Kurdish language explained

Kurdish
Nativename:Kurdish: Kurdî / Kurdish: کوردی
Imagescale:0.6
States:Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Armenia, Azerbaijan
Region:Kurdistan, Anatolia, Caucasus, Khorasan, Kurdish diaspora
Ethnicity:Kurds
Speakers: million
Date:2020–2022
Familycolor:Indo-European
Fam2:Indo-Iranian
Fam3:Iranian
Fam4:Western
Fam5:Northwestern
Dia1:Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji)
Dia2:Central Kurdish (Sorani)
Dia3:Southern Kurdish (Xwarîn, Palewani)
Dia4:Laki[1]
Iso1:ku
Iso2:kur
Iso3:kur
Lc1:kmr
Ld1:Northern Kurdish
Lc2:ckb
Ld2:Central Kurdish
Lc3:sdh
Ld3:Southern Kurdish
Lc4:lki
Ld4:Laki Kurdish
Lingua:58-AAA-a (North Kurdish incl. Kurmanji & Kurmanjiki) + 58-AAA-b (Central Kurdish incl. Dimli/Zaza & Gurani) + 58-AAA-c (South Kurdish incl. Kurdi)
Glotto:kurd1259
Glottorefname:Kurdish
Nation: Iraq[2]

[4] [5]

Minority: Armenia[6]
Notice:IPA
Map2:Kurdish languages map.svg

Kurdish (Kurdish: Kurdî, Kurdish: کوردی) is a Northwestern Iranian language or group of languages spoken by Kurds in the region of Kurdistan,[7] [8] namely in Turkey, northern Iraq, northwest and northeast Iran, and Syria.

Kurdish varieties constitute a dialect continuum, with some mutually unintelligible varieties, and collectively have 26 million native speakers. The main varieties of Kurdish are Kurmanji, Sorani, and Southern Kurdish (Kurdish: Xwarîn). The majority of the Kurds speak Kurmanji,[9] and most Kurdish texts are written in Kurmanji and Sorani. Kurmanji is written in the Hawar alphabet, a derivation of the Latin script, and Sorani is written in the Sorani alphabet, a derivation of the Arabic script.

A separate group of non-Kurdish Northwestern Iranian languages, the Zaza–Gorani languages, are also spoken by several million ethnic Kurds.[10] [11] [12]

The classification of Laki as a dialect of Southern Kurdish or as a fourth language under Kurdish is a matter of debate,[13] but the differences between Laki and other Southern Kurdish dialects are minimal.[14]

The literary output in Kurdish was mostly confined to poetry until the early 20th century, when more general literature became developed. Today, the two principal written Kurdish dialects are Kurmanji and Sorani. Sorani is, along with Arabic, one of the two official languages of Iraq and is in political documents simply referred to as "Kurdish".[15] [16]

Classification and origin

The Kurdish varieties belong to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European family. They are generally classified as Northwestern Iranian languages, or by some scholars as intermediate between Northwestern and Southwestern Iranian.[17] Martin van Bruinessen notes that "Kurdish has a strong South-Western Iranian element", whereas "Zaza and Gurani [...] do belong to the north-west Iranian group".[18]

Ludwig Paul concludes that Kurdish seems to be a Northwestern Iranian language in origin,[19] but acknowledges that it shares many traits with Southwestern Iranian languages like Persian, apparently due to longstanding and intense historical contacts.

Windfuhr identified Kurdish dialects as Parthian, albeit with a Median substratum. Windfuhr and Frye assume an eastern origin for Kurdish and consider it as related to eastern and central Iranian dialects.[20] [21]

The present state of knowledge about Kurdish allows, at least roughly, drawing the approximate borders of the areas where the main ethnic core of the speakers of the contemporary Kurdish dialects was formed. The most argued hypothesis on the localisation of the ethnic territory of the Kurds remains D.N. Mackenzie's theory, proposed in the early 1960s (Mackenzie 1961). Developing the ideas of P. Tedesco (1921: 255) and regarding the common phonetic isoglosses shared by Kurdish, Persian, and Baluchi, Mackenzie concluded that the speakers of these three languages may once have been in closer contact.

