u/sheerwaan

I need you all to listen very well:

The term Yazidī / Ezidī does not derive from the name of Yazīd ibn Mu'āwiyya. Because it CANNOT. Yazīd- > Yazid- DOES NOT happen because it CANNOT happen. We don't have shifts from long i to short i or vice versa in Kurdish or other well known Iranic tongues.

First of all, the NK term "ezidī" is from "yazidī" because NK reduces initial y- very often and in the case of ya- even shifts them to e-:

yatīm > etīm (orphan)

yān > ān (or)

yārīkar > ārīkār / ālīkār (helper) (Yes, the "āl-" in ālīkār is cognatic to "yār" (friend) in other Iranic tongues and ālīkār is derived from a compound from "yārī" (friendship, help) + kār (work, deed but here: doer, worker)).

etc.

Secondly, the God of the Yazidī is called "Ezdā" in their own NK speech which obviously is also from "Yazdān" which is a well known word for god in Western Iranic languages. The word directly and completely derives from Zoroastrian culture because Prophet Zoroaster refused to acknowledge any other god than Āhurā Māzdā and called the other gods unholy and undivine. This is why the original words for "god" in Iranic like "baga" are not used in Awistan and why Zoroastrian-influenced Iranic "dew" (in Kurdish, "dīv" in iranian new persian) means demon instead of god although it derives from Proto-Iranic daywas and is cognatic to Latin deus or Hellenic theos both meaning god. Meanwhile Eastern Iranic tongues that were not under influence of the Zoroastrian religion still have the word "dew" with the meaning "god".

But as there were still holy and divine beings in Zoroastrianism, especially as they were also brought back after Zoroaster in a less divine spot, they were called "yazata-" which means "to be worshipped" or "worshipped one" and is cognatic to the Kurdish word "jazhn" meaning "festival", "celebration" which derives from yasna (same yasna as those of the Zoroastrian literature).

Yazata- > Yazad > Yazadān >Yazidān > Yazdān

Yazata- > Yazad > Yazid > Yazd

Yasna- > Yashn > Jashn > Jazhn

The more colloquial meaning of jazhn together with its proper SCNK and Persid sound shift of initial y > j makes sense, as opposed to a holy word with its more so retained meaning "yazd-" and the sound shift not applying to it makes also sense I argue because the speakers would be less inclined to go with such a strong differene in pronounciation and would keep to the old pronounciation (yazd instead of jazd).

Now, the Yazidī are obviously called after their god Ezda ( < Yazdān). Probably when Yazdān was Yazidān yet and possibly even when one of the forms of Yazidān was "Yazid". So, "Yazidī" simply means "Of god" in NK Yazidī terming. Or "adherent of god". Or "People of God". This is a pretty normal naming.

But it is important that people know and understand where their name came from and how it changed from its original form.

Eastern Kurdish (Hawrami) and Western Kurdish (Kirdki) are so incredibly archaic among New Western Iranic languages that they actually are more archaic than Middle Persian and Parthian WHEN it comes to the grammatical cases, genders and numbers.

Of course as languages of the Middle Iranic stage, both, MP and Parthian had so many lexemes, sound structures and grammatical features that are generally lost in New Iranic. Including EK and WK.

But the archaic subdialects of EK and WK have even to this day these certain features that MP and Parthian didn't have from the earliest time of their attestation on from a point after 2'000 years ago.

Since I am more familiar with EK than with WK I will focus on EK.

EK has three cases (subject, object, vocative), two numbers (singular, plural) and two genders (masculine, feminine). MP and Parthian had two cases, which only showed in a limited way, and no grammatical gender. For example, NK also has two genders and three cases but it does not mark the gender or number of the subject case while EWK does and NK's masculine vocative marker (-o) is an innovation. In EK everything is marked even the adjectives!!! Which is an O.G. Indo-European feature that still existed in Old Iranic (Awistan and Old Persian with seven cases (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive, locative, ablative/instrumental, vocative), three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and three numbers (singular, dual, plural)). Latin e.g. worked like that too and Russian e.g. still does. SCNK like New Persian does not do any of this.

English

EK

SK

CK

NK

MP

-----

(A) girl sees (a) boy

(A) boy sees (a) girl

Girls see boys

Boys see girls

.

Kināca kurrī wīno

Kurr kināce wīno

Kināce kurrān wīnān

Kurre kinācān wīnān

.

