i

Morphological Sketch of Southern

Zazaki
spoken in the area of
Çermik, Çüngüş, Siverek and Gerger

By
Brigitte Werner
© SIL International, 2012
 ii

This morphological sketch was published in Turkish language in the

Dictionary of Roşan Hayıg and Brigitte Werner (2012).

Title of the published dictionary is:

Zazaca-Türkçe Sözlük ; Türkçe-Zazaca Sözcük Listesi

(Çermik – Çüngüş – Siverek – Gerger Bölgeleri)

© Rosan Hayıg & SIL International, 2012

Publisher: Tij Yayınları, Avcılar - İstanbul

To obtain copies of the dictionary outside of Turkey,

contact Brigitte Werner by:
forum-Dimli@gmx.net

To obtain paper copies of the dictionary within Turkey, contact:

Email: tijyayincilik@superonline.com

ISBN 978-975-8277-43-8
 3

Contents

Introduction 4
Zazaki as a Spoken Language 4
Language Family and Language Names 4
Borrowings from Other Languages 4
Zazaki Alphabet 5
Spelling Rules 7
Appendix 1: Useful Phrases 8
Appendix 2: Parts of Speech 10
1. Nouns 10
2. Pronouns 12
3. Verbs 14
4. Modifiers 21
5. Adverbs 23
6. Pre- and Postpositions 23
7. Conjunctions 24
8. Particles 24
9. Interjections (Ünlem) 24
Appendix 3: Compounding 25
1. Composition from two different Words 25
2. Reduplication 27
Appendix 4: Derivational Affixes 28
Bibliography 30
 4

Introduction
Zazaki as a Spoken Language
The Zaza language is spoken in several districts in East Turkey, mainly in Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Bingöl, Tunceli and
Erzurum. Zazaki can be categorized into three main dialects and several subgroups. The three dialects are called
Northern, Southern and Eastern (or Central) Zazaki. However, these three groups are not totally homogenous in
itself.

It is estimated that 3 to 4 million people belong to the Zaza ethnic group, but not all members are still mother-tongue
speakers due to Turkish assimilation processes.

A great amount of the Zaza population moved to West and South Turkey, or immigrated to European countries and
the USA. In Europe, Zaza intellectuals in the 1980s were the initiators to revive the Zaza language by publishing
magazines and books, and motivate their people to write and read the language. This movement has influenced the
Zaza community in Turkey as well and the language has developed and is used more frequently in written form.

In oral conversation mutual intelligibility is given between all Zazaki variations. In written language, however,
mutual intelligibility is weak and a written standard is wished by many authors but has not developed yet.

The aim of this dictionary is to preserve the rich vocabulary of Southern Zazaki. The orthography represents mainly
the recommendations of spelling for the Southern dialect by C. M. Jacobson. He, together with Zaza authors, worked
out an orthography which was published in 1993 in the book "Zazaca Okuma-Yazma El Kitabı".

Language Family and Language Names

Zazaki belongs to the Northwest-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. Most closely related to
Zazaki are the Gorani (Hawrami) dialects, spoken in Iran and Iraq.

Zaza people have used different names for their language and ethnicity. Mainly in the Southern Zaza region the term
Dimili1 and Zaza2 is used naming the people group and the language. Zaza in the northern regions call their language
"Zonê Ma" [our language] or "Kırmancki". The consensus of today is overwhelmingly made by Zaza people of all
dialects to call their language "Zazaki", and the ethnicity "Zaza".

Borrowings from Other Languages

Zazaki has been in contact with Kurmanji over the centuries, this is more true for the Southern and Eastern regions.
For example the Kurdish word for neighbour ciran or the word for uncle ap is used in some Zaza dialects despite the
fact that the Zaza term embıryan 'neighbour' and the Zaza term ded 'uncle' exist as well.

In former times, Zazaki speakers switched to Turkish only if they were in formal conversation with officials or
institutions, but were not switching to Turkish in private conversation. These days, Turkish is used increasingly at
home and Turkish loans are frequently incorporated in the Zaza language. Turkish speaking classrooms and Turkish
TV in every house cause more and more Zazaki terms to be replaced by Turkish vocabulary. For example, the
Turkish word cerci 'trader' replaces the old Zazaki word ‘etar. Another example is the frequent use of Turkish
participles. By taking the Turkish word düşmüş 'thinking' and adding the Zaza verb kerdış 'do, make' it results in the
verb dışmış kerdış 'to think'. However, the Zaza verb fıkıryayış 'to think' falls into oblivion.

1
Some researchers discussed that Dimili refers to the "Daylamites", a people group, mentioned in the 9 th and 10th
century on the Persian Caspian Sea coast. (Hadank 1932:4-6; Selcan, 1998:120)
2
Evliya Çelebi, an Ottoman ambassador and writer, mentioned he met tribesmen from the "Zɑzɑ" tribe in East
Anatolia in his travel memories "Seyɑhatnâme" [notes of the journeys] of 1650.
 5

Arabic influence on the vocabulary is obvious in religious terminology. Adaptation to Zazaki is mainly reproduced
by the following phonemes: ‘ (eyn), ‘l, ‘h, ‘s, ‘t. This does not necessarily mean that the occurrence of these dark
phonemes always refer only to arabic influence.

Zaza population was living side by side with Armenians for long times. However, very little Armenian vocabulary
flew into Zazaki. Hübschmann (1897, 1962:437) assumes that the Armenian words dail ( > dal) meaning 'first milk
of calved cow', and dayeak 'wet nurse' found entrance into Zazaki, resulting in del 'female dog' (delverg 'female
wolf') and dayê, dayık 'mother!'.

Loanwords are incorporated in this dictionary only if they are well accepted and not perceived as foreign.

Zazaki Alphabet
The Zazaki Alphabet is derived from the Latin based Turkish alphabet. Two letters, x and q, and the two diacritics ‘
and ^ are added to represent the phonemes of Southern Zazaki. It is noteworthy that the aspiration of ç, k, p, and t is
weaker than their correspondents in Turkish. Also the Zazaki letter ı represents a lax central vowel, while in Turkish
ı represents a tense back vowel.

The author of this dictionary has difficulties to differ between the voiced and unvoiced velar fricative. That means,
he always speaks the velar fricative unvoiced, thus /ğ/ is never used in his orthography. Many other authors as well
tend to dropp the letter ğ, because it is perceived to be "Turkish". To make the lexicon more useful for readers who
distinct [x] from , we include a note on every entry where other speakers might prefer to use the letter /ğ/. See
phonological notes on entries xele, axa, xax.
 6

The table represents the letters with IPA equivalents, example words and their Turkish translation. To some IPA
symbols additional explanation is given.

