The Origin of the High Front Rounded Vowel [y] in Kurdish Language

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Ph.D. in Ancient Culture and Languages, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the high front rounded vowel [y] in the Kurdish language. This vowel does not exist in Old and Middle Iranian languages, but it is present in some new Iranian dialects. In this article, the origin of the front rounded vowel [y] in the southern branch of Kurdish language (Kurdish dialect of Sonqor-u-Koljâee) is examined through historical processes. For this purpose, sixteen words from this Kurdish dialect were examined as samples (including nouns, adjectives, verbs, and verb stems) that contain the vowel /y/. The origin of this vowel in the mentioned Kurdish dialect was investigated in the sample words from the Indo-European and Old Iranian hypothetical and reconstructed forms to the modern era. The sample words in this paper were chosen from Mardukh (2013) and Khanjari (2018) which document the words of this dialect. The ancient Iranian data was collected from written historical sources, and the dialectal data was collected through two methods: written documents and interviews conducted with native speakers. The author is also a native speaker of this Kurdish dialect. After investigating the dialectal data and the processes that occurred from the ancient period to the modern era in the examined sample words, in addition to identifying the origin of the high front rounded vowel /y/, the results of the research showed that there is also a voiced labialized palatal approximant consonant /ɥ/ in this Kurdish dialect. In this research, it was found that in some cases, the origin of the front rounded vowel /y/ in this dialect results from the fronting of the high back rounded vowel /u/and /ū/ during the transition from the ancient to the modern period. Furthermore, in this Kurdish dialect in some cases the sequence of -uj- resulting from the combination of the glide consonant /j/ with the back vowel /u/, as well as the sequence of -(i)wi- resulting from the combination of the glide consonant /w/ with the high vowel /i/ has changed to the front rounded vowel /y/ as a result of phonological processes during the transition from the ancient to the modern period.
Introduction
The front rounded vowel is rare in the world’s languages, and only 6.6 percent of the 562 languages studied in the World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS) have the front rounded vowel (Maddieson, 2013). The high front rounded vowel /y/ is one of the prominent vowels in the southern branch of the Kurdish language (Khanjari, 2008). The present study investigates the origin of the high or close front rounded vowel /y/ through the historical processes based on sample words, from Indo-European and Old Iranian forms to the new era in Kurdish dialect of Sonqor-u-Koljâee.
The existence of the front rounded vowel is associated with the front unrounded vowel of a similar height, as well as the back rounded vowel of a similar height (Madison, 2013). In some languages, the presence of the front rounded vowel results from fronting the back vowel. For example, in the Ionian-Attic language, the back vowel /u/ changed to the front vowel /y/, and in the Middle German language, the back vowel /u/ underwent fronting and became /y/ when the vowel /i/ or the glide /j/ appeared in the second syllable of the word. This article examines the origin of the vowel /y/ through historical processes, tracing form the Indo-European and Old Iranian forms to modern Kurdish dialect spoken in Sonqor-u-Koljâee, focusing on selected sample words that contain the vowel /y/ in their phonetic context.
There is limited research and a dearth of studies specifically focusing on the high or front rounded vowel /y/ based on historical processes. Meanwhile the works of MahmoudZahi (2013) who investigated the historical processes involved in the shifting of the back vowel /ū/ into the front vowel /ī/ in Balochi, and Taheri (2017), who, from a historical perspective, studied the fronting of the vowel /ū/ in the Lori and the central dialects of Iran, where in most varieties, it has been changed into /ī/ can be considered relevant.  Additionally, the work of Ismaili (2022) who studied the processes of fronting in the two dialects of AbjAneh and Taraɢee, (the central dialects of Iran), which both are common in Natanz city, can also be referenced in the literature review
Methods
In this research, sixteen words from this Kurdish dialect were examined as samples (including noun, adjective, verb, and verb stem) that contain the vowel /y/. The origin of this vowel in the mentioned Kurdish dialect was traced in the sample words from their Indo-European and Old Iranian hypothetical and reconstructed forms to their modern equivalents. The sample words in this research were chosen from the Mardukh's dictionary (2013) and Khanjari's Ph.D. dissertation index (2018) which contains the words of this dialect. The ancient Iranian data was collected from written historical sources and the dialectal data was collected through two methods: written documents and interviews conducted with native speakers. The data was then analyzed by the author, who is also a native speaker of this Kurdish dialect.
Results
After investigating the dialectal data and the processes that occurred from the ancient period to the modern era in the examined sample words, in addition to identifying the origin of the high front rounded vowel /y/, as mentioned in the conclusion section, the results of the research showed that there is also a voiced labialized palatal approximant consonant /ɥ/ in this Kurdish dialect.
Conclusion
In this research, it was found that in some cases, the origin of the front rounded vowel /y/ in this dialect results from the fronting of the back rounded vowel /u/, /ū/ during the transition from the ancient to the modern period. Furthermore, in this Kurdish dialect in some cases the sequence of -uj- resulting from the combination of the glide consonant /j/ with the back vowel /u/, and also the sequence of -(i)wi- resulting from the combination of the glide consonant /w/ with the high vowel /i/ has changed into the front rounded vowel /y/ as a result of the phonological processes during the transition from the ancient to the modern period.
Ethical Considerations
Not applicable
Funding
Not applicable
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
 
 

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References

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Research in Western Iranian Languages and Dialects
Volume 13, Issue 1
March 2025
Pages 39-53

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