Day Names Reference

Day Names Reference

Complete reference of all day names across all supported Kurdish dialects.

Kurdish Days of the Week

Kurdish calendars traditionally start the week on Sunday, following the Middle Eastern convention.

Sorani (Latin Script)

Day	Full Name	Abbreviated	English
0	YekŞemme	Yek	Sunday
1	DuŞemme	Du	Monday
2	SêŞemme	Sê	Tuesday
3	ÇwarŞemme	Çwa	Wednesday
4	PêncŞemme	Pên	Thursday
5	Hênî	Hên	Friday
6	Şemme	Şem	Saturday

Sorani (Arabic Script)

Day	Full Name	Abbreviated	English
0	یەکشەممە	یەک	Sunday
1	دووشەممە	دوو	Monday
2	سێشەممە	سێ	Tuesday
3	چوارشەممە	چوا	Wednesday
4	پێنجشەممە	پێن	Thursday
5	هەینی	هەین	Friday
6	شەممە	شەم	Saturday

Kurmanji (Latin Script)

Day	Full Name	Abbreviated	English
0	YekŞem	Yek	Sunday
1	DuŞem	Du	Monday
2	SêŞem	Sê	Tuesday
3	ÇarŞem	Çar	Wednesday
4	PêncŞem	Pên	Thursday
5	În	În	Friday
6	ŞemÎ	Şem	Saturday

Kurmanji (Arabic Script)

Day	Full Name	Abbreviated	English
0	یەکشەم	یەک	Sunday
1	دووشەم	دوو	Monday
2	سێشەم	سێ	Tuesday
3	چارشەم	چار	Wednesday
4	پێنجشەم	پێن	Thursday
5	ئین	ئین	Friday
6	شەمی	شەم	Saturday

Hawrami (Latin Script)

Day	Full Name	Abbreviated	English
0	YekŞem	Yek	Sunday
1	DuŞem	Du	Monday
2	SêŞem	Sê	Tuesday
3	ÇwarŞem	Çwa	Wednesday
4	PêncŞem	Pên	Thursday
5	Hellîne	Hel	Friday
6	Şeme	Şem	Saturday

Hawrami (Arabic Script)

Day	Full Name	Abbreviated	English
0	یەکشەم	یەک	Sunday
1	دووشەم	دوو	Monday
2	سێشەم	سێ	Tuesday
3	چوارشەم	چوا	Wednesday
4	پێنجشەم	پێن	Thursday
5	هەڵڵینە	ھەڵ	Friday
6	شەمی	شەم	Saturday

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Day Name Etymology

Number-Based Names (Sunday-Thursday)

Most Kurdish day names are based on ordinal numbers:

• Yek/یەک = First (Sunday)
• Du/دوو = Second (Monday)
• Sê/سێ = Third (Tuesday)
• Çwar/چوار or Çar/چار = Fourth (Wednesday)
• Pênc/پێنج = Fifth (Thursday)

The suffix -Şem/-شەم (or -Şemme/-شەممە) means "day" or "week day".

Special Names

Friday has unique names across dialects:

• Sorani: Hênî (هەینی)
• Kurmanji: În (ئین)
• Hawrami: Hellîne (هەڵڵینە)

These derive from older religious/cultural traditions, as Friday is the Islamic day of congregational prayer.

Saturday:

• Şemme/شەممە or ŞemÎ/شەمی means "the Sabbath day"
• Cognate with Arabic "Sabt" (السبت) and Hebrew "Shabbat"

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Usage Examples

Getting Day Names

using KurdishCalendar.Core;
using System;

// Get a specific day name
string dayName = KurdishCultureInfo.GetDayName(
  DayOfWeek.Monday, 
  KurdishDialect.SoraniLatin
);
Console.WriteLine(dayName);  // Output: DuŞemme

// Get abbreviated day name
string abbreviated = KurdishCultureInfo.GetDayName(
  DayOfWeek.Monday,
  KurdishDialect.SoraniLatin,
  abbreviated: true
);
Console.WriteLine(abbreviated);  // Output: Du

// Arabic script
string arabicDay = KurdishCultureInfo.GetDayName(
  DayOfWeek.Friday,
  KurdishDialect.SoraniArabic
);
Console.WriteLine(arabicDay);  // Output: هەینی

Using in Date Formatting

using KurdishCalendar.Core;

KurdishDate date = new KurdishDate(2725, 1, 15);

// Format with day name (dddd = full day name)
string withDay = date.ToString("dddd, dd MMMM yyyy", KurdishDialect.SoraniLatin);
Console.WriteLine(withDay);
// Output: YekŞemme, 15 Xakelêwe 2725

// Format with abbreviated day name (ddd)
string withDayShort = date.ToString("ddd, dd MMM yy", KurdishDialect.KurmanjiLatin);
Console.WriteLine(withDayShort);
// Output: Yek, 15 Xak 25

Getting Day of Week from Date

using KurdishCalendar.Core;
using System;

KurdishDate date = new KurdishDate(2725, 1, 1);
DayOfWeek dayOfWeek = date.DayOfWeek;

Console.WriteLine($"Day of week: {dayOfWeek}");
// Output: Day of week: Sunday

// Get the Kurdish name
string kurdishDayName = KurdishCultureInfo.GetDayName(
  dayOfWeek,
  KurdishDialect.SoraniLatin
);
Console.WriteLine($"Kurdish name: {kurdishDayName}");
// Output: Kurdish name: YekŞemme

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Cultural Notes

Week Start

• In Kurdistan, the traditional week starts on Sunday
• Government and business weeks typically run Sunday-Thursday
• Friday is the weekly day off in most of Kurdistan (Islamic day of congregation)
• Saturday is often a half-day or second day off

Prayer Times

Friday (Hênî/În/Hellîne) is significant as the day of Jumu'ah (جمعه) - the congregational prayer in Islam. Many businesses and government offices close or operate reduced hours on Friday afternoon.

Weekend

The modern weekend in Kurdistan Region of Iraq:

• Friday: Full day off
• Saturday: Full day off (in many sectors)
• Sunday: Start of work week

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Pronunciation Guide

Latin Script Special Characters

• ê = long "e" sound (like "ay" in "day")
• î = long "i" sound (like "ee" in "see")
• û = long "u" sound (like "oo" in "moon")
• Ş/ş = "sh" sound (like "sh" in "shell")
• Ç/ç = "ch" sound (like "ch" in "church")

Arabic Script Special Characters

• ێ = long "e" sound
• ی = "ee" or "y" sound
• ە = short "e" sound (schwa)
• و = "w" or "oo" sound
• ڵ = "l" with special pronunciation (in Hawrami "hellîne")

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Regional Variations

Sorani

• Most widely used in Sulaymaniyah and Erbil (Iraq)
• Also used in Iranian Kurdistan (Sanandaj, Mahabad)
• Note: Sorani has -Şemme ending (with double "m")

Kurmanji

• Used in Duhok (Iraq), most of Turkish Kurdistan
• Also in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava)
• Note: Kurmanji has -Şem ending (single "m")

Hawrami

• Unique dialect spoken in Hawraman region
• Special Friday name: Hellîne (different from both Sorani and Kurmanji)
• Preserves some older Kurdish linguistic features

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Sources

Day names are based on:

• Kurdistan Regional Government (gov.krd) official calendar publications
• D.N. MacKenzie's "The Dialect of Awroman (Hawrämän-i Luhön)" (1966) - for Hawrami
• Kurdish language standardization efforts by Kurdish Language Academy
• Academic transliteration standards for Kurdish languages