Hawrami (Kurdish Hawrami) interpreting and translation

Hawrami interpreting from valley to valley

Hawrami differs considerably from Sorani, and Sorani speakers often find it hard to understand, although many Hawrami speakers understand Sorani well. We ask the client whether they prefer Hawrami, Sorani or Farsi, and whether they come from the Iranian or the Iraqi side of Hawraman, because local speech changes from valley to valley.

Our Hawrami interpreters work face to face at asylum interviews, legal appointments, hospitals and community services, and remotely by telephone at any hour or by video through the SILA Linguists® app or your preferred platform. Relay through Sorani or Farsi can be arranged if the client agrees, and we can provide a female or male interpreter where that helps the client speak openly.

Hawrami literature, heritage texts and documents

Hawrami is written right to left in the Kurdish Arabic-based alphabet, with extra conventions for its sounds, and has no single official standard. Translation requests often involve literature, poetry, heritage material and community information, and our translators respect the language's literary tradition and agree spelling with you first.

Official documents from Iran are in Farsi, while documents from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq are usually in Kurdish, and some are bilingual Kurdish and Arabic. We translate those and certify them with a signed, dated declaration of accuracy, accepted by UK authorities, universities and employers.

Transcription, research and LADO

Our Hawrami transcription suits researchers and heritage projects working with interviews, oral histories, songs and religious recitation, with timings and an English rendering. In asylum cases, SILA Linguists® can commission LADO, which can help show whether a person's speech fits Hawraman, Halabja or elsewhere.

Settings for our linguists in Hawrami

Our vetted, trained and qualified Hawrami linguists can support asylum and immigration representatives, NHS and community healthcare, universities and academic researchers, and cultural, literary and heritage organisations. One team coordinates your work, specialists are vetted and sign non-disclosure agreements, and UK GDPR governs every recording and file. Because so few people interpret Hawrami professionally, we advise booking early and sharing any names, places or religious terms in advance, so the interpreter can prepare.