Letter IPA Zazaki Turkish

‘ (eyn) ʕ ‘ereba araba

Aa ɑ adır ateş

Bb  ban ev

Cc  ceni karı

Çç  çay çay

Dd  dest el

Ee ɛ des on

Êê  dês duvar

Ff  fek ağız

Gg  ga öküz

Hh  her eşek

‘H ‘h pharyngalized ‘heş ayı

Iı  ıstare yıldız

İi  isot biber

Jj  jew bir

Kk  ko dağ

Ll  lıng bacak

‘L ‘l (wordinitial); velarized ‘leym kir

ll (elsewhere) boll ; tıllo çok ; hoplama
Mm  mase balık

Nn  nan ekmek

 manga inek

Oo  moncıle karınca

Pp  puçık çorap

Qq  qanık sakız

R r / rr3 thrill roj ; zerri ; perr gün ; yürek ; yaprak

 flap par geçen sene

3
Generally, all word-initially vibrants are realized as (thrilled), but represented by single /r/
 7

Ss  sersi gölge

‘S ‘s pharyngalized ‘si taş

Şş  şêr aslan

Tt  tever dış

‘T ‘t pharyngalized ‘teyr kuş

Uu  kutık köpek

Ûû  nûncık yumruk

Vv  verg kurt

Ww rounded lips werway yalın ayak

Xx x(see text above) xeyar salatalık

x~  xele (ğele) buğday

Yy  yeno geliyor

Zz  zerej keklik

Spelling Rules
Rules regarding the orthography are always in focus of discussions and face changes during time. The following
spelling rules are applied in this dictionary.
 Phoneme /ı/ changes most often to /i/ before the semivowel /y/. For example, Tiyê se kenê? 'Sen ne
yapıyorsun?' But in isolation: tı 'sen'.
 Complex Verbs: When verbs take moveable particles, they are written as extra words (i.e. pa kerdış 'to fix' -
> keno pa 'he fix it'). Verbs with prefixes are written together (i.e. akerdış 'open' -> akeno 'he opens it').
 Postpositions: When a word is followed by a postposition the postposition is written separately, like mı ra
'benden' instead of mıra. Exceptions are lexicalized formations like çıçirê 'niçin'.
 The copula in Zazaki is attached to the preceding word. Although in Kurdisch the copula is usually written
as an extra word, we follow the tradition of Zaza authors who overwhelmingly attach the copula.
 Reduplications are connected by hyphens if they represent a sound (gur-gur 'sound of rolling thunder') or a
rhyme (şeker-meker 'sweets'). Otherwise, reduplications are written seperately: hêdi hêdi 'slowly'.
 8

Appendix 1: Useful Phrases

This list of useful phrases is intended to be a starter list for conversation.

English Zazaca
Hallo! Roja to xeyr bo!
Hallo! (reply) Xeyr sılamet!
Welcome! Xeyr ameyê (e.) / ameya (d.) !
Thanks! (reply) Xeyr miyan dı bê !
How are you? Seninê (e.)? / Senina (d.)?
I am fine, doing okay. Ez rında, dinca.
How are all of you? Şıma seninê?
We are fine, doing okay. Ma rındê, dincê.
What are you doing right now? Tiyê se kenê (e.)? Tiya se kena (d.)?
How is your situation? ‘Halê şıma senino?
I kiss your hand. (to older person) Lew nana to desta.
I kiss your eyes. (reply of older person) Lew nana to çıma.
Take care, bye! (when departing) Xatırdê to!
Take care, bye! (reply of the one who stays) Oxır bo!
Stay well! Weşey dı bıman !
Stay well, too. Weş u war bıman.
Other ways to say 'thank you': Ella raji bo.
Berxudar bê.
Ganê to weş bo.
Tı weş bê (e.) / Tı weş ba (d.)
Bon appetite! Afiyet bo!
Your hand may be blessed! (thanks for the food) Destê to vêşi bê!
I have enough, God may increase it. (to avoid Mı rê beso, Ella vêşi kero!
another filling of the plate)
I am sorry. (for a mistake, for coming late,...) Qısûrdê mı mewni.
Doesn't matter. (reply) Çiyê nêbeno.
Get well! (when s.o. is sick) Kefaret bo!
God may restore your body! Ella bıdo şifay xeyri.
God may give you health! Ella ganweşey bıdo!
 9

English Zazaca
Your eyes may shine! (to congratulate for anything) Çımê to roşni bê!
Your head may get well! (to express one's sympathy) Serrey to weş bo!
I am sad (about it). Ezo mıxul wena.
Too bad! Çı ‘heyfo!

What's this? No çıçiyo?

In Zazaki how to you call it? Zazaki dı no çıçiyo?
Say it again! Fına vaj!
Speak slowly please! Hêdi hêdi qısey kı!
I didn't understand. Mı fa‘hm nêkerd.
I don't know. Ezo nêzana.
Where is your house? Keyê toyo koti dı?
I am looking for work. Ezo geyrena kar.
Where can I get milk? Ez şena koti dı şıt bıgira?
How much is it? No çendnayo?
I want to travel to Diyarbakir. Ezo wazena şıra Diyarbakır.
When does the bus depart? Otopoza key (çı wext) şına?
I need a doktor. Mı rê toxtorê lazımo.
I want to wash my hands. (meaning, please show me Ezo wazena destanê xo bışuwa.
the bathroom)
When you (pl.) find time, please come to my house, Wextê şıma kı beno, bêrê, ma roşımı.
we sit together.
Sure, when we find time, we will come. E, wextê ma kı bı, ma yemı.
 10

Appendix 2: Parts of Speech

In the Zazaki-Turkish dictionary all Zazaki words have been assigned to a part of speech. In this appendix,
useful grammatical information is given for each part of speech.

1. Nouns
In Zazaki, the nouns are either masculine or feminine, abbreviated as is.e. or is.d. However, some nouns can
be masculine and feminine, like ambaz 'arkadaş' and abbreviated as is.e.d. Some few nouns are only used in
the plural form, a singular form does not exist. For example, tırrni 'naz' is labelled with is.ç.
The simple noun is usually perceived as definite or generic. Indefiniteness for singular nouns is expressed
by attaching –ê (–ên) to the noun, or preceding the noun by the numeral 'one' (jew ambaz 'one friend').
ambaz 'the friend'
ambaz-ê 'a friend'
jew ambaz 'a/one friend'

Inflections
Zazaki nouns may have inflectional endings that indicate gender (masculine, feminine), number (singular,
plural) and case (nominative, oblique and vocative). Kinship terms are inflected differently in the oblique
case.
The oblique case corresponds to the ablative, dative, genitive and accusative case in Turkish. However, the
oblique case is not applied when a noun is considered non-specific.
The vocative case has no counterpart in Turkish and is used to address someone directly.

Nominative Oblique Oblique Vocative

(Kinship)
Masculine - -i -r -o

Feminine -4 -er -r -ê, (-i)

Plural -i -a(n) -ra(n) -êno

Examples of Nominative Case:

No mêrdek peyser ame. 'This man came back.'.
Na keynek peyser amê. 'This girl came back.'
Nê mêrdeki peyser amey 'These men came back.'
Examples of Oblique Case:
Eza nan dana ê mêrdeki. 'I am giving food to this man.'
Eza nan dana a keyneker. 'I am giving food to this girl.'
Eza nan dana ê mêrdeka. 'I am giving food to these men.'
Examples of Kinship-Oblique Case:
Oyo şıno keydê pêrdê xo. 'He is going to his brother's house.' [pi 'father']
Oyo şıno marda xo het. 'He is going to his mother.' [ma 'mother']

4
It is supposed that a feminine suffix –ı is latently still is there, but usually not written or spoken. In
Northern Zazaki it is realized as –e and has not disappeared.
 11

Oyo şıno dewda pêrandê xo. 'He is going into the village of his (fore)fathers.' [pi
'father']
Example for Vocative Case:
Dedo, tiyê şınê koti? 'Uncle, where are you going?' [ded 'uncle']
Keynê, tiya şına koti? 'Daughter, where are you going?' [keyna 'daughter']
Qeçkêno, şımayê çıçi wazenê? 'Children, what do you want?' [qeçek 'child']

Ezafe
The linking morpheme, called ezafe, forms noun phrases by linking a noun and a modifying element together.5
Ezafes are inflected for gender and number. The descriptive ezafe connects an adjective to a noun, the genitive ezafe
connects a noun or pronoun to a noun.

