Category Archives: Language

Great values of successful communication

Aras Ahmed

By Aras Ahmed Mhamad: How many months have 28 days and how many of each species did Moses take into the Ark? Take a wild guess! How many times have you told your friends or parents ”You did not make yourself clear?”, ”why didn’t you tell me that”, ”if only you’d told me”, ” you…

Challenges of Translation

Interview with Ata Omer Salih: Interviewed by Aras Ahmed Mhamad AAM: How would you define translation? What’s the importance of translation in this commercial and technological world? AOS: Translation can accept many different definitions according to the field it is offered in. Most translation theorists agree that translation is understood as a transfer process from…

On Pragmatics

Interview with Mahmood Kadir, PhD Candidate: Interviewed by Aras Ahmed Mhamad AAM: How would you define pragmatics? What is the importance of this level of linguistics analysis? MK: Pragmatics is a subfield of linguistics developed in the late 1970s.Pragmatics studies how people comprehend and produce a communicative act or speech act in a concrete speech…

The impact of culture on language: Kurdish culture as an example

Aras Ahmed

By Aras Ahmed Mhamad: It is widely believed that culture is created but language is partly innate and to a certain extent, instinctive. They are both developed through the journey of life and have different and open areas of study. Cultural differences and language variations also play a significant role in bringing about other meanings…

Negotiating asylum: the challenges of interpreting for Kurdish asylum-seekers in the UK

By Sabir Hasan Birot: This article was first published in ‘The Linguist’  A Kurdish interpreter faces many challenges; if they are working with asylum-seekers, they are confronted with many more. One of the first issues is likely to be that Kurdish is a multidialectal language. Kurmanji, Sorani, Bahdini and Zazaki are the four major dialects….

The importance of morphology: English Language as a prime example

Aras Ahmed

By Aras Ahmed Mhamad: Abstract This article is an opening phase to introduce the study of morphology and difficulties in finding the exact definition that fully explains the term. It further investigates the importance of morphemes as a major component of words with reference to the differences between derivational and inflectional affixes. Bookmark on Delicious…

Translation and interpretation

Aras Ahmed

By Aras Ahmad Mhamad: Abstract This article aims to give a glimpse into the relation between translation and interpretation, with their similarities and differences. It will examine how a translated text faces problems in finding the exact equivalence in the target language. Bookmark on Delicious Recommend on Facebook Share on Linkedin Tweet about it Subscribe…

The introduction of a Standard Kurdish

Child at blackboard

By Scherco R. Baban: A while ago, the Kurdistan Region´s president, Mesûd Barzanî announced measures to found a standard Kurdish (Lingua Franca). This news delighted many of us Kurds who wish to see a unified written system for our language. In my opinion, the use of the Latin-based System as a unified written system for…

Language barrier and the future of Arab-Kurdish relations in Iraq

Sabir Hasan

By Sabir Hasan: The relationship between humans, starting from interpersonal relationships up to international relations, is established through communication. And the vehicle of communication is language, whether it is expressed verbally or in writing. Today’s complex Arab-Kurdish relations are mostly addressed and dealt with in Baghdad and, specifically, in the Iraqi Council of Representatives (the…