Düat kurr(a) dünet

Kurr düat(a) dünet

Düat kurr dünin

Kurr düat dünin

.

Kanīshk kurr dabīnet

Kurr kanīshk dabīnet

Kanīshkān kurrān dabīnin

Kurrān kanīshkān dabīnin

.

Kac kurī dibīna

Kur kace dibīna

Kac kurān dibīnin

Kur kacān dibīnin

.

Kanīzag pisar wīnad

Pis kanīzag wīnad

Kanīzag pisarān wīnand

Pisar kanīzagān wīnand

---

She is healthy

He is healthy

They (only female) are healthy

They (only male) are healthy

.

Āda washa (a)na

Ād wash an

Āde washe (a)ne

Āde washe (a)ne

.

Aw xwash a

Aw xwash a

Awān xwash in

Awān xwash in

.

Aw xosh a

Aw xosh a

Awān xosh in

Awān xosh in

.

Aw xwash a

Aw xwash a

Aw xwash in

Aw xwash in

.

Oy xwash ast

Oy xwash ast

Oy xwash and

Oy xwash and

-----

He sees her

She sees him

They see them

They see her

.

Ād āde wīno

Āda ādī wīno

Āda ādīshān wīno

Āde āde wīnān

.

Aw aw dünet

Aw aw dünet

Aw awān dünet

Awān aw dünin

.

Aw aw(ī) dabīnet

Aw aw(e) dabīnet

Aw awān dabīnet

Awān aw(e) dabīnin

.

Aw we dibīna

Aw wī dibīna

Aw wān dibīna

Aw wān dibīnin

.

Oy oy wīnad

Oy oy wīnad

Oy aweshān wīnand

Oy oy wīnand

----

Note: <oy> in Middle Persian is transcribed as such but might as well be <awe>

What Kurdish dialects do I speak?

I speak Southern Kurdish of the Guran tribe as my mother tongue and I understand other SK subdialects too like Kallhurri (which is basically the same as Gurani SK) and I am able to understand Malikshahi (Ilami) too and also somewhat Laki.

I also speak a rather standardised form of Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) and the Central Kurdish ("Sorani") standard subdialect from Silemani (Babani). I am able to communicate in these two dialects but not communicate perfectly and it gets more difficult the further the subdialect is from the standardised form.

I also speak a little bit of Eastern Kurdish (Hawrami) and that is Zardayi EK (from the Guran area) and a mixed version of Hawramani subdialects (since I haven't memorised which exact form or words belong to which EK subdialect of Hawraman).

Recently I also tapped into Western Kurdish (Kirdki, unfortunately known as "Zazaki") but I am nowhere yet.

I will also study some other Iranic tongues like Balochi and Farvi or Khuri or Garmsiri at least as far as there are resources available to me. I need to do this anyway because with them I will understand the origin and development of Kurdish and Iranic better but by studying them I will also be able to speak them as far as I go.

But this is besides the point. I am happy with myself speaking several Kurdish dialects but I am nowhere near done. I have to master the speech of NK and CK perfectly and then acquire the skills of EK just the same and then learn WK as well. And when I am able to fluently converse, speak, listen and understand and read and write I will consider myself in the position to say I am able to speak Kurdish with all Kurds. Even if there are still further subdialects of each dialect that I would need to learn for that to be truly true.

And the point is: We as Kurds have to learn the other Kurdish group's languages if we say we are proud Kurds and we adhere at a free Kurdish people and a free Kurdistan. We don't have the luxury not to. We are in this situation and in this situation we have to put more effort into our Kurdish identity and our skills as Kurds as our duty.

Same post on X / twitter: https://x.com/i/status/2052294119716778178

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Daily Reminder: Guran Kurds are commonly Yarsani Kurds and usually from a continuous area of northwestern Kirmāshān.

As for Gūrān = Eastern Kurdish speaker, (Hawrami etc.) you have to understand that while this was true originally and later on partially this is not true anymore. This notion serves for ethnological and anthropological and linguistic purposes only.

Now there are exceptions too e.g. there are some Jāf that once joined the Gūrān but stayed sunnite muslims and still spoke CK at home. No idea if they still exist as part of the Gūrān confederation.

There are also Gūrān in former Ardalān area but obviously they have been assimilated as they speak CK and are not Yārsānī.