Descriptive Ezafe Genitive Ezafe

Masculine -o6 -ê

Feminine -a -a

Plural -ê -ê

After vowels the semivowel –y– has to be inserted such as to form –yo, –ya, and –yê. However, these combinations
are often reduced to solely –y for all persons.
Examples of descriptive ezafe:
qeçek-ê hari
lajek-o har
'cheeky children'
'cheeky boy'
keynek-a harı
'cheeky girl'
Examples of genitive ezafe (the modifying element is inflected to oblique case):
laj-ê Musay bıra-y ma
'Musa's son' 'my brother'
keynek-a to keyna-y to
'your girl' 'your daughter'

The phoneme d– ,resprectively t– (due to phonological adaptation), is preposed to the ezafe to build the "secondary
ezafe". The secondary ezafe is applied when *a) the noun phrases is followed by a postposition, b) the noun phrase is
placed in goal position, c) more than one modifying element is linked (the second ezafe is a d-ezafe), or d) the head
noun is marked as indefinite by –ê(n). Example sentences illustrate these conditions, numbering refers to conditions
a) to d).
(a) laj-dê Musay ra (c) No fıkır-ê pêr-dê şıma niyo.
'from Musa's son' 'This is not the idea of your father.'
(b)... u kewt koçık-ta mı. (d) ... labıre, derd-ên-dê mı esto.
'and felt into my spoon.' 'but, I have a problem.'

5
Historically, the ezafe can be interpreted as an anaphor (pronoun). This is still visible when the ezafe is used
indepenently, see dictionary entry ê.
6
The ezafe derives to –ê when the masculine noun phrase is a specific direct object.
 12

2. Pronouns
Pronouns are words which replace nouns or noun phrases, and refer back to them. They are indicated in the
dictionary by zm.
The following charts summarize the different forms of personal and demonstrative pronouns in Zazaki. Zazaki
recognizes a two-fold distinction of distance in the third-person (near and far deixis).

Personal Pronouns

Singular Plural

Nominative Oblique Nominative Oblique

st
1 pers. ez (I) mı(n) (my, me) ma (we) ma (our)

2nd pers. tı (you) to (your) şıma (you pl.) şıma (your pl.)

3rd pers. masc. o (he) ey (his, him)

ê (they) ina(n) (their)
fem. a (she) ay (her)

Near Deictic Demonstrative Pronouns

Nominative Nominative Oblique

Emphatic
Sing. masc. no (bu) eno ney

Sing. fem. na (bu) ena nay

Plural nê (bunlar) enê nina(n)

Far deictic demonstratives are identical with the 3. person pronouns presented in first table above. Near deixis is
build by prefixing n- to the corresponding pronouns. In nominative, the near deixis can express emphatic meaning by
prefixing e- to the near deictic pronouns: eno, ena, enê.

Demonstratives used as Attribute

When demonstrative pronouns used attributively, they do not differ from the demonstrative pronouns, except for the
oblique case: The singular masculine form in oblique is nê or ê respectively, see sentence 1) and 2). By contrast, the
feminine and plural forms use the nominative pronoun for all cases, see sentence 3). The asterisks indicate an
incorrect sentences.
1) Kıtabê bıdı nê mêrdeki (obl.).
(*Kıtabê bıdı ney mêrdeki.)
'Give a book to this man.'
2) Çay biya ê mêrdeki (obl.) ver.
(*Çay biya ey mêrdeki ver.)
'Bring tea to that man.'
3) Çay biya ê mêrdeka (obl.) ver.
(*Çay biya ina mêrdeka ver.)
'Bring tea to these men.'
 13

Personal Pronoun cı
The oblique pronoun cı refers back to a person or thing whose identify is already established and functions as object
in the sentence. This pronoun is used without inflection for all third persons.7
Ceni zi bêro se, eza çay biyara cı ver.
'If the woman comes too, I’ll bring her tea.'
Mı cı ra perrey gıroti.
'I got money from him/her/them.'

The Reflexive Pronoun xo (Dönüşlü Zamiri)

The reflexive pronoun (xo~xu) not only gives the reflexive meaning 'self', it also functions as an uninflected oblique
pronoun which refers back to the subject of the sentence.
Hıma lazê axay xo eskera nêkeno.
'However, the agha's son did not reveal himself.'
Oyo lajdê xo rê vajo,...
'He will tell his son,...' (xo refers back to 'he', who is agent of the sentence.)
The same phrase but using cı would represent a different meaning:
Oyo lajdê cı rê vajo,...
'He will tell his (Ahmed's) son,...' (cı refers back to another person, say Ahmed, not to the agent of the
sentence.)
The pronouns cı and xo, are the default oblique pronouns. The personal pronouns (mı, to, ey, ay and so on) are used
only when the speaker puts stress on refering to someone.

The Relative Pronoun kı (Ilgi Zamiri)

The particle kı is not inflected and has several functions. First, it is used as a relative pronoun, introducing a relative
sentence ('which, who'), see example sentence 1).
Secondarily, it serves as a conjunction for complement phrases and can be translated with 'that'. In this function it
may be omitted without lost of meaning; see example sentence 2).
1) Na keyneka kı yena, xalkeyna mına.
'This girl, who is coming, is my cousin.'
2) O vano kı wuni niyo. (O vano, wuni niyo.)
'He says that it is not like that.'

Interrogative Pronouns
Interrogatives in Zazaki stay in that sentence slot where the requested information is expected, i.e. Tiyê şınê koti
'Where are you going', Ezo şına keye. 'I am going home.' Usually, interrogatives do not inflect, however an exception
is kam 'who' which inflects to kê or kami in the oblique case (see ex. sent. 2). The interrogatives are simple words,
compounds (çıçirê 'what for') or two word expressions.
The most important interrogatives are:
se 'what' (only with verbs biyayış, vatış, kerdış)
çı [what], çıçi [what-thing] 'what'
çıçirê, çı (short form of çıçirê) 'why'
çı mı'hal, çı wext, key 'which time', 'when'

7
Oskar Mann attested 100 years ago the inflected forms cey/coy (m.), cay (f.) and cê (pl.). These forms are out of use
today, solely coy survived in phrases like qandê coy 'onun için' and coyra 'ondan dolayı'.
 14

qandê çıçi 'why' (lit. because-of what)

seni(n) 'how'
kam 'who'
kamcin 'which'
koti (koti dı) 'where'
çend 'how much' (also: adverb 'some')
Some examples:
Tiyê kotiyê? 'Where are you (m.)?'
To perrey kami ra gıroti? 'From whom did you get that money?'
Tiyê se kenê? 'What are you doing?'
Tiyê çı kar kenê? 'What work do you do?'
Tı çı nêameyê? 'Why didn't you come?'
Ez do ina seni pê ra abırrna? 'How will I (ever) divide them?'
Interrogatives can function adverbially as well, see two examples.
Ezo çıçi karrena,... 'whatever I sow, [... it perishes]'
Ez to rê seni vana, tı wıni bıkı. 'You should do how I told you.'
(lit. I to you how say, you so should-do.)
For Yes-No questions Zazaki does not use an interrogative particle (in contrast, Turkish uses "mi"). The sentence is
exactly constructed like a declarative sentence, but the tone rises at end of sentence. See one example.
Mahmudo yeno tiya? 'Does Mahmud comes over here?'

