Kurmanji ⇄ English · 180 terms · source-cited

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Search Yazidi religious vocabulary, oral genres, festivals, places, community terms, and everyday Kurmanji used in the tradition. Every headword has a stable page, a concise English definition, broad IPA, and transparent script-reading aids.

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Pre-publication reference set. The 180-entry launch dataset is technically complete; spellings and interpretive definitions still require the named Yazidi-affiliated or specialist reviewer required by the site’s editorial gate.

Alphabetical index

21 terms shown

21 matching terms.

Sacred figures Audio later

Derwêş Qatan

Dervish Qatan

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

IPA
/dɛrweːʃ qatan/
Arabic reading
دەروێش قاتان
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Êzî

Êzî

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

IPA
/eːziː/
Arabic reading
ێزی
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Fexredîn

Fakhr al-Din

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

IPA
/fɛxrɛdiːn/
Arabic reading
فەخرەدین
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Hecî Fêris

Haji Faris

A revered personage named in Yazidi oral and religious traditions.

IPA
/hɛd͡ʒiː feːrɪs/
Arabic reading
هەجی فێرِس
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Memê Êsiyan

Mem of Esiyan

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

IPA
/mɛmeː eːsɪjan/
Arabic reading
مەمێ ێسِیان
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Nasirdîn

Nasir al-Din

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

IPA
/nasɪrdiːn/
Arabic reading
ناسِردین
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Pîr Afat

Pir Afat

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
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Pîr Alî

Pir Ali

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

IPA
/piːr aliː/
Arabic reading
پیر الی
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Pîr Dawid

Pir Dawid

A named pir and holy personage in Yazidi religious tradition.

IPA
/piːr dawɪd/
Arabic reading
پیر داوِد
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Pîr Mend

Pir Mend

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

IPA
/piːr mɛnd/
Arabic reading
پیر مەند
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Şahsiwar

Shahsiwar

A named holy personage and patron figure in Yazidi tradition.

IPA
/ʃahsɪwar/
Arabic reading
شاهسِوار
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Şerfedîn

Şerfedîn

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

IPA
/ʃɛrfɛdiːn/
Arabic reading
شەرفەدین
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Şêşims

Sheikh Shems

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

IPA
/ʃeːʃɪms/
Arabic reading
شێشِمس
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Şêx Adî

Sheikh Adi

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

IPA
/ʃeːx adiː/
Arabic reading
شێخ ادی
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Şêx Hesen

Sheikh Hasan

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

IPA
/ʃeːx hɛsɛn/
Arabic reading
شێخ هەسەن
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Şêxûbekir

Sheikh Obekr

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

IPA
/ʃeːxuːbɛkɪr/
Arabic reading
شێخووبەکِر
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Sicadîn

Sajadin

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

IPA
/sɪd͡ʒadiːn/
Arabic reading
سِجادین
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Siltan Êzî

Sultan Êzî

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

IPA
/sɪltan eːziː/
Arabic reading
سِلتان ێزی
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Xatûna Fexra

Lady Fexra

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

IPA
/xatuːna fɛxra/
Arabic reading
خاتوونا فەخرا
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Xidir Îlyas

Khidr-Elias

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

IPA
/xɪdɪr iːljas/
Arabic reading
خِدِر یلیاس
Full entry
Sacred figures Audio later

Xidir Nebî

Khidr the Prophet

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
Full entry

How to read this lexicon

One canonical form, transparent aids

The lexicon separates sourced lexical content from mechanically generated reading aids. That distinction matters because Yazidi Kurmanji is written in more than one script and spelling practice is not uniform across Iraq, the Caucasus, and diaspora communities.

  1. 01
    Headword and meaning

    The Latin Kurmanji form is the editorial key. Definitions are concise syntheses checked against at least two category-appropriate scholarly sources.

  2. 02
    Broad IPA

    The IPA line maps the written Kurmanji form to a broad, stress-neutral reading. It is a pronunciation aid, not a recording or dialect claim.

  3. 03
    Script reading variants

    Arabic and Cyrillic forms are deterministic transliterations of the Latin headword. They are labelled “reading” forms and must not be mistaken for attested local spellings.

  4. 04
    Audio slots

    Every entry reserves an audio control, but no synthetic voice is substituted for a speaker. Recordings can be attached after speaker consent and dialect metadata are available.

Named authorities

Sources and verification

Definitions are editorial paraphrases, never copied qewl text. Individual entries show a smaller category-specific source set.

Philip G. Kreyenbroek and Khalil J. Rashow

God and Sheikh Adi are Perfect

Harrassowitz, 2005. A documented selection of Yazidi sacred poems and narratives with discussion of genres, performance, and oral transmission.

Geoffrey Haig

Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji)

Bamberg linguistic reference used for the Kurmanji sound inventory and the broad, stress-neutral IPA reading key.

Dataset version 1.1.0 · Built 15 August 2026 · XML term sitemap