Kurdish Badini language analysis (LADO)
Badini LADO is commissioned when someone says they come from Duhok, Zakho, Amadiya, Akre or the valleys around them, and the decision-maker needs an expert view on whether their speech supports that. SILA Linguists® assigns analysts who know Badini as the Kurmanji of northern Iraq, so the report can address the question that matters most here: Iraqi Badinan, or Kurmanji-speaking areas across the border in Turkey or Syria?
When a Badini language analysis is requested
The historical region of Badinan lies today mainly in the Duhok governorate of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Related Kurmanji speech extends into the Nineveh plains and the Sinjar area, including Yazidi communities. Applicants from this corner of Iraq often reach the UK and Europe with incomplete, lost or disputed papers, and the immigration authority, the person's representative or an appeal tribunal may then turn to language analysis for the determination of origin to test the account.
In Badini cases the question is rarely whether the person is Kurdish. It is usually whether their Kurmanji belongs to the Iraqi side of the border or to Turkey or Syria, and sometimes whether a claimed Yazidi background from Sinjar fits the speech. A precise question at the outset produces a more useful report, so we discuss the brief with you before analysis begins.
Badini speech under forensic examination
Badini is mutually intelligible with Kurmanji from Turkey and Syria, which makes this analysis finer-grained than a simple check of variety. The analyst concentrates on local vocabulary, idioms and the loanwords that set Badini apart from the Kurmanji of Turkey, alongside the pronunciation of vowels and consonants, intonation and the everyday expressions of the Duhok area and its valleys.
Grammar provides a firm reference point against Sorani. Badini, as a form of Kurmanji, keeps the noun gender and case marking that Sorani, the Kurdish of Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, does not have. Many Badini speakers understand some Sorani through media and education, so Sorani words in a Badini speaker's account are not unusual in themselves. What the analyst assesses is whether such words appear as borrowed elements or form the core of the person's grammar.
How a Badini LADO case runs at SILA Linguists®
Tell us the claim
Share the claimed town or village in Badinan, whether the person is Yazidi, the languages they report and the recording or interview arrangements. The more precise the claimed place, the sharper the comparison can be.
Badini analyst assigned
We select a native-speaker analyst with Badini expertise and knowledge of neighbouring Kurmanji in Turkey and Syria, so cross-border alternatives are tested by someone who genuinely hears the differences.
Close listening, careful comparison
The analyst studies vocabulary, Arabic loanwords, pronunciation and grammar, and compares the speech with Duhok-area norms, Sinjar speech and, where relevant, Sorani from the neighbouring governorates.
Report and explanation
A written expert report sets out findings, methods, alternatives and uncertainty. You can raise questions with the analyst before the report is relied on in a decision or an appeal bundle.
Second opinions, hearings
If another provider's report is being relied on, we can prepare a second opinion; for a hearing, our expert witness can explain the Badini evidence clearly to the tribunal.
Sorani, contact languages and life after leaving Duhok
People in Duhok, Zakho and the wider Badinan area communicate in Kurdish (Badini) in daily life, and the contact features in someone's speech, such as Sorani words picked up through media and education or particular loanwords, can be informative. A person who grew up in south-eastern Turkey would instead be expected to show Turkish influence, and one from northern Syria a Syrian Arabic background. Time spent in transit, for example years in Turkey or in another European country, can add new features, and the analyst considers that history explicitly rather than treating it as a contradiction.
For Yazidi applicants from Sinjar, the analyst takes into account that local Kurmanji there has its own features. Place names, family and tribal names and administrative terms from the Kurdistan Region also form part of the material. Script plays no role in the speech analysis itself, but documents from the Kurdistan Region are usually in Kurdish, and some are bilingual Kurdish and Arabic, with Badini normally written in the Arabic-based Kurdish alphabet.
The SILA Linguists® method for a Badini LADO report
An interview recording is transcribed with careful marking of dialect features. A native-speaker analyst with linguistic training then examines it, drawing on forensic phonetics, dialectology and sociolinguistics and, where useful, acoustic measurement software. The claimed origin in Badinan is weighed against the other plausible origins, including Kurmanji areas of Turkey and Syria and the neighbouring Sorani-speaking governorates.
The expert report documents every stage, states the methods, discusses alternative explanations and acknowledges uncertainty. That transparency matters at appeal: a 2010 UK tribunal ruling emphasised that reports by native-speaker analysts working with expert supervision should be given significant weight. Our analysts follow recognised professional codes of practice and remain impartial whoever commissions the work.
Nationality assessment alongside Badini LADO
Badini already places a speaker regionally, but nationality is a separate layer. A nationality assessment examines whether the person shows the national markers expected of someone raised in Iraq and its Kurdistan Region: administrative terminology, institutional knowledge and familiarity with official documents, which in the Kurdistan Region are usually in Kurdish and sometimes bilingual Kurdish and Arabic. LADO then works at the micro level, on Duhok, Zakho or a particular valley. Used together, the two give a fuller picture, particularly where Kurmanji from Turkey or Syria is the main competing explanation for the speech.
Badini interpreter, certified translation and transcription
The same project team that organises the analysis can arrange a Badini interpreter for the asylum interview, legal consultations or the tribunal hearing, face to face, by video via the SILA Linguists® app or by telephone around the clock. Booking a Sorani interpreter for a Duhok client is one of the most common Kurdish mismatches, and we avoid it by matching Badini or Kurmanji. Certified translation of Kurdistan Region documents and Badini transcription with time stamps are also available.
Our vetted, trained and qualified analysts and linguists can support immigration authorities, solicitors and barristers, courts and tribunals, and refugee charities in the UK, across North America, in Australia, in New Zealand and further afield. Vetted specialist linguists, confidentiality agreements and UK GDPR compliance protect the people whose voices are being analysed.
How LADO and nationality assessment fit together
- Nationality assessment works at national level: the macro view.
- LADO traces a speaker to a region, town or community: the micro view.
- Used together, they give the clearest and most reliable picture.
Questions about this language analysis
Can an analysis tell Badini from Kurmanji spoken in Turkey?
It can usually address that question, but because the two are mutually intelligible the evidence lies in finer detail: local vocabulary, loanwords and expressions, and traces of any second language, such as Turkish for someone raised in Turkey. The report explains which features point where and how confident the analyst is in the overall conclusion.
Our client is Yazidi from Sinjar. Should we request Badini analysis?
Tell us the community and area when you instruct us. Kurmanji in the Sinjar area has local features, and the analyst considers them alongside the Badini of the Duhok governorate rather than applying a single Badini norm to everyone from northern Iraq.
The client understands Sorani. Does that weaken a Badini claim?
Not necessarily. Many Badini speakers understand some Sorani through media and education. The analyst looks at the person's own grammar and everyday vocabulary rather than passive understanding, and explains in the report how any Sorani elements have been interpreted.
Language analysis by language
Pages for languages and dialects we are often asked to analyse, and for clients in particular countries.
Af-May (Maay) LADO
Maay language analysis for people from the inter-riverine south of Somalia, kept apart from Northern and Benadir Somali.
Albanian LADO
Albanian LADO reports that read Gheg and Tosk features to assess origin in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia or Montenegro.
Amharic LADO
Amharic language analysis for Ethiopian claims, including speakers who learnt Amharic as a second language.
Arabic LADO
Arabic LADO by dialect specialists, from Morocco and Sudan to Syria, Iraq, the Gulf and Yemen.
Bengali LADO
Bengali (Bangla) LADO weighing Bangladeshi against Indian usage and regional speech from Sylhet to Chattogram.
Burmese LADO
Burmese LADO that separates Irrawaddy valley speech, Rakhine and Tavoyan features, and Burmese learned as a second language.
Dari and Hazaragi LADO
Dari and Hazaragi LADO for Afghans and Hazaras raised in Afghanistan, Iran or Pakistan, with Farsi and Urdu influence assessed.
Dari LADO
Dari LADO focused on Afghan regional speech, Iranian Farsi contrast and the official vocabulary of Afghan documents.
Edo (Bini) LADO
Edo (Bini) LADO for people from Benin City and Edo State, with Nigerian Pidgin and English considered alongside Edo.
Eritrea: LADO and nationality
Tigrinya and Amharic LADO with nationality assessment for claimed Eritreans, including Eritreans raised in Ethiopia.
Georgian LADO
Georgian LADO reports covering regional dialects, Mingrelian and Svan backgrounds and Georgian communities in Turkey or Iran.
Ghanaian Pidgin LADO
LADO for speakers of Ghanaian Pidgin, weighing it against Nigerian Pidgin and drawing on Twi and Ghanaian English.
Gulf Arabic LADO
Khaleeji LADO comparing Kuwaiti, Bahraini, Qatari, Emirati and Eastern Province speech with neighbouring varieties.
Hassaniya Arabic LADO
Hassaniya LADO for Mauritania, Western Sahara and the wider Sahara, by analysts who know Klam el-Bidhan.
Kibajuni (Bajuni) LADO
Bajuni language analysis that tests Kibajuni speech from the southern Somali coast against Kenyan and Tanzanian Swahili.
Kpelle LADO
Kpelle language analysis that weighs Liberian against Guinean speech, including Liberian English, French and Maninka influence.
Kurdish Kurmanji LADO
Kurmanji LADO across Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, using accent, vocabulary and contact languages to assess origin.
Kurdish LADO
Kurdish LADO that starts by identifying the variety: Kurmanji, Badini, Sorani, Southern Kurdish and neighbouring forms.
Kurdish Sorani LADO
Sorani LADO that separates Iraqi and Iranian Central Kurdish, from Erbil and Sulaymaniyah to Sanandaj and Mahabad.
Kuwaiti Bidoon LADO
Gulf Arabic LADO and nationality assessment for stateless Kuwaiti Bidoon whose Kuwaiti origin is disputed against Iraq.
Levantine Arabic LADO
Levantine Arabic LADO for Syrian and Palestinian claimants: Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestinian communities and refugee camps.
Lingala LADO
Lingala LADO weighing Kinshasa and Brazzaville speech, French borrowing, urban slang and the speaker's other Congolese languages.
Maghrebi Arabic LADO
Darija LADO that separates Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian and Libyan speech and reads French and Amazigh influence.
Mandinka LADO
Mandinka LADO placing speech in The Gambia, Casamance or Guinea-Bissau and separating it from Bambara, Maninka and Dyula.
Nigerian Pidgin LADO
Naija LADO separating Nigerian Pidgin from Cameroonian Pidgin and Krio, and Lagos from Niger Delta speech.
Oromo LADO
Oromo LADO that places speech in West Central, Eastern or Borana areas and weighs Ethiopia against Kenya.
Palestinian Arabic LADO
Palestinian Arabic LADO for urban, rural and Bedouin speech, compared with Jordanian and northern Levantine forms.
Pashto (Afghanistan) LADO
Pashto (Afghanistan) LADO weighing southern and northern speech and Dari or Urdu influence, with Pakistan as the main alternative.
Pashto (Pakistan) LADO
LADO for Pakhto speakers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northern Balochistan and Karachi, including Urdu contact and Pakistani schooling.
Pulaar (Fulfulde) LADO
Fula LADO distinguishing Pulaar, Pular and Fulfulde varieties from Senegal and Guinea to Nigeria and Cameroon.
Punjabi LADO
Punjabi LADO separating Indian and Pakistani Punjab, Majhi, Doabi and Malwai from Pothwari and Mirpuri speech.
Rohingya LADO
Rohingya LADO distinguishing northern Rakhine State speech from Chittagonian, with camp and migration history considered.
Russian LADO
Russian LADO that looks beyond the standard language to local vocabulary and the first language beneath a speaker's Russian.
Somali LADO
Somali LADO that tells Northern, Benadir and Maay speech apart and weighs time spent in Kenya, Ethiopia or Djibouti.
Sudanese and Darfur LADO
LADO for Sudanese Arabic and the Darfur languages Fur, Zaghawa and Masalit, weighing Sudan against eastern Chad.
Sylheti LADO
Sylheti LADO for speakers from the Sylhet Division and India's Barak Valley, analysed apart from standard Bengali.
Tamil LADO
Tamil LADO comparing Jaffna, eastern and hill country Tamil from Sri Lanka with Tamil Nadu speech.
Tibetan nationality assessment
Nationality assessment for claimed Tibetans, supported by LADO: raised in Tibet, or in exile communities in Nepal or India?
Tigrinya LADO
Tigrinya LADO that tests whether speech was formed in Eritrea or in Tigray, with loanwords and second languages examined.
Turkmen LADO
Turkmen LADO comparing Teke-based standard speech with Yomut, Ersari and the Farsi-influenced Turkmen of Iran and Afghanistan.
Urdu LADO
Urdu LADO that looks beyond the national language to the first language, region and schooling a speaker's Urdu reveals.
Uyghur LADO
Uyghur LADO covering the dialects of Xinjiang and the Central Asian communities, handled in full confidence.
Uzbek LADO
Uzbek LADO telling Northern Uzbek of Uzbekistan from Afghan Southern Uzbek, with Russian, Tajik and Dari contact assessed.
Wolof LADO
Wolof LADO that weighs Senegalese against Gambian speech, French against English loanwords, and Dakar urban Wolof.
Yemeni Arabic LADO
Yemeni Arabic LADO across Sanaani, Taizzi-Adeni, Hadrami and Tihami speech, with Gulf and Saudi forms as comparisons.
By location
LADO in Norway
LADO for Norwegian lawyers, organisations and public bodies, with English reports and certified Norwegian translation on request.
LADO in Scotland
LADO for Scottish solicitors, advocates and charities, from legal aid asylum work to expert evidence at tribunal hearings.
Discuss a language analysis case
Tell us the language or dialect, the type of report you need (origin, age or second opinion) and your deadline.