3. Verbs
Verbs are words which express actions or states. In Zazaki, simple and complex verbs exist. Simple verbs consist of
a single word, like kerdış 'do'. Simple verbs can contain a prefixed verbal particle as well, like akerdış 'open'. In
contrast, complex verbs are multiple word expressions, comprised of one or two words plus a simple verb, like pak
kerdış 'to clean', xo ro kerdış 'to shower'.
The Zaza verbal system consists of two infinitives, four participles and a copula. The participles and the copula may
be combined to represent indicative and subjunctive mood, and imperfective and perfective aspect.
The underlying structure of the verb is a stem which takes different affixes. The stem can vary for irregular verbs,
but stays mostly stable for regular verbs. The tables below illustrates how the stem kew- 'fall' builds participles.
Participles
Imperfective Perfective

Indicative kew-n kew-t

Subjunctive bı-kew bı-kew-t

The suffixes declaring that an action is perfective can either be –t, –ıt, –d, –a or zero8. The imperfective suffix for
indicative can vary between –n, –en, and –an. The subjunctive prefix can change to bu- or bi- due to phonological
adaptation.

8
The –a and zero suffices were historically –ad and –d.
 15

Infinitives
Zazaki builds two infinitive forms by adding –tış (-ıtış, -dış, -ayış) or –ten (-ıten, -den, -ayen) to the verb stem.9 For
example, 'to fall' is realized by the infinitives kew-tış and kew-ten. Both forms function also as nouns where –tış
represents masculine and –ten feminine gender.
It was decided for this dictionary to use the –tış/-ayış form of each verb to represent the infinitive. Thus, the –ten/-
ayen form serves as noun. See the example below:
kewtış f. 'düşmek'
kewten10 is.d. 'düşüş, düşme'
biyayış f. 'olmak'
biyayen is.d. 'oluş, olma'

Copula
The copula is realized by a single vowel which in Zazaki is traditionally attached to the preceding word. It agrees in
number and gender with the subject. The copula is only used for present time reference, with indicative aspect. For
past time reference and other aspects and moods the verb biyayış 'be, become' is used.

Copula

I a
you (m.) ê
you (f.) a
he o
she a
all plurals ê
If the copula attaches to a word which ends in a vowel, a semivowel is inserted. That means, -w- is inserted when the
word ends in û (i.e. lû-w-a 'fox–is.she'), -y- is inserted after all other vowels.
Negation is formed by the negation nê- + copula which alters to ni-yo, ni-ya, ni-yê because of the semivowel -y-.
Some examples are presented below:
Ez lajê Heseni-ya. 'I am Hesen's son.'
Aw germ-a, honık ni-ya. 'The water is warm, it isn't cool.'
O nêweş-o. 'He is sick.'
O nêweş nêbı. 'He was not sick.'
Ê Kırdasi-yê 11, ê Zazay ni-yê. 'They are Kurds, not Zaza.'

Est 'existing'
The Middle Iranian form of 'to be' in 3. pers. sg. (hast or ast 'is') probably found entrance into Zazaki, and became a
participle-like form est 'existing'. It is mainly used for the 3. persons12. For the meaning 'to exist', est is combined
with the copula in imperfective aspect of indicative mood. In all other aspects and moods biyayış 'be, become'
9
Since there is no perfective meaning in the infinitive, the infinitive suffixes are here analyzed to be –tış and –ten rather
than combinations of the perfective suffix –t and an infinitive suffix –ış or –en.
10
The feminine form could also be realized as –enı, due to a latent -ı. Most writers omit the -ı.
11
The correct form is –iyê, which consists of plural marker (–i) and copula (–yê). Often this form is used in short
form (ê Kırdasi 'they are Kurds') by dropping the copula.
12
It is possible to say: Ez est-a. 'I exist.' However, other than 3. person reference is very rare.
 16

replaces est + copula. Negation is built by çıni + copula for imperfective indicative, for all other aspects and moods
çınê + biyayış is used.
In Zazaki a verb 'have' does not exist. Instead, a genitive construction followed by est expresses 'have' or 'possess'
(see sentences 4, 5).
Uja dı veyve esto. 'There is a wedding (going on).'
Tiya dı dêw esto, çıniyo13? 'Is here a giant, or not?
Boka dınya dı şeytaney çınêbo. 'If only there would be no evil on earth.'
Dı lajê mı estê. 'I have two sons.' [lit. Two son-of mine existing-are]
Hirê lajê mı bi. 'I had three sons.'

Tense, Mood and Aspect

The table below gives an overview of the participles of the verb kewtış 'fall' where the copula or other endings are
attached to.
Attachments to Participles

Mood: Indicative Subjunctive Impera- For

tive Com-
parison:

Aspect: Imperfective Perfective Perfective Perfective Imperfective Perfective Copula

continuous ('be')
(pres. state) (past event)

I kewn-a kewt-a kewt-a for all bı-kew-a14 for all -a

you (m.) kewn-ê kewt-ê kewt-ê persons: bı-kew-ê persons: -ê

bı-kew-ı
you (f.) kewn-a kewt-a kewt-a kewt-ê bı-kew-ê bı-kewt-ê -a

he kewn-o kewt-o kewt bı-kew-o -a

she kewn-a kewt-a kewt-ı bı-kew-o -o

we kewn-ê/-ım kewt-ê kewt-i bı-kew-ê/-ım -ê

you (pl.) kewn-ê kewt-ê kewt-i bı-kew-ê bı-kew-ê -ê

they kewn-ê kewt-ê kewt-i bı-kew-ê -ê

The imperfective of 1st plural for indicative and subjunctive mood can be alternatively –ım (kewn-ım, bıkew-ım),
which is probably the historically older form.

The following present the verb forms in detail.

13
Often shortened colloquially to çınyo.
14
Speakers of several areas (i.e. "Dewê Hesrani") use –i for 1st pers. singular (bıkew-i).
 17

Indicative Mood

a) Imperfective Aspect
Sentences in which the imperfective participle plus copula occurs, normally refer to present time. This includes the
habitual behaviour as well the so called "historic present" in narratives. Further, it can be used for future time
reference without necessarily using a temporal adverbs (see ex. sent. 5).
The fact that some event or state is actually ongoing at the moment of speaking is emphasized by adding the copula
additionally to the subject of the sentence (see sentences 3, 4).
1) Gorma'hmed nê dêwi zi kışeno. 'G. also killed this giant.'
2) Keynek şına mekteb. 'The girl goes to school.' (She goes every day)
3) Keynek-a şına mekteb. 'The girl is going to school.' (right now)
4) Ez-o15 nêşına mekteb. 'I am not going to school.' (right now)
5) ... zewmbina ez nêşına tiya ra. 'Otherwise I will not go away [lit. from here].'

b) Perfective Aspect
The perfective participle is used in the following situations:
1. Present Time State refers to a state at the moment of speaking which is the result of an event that happened in the
past or started in the past. It is built with perfective participle plus copula.
Ê weynenê kı no kewto dışmena miyan. 'They see that he has attacked the enemies.'
O yeno keye kı maya cı rakewta. 'When he comes home his mother is sleeping.'
2. Past Time Event is used for narration and sometimes the aspect of "eye-witnessed" is also distinctive. It is built
without copula in the third person and plurals. In the absence of the copula, the original adjective endings are able to
surface.

Perfective Adjective Endings

without Copula for Comparison
male kewt Ø

female kewt-ı -ı
plural kewt-i -i

Some examples follow.

Wıll, ziyar kewt qısey! 'By God, the tomb has spoken!'
Dêw u dı keynana kewti zerre. 'The giant and two girls entered.'

15
Although the regular 1. person copula form -a is also allowed here, it is more common to use the 3. person form -o
instead.
 18

It follows a paradigm for the persons where the copula is absent of the irregular verbs biyayış 'be, become', şiyayış
'go', diyayış 'see', amayış 'come', and the regular verb bermayış 'cry' as a representative to verb stems ending in -a.

