afret

From Arabic عَوْرَة (ʕawra, “pudendum, genitals”), derived from the root ع و ر (ʕ w r). But the sound shift 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. The relation between the sense of "creature" and the family or possessions of one is seen in other Iranic traditions, compare Middle Persian d'm (/⁠dām⁠/), meaning "livestock" but used to denote "creature" in Zoroastrian texts.

Similar word shifts are common around the regions of Soran and Behdinan, compare Central Kurdish مێرد (mêrd), replaced by پیاو (pyaw) to mean "man" and now only means "husband". The same occurence is happening with the original word that means "woman", jin, where it is changed into only signifying "wife", while another word is used for "woman"; the difference of which doesn't exist in other Kurdish dialects.

• IPA^(key): /ɑːfˈɾɛt/

afret f (Arabic spelling ئافرەت)

1. woman, lady

   Synonyms: jin, kulfet

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".

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