| Description | The tabulation below is applicable to the Kurdish language as a
whole. It is based for the most part on the Hawar Roman alphabet used
in the Library of Congress Standard Kurdish Orthography Table, but it
also incorporates certain non-Hawar elements found in A Kurdish-English
Dictionary (Taufiq Wahby & C J Edmonds, OUP, 1966). The tabulation
covers both major varieties of the Kurdish language: Kurmanji and
Sorani. Kurmanji is spoken principally in Turkey and in Iraq north of
the Great Zab River (Dahūk/Dihok Governorate). It is generally written
in Roman script, and usually employs the Roman orthography. Sorani is
spoken principally in Iraq south of the Great Zab river (Arbīl/Hewlêr
and As Sulaymānīyah/Slêmanî governorates). It is generally written in
Perso-Arabic script, and usually employs the Perso-Arabic script
orthography.
Kurdish forms of geographical names in Turkey will usually be found
in Roman script, and so no romanization process will be required. The
digraph options for consonant letters '\u0686', '\u0634', and '\u063A'
will not be encountered for such names. In Iraq, Syria, and Iran,
Kurdish will usually be encountered in Perso-Arabic script, in which
case it should be romanized into the corresponding Roman script form.
Kurdish geographical names for places and features outside Turkey,
found in Roman script form, should, where necessary and if possible, be
tailored to fit the orthography of the Romanization shown below and
should employ the digraph options for consonant letters '\u0686',
'\u0634', and '\u063A'.
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