Perfective without Copula 16

biyayış şiyayış diyayış amayış bermayış

male bı şı dı ame berma

female bi şi di amê bermê17

plural bi şi di amey bermay

3. Past Time Continuous is built by adding the suffix –ê to the perfective participle, disregarding person and
number. It underlines the durative aspect of an event or state in past time. It is also used in narratives of eye-witness
stories, when background information is given. In contrast foreground information is told in "Past Time Event".
Veri, ay cıxare şımıtê. 'In the past, she used to smoke.'
Qeçkin dı, ez nıştê estor. 'In my childhood, I used to ride horses.'

4. Past Time State refers to a state at some moment before the moment of speaking. It is built by using the auxiliary
biyayış 'be, become' in the form of "Past Time Event".
The chart below represents the forms of "Past Time State" for two regular verbs kewtış 'fall' and bermayış 'cry'. Then,
three irregular verbs follow: biyayış 'be, become', şiyayış 'go', amayış 'come'.

Conjugation of Past Time State

I kewt(ı)18 biya berma19 biya bi biya şi biya amê biya

you (m.) kewt(ı) bi(yê)20 berma bi(yê) bı bi(yê) şı bi(yê) ame bi(yê)

you (f.) kewt(ı) biya bermê biya bi biya şi biya amê biya

he kewt(ı) bı berma bı bı bı şı bı ame bı

she kewt(ı) bi bermê bi bi bi şi bi amê bi

plurals kewti bi bermay bi bi bi şi bi amey bi

The verb conjugations for these complex forms are varying slightly from speaker to speaker, see footnotes for this
table. The phonological variation viya, vı, vi instead of biya, bı, bi exists when biyayış function as auxiliary.

16
It can be said that the female form results in front vowels (ı + ı = i, e + ı = ê, a + ı = ê), the male form ends in
central vowels.
17
Variant: bermey
18
If the participle ends on a consonant, the vowel –ı can be added to ease pronounciation. Ez kewtı biya. 'I have been
fallen down'.
19
Verbs ending on vowels reveal a variety for 1. and 2. pers. singular. Some speakers use: ez bermay biya, tı (m.)
bermay biyê, tı (f.) bermey biyê. Other speakers use the uniflected form: ez berma biya, tı (m.) berma biyê, tı (f.)
berma biya.
20
Fluctuation for 2. pers. masc.: bi ~ biyê.
 19

Some examples sentences follows:

Tı çıçirê bı biyê nêweş? 'Why had you (masc.) become sick?'
Wextê dı, ez bi biya nêweş. 'At that time, I had become sick.'
Tı qeçkin dı boll bermay biyê. 'You had cried a lot in your childhood.'
Meyıti pêro kewti bi qısey, êyê vanê,... 'All the corpses had come to speech, they are saying,...'
Qatırê xo nê darana gırêday bi. 'Your mules have been bound to these trees.'
... nê çiyê kı mı viri dı nêmendi bi. 'the things that had not stayed in my memory.'

All verb forms of indicative participles are negated by the prefix nê- . In "past time state" the negation attaches to the
main verb.

Subjunctive Mood:
The subjunctive mood is built by attaching the prefix bı- to the imperfective or perfective participle. The prefix is
omitted for compound verbs (pak kerdış), verbs with preverbals (ro-nıştış), and some irregular verbs. Negation is
built by the prefix nê- that replaces the prefix bı-.

a) Imperfective Aspect
The imperfective of subjunctive refers to an unrealized situation at the moment of speaking and occurs mainly in
phrases with auxiliaries and in complement clauses. However, it can stand for itself, expressing a need, wish or
probability. The introductory wa is used typically to indicate a wish (see sentence 3).
The copula which attaches to the verb root, does not distinguish gender (see chart "Attachments to Participles"
above).
Ezo wazena şıra. 'I want to go.' [şiyayış 'go' dropps the prefix bı-]
Na şermayena kı şıro keye. 'She feel ashamed to go home.'
Wa, ê nêşırê! 'May they not go!'
In order to indicate that an unrealized situation is expected to be realized, the particle do is added. It follows the
subject, but precedes the verb in subjunctive.
Ez se vaza, tı do bıkerê! 'What I tell you, you will do!'
... zewmbi paşa do to bıkışo. '... otherwise the king will kill you.'
Alternatively, the imperfective of indicative mood can refer to future time and carries the aspect of "certainty". See
two contrastive examples below:
Ez meşt şına dewda xo. 'I go tomorrow into my village (for sure, you will see).'
Ez do meşt şıra dewda xo. 'I will go tomorrow into my village.'

b) Perfective Aspect
The perfective of subjunctive mood refers to an unrealized situation at some moment before the moment of speaking.
This form corresponds to the perfective durative (of indicative mood) with the invariable ending -ê , but prefixing the
subjunctive particle bı- .
The words kaşkêra or kaşka introduce a regrettable past condition.
Kaşkêra ez dew dı bımendê. '(I wish) I would have been stayed in the village.'
Mı zey to bıkerdê, no oxbet ma serre dı 'If only I had listened to you, we would not have gotten into
nêameyê. that trouble.'
In perfective aspect, the particle do, following the subject, is only found in narratives. It indicates an event in past
time which once was likely to happen but definitely not carried out.
Mı do şıma bıkıştayê, labırê ... 'I could have killed you (pl.), but ...'
Pêrê ma do tı bıkıştayê, mı tı keye ra remnaya. 'Our father would have killed you, (therefore) I brought you
 20

away from home.'

Imperative Mood:
Imperative is used to address a direct command to a person. The imperfective participle takes the endings -ı21 for
singular and -ê for plural. In the dictionary the imperative singular is given in the grammar note for all simple verbs
[em.k. bıkewı].
Prohibitive is built by the prefix me- which replaces bı-.
Bê, bıkewı na dêzda vasi miyan! 'Come, hide yourself in this haystack!'
Cenêki, qe pers mekı! 'Woman, do not ask me!'

Modal Verbs
Several verbs can be categorized as modal verbs, verbs that are associated with notions of possibility and necessity.
The main verb that follows the modal verb inflects to subjunctive mood. Modal verbs are specified in the dictionary
by "f. (yard.)". Two of these modal verbs may also occur as main verbs.
şayış modal v. 'be able to'
wetardış modal v. 'dare to'
lazım biyayış modal v. 'need to'
qayıl biyayış modal v. 'like to'
waştış verb and modal v. 'want ; wish to'
kerdış verb and modal v. 'make ; intend to'

The modal verb carries the information on aspect (perfective or imperfective), however the main verb, following the
modal, occurs always in imperfective of subjunctive mood. See the two examples below.
Ez wazena (imp.) şıra (imp.) vera pêrandê xo. 'I will go to my father's house.'
Ma nêşa (perf.) dêwi bıkışım (imp.). 'We couldn't kill the giant.'

Transitivization and Intransitivization

A transitive stem can derive to an intransitive stem by adding –(i)y or –ey to the stem. An intransitive stem can
derive to a transitive stem by adding –n to the stem.

kış- 'kill' (transitive)

kışy- 'be killed' (intransitive)

veş- 'burn' (intransitive)

veşn- 'burn (s.th.)' (transitive)

Some example sentences follow.

... weynenê kı o bıray cı kışto. '(they) saw that he has killed their brother.'
... maya nê hirê waya kışyaya. 'the mother of the three sisters was killed.'

