afret

Northern Kurdish

Etymology

From Arabic عَوْرَة (ʕawra, “pudendum, genitals”), derived from the root ع و ر (ʕ w r). But the sound change is irregular, *ewret would be expected instead, which is already loaned as another word. Perhaps related to afirandin and initially meant creature (compare Arabic عِفْرِيت (ʕifrīt), from Iranic *āfrīt) but later on shifted senses under the influence of other languages in the region because of phonetic similarity. Compare Turkish avrat.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑːfˈɾɛt/

Noun

afret f (Arabic spelling ئافرەت)

1. woman, lady

   Synonyms: jin, kulfet

Usage notes

Used only in Southern Kurdistan and only in the dialects of certain regions such as Soran and Badinan. Never used in the sense of "wife".

Declension

Declension of afret

Definite feminine gender
Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	afret	afret
Construct	afreta	afretên
Oblique	afretê	afretan
Demonstrative oblique	wê afretê	wan afretan
Vocative	afretê	afretino
Indefinite feminine gender
Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	afretek	afretin
Construct	afreteke	afretine
Oblique	afretekê	afretinan

References

• Chyet, Michael L. (2020) “afret”, in Ferhenga Birûskî: Kurmanji–English Dictionary (Language Series; 1), volume 1, London: Transnational Press, page 2