Varieties

Kurdish varieties are divided into three or four groups, with varying degrees of mutual intelligibility.[22] [23]

In historical evolution terms, Kurmanji is less modified than Sorani and Pehlewani in both phonetic and morphological structure. The Sorani group has been influenced by among other things its closer cultural proximity to the other languages spoken by Kurds in the region including the Gorani language in parts of Iranian Kurdistan and Iraqi Kurdistan.[29]

Philip G. Kreyenbroek, an expert writing in 1992, says:

According to Encyclopaedia of Islam, although Kurdish is not a unified language, its many dialects are interrelated and at the same time distinguishable from other Western Iranian languages. The same source classifies different Kurdish dialects as two main groups, northern and central.[29] The average Kurmanji speaker does not find it easy to communicate with the inhabitants of Sulaymaniyah or Halabja.[23]

Some linguistic scholars assert that the term "Kurdish" has been applied extrinsically in describing the language the Kurds speak, whereas some ethnic Kurds have used the word term to simply describe their ethnicity and refer to their language as Kurmanji, Sorani, Hewrami, Kermanshahi, Kalhori or whatever other dialect or language they speak. Some historians have noted that it is only recently that the Kurds who speak the Sorani dialect have begun referring to their language as Kurdî, in addition to their identity, which is translated to simply mean Kurdish.[30]

The Mokriani variety of Sorani is widely spoken in Mokrian. Piranshahr and Mahabad are two principal cities of the Mokrian area.[31]

Zazaki and Gorani

See main article: Zaza language and Gorani language. Zaza–Gorani languages, which are spoken by communities in the wider area who identify as ethnic Kurds, are not linguistically classified as Kurdish. Zaza-Gorani is classified as adjunct to Kurdish, although authorities differ in the details. groups Kurdish with Zaza Gorani within a "Northwestern I" group, while Glottolog based on Encyclopædia Iranica prefers an areal grouping of "Central dialects" (or "Kermanic") within Northwest Iranic, with Kurdish but not Zaza-Gorani grouped with "Kermanic".[32]

Gorani is distinct from Northern and Central Kurdish, yet shares vocabulary with both of them and there are some grammatical similarities with Central Kurdish.[33] The Hawrami dialects of Gorani includes a variety that was an important literary language since the 14th century, but it was replaced by Central Kurdish in the 20th century.[34]

European scholars have maintained that Gorani is separate from Kurdish and that Kurdish is synonymous with the Northern Kurdish group, whereas ethnic Kurds maintain that Kurdish encompasses any of the unique languages or dialects spoken by Kurds that are not spoken by neighbouring ethnic groups.[35]

Gorani is classified as part of the Zaza–Gorani branch of Indo-Iranian languages.[36] The Zaza language, spoken mainly in Turkey, differs both grammatically and in vocabulary and is generally not understandable by Gorani speakers but it is considered related to Gorani. Almost all Zaza-speaking communities,[37] as well as speakers of the closely related Shabaki dialect spoken in parts of Iraqi Kurdistan, identify themselves as ethnic Kurds.[38] [39] [40] [41] [42]

Geoffrey Haig and Ergin Öpengin in their recent study suggest grouping the Kurdish languages into Northern Kurdish, Central Kurdish, Southern Kurdish, Zaza, and Gorani, and avoid the subgrouping Zaza–Gorani.[43]

The notable professor Zare Yusupova has carried out a lot of work and research into the Gorani dialect (as well as many other minority/ancient Kurdish dialects).[44]

History

During his stay in Damascus, historian Ibn Wahshiyya came across two books on agriculture written in Kurdish, one on the culture of the vine and the palm tree, and the other on water and the means of finding it out in unknown ground. He translated both from Kurdish into Arabic in the early 9th century AD.[45]

