛnd/

Arabic reading

سەربەند

Literally the head of the year, a widely used name for the Yazidi New Year festival.

IPA

/sɛreː saleː/

Arabic reading

سەرێ سالێ

A major sacred figure whose name is also used in Yazidi tradition as a name for the religious path.

IPA

/ʃɛrfɛdiːn/

Arabic reading

شەرفەدین

A prominent holy being associated with the sun and sacred light in Yazidi tradition.

IPA

/ʃeːʃɪms/

Arabic reading

شێشِمس

Night.

IPA

/ʃɛv/

Arabic reading

شەڤ

A night observance whose name joins şev, night, with berat; practices should be described by region.

IPA

/ʃɛvbɛrat/

Arabic reading

شەڤبەرات

One of the hereditary religious castes; individual mirîd families maintain a prescribed relationship with a sheikh lineage.

IPA

/ʃeːx/

Arabic reading

شێخ

Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir, whose tomb at Laliş is the central focus of Yazidi pilgrimage.

IPA

/ʃeːx adiː/

Arabic reading

شێخ ادی

A district and traditional Yazidi heartland north-east of Mosul, close to Laliş.

IPA

/ʃeːxan/

Arabic reading

شێخان

A major figure in Yazidi sacred history, traditionally associated with the generation after Sheikh Adi.

IPA

/ʃeːx hɛsɛn/

Arabic reading

شێخ هەسەن

A sacred figure whose name appears in Yazidi religious tradition and lineage accounts.

IPA

/ʃeːxuːbɛkɪr/

Arabic reading

شێخووبەکِر

A wind instrument or flute traditionally paired with the def in qewal performance.

IPA

/ʃɪbab/

Arabic reading

شِباب

Morning or early in the day.

IPA

/sɪbɛh/

Arabic reading

سِبەه

A named sacred figure in Yazidi tradition, with spelling varying across Kurdish and scholarly transcription systems.

IPA

/sɪd͡ʒadiːn/

Arabic reading

سِجادین

An honorific form of Êzî used in Yazidi religious language and festival naming.

IPA

/sɪltan eːziː/

Arabic reading

سِلتان ێزی

Consecrated or communal food prepared and distributed in connection with a shrine or ceremony.

IPA

/sɪmat/

Arabic reading

سِمات

A sacred peacock standard historically carried by qewals on community visitations.

IPA

/sɪnd͡ʒaq/

Arabic reading

سِنجاق

A mystery, sacred secret, or numinous essence. In Yazidi usage it can also denote one of the sacred Mysteries.

IPA

/sɪrr/

Arabic reading

سِرر

A pillar or column, including architectural columns within sacred complexes.

IPA

/sɪtuːn/

Arabic reading

سِتوون

A song in Kurmanji, including secular and narrative forms distinct from the most restricted sacred genres.

IPA

/stran/

Arabic reading

ستران

A singer or performer of songs; the term does not by itself identify a hereditary qewal.

IPA

/stranbeːʒ/

Arabic reading

سترانبێژ

The peacock, most prominently encountered in the title Tawûsî Melek and in the form of sacred standards.

IPA

/tawuːs/

Arabic reading

تاوووس

The traditional visitation cycle in which qewals carried sacred peacock standards among Yazidi communities.

IPA

/tawuːs ɡeːran/

Arabic reading

تاوووس گێران

The Peacock Angel, the pre-eminent angelic figure in Yazidi religious tradition and one of the Heft Sirr.

IPA

/tawuːsiː mɛlɛk/

Arabic reading

تاوووسی مەلەک

A tomb or mausoleum associated with a revered person.

IPA

/tɪrbɛ/

Arabic reading

تِربە

An annual local feast or gathering connected with a particular shrine and its community.

IPA

/tɪwaf/

Arabic reading

تِواف

A learned person or religious scholar; the term is used for people recognized for knowledge of tradition.

IPA

/ʊlɪmdar/

Arabic reading

ولِمدار

The telling or recounting of a story, event, or body of knowledge.

IPA

/vɛɡotɪn/

Arabic reading

ڤەگۆتِن

Country, homeland, or native land.

IPA

/wɛlat/

Arabic reading

وەلات

A town and large displaced-persons area near Duhok with a substantial Yazidi population.

IPA

/xankeː/

Arabic reading

خانکێ

An honorific for a chosen or holy personage in Yazidi religious vocabulary; its exact referent depends on context.

IPA

/xas/

Arabic reading

خاس

A revered female personage in Yazidi sacred tradition; Xatûn is an honorific meaning lady.

IPA

/xatuːna fɛxra/

Arabic reading

خاتوونا فەخرا

A lyrical genre associated by name with the stranger, exile, or one away from home.

IPA

/xɛriːbo/

Arabic reading

خەریبۆ

A paired sacred name associated with seasonal observance and regional tradition.

IPA

/xɪdɪr iːljas/

Arabic reading

خِدِر یلیاس

A revered prophetic figure whose name is associated with a winter fast and feast in some Yazidi communities.

IPA

/xɪdɪr nɛbiː/

Arabic reading

خِدِر نەبی

A person who performs service, especially an attendant serving a shrine, institution, or ceremony.

IPA

/xɪdmɛtkar/

Arabic reading

خِدمەتکار

A short named genre within classifications of Yazidi oral religious and lyrical texts.

IPA

/xɪzeːmok/

Arabic reading

خِزێمۆک

A relative or kinsperson; collectively, kin and family connections.

IPA

/xɪzɪm/

Arabic reading

خِزِم

The usual Kurmanji name for God. In Yazidi discourse Xwedê is the creator and ultimate divine source.

IPA

/xwɛdeː/

Arabic reading

خوەدێ

A ritually chosen spiritual sister in the Yazidi institution of otherworldly kinship.

IPA

/xwɪʃka axɪrɛteː/

Arabic reading

خوِشکا اخِرەتێ

A common international and Kurdish spelling of the community name; editorial contexts should declare which spelling system they follow.

IPA

/jazɪdiː/

Arabic reading

یازِدی

A dialect or regional language variety.

IPA

/zarava/

Arabic reading

زاراڤا

Oral expression or oral literature, literally speech of the tongue or mouth.

IPA

/zarɡotɪn/

Arabic reading

زارگۆتِن

Language or tongue.

IPA

/zɪman/

Arabic reading

زِمان

Winter.

IPA

/zɪvɪstan/

Arabic reading

زِڤِستان

A sacred place visited for devotion, vows, blessing, or a local festival.

IPA

/zɪjarɛt/

Arabic reading

زِیارەت

A shrine or designated place of religious visitation.

IPA

/zɪjarɛtɡɛh/

Arabic reading

زِیارەتگەه