Kani kamil

This work explores the gendered biases embedded within the Kurdish language, focusing on how everyday words, expressions, and proverbs perpetuate a system of male dominance and female devaluation. Through a process of linguistic excavation, My Handmade Dictionary highlights how language, often unconsciously, reinforces patriarchal values.

One particularly striking example is a Kurdish word زەعیفە that originates from Arabic. In Arabic, it conveys meanings such as weak, powerless, helpless, or feeble. In Kurdish, this same word is frequently used to call a female, while also functioning as an adjective in the vernacular to describe something lacking strength or value. This dual use reflects a deeply rooted cultural association between femininity and weakness.

By isolating and examining such terms, the project questions the everyday language we inherit and inhabit. It asks: What are the hidden meanings we speak without knowing? How does language shape our perception of gender, and by extension, our behavior and beliefs?

My Handmade Dictionary acts both as critique and archive, an intimate, handmade record of the ways language can subtly degrade or empower. It is part of an ongoing investigation into the intersections of linguistics, identity, and resistance within Kurdish cultural memory.