There is also the Gorān tribe of Bādīnān, they are NK/CK speaking sunnite muslims and they descend from actual EK speakers of Karkūk/Halabja area close to Hawrāmān and had apparently become CK speaking muslims before they ended up in Bādīnān.

Original post / tweet on X / Twitter:

https://x.com/i/status/2051421912497099065

-------------------------

The Y-DNA haplogroup of a descendant of Bābā Hindu, the teacher of Shāh Xwashīn, has been determined!

These are TREMENDOUS NEWS for the Yarsani community but also for all Kurds of course!

A Laki speaking Kurd who is a present day descendant of the Yārsānī figure and scholar Bābā Hindu has been determined to have an Indo-Aryan and thus Indian Y-DNA haplogroup: R-Y15121 under R-Z94 under R-Z93. A common Aryan (Indo-Iranic) haplogroup.

What makes this even more fascinating is that it helps with two other things!

1. To have a Laki speaking Kurd handed down as descendant of Bābā Hindu serves as strengthening point that the Eastern Kurdish speaking Gorans (Kurds) of Luristan, attested in the 10th century CE which Shāh Xwashīn was one of, have developed to Laki speaking Kurds at some point in history.

2. And it also proves that the historical attestation and lore within Yarsani traditions of a historical figure has turned out as correct and authentic which means: Yes we can trust actual traditions, lore and hymns!

This is something some people are sceptic over for whatever reason. But many lore points do not even have any dubious background for example a claim because of prestige.

And furthermore, this is also a great help for people who are not familiar with the validity and authenticity of Dna tests to understand that DNA tests are a serious scientific matter proven by the modern descendant of a historical figure having the exact kind of Y-DNA haplogroup that he would be expected to have!

Go to the post on X / twitter and then to the cited post / tweet:

https://x.com/i/status/2051421912497099065

Same post on twitter: https://x.com/i/status/2049157516026687759

---

Iranian Persians who consider themselves Iranians by identity and ethnicity and as the people of an Iranian ethnostate and want all the non-persian Iranians to do the same are stuck at immense fallacy. It is cope and bias.

If you tell Kurds that as Kurds they have to know other Kurdish dialects then the normal ones will agree and accept that way of thought. Even if they will not do the act themselves, they know this is the brotherly/sisterly familiarity we need to have with each other.

But dare you tell an Iranian Persian that they should learn Kurdish or Balochi or Lurish or Gilaki or another Iranic tongue that is not his beloved Farsiye Darbari, since he claims that they are all Iranians together ... they will accuse you of nationalism, separatism and whatever other ignorant and fascistic idea they could have.

Mind you, on contrary to everybody else I am aware of the Western Iranic background, frame and setting of the Kurds on EVERY single academic field to fullest extent.

But it doesn't mean much if we are talking about Kurds. Or "Iranians". It doesn't matter which state my parents or grandparents or which empire my ancestors were citizens of.

I am a Kurd and my native tongue is Kurdish. Persian or another language has nothing to do with me. Historically, it may have been a lingua franca or a language of script? Well, so was arabic. And today it is English. So this argument is useless.

Even if we consider a scenario where Kurds and Iranians/Persians inhabit a federalistic state, this will only ever be acceptable to the least if we have FULL AND FREE CONTROL of our own lands in Kurdish language and by Kurds. So what do we need that then for?

All we need is for Kurdistan to be liberated and independent and to find to our true Kurdish sense of identity.

I don't know the account behind the original tweet and whatever project this is behind. I have heard it is unreliable. But what I really wonder is if it is possible that these people are trying to appropriate Kirkūk by claiming that famous Kurdish tribes of Kirkūk are of arabic lineage anyway?

We know of two Hamāwand Y-DNA haplogroups. Mine and that of someone who does not know his clan but is from the Hamāwands of Kirkūk. He apparently has R1a which is Aryan (Iranic) and is easily expected. He would be supposed to be from one of the actual Hamāwand clans of the Bāshūrī / Karkūki / Chamchamāli Hamawands. These descend from the founder Xwadādādsher Hamāwand who left the original Hamāwand in Kirmāshān west of Mountain Behistūn with his subtribe/clan.

Fun fact: The Hamāwand area in Kirmāshān also has its region named "Chamchamāl" which is obviously the origin of the naming of Chamchamāl in Karkūk / Silemānī.