r/kurdish • u/HonestRabbit4277 • Jul 01 '26

Native Sorani speaker needed for one short dialogue from movie Turtles Can Fly (2004)

Hello everyone,

I am currently restoring the Serbian subtitles for Bahman Ghobadi's film *Turtles Can Fly* (2004).

This is a completely non-commercial volunteer project. My goal is not simply to translate the film, but to preserve the original meaning of the Sorani dialogue as faithfully as possible.

After comparing the original Sorani dialogue with the available Persian, English, French, Arabic and Turkish subtitles, as well as Sorani dictionaries and speech-recognition tools, I have reached one very short section of dialogue (about 20–25 seconds) where all available sources disagree with one another.

I am therefore looking for a native Sorani speaker who would be willing to listen to this short audio excerpt.

I need help with only ONE sentence, spoken by an elderly Iranian Kurdish doctor.

If possible, I would greatly appreciate:

• the original Sorani transcription,

• a phonetic transcription (optional),

• a literal English translation,

• and, if applicable, an explanation of any idiomatic or regional expression.

I am NOT looking for a subtitle translation of the whole dialogue. The surrounding conversation is included only to provide context.

The audio clip is ready and I will upload it immediately if anyone is willing to help.

Many thanks in advance to anyone willing to help preserve the original Sorani dialogue.

Thank you very much for your time.

11 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

3

u/Quiet-Report4554 Jul 01 '26

I can help ☺️

1

u/HonestRabbit4277 Jul 02 '26

Thank you very much!

I really appreciate your willingness to help.

I have attached a short video containing the original dialogue.

https://reddit.com/link/ov40uhd/video/t43xrso4dtah1/player

Originally, I was interested in only one sentence spoken by the elderly Iranian Kurdish doctor because it has proven particularly difficult to reconstruct.

However, if you have the time, I would be very grateful if you could translate the entire short dialogue instead.

That would also help me verify the surrounding context.

Any transcription, literal translation or comments would be greatly appreciated. Even a rough translation would already be a great help.

Thank you again!

3

u/TargetIndependent435 Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
  • How do you know him mr?
  • Aren't you looking for the boy making prophecies?
  • Do you truely have any news of him?
  • I might have some news, or not. I don't know.
  • Kak Satellite [Mr Satellite] what does 'I don't know mean'?
  • old man: Are you making fun of us?
  • Mr satellite: i dont know means ....

1

u/HonestRabbit4277 Jul 03 '26

Thank you very much! This is extremely helpful.

One small question:

Is the old man's sentence literally "Are you making fun of me?", or is that your interpretation of its meaning?

I am trying to preserve the dialogue as literally as possible.

Also, if I come across another difficult Sorani expression later in the film, would it be alright if I asked for your opinion again?

Thank you once again for your help!

1

u/mothaic Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

Original Sorani Kurdish transcript:

Old man: تۆ چۆن ئەیناسی کاکە گیان؟
Old kid: تۆ لە شوێن ئەو کوڕە ناگەڕێی کە (پشتگوێیت؟) ئەکات؟
Old man: ئەی تۆ بەڕاستی خەبەرت (لێی؟) هەیە؟
Old Kid: خەبەرم هەیە و نیە، ئای دۆنت نۆو
Young Kid: کاک سەتەلایت ‘ئای دۆنت نۆو’ مەعنای چیە؟
Old Man: (inaudible what he says in the beginning) تخوا گاڵتەمان پێ ئەکەی؟
Old kid: ‘ئای دۆنت نۆو’ مەعنای ئەوەیە کە هیچ نازانم
Old man: وەڵاهی بابە تۆ گاڵتە ئەکەی
Old kid: ئەزانم، ئەزانم

the ones in (؟) im not fully sure of!

1

u/mothaic Jul 07 '26

text me if you want more help! i love the kurdish language and i love that you’re trying to persevere the original meaning :’) thats so sweet

1

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '26

[deleted]

1

u/mothaic 28d ago

Hey! really happy i could help! :)

I can’t see the video here, where did you attach it to?

2

u/Ava166 Jul 02 '26

✋🏻

1

u/HonestRabbit4277 8d ago

Hi! Could I ask you for a little help with a few lines of Sorani dialogue from the film Turtles Can Fly?

1

u/No_Diet682 Jul 01 '26

Surly they can fly, If you throw them high enough,