xwelî

Northern Kurdish

Alternative forms

• xalî, xolî

Etymology

From Proto-Iranian *hwarda-, from Proto-Indo-European *swordo-, from *swerd- (“dirty, dark, black”), whence Proto-Germanic *swartaz (“black”). The Iranian cognates include Central Kurdish خۆڵ (xoll, “earth”), Chali Tati xōla, Eshtehardi xola (“ash”), Bakhtiari [script needed] (hōl, xōl, hul, “ash”), Gurani [script needed] (hūl, “ashy (in color)”), [script needed] (xul, “ash”), Persian خوال (xvâl, “soot”), Zazaki wel (“ash”).

Old Armenian հող (hoł, “earth, soil”), Aghwan 𐕆𐕒𐔾 (hol, “clay”), and dialectal Turkish holi (“earth, soil”) are borrowed from Iranian.

Doublet of hox.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xʷɛˈliː/
• Rhymes: -iː

Noun

xwelî f

1. ash(es)
2. (dialectal) dust, dirt, soil, earth, ground

Derived terms

• xwelîdank, xwelîser

References

• Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1977) “հող”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, volume III, Yerevan: University Press, page 112a, derives from Old Armenian հող (hoł)
• Asatrjan, G. (1986) “О ранних арменизмах в курдском [On Early Armenian Loan-Words in Kurdish]”, in Patma-banasirakan handes [Historical-Philological Journal]‎^[1] (in Russian), number 2, Yerevan: Academy Press, page 170 of 168–175
• Asatrian, G., Livshits, V. (1994) “Origine du système consonantique de la langue kurde”, in Acta Kurdica, volume 1, page 88 of 81–108
• Asatrian, Garnik (2001) “Die Ethnogenese der Kurden und frühe kurdisch-armenische Kontakte”, in Iran and the Caucasus‎^[2] (in German), volume 5, page 61
• Bläsing, Uwe (2000) “Irano-Turcica: Weitere iranische Elemente im Türkeitürkischen”, in Folia Orientalia‎^[3] (in German), volume 36, Kraków, § 11, pages 43–44
• Chyet, Michael L. (2020) “xwelî”, in Ferhenga Birûskî: Kurmanji–English Dictionary (Language Series), London: Transnational Press, page 421
• Morgenstierne, Georg (1973) “Chapter 13: Persian etymologies”, in Irano-Dardica (Beiträge zur Iranistik; 5), Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, →ISBN, page 167