Kurdish Sorani (Central Kurdish) interpreting and translation

Sorani interpreting matched by country and city

Iranian and Iraqi Sorani differ in some vocabulary and loanwords, and within Sorani the speech of Sulaymaniyah, Erbil and Mukriyan each has its own character. For detailed testimony we match the country of origin and, where possible, the city.

Face-to-face Sorani interpreting covers Home Office interviews, tribunals, police custody, crown and family courts, GP and hospital appointments, psychiatric assessments, school meetings and social services visits. Telephone interpreting is open at all hours, and video sessions run through the SILA Linguists® app or Teams, Zoom and similar tools. Same-gender interpreters are often requested in healthcare and sensitive interviews, and for energy and investment meetings in the Kurdistan Region we provide consecutive and simultaneous interpreters.

Sorani translation and Kurdistan Region documents

Sorani is written right to left in a Kurdish alphabet adapted to write all vowels, with letters such as ڕ, ڵ, ۆ, ێ and ە, and Farsi or Arabic fonts alone may not display them correctly. Documents from the Kurdistan Region are usually in Sorani, and some are bilingual Kurdish and Arabic, while documents from Iran are in Farsi, so we confirm the source language first.

We translate civil status records, ID cards, school and university certificates, court documents, medical reports and commercial contracts. Certified Sorani translations are signed and dated as accurate, accepted by UK authorities such as the Home Office, courts and universities, and by employers, and into Sorani we prepare health information, school letters and public guidance.

Sorani transcription and language analysis

Police interviews, intercepted calls, voice notes and research interviews are written out in Sorani with timings and an English rendering, and switches into Arabic or Farsi are labelled. SILA Linguists® also provides LADO and nationality assessment for Sorani speakers, often relevant where Iraqi or Iranian origin is in dispute.

Sectors we support in Sorani

Our vetted, trained and qualified Sorani linguists can support asylum and immigration services, courts and police, NHS and mental health teams, education and social services, and companies in energy and business in the Kurdistan Region. One coordinating team looks after each request. Linguists sign non-disclosure agreements, and UK GDPR protects personal data.