Kurdish Pahlawi (Pahlawani) interpreting and translation

Pahlawi interpreting, matched by area

Once we know the client's home area, we assign a Pahlawi interpreter from the same district, or one who knows closely related southern varieties. Sorani and Kurmanji interpreters are not substitutes, because the three Kurdish groups differ in grammar and vocabulary. Most Pahlawi speakers are also fluent in Farsi or Iraqi Arabic, and some are content to use those for routine matters, but we ask rather than assume, particularly before a legal or medical conversation.

Face-to-face Pahlawi interpreting is available for asylum interviews, legal consultations, GP and hospital appointments and community services. Phone interpreting is open at any hour, and video sessions on the SILA Linguists® app widen the choice of interpreters from Kermanshah or Ilam. Clients may ask for a man or a woman to interpret.

Translation, documents and spoken information

Pahlawi Kurdish has no widely used written standard. When it is written, it usually appears in the Kurdish Arabic-based alphabet or in Farsi script, with varying spelling. Official documents from Iran are in Farsi, federal Iraqi documents are in Arabic, and documents from the Kurdistan Region are usually in Kurdish, so certified translation normally works from those languages, and each certified version is signed and dated as an accurate rendering, accepted by UK authorities such as courts and universities.

For sharing important information with Pahlawi speakers, recorded audio is often more effective than written text. We can script and record health, housing and service messages in Pahlawi.

Transcription and LADO

We transcribe Pahlawi recordings and interviews, timing each section and providing an English version, with Farsi or Arabic passages tagged. Where a person's origin in Kermanshah, Ilam or the Iraqi border districts is questioned, SILA Linguists® can arrange a LADO report by specialists in Southern Kurdish.

Sectors we support in Pahlawi

Our vetted, trained and qualified Pahlawi linguists can support asylum representatives, clinics and community services. Each booking is coordinated by one team, interpreters are vetted and sign non-disclosure agreements, and UK GDPR applies to every file. Because few interpreters work in this dialect, please book early for interviews and hearings, and share any local names or terms you expect to come up.