Definition
What does Xankê mean?
Xankê means “Khanke.” A town and large displaced-persons area near Duhok with a substantial Yazidi population.
Place and object names often have Arabic, Kurdish, and scholarly spellings. The canonical form here follows the Latin Kurmanji editorial system used throughout this lexicon.
Pronunciation & orthography
Four ways to read the headword
Only the Latin form is stored as the canonical headword. The IPA and two script forms are generated from it and may not capture regional pronunciation, loanword conventions, or an attested community spelling.
Alternate forms
Other spellings and search forms
Aliases are included for discovery across common English, Kurdish, and scholarly spelling systems. Their presence does not imply that every form is preferred in every community.
Source note
References for this entry
This definition is an editorial synthesis of the references below. It does not reproduce restricted or copyrighted sacred text, and it should be expanded only after term-level specialist review.
The Yezidi Oral Tradition in Iraqi Kurdistan
Routledge, 2001. Reference for oral narrative, performance, place names, identity, and Kurmanji usage in northern Iraq.
“Yazidis i. General,” Encyclopaedia Iranica
Specialist overview of history, religious life, language, geography, identity, and institutions.
The Yezidis: The History of a Community, Culture and Religion
Bloomsbury, 2014. Reference for belief, hierarchy, festivals, material culture, sacred sites, and architecture.