Kurdî · Latin / Arabic alphabet
Kurdish Translation
Kurmanji uses the Latin alphabet and Sorani the Arabic one; which dialect and alphabet is wanted has to be clear from the outset.
Prices are starting per-page rates on economy delivery.
Turkish ↔ Kurdish translation
Language pair
Turkish into Kurdish and back again; the unit rates differ according to which way the work runs.
Level of certification
The sworn translator’s seal is included; notarisation and apostille are separate items.
Delivery
Economy, standard and express options.
Document types
Civil status, diploma, contract, medical and commercial documents.
Which countries accept a Kurdish translation?
The same language is subject to a different certification regime from one country to the next. Choose the country your document is going to:
Demand for Kurdish translation reaches us from three separate directions, each tied to a different writing tradition: judicial and administrative work inside Türkiye, the trade and contracting files that run with the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and asylum and family law applications in Europe. The first condition for setting the job up properly is to establish at the outset which dialect and which alphabet will be asked for.
Kurmanji or Sorani – and which alphabet?
Kurmanji is written predominantly in Latin letters, Sorani in an Arabic-based alphabet. This is not merely a difference in appearance: the two dialects also diverge in vocabulary, in verb conjugation and in case marking. A document to be drawn up in Türkiye will usually call for Kurmanji and the Latin alphabet, whereas a contract to be submitted to an institution in Erbil or Sulaymaniyah expects Sorani and the Arabic alphabet. The wrong choice leads to the document being refused, however flawless the text may be. Zazaki counts as a language of its own and a translator who knows Kurmanji does not cover it; we ask about that separately as well.
In Latin-script Kurmanji the letters ê, î, û, ş and ç distinguish meaning. In texts typed on a Turkish keyboard we often see these letters replaced by their plain counterparts; the word that comes out is a different word. In official translation a deviation of that kind is not acceptable.
Typical mistakes in translation from Turkish into Kurdish
- Dropping the izafe construction. A possessive construction in Kurmanji is built with a link attached to the noun that changes according to gender. Carrying a Turkish construction across without that link leaves the sentence impossible to unravel.
- Missing gender agreement. Nouns in Kurmanji are masculine or feminine; since Turkish draws no such distinction, the translator falls into a habit and inflects everything one way. On a short identity document it goes unnoticed; in a petition it does not.
- Building legal terms on the Turkish pattern. Kurdish legal vocabulary has settled differently from region to region; the judicial terms used in Türkiye and the administrative terms of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq do not stand in for one another.
- Reducing place names to a single form. For one and the same settlement, the official Turkish name and the local name are both in use. Whichever appears on the document governs; if the translator is going to add the second name, it has to be marked as a note.
Which documents come in
| Field | Document | Dialect / alphabet expected |
|---|---|---|
| Judicial | Statement record, hearing transcript, expert report | Kurmanji, Latin |
| Trade | Contract, tender specification, certificate of activity | Sorani, Arabic script |
| Migration | Civil registry record, declaration, medical report | Varies with the country applied to |
| Education | Diploma, academic transcript | According to the language of the institution |
The item that comes in most often inside Türkiye is judicial translation. When the written record of a statement given in court is translated, the untidiness of spoken language is kept; a statement tidied up into well-formed sentences weakens the evidential value of the account. With commercial papers going to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq the question is not terminology but form: in tender specifications, the numbering of clauses and the lists of annexes have to be held in exactly the order the source has them.
Spelling of forenames and surnames
In Turkish civil registry records, names appear adapted to Turkish spelling; the Kurdish spelling a person uses for themselves may differ from that. What governs in translation is not the person’s preference but the official record the receiving institution recognises: whichever spelling the passport or the identity card carries is the one the translation repeats. When working towards Arabic-script Sorani, too, the letter equivalents of the name are held steady across the file, because a notary in Erbil reads two spellings of one name as two different people.
What you should send us
Send us your choice of dialect and alphabet, the institution the document will be submitted to, and any translation made earlier. If you are not sure which dialect will be wanted, send the letter you have received from the institution or the form you have been asked to complete; we can work out from the text itself which tradition it belongs to.
Our translator pool on the Kurmanji side is comparatively wide; on the Arabic-script Sorani side, and on Zazaki in particular, the numbers are more limited and delivery on such work can run a few working days longer. If there is a tight date in your plans, write it at the outset so we can place the job in the queue accordingly. For the price and the delivery date, upload your document; you can see unit rates on the price page.
The account below sums up typical practice; the form the institution accepts should be confirmed at the outset. The final requirement is set by the authority the application is made to, so check with them in advance.
Do you need a Kurdish translation?
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