Dr. Abdull Rahman Haji Maref (Kurdish: Ew-Rehman Haj\u00ed Marif, \u0626\u0647\u200c\u0648\u0695\u0647\u200c\u062d\u0645\u0627\u0646\u06cc \u062d\u0627\u062c\u06cc\u200c\u0645\u0627\u0631\u0641) was without a doubt one of the best Kurdish contemporary linguists. His academic and scholarly works form the bases for many modern Kurdish linguistic standards. As such, his loss will be greatly felt in all aspects of research on the Kurdish language and culture.<\/p>\n
Dr Haji Ma\u2019rif was born in 11th Sep 1940 in the City of Sil\u00e9man\u00ed in Baban Province in Kurdistan (Iraqi Kurdistan). He finished his primary school at Giw\u00e9jhe primary school for boys. In his writings as a young student, he showed his interest and dedication to Kurdish and non-Kurdish literature.<\/p>\n
The young Adul Ma\u2019rif known to his friends as \u201cSikalla\u201d managed to publish couple of articles in the Journal \u201cH\u00edwa\u201d between 1959 and 1960. He finished his high school in Sil\u00e9man\u00ed before starting his higher education at the University of Baghdad in 1960. He studied for a year at the college of Literature before his ambition lead him for getting higher education in Soviet Union in 1961. He gained admission to what was known then as the University of Leningrad (St. Petersburg<\/a>). He finished his B.Sc. and M.Sc. studies in Russian Literature with Honour degree.<\/p>\n The following years he put his academic achievements into the context of his personal background–which was quite dear to his hear–by working on his doctoral studies on Kurdish Language and Literature at the Academy of Middle Eastern Studies in Leningrad in 1969. He was supervised by the renown Kurdish scholar, Professor Qenat Kurdo. He obtained his PhD in Kurdish Language with an honour degree in 1972.<\/p>\n In 1973, the young and ambitious Dr Ma\u2019rif returned to his native town after 11 years of absence. Soon he was given a position at the Iraqi Academy in Bagdad. He became an active member of the Kurdish Study Group at the Iraqi Academy \u201cKorr\u00ed Zanyar\u00ed Bexda \u2013 besh\u00ed Kurd\u00ed\u201d. With his academic skills and scholarly work he managed to become one of the active contributors to the Study Group and published many articles in the Academy\u2019s Journal \u201cGovar\u00ed Korr\u00ed Zanyar\u00ed Kurd le Bexda\u201d.<\/p>\n While still a professor in Kurdish language and Literature at the University of Baghdad, in 1986 he published his well-known controversial book \u201cWriting Kurdish with Arabic alphabet\u201d1<\/sup>, where he gives a well-argued account on historical perspective of Kurdish writing system and the critical analysis of many bottlenecks in using Arabic alphabet for Kurdish. He emphasised in an interview with Kirkuk based \u201cNewshefeq\u201d Journal in 2004 that:<\/p>\n \u201cEven though the Iraqi authority hardly accepts us to speak about the Kurdish identity of Kirkuk, they will much less listen to the discussion of writing Kurdish with Latin alphabet. Now, this bickering between Arab chauvinism and our (Kurds) simple ideas for unchaining the Kurdish language of all its obstacles have made both sides sound immature.<\/p>\n In 1986, I managed to publish a book \u201cWriting Kurdish with Arabic Alphabet\u201d. 1<\/sup> Besides giving an academic account to all aspects of this issue, I also direct the readers that writing Kurdish with Latin alphabets will solve many problems related to Kurdish writing practices<\/strong>. For example, regarding the shape of the Kurdish vowels I wrote: \u201cWe know that the Arabic alphabet have been modified so it can be used for writing Kurdish. The shapes of some vowel letters cause problems in writing them and there are many obstacles related to them that need to be solved. But if we look at this issue in the Latin based writing system, we do not find the same problem. Base on this argument I believe that the Latin based alphabet is more suitable for writing in Kurdish.\u201d 2<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n Dr. Abdull Rahman Haji Maref died in an unfortunate car accident on Monday the 8th of July 2007 in front of his house in Sil\u00e9man\u00ed. He was buried in that city\u2019s Girdi Seywan cemetery. He was without a doubt one of the leading linguists in all of Kurdistan. His death is a great loss for the Kurdish linguists and the Kurdish Nation at large.<\/p>\n\n
Publications<\/h4>\n
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