21
It can be discussed if the vowel of the singular ending is just there to elucidate the last consonant. Because it is
omitted after participles which end in a vowel, i.e. bışu! 'wash!'
 21

Transitive Verbs in Perfective

By using the imperfective forms of a transitive verb, a nominative noun phrase expresses the agens and an oblique
noun phrase expresses the patient. However, by using the perfective forms, a nominative noun phrase expresses the
patient and an oblique noun phrase expresses the agent. This reversal is considered to have its historical roots in
passive constructions, and has resulted in Zazaki being called a ‘split ergativity’ language.
In the examples below 'I' is the agent and 'he' or 'she' is the patient. The verb agrees, as always, with the nominative.
Ez ey vinena. 'I see him.' [verb agrees with 'I']
Mı o dı. 'I saw him.' [verb agrees with 'he']
Mı a di. 'I saw her.' [verb agrees with 'she']

4. Modifiers
Modifiers are describing nouns, thus they belong to the noun phrase. Four kinds of modifiers can be distinguished in
Zazaki: adjectives, adjectives derived from participles, quantifiers and numbers.
For demonstrative adjectives ('this man'), see paragraph "Demonstratives used Attributively" under the heading
"Pronouns".

Adjectives
The adjectives are inflected for gender, number and case in a similar way like nouns. However, the nominative
feminine marker –ı which is omitted on feminine nouns (see footnote 3) is used to inflect adjectives.22 Case marking
differs from nouns in that only plural oblique is marked, singular oblique is unmarked. The adjectives follow the
nouns by using the descriptive ezafe as a connector between noun and adjective. (For more information to the ezafe,
see chapter "Nouns".)
masc.
‘henar-o sûr 'red pommegranate'
‘henar-ê sûr-i 'red pommegranates'
‘henaran-ê sûr-a 'red pommegranate (obl.)'
fem.
keynek-a xasek-ı 'pretty girl'
keynek-ê xasek-i 'pretty girls'
keynekan-ê xasek-a 'pretty girls (obl.)'
Adjectives can build a comparative with the suffix –êri (xasek-êri 'prettier'). However, the Turkish grammar has
influenced Zazaki and the comparative is more often expressed by using the postposition ra 'from' and the
uninflected adjective.
Ez to pil-êri-ya. 'I am older than you.' [lit. I you(obl) old-more-am]
Ez to ra pila. 'I am older than you.' [lit. I you(obl.) from old-am]

Adjectives derived from Participles

The perfective participle can derive to an adjective by attaching –e (kerd-e 'making'). In nominative, this form
inflects for gender and number by replacing –e with -i (for feminine) or adding -y (for plural). Like adjectives, the
participle follows the noun and is connected by the descriptive ezafe. This form is simply called ortaç (or.) in the
dictionary.23

22
If an adjective ends in –ı , the ending for feminine and plural, both, results in –i. For example, werdı 'small':
keyneka werd-i 'little girl', keynekê werd-i 'little girls'.
23
Rarely, this participle can also be part of a verb phrase of stative verbs, i.e. Rojê, ma qahwe dı ronıştey biyê. 'One
day, we were sitting in a coffee house.' [lit. seated were-we ]
 22

Below you will find four examples of noun phrases. Like true adjectives, the participle can inflect for oblique case
(see last example sentence).
kêvero akerde 'open (opened) door' (door is masculine)
penceraya akerdi 'open (opened) window' (window is feminine)
çımê akerdey 'open (opened) eyes'
Ê kêveranê akerda racını! 'Close that open door!'

Quantifiers
They includes non-numerals which determine the quantity of nouns in terms of 'every, all, some'. They distinguish
from adjectives in that they do not inflect and precede the noun which they determine. Some examples:
‘ heme 'all'
nim 'half'
çend 'some'
tayn '(a) few'
dire 'some'
hırg 'every'

See some sentences and note that some quantifiers can operate as pronouns as well, like tayn (see sent. 2).

1) Tayn ceni ameyê. 'Few women were coming.'

2) Tayn ameyê. 'A few were coming.'
3) Tiyê vanê ez ‘heme çi zana? 'Are you saying you know all things?'
5) Mı nim qısay xo ard ca. 'I have fullfilled half of your conditions (lit. words).'

Numbers
The numbers precede the noun which they modify. An overview of Zazaki cardinal numbers is presented in the table
below.
Ordinal numbers derive to cardinal numbers by the adjectivizer suffix –ın when used attributively: roja des u panjın
'the 15th day'. But, in isolation, when pointing to something/someone, another construction is used: ê çı‘hari, ê panji
'the fourth, the fifth'.

1 ju (d.) ; jew (e.) 19 des u new / newês

2 dı (attributive)
dıdı (in counting) 20 vist
3 hirê 21 vist u jew
4 çı‘har
5 panj (vary. panc) 30 hirıs
6 şeş 40 çewres
7 ‘hewt 50 pancas
8 ‘heşt 60 şeşti
9 new 70 ‘hewtay
10 des 80 ‘heştay
11 des u jew / jewndes 90 neway
(vary. jondes)
12 des u dıdı / dıwês 100 se
13 des u hirê / hirês 200 dı sey
14 des u çı‘har / carês 325 dı sey u vist u panj
15 des u panj / pancês
16 des u şeş / şiyês 1000 hezar
17 des u ‘hewt / ‘hewtês 2000 dı hezari
18 des u ‘heşt / ‘heştês 1.000.000 mılyon
 23

5. Adverbs
Adverbs typically modify verbs in some way by telling how an action is carried out. For example, in the sentence
'They walked quietly through the forest', the word quietly describes the manner in which they walked.
Examples of three categories of adverbs are presented below. However, in the dictionary they are not differentiated,
but labelled simply adverb (zf.).
Adverbs of Manner:
wıni 'so, that way'
hıni 'already'
tenya 'alone; only'
Temporal Adverbs:
rew 'fast; early'
vızêr 'yesterday'
par 'last year'
Local Adverbs:
cor 'above'
tever 'outside'

6. Pre- and Postpositions

An adposition is an element that combines syntactically with a noun phrase and transforms it into an adverb phrase.
They indicate some kind of mental or physical position and overwhelmingly they are one-syllable words.
Postpositions predominate the number of prepositions. See some examples below:
Prepositions (Ön Edat):
ze (zey) 'like'
qandê 'because'
vera 'towards'
Postpositions (Arka Edat):
bın 'under'
dı 'at, in'
ra 'from'
-a 'with'

Some spatial postpositions, like bın, ser, ver, can exist in an absolut form as well. That means they can occur without
the head (noun), which they usually follow. To make this function clear, we labelled these words as postposition and
adverb (arka ed./zf.). See the examples of bın 'down'.

‘Say pêro kewti bın. 'The apples fell all down.' (used as adverb)
‘Say pêro kewti dara bın. 'The apples fell all down from the trees.' (used as postp.)

In some constructions prepositions are followed by the postpositions –a 'with' or –ê 'indefinite marker'.
pey …-a 'with (instr.)'
bı …-a 'with'
da …-ê 'approximate (numbers)'
zey …-a 'alike'

See two examples of the last category:

 24

Ez zi zey to-ya fıkıriyena. 'I think as you as well.'

Ez pey heri-ya nêşena şıra. 'I can't travel by riding on the donkey.'

7. Conjunctions
Words which join two or more phrases or sentences are called conjunctions and labelled as "bağ.".
The most important conjunctions are presented below:
u, ew 'and' çıkı 'because'
dıma 'later on' ekı 'if, when'
ba‘hdo 'afterwards' ya, yazi 'or'
hıma 'but, however' jewbina/jewbi 'otherwise'
labirê 'but, however' yanê 'that means'

8. Particles

Verbal Particles
We use the term verbal particle (tk. fiil ilgeci) to categorize particles that are only found in verb phrases. Some of
them inherit a pronominal component as well, like pıra, pıro, po, ta, pede. Most of them reveal only a vague
meaning in isolation.Combined with a verb they change the meaning of the verb, most often unpredictable.

In the verb phrase the particle change its position. Thus, the particle usually precedes the verb, but for indicative
mood the particle follows the verb. See the example sentences below, where the verbal particle pıra 'toward s.o./s.th.'
(tk. ona doğru) and the verb dayış 'give' build a complex verb pıra dayış 'to cover s.o./s.th.' (tk. üstüne örtmek).
Non-indicative: Werxan pıra dı! 'Put the blanket over him.'
Indicative: Ma werxani da pıra. 'We put the blanket over him.'

Some of the verbal paricles inherit a pronominal component as well, like pıra, pıro, po, ta, pede. That means, part of
the word can be replaced by another pronoun. See the example below with pıra dayış 'cover s.o./s.th.', but this time
pı is replaced by mı 'me'.
Werxani mı ra dı. 'Put the blanket over me!'

Other Particles
Some very few words, which do not fit into some other categories are labelled as "ilgec": The superlative particle
tewr 'most' , the future particle do, and the optative particle wa 'may'.

9. Interjections (Ünlem)
An interjection is a part of speech that is syntactically unconnected to its environment and conveys some emotion. It
usually stands in front of a phrase and is separated often by a comma. See example sentences with interjections oy,
hadê, and wıllı.

Oy bırayo, ma ra duri meşo! 'He, brother, don't go away from me!'

Hadê, ma şımı. 'Get up, we leave.'
Wıllı, mı to rê çiyê nêvato. 'By God, I have not told you!'
 25

Appendix 3: Compounding
Compounding is a very important operation to increase the number of words in a language. Compounding in Zazaki
can have different faces. First, the composition from two different words to one word, secondly, reduplication is
illustrated.

1. Composition from two different Words

a) Noun plus Noun

Two nouns can attach to each other, the resulting compound is a noun. Left column represents compounds with head
on right side. Right column represent opposite sequence which is less frequently found in Zazaki. The head always
determines the gender of the compound.

Modifier-Head Head-Modifier
dedkeyna 'daughter of uncle' gimerre 'mouse droppings'
(ded 'uncle' + keyna 'daughter') (gi 'excrement' + merre 'mouse'
‘hepısxane 'prison' gudvewr 'snowball'
(‘hepıs 'arrest' + xane 'house') (gud 'ball' + vewr 'snow')
robarca 'washing place'
(robar 'cloth washing' + ca 'place')

b) Noun plus Participle (Imperfective)

Another type of right headed compound consists of a noun and a verbal imperfective participle. The compounding
usually result in agent nouns (tk. "bir şey yapan") of indeterminate gender, see examples below.

-kar gunakar 'sinner'

guna 'sin' + kar (from kardan (Far.) 'do')
-ker botanker 'slanderer'
botan 'slander' + ker (from kerdış 'do')
-ber asnawber 'swimmer'
asnaw 'swimming' + ber (from berdış 'bear' ?)
-bin xodbin 'egoist'
xo-dı 'self-at' + bin (from didan (Far.) 'see')
-dar zordar 'tyran'
24
zor 'power, might' + dar (from daştan (Far.) 'have')
-ger asınger 'smith'
asın 'iron' + ger (from ? probably -ger is non-verbal suffix)
-gêr gangêr 'death angel'
gan 'soul' + gêr (from gırotış 'take')
-wan ardwan 'miller'
24
Nowadays –dar is derived from Zazaki dayış 'give' to build neologisms: i.e. fotrafdar 'fotographer'.
 26

ardi 'flowr' + wan (from ?)

-wer merdımwer 'canibal'
merdım 'human beeing' + wer (from werdış 'eat')
-veş pizeveş 'devoured by love'
pize 'stomach' + veş (from veşayış 'burn')
-vin tengvin 'narrowminded'
teng 'narrow' + vin (from vinayış/diyayış 'see')
-zan neyzan 'reed floote player'
ney 'reed flute' + zan (zanayışdan 'know')25
Other compound elements, like -mend, -şo, -baz are of uncertain ethymology, maybe derived from verbs as well.

c) Noun plus Adjective

Compounding leads to an adjective if a noun (mainly part of body) and an adjective are linked together. The result
usually describes character or appearance.

serrerut 'bald-headed' çımteng 'stingy'

(serre 'head' + rut 'bald') (çım 'eye' + teng 'narrow')
rıtırş 'grumpy' bargıran 'full of worries'
(rı 'face' + tırş 'sour') (bar 'load' + gıran 'heavy')

In opposite sequence, when an adjective attaches to a noun the compound results in a noun: wışkdês 'dry wall
(without cement)' (wışk 'dry' + dês 'wall').

d) Number plus Noun

When a number is attached to a noun, the resulting compound is describing an action or object. Therefore, it can
functions differently, like presented below.

dırı (adj.) 'untrue' çı‘harpay (adv.) 'galloping'

(dı 'two' + rı 'face') (çı‘har 'four' + pay 'feet')
jewfek (adj.) 'unanimous' dıgoşi (noun) 'two-pronged fork'
(jew 'one' + fek 'mouth') (dı 'two' + goşi 'ears')

e) Other Combinations
Other combinations are possible, but are less frequent. Two examples follow:
 two adjectives can be linked and form a new adjective or adverb: çepraşt 'crisscross' (çep 'left' + raşt 'right').
 the adverb bın 'under' linked to the noun dest 'hand' results in an adjective: bındest 'suppressed'.

25
Heute wird die Präsensform –zan kaum benutzt, stattdessen wird das Partizip –zanayox 'bilen' zur Wortneubildung
herangezogen, örn. zıwanzanayox 'dilbilimci'.
 27

2. Reduplication
Reduplication, another form of compounding, is found quite frequently in Zazaki. Three different forms of
reduplications are explained below.
a) To achieve adverbial function, or augmentative use. Sometimes a vowel is inserted between the two parts of the
reduplication (see last example):
gam (n.f.) 'pace' gam gam 'leisurely'
gıran (adj.) 'heavy' gıran gıran 'heavily'
vêşi (adv.) 'much' vêşi vêşi 'very much'
nim (quant.) 'half' nimanim 'fifty-fifty'
raşt (adv.) 'correct' raşteraşt 'super correct'

b) Building names to reflect sounds:

gur-gur 'rolling thunder'
‘heft-‘heft 'barking of dog'

c) To achieve the meaning 'and associated things' by a rhyme-motivated form. Thus, the initial consonant of the
second noun is replaced by m- (found mostly in colloquial speech).
çi 'thing' çi-mi 'stuff (things and the like)'
dew 'village' dew-mew 'villages and the like'
werdı 'small' werdı-merdı 'little things'

Hyphens indicate that the expression is perceived as a unit. For realizations of sounds and for rhymes the hyphen is
usually applied. For adverbial use, see a), the word is repeated without hyphen.
 28

Appendix 4: Derivational Affixes

This table provides an overview of the most important and productive affixes which form new words when they
attach to a word.

Affix Base Result

-ey rınd rındey
builds abstract noun 'good' 'goodness'
-in qeçek qeçkin
builds abstract noun 'child' 'childhood'
-ok bermı bermok
noun or adj. of 'crying' 'crybaby'
association
-ox [x]~[] abırrna- abırnnayox
agent noun 'divide' 'separatist'

-ek, -ık tut tutek

diminutive /charming 'baby boy' 'little baby boy'
-êr goz gozêr
tree name 'walnut' 'walnut tree'
-istan Zaza Zazaistan
place name 'land where Zazas live'
-xane nêweş nêweşxane
house 'sick' 'hospital'
-ıj dew dewıj
belonging to 'village' 'villager'
-za bıra bırarza
(male?) descendent 'brother' 'brothers's son'
-ki Alman Almanki
language; manner26 'German' 'speaking german'
-na27 serr serrna
next, other 'year' 'next year'
-ın, -ên aw awın
builds adjective 'water' 'watery'
-êna pêt pêtêna
builds adverb 'firm' 'firmly'

26
i.e. cematki: sitting cemat-wise, meaning 'with crossed legs'.
27
It means 'next' when attached to nouns of temporal aspect, otherwise '(an)other': het-na 'other side'.
 29

bı-28 xo bıxo
with 'self' 'by its own'
bê- kes bêkes
without 'someone' 'no one'
nê- / ne- heq neheq
not, un- 'justice' 'unjust, unfair'

28
Far often bı 'with' preposes the noun phrase as an extra word. Then the postposition –a 'with' additionally attaches
to the noun phrase, i.e. O bı no babeta tım dewam keno. 'In this way he always continues.'
 30

Bibliography
The translation of German titles and additional comments are given in square brackets.

References of Zazaki Grammar Descriptions

Crandall, Marie (2002). Discourse structures in Zazaki narrative. Masterthesis (unpublished), Joh.-Gutenberg-
University of Mainz.
Hadank, Karl (1932). Mundarten der Zaza, hauptsächlich aus Siwerek und Kor. [The Dialects of Zaza, mainly from
Siverek and Kor.] (Kurdisch-Persische Forschungen, Abt. III, Band IV, records of Oskar Mann, 1901-
1907.) Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Hübschmann, Heinrich (1897, reprint 1962). Armenische Grammatik. Erster Teil: Armenische Etymologie.
Hildesheim, Germany: Georg Olms Verlag.
Jacobson, C. M. (1999). Zazaca Okuma-Yazma El Kitabı. [Handbook on Reading and Writing Zazaki.] 2nd edition.
İstanbul: Tij Yayınları.
Jacobson, C. M. (2001). Rastnustena Zonê Ma (Dımılki – Kırmancki – Zazaki) eve Fekê Gola Dêsimi / Zazaca Yazım
Kılavuzu. [Handbook on Spelling for Northern-Zazaki.] 2nd edition. İstanbul: Tij Yayınları.
Keskin, Mesut (2008). Zur dialektalen Gliederung des Zazaki. [About the dialectical classification of Zazaki.]
Masterthesis (unpublished), Goethe University of Frankfurt.
Keskin, M. & Akkoç, U., & Zazaoğlu, M. (2010). Rıçıkê Çikuyanê Zazaki. (Zazaca kelimelerin kökeni hakkında
Türkçe açıklamalı küçük etimologik sözük.) Work in progress, not published.
McCarus, Ernest N. (2009). ‘Kurdish’. In Windfuhr, Gernot (ed.) The Iranian Languages, London: Routledge, pp.
587-633.
Pamukçu, Fahri (2001). Gıramerê Zazaki - Zuwanrêznayi. [Zazaki Grammar.] İstanbul: Tij Yayınları.
Paul, Ludwig (1998). Zazaki: Grammatik und Versuch einer Dialektologie. [Zazaki: Grammar and Attempt of a
Dialectology.] (Beiträge zur Iranistik, Bd. 18.) Wiesbaden, Germany: Ludwig Reichert.
Paul, Ludwig (2002). ‘The constituent order of nominal compounds in Zazaki and other Iranian languages’.
Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung [Language typology and research on universals.] 55/1: 64-79.
Paul, Ludwig (2009). ‘Zazaki’. In Windfuhr, Gernot (ed.) The Iranian Languages, London: Routledge, pp. 545-586.
Selcan, Zülfü (1998). Grammatik der Zaza-Sprache, Nord-Dialekt (Dersim-Dialekt). [Grammar of the Zaza
Language, Northern Dialekt (Dersim-Dialekt).] Berlin: Wissenschaft und Technik Verlag.
Todd, Terry L. (2002). A Grammar of Dimili (also known as Zaza). (Reprint of Ph.D. dissertation at University of
Michigan, 1985). Stockholm: Iremet Förlag.

References of Glossaries
Büyükkaya, Necmetin (1992). ‘Zazaca – Türkçe Sözcük Listesi’. [Zazaki – Turkish Wordlist, written down 1971-
1982, from Siverek area.] In Büyükkaya, Şerwan (ed.) Kalemimden Sayfalar, Spanga, İsveç: APEC, pp.
419-468.
Canpolat, Musa (2006). Zazaca – Türkçe Sözlük. [Zazaki – Turkish Lexicon, from Dersim area.] İstanbul: self
published.
Erdem, Turan (1997). Ferheng. Zazaki – Tırki/ Tırki – Zazaki. [Zazaki – Turkish/ Turkish – Zazaki Lexicon, from
Çermık area.] İstanbul: Doz Basim Yayın.
Malmisanıj (1992). Zazaca – Türkce Sözlük/ Ferhengê Dımılki – Tırki. [Zazaki – Turkish Lexicon, from Piran area.]
2nd edition. İstanbul: Deng Yayınları.
 31

MacKenzie, D. N. (1971). A Concise Pahlavi Dictinary. London: Oxford University Press.

Özcan, Mesut (1997). Zazaca – Türkçe Sözlük. [Zazaki – Turkish Lexicon, from Dersim area.] İstanbul: Analiz
Basım Yayın Tasarım Uygulama.
Paul, Ludwig (1998). ‘Wörterverzeichnis Zazaki – Deutsch, Deutsch – Zazaki’. [Zazaki – Turkish Wordlist.] In
Zazaki: Grammatik und Versuch einer Dialektologie (Beiträge zur Iranistik, Bd. 18), Wiesbaden, Germany:
Ludwig Reichert, pp. 291-337.
Turgut, Harun (2001; 2008). Zazaca – Türkçe Sözlük. [Zazaki – Turkish Lexicon, from Palu-Bingöl area.] İstanbul:
Tij Yayınları (for second print).
Turgut, Harun (2008). Türkçe – Zazaca Sözlük. [Turkish – Zazaki Lexicon.] İstanbul: Do Yayınları.

Other References
Babıj, Milla Cuma (2009). Sîyerê Nebî: Bi Ziwanê Dimilî. [The Live of the Prophet: in Dimli Language.] İstanbul:
Nûbihar Yayınları.
Berz, Koyo (1988). Na Xumxum a. (story collection) Uppsala: Jina Nû Yayınları.
Ergun, Fahri (2010). Diz a Sêregi. ["The Citadel of Siverek", poems in Zazaki.] İstanbul: Arya Yayıncılık.
Gagan Çar (1994). Zaza (Dimili) Dili. Netherlands: self published.
Hayıg, Rosan (2007). Mahmeşa – Vızêr ra Ewro Istanıkê Zazayan, Zaza Folktales – Then and Now. [Illustrated story
collection with English and German translations.] Ed. by Eberhard and Brigitte Werner. İstanbul: Tij
Yayınları.
Mann, Oskar (1932). "Siverek-Zaza-Texte". In Mundarten der Zâzâ, hauptsächlich aus Siwerek und Kor (ed. by Karl
Hadank). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, pp. 173-210.
Osman Efendiyo Babıj (1886) Mewlidê Nebi. Printed by Celadet Ali Bedırxan (1933). Damaskus.
Pak, Safiya (1997). Xeribey ıd Keye dı – In der Fremde zu Hause ["At home abroad from home", Poems in Zazaki,
translated to German.] Stockholm: İremet Förlag
Piya: Peserokê Zıwan u Kulturê Dımıli29 (1988-1992). [Journal of Dimli Language and Culture.] Ebubekir Pamukçu
(ed.). Stockholm.
Zaza Press: Journal of Zaza Language and Culture. (2000-2004). Faruk Yakup (ed.). Stockholm.

29
In 1989 the journal was renamed: Peserokê Zıwan u Kulturê Zaza.