Kurdish and Catalan Language!

Kurdish and Catalan language have some things in common:

-Both are Indo-European languages, although they belong to different groups.

-Both are very important minority languages, having both more speakers than many national languages

-They have a long history struggling with prohibitions and discrimination

-Last week, they were protagonists in very controversial referendums for independence. In both cases, speakers of those languages claim victory.  

The Kurdish language is the one spoken by the Kurdish people, whose territory covers parts of Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria. It is an Indo-European language that belongs to the Northwestern group of the Iranian branch. The number of Native speakers of this language is estimated between 20 and 30 million people.  The main dialects spoken are Kurmanji, Sorani and Palewani. The Sorani dialect is spoken mainly in Iran and Iraq, and uses Arabic script to be put in written. In Turkey they use more Kurmanji, that uses Latin Script, also known as Hawar.

Kurdish has only official status in the Territory of Iraqi Kurdistan, together with Arabic. It has limited recognition in Iran and in Armenia. Kurdish people are the 4^th mayor ethnic group in the Middle East and they have the 3^rd most spoken Iranian language. However, they never had their own sovereign state, being one of the world largest peoples in this situation.

Some words and phrases in Kurdish (Phrases in Sorani and Kurmanji included):

-Roj baş = Good Day                                  -Xuda li gel = Good Bye!

-Sipas dekem = Thank you                       -Noşigyan = Bon Appétit  

خانوو = [Khanw] House                             - دانشگا = [Dâneshgâh] University

-To Inglîzî dezanît? = Do you speak English?

•      ئەو لەگەڵ سەگە بچووکەکەی هات
[ae legel sege bchwkekey hat]  He came with his small dog.

•      من لێت تێ ناگەم 
[mn let te nagem]   I don´t understand you.  

•      تۆ ناوت چییە؟
[to nawt chya?]  What is your name?

A word from Kurdish that we often hear is “Peshmerga”, “Pêşmerge”, “پێشمه‌رگه‌ “ . This word means “Before Death”, and is used as name of the military forces of Kurdistan

Catalan language is a Romance language. The numbers of speakers is around 10 million (There is an estimation of 4.1 million native speakers), and the most important communities are in Spain, Italy, France and Andorra. Andorra is the only Country where the Catalan is the official language. It is also official in some Autonomous communities of Spain, like Catalonia, Baleares and Valencia, this last has its own Standard Catalan. Catalan is the most spoken minority language of Europe

Some of the most used dialects are Northwestern, Valencian, Central, Balearic, Rossellonese and Alguerese (This last is spoken in the city of Alghero in the Island of Sardinia)  

Some Words and Phrases in Catalan:

-Hola = Hello                                                           -Adéu = Good Bye

-Bon dia = Good morning                         -Bona nit = Good night

-A reveure = See you                                 -Gràcies = Thank You

-Com estàs? = How are you?                   -Sóc vegetarià = I’m a vegetarian         

-No parlo bé el Català = I cannot speak Catalan well

-Quant costa això? = How much is this?

-T’estimo molt! = I love you very much!

A widely used word in Catalan, used in other languages is “Botifarra”, that is a kind of sausage. A very popular dessert, the “Crème Brûlée”, it’s also known as “Crema Catalana”. In Catalonia, they prepare this dessert, but the caramelized sugar is prepared with a hot iron, rather than use a flame.    

Some words we have heard in the news recently: “La Generalitat” (Government), “Xarxa” (Network), “Palau” (Palace).  

Both events of referendums during last week, and the preparations during earlier weeks, generated much excitement among language lovers and among those who work to promote minority languages and the rights of their speakers. Personally, I´ve never seen before that many tweets in Catalan language, many of them re-tweeted by people who have no real connection with Catalonia. The Kurdish referendum did not generate that many tweets in Kurdish, but the topic also hit the headlines.

The intention of this article is not to issue any political statement. I have never been to Kurdistan nor to Catalonia. My knowledge about the history and the modern politics of both territories is very limited.

In my opinion, all the nations have the right, and the duty to protect and preserve their culture, language and literature. I am not who to say whether Catalonia and / or Kurdistan should or should not be independent. It is a paradox that both nations have a language with more speakers than many national languages. But at the same time, my experience tells me not to trust in political actors / activists who are raising the flags of the rights of minorities and their cultures, but in their personal life they do nothing to learn those languages or about the cultures they claim to defend.