Among the earliest Kurdish religious texts is the Yazidi Black Book, the sacred book of Yazidi faith. It is considered to have been authored sometime in the 13th century AD by Hassan bin Adi (b. 1195 AD), the great-grandnephew of Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir (d. 1162), the founder of the faith. It contains the Yazidi account of the creation of the world, the origin of man, the story of Adam and Eve and the major prohibitions of the faith.[46] According to The Cambridge History of the Kurds, "the first proper 'text'" written in Kurdish is a short Christian prayer. It was written in Armenian characters, and dates from the fifteenth century.[47] From the 15th to 17th centuries, classical Kurdish poets and writers developed a literary language. The most notable classical Kurdish poets from this period were Ali Hariri, Ahmad Khani, Malaye Jaziri and Faqi Tayran.

The Italian priest Maurizio Garzoni published the first Kurdish grammar titled Grammatica e Vocabolario della Lingua Kurda in Rome in 1787 after eighteen years of missionary work among the Kurds of Amadiya.[48] This work is very important in Kurdish history as it is the first acknowledgment of the widespread use of a distinctive Kurdish language. Garzoni was given the title Father of Kurdology by later scholars.[49] The Kurdish language was banned in a large portion of Kurdistan for some time. After the 1980 Turkish coup d'état until 1991 the use of the Kurdish language was illegal in Turkey.[50]

Current status

Today, Sorani is an official language in Iraq. In Syria, on the other hand, publishing materials in Kurdish is forbidden,[51] though this prohibition is not enforced any more due to the Syrian civil war.[52]

Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish, prohibiting the language in education and broadcast media.[53] [54] In March 2006, Turkey allowed private television channels to begin airing programming in Kurdish. However, the Turkish government said that they must avoid showing children's cartoons, or educational programs that teach Kurdish, and could broadcast only for 45 minutes a day or four hours a week.[55] The state-run Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) started its 24-hour Kurdish television station on 1 January 2009 with the motto "we live under the same sky".[56] The Turkish prime minister sent a video message in Kurdish to the opening ceremony, which was attended by Minister of Culture and other state officials. The channel uses the X, W, and Q letters during broadcasting. However, most of these restrictions on private Kurdish television channels were relaxed in September 2009.[57] In 2010, Kurdish municipalities in the southeast began printing marriage certificates, water bills, construction and road signs, as well as emergency, social and cultural notices in Kurdish alongside Turkish. Also Imams began to deliver Friday sermons in Kurdish and Esnaf price tags in Kurdish. Many mayors were tried for issuing public documents in Kurdish language.[58] The Kurdish alphabet is not recognized in Turkey, and prior to 2013 the use of Kurdish names containing the letters X, W, and Q, which do not exist in the Turkish alphabet, was not allowed.[59] [60] In 2012, Kurdish-language lessons became an elective subject in public schools. Previously, Kurdish education had only been possible in private institutions.[61]

In Iran, though it is used in some local media and newspapers, it is not used in public schools.[62] [63] In 2005, 80 Iranian Kurds took part in an experiment and gained scholarships to study in Kurdish in Iraqi Kurdistan.[64]

In Kyrgyzstan, of the Kurdish population speak Kurdish as their native language.[65] In Kazakhstan, the corresponding percentage is 88.7%.[66]

Phonology

See main article: Kurdish phonology.

Grammar

See main article: Kurdish grammar.

Writing system

See main article: Kurdish alphabets.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Atlas of the Languages of Iran A working classification . Languages of Iran . 25 May 2019.
  2. Web site: Iraq's Constitution of 2005 . 14 April 2019 . 4.
  3. Web site: Kurdistan: Constitution of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region . 14 April 2019.
  4. Web site: Social Contract - Sa-Nes . https://web.archive.org/web/20181209113945/http://rojavabenelux.nl/?page_id=1862 . dead . 9 December 2018 . Self-Administration of North & East Syria Representation in Benelux . 22 March 2019 .
  5. News: Rojava could be a model for all Syria . 22 March 2019 . . Nationalita . 29 July 2014.
  6. Book: Pavlenko, Aneta . 2008 . Multilingualism in Post-Soviet Countries . Bristol, UK . Multilingual Matters . 978-1-84769-087-6 . 18–22.
  7. Ozek . Fatih . Saglam . Bilgit . Gooskens . Charlotte . 2023-09-01 . Mutual intelligibility of a Kurmanji and a Zazaki dialect spoken in the province of Elazığ, Turkey . Applied Linguistics Review . en . 14 . 5 . 1411–1449 . 10.1515/applirev-2020-0151 . 1868-6311.
  8. Web site: Kurdish language Kurdish Dialects, Writing System & Grammar Britannica . 2024-05-02 . www.britannica.com . en.
  9. News: Kurmanji Kurdish . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304194105/http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~iranian/Kurmanji/kurmanji_1_grammar.pdf . 4 March 2016 . 24 February 2016.
  10. Kaya, Mehmet. The Zaza Kurds of Turkey: A Middle Eastern Minority in a Globalised Society.
  11. Web site: Languages of the Middle East. 23 December 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120118184312/http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/images/maps/Mid_East_Linguistic_lg.jpg . 18 January 2012 .
  12. Book: A Modern History of the Kurds: Third Edition - David McDowall - Google Books . 2004-05-14 . 9781850434160 . 2012-12-18. McDowall . David . Bloomsbury Academic .
  13. Web site: Atlas of the Languages of Iran A working classification . Languages of Iran . 25 May 2019.
  14. Web site: Lak Tribe . . 25 May 2019.
  15. Allison, Christine. The Yezidi oral tradition in Iraqi Kurdistan. 2001. "However, it was the southern dialect of Kurdish, Sorani, the majority language of the Iraqi Kurds, which received sanction as an official language of Iraq."
  16. Web site: Kurdish language issue and a divisive approach . Kurdish Academy of Language . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20151017021048/http://www.kurdishacademy.org/?q=node%2F194 . 17 October 2015 .
  17. Gernot Windfuhr, ed., 2009. The Iranian Languages. Routledge.
  18. Bruinessen, M.M. van. (1994). Kurdish nationalism and competing ethnic loyalties
  19. Encyclopedia: Kurdish language I. History of the Kurdish language. Paul. Ludwig. Encyclopædia Iranica. Yarshater. Ehsan. Ehsan Yarshater. 2008. Routledge. London and New York. 28 August 2013. live. http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20111204130713/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kurdish-language-i. 4 December 2011.
  20. Windfuhr, Gernot (1975), "Isoglosses: A Sketch on Persians and Parthians, Kurds and Medes", Monumentum H.S. Nyberg II (Acta Iranica-5), Leiden: 457-471
  21. Book: Frye, Richard N.. Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft: Alter Orient-Griechische Geschichte-Römische Geschichte. Band III,7: The History of Ancient Iran. C.H.Beck. 1984. 9783406093975. 29. registration.
  22. Hassanpour, A. (1992). Nationalism and language in Kurdistan. San Francisco: Mellon Press. Also mentioned in: kurdishacademy.org
  23. Postgate, J.N., Languages of Iraq, ancient and modern, [Iraq]: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2007,, p.139
  24. Philip G. Kreyenbroek, "On the Kurdish Language", a chapter in the book The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview. The book is previewable at Google Book Search .
  25. Joyce Blau, Methode de Kurde: Sorani, Editions L'Harmattan (2000), p. 20
  26. Tavadze. Givi. 2019. Spreading of the Kurdish Language Dialects and Writing Systems Used in the Middle East. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://science.org.ge/bnas/t13-n1/24_Tavadze.pdf . 2022-10-09 . live. Bulletin of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences. 172.
  27. Book: Mabry . Tristan James . Nationalism, language, and Muslim exceptionalism . 2015 . Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . 9780812246919.
  28. Erik Anonby, Mortaza Taheri-Ardali & Amos Hayes (2019) The Atlas of the Languages of Iran (ALI). Iranian Studies 52. A Working Classification
  29. D.N. MacKenzie, Language in Kurds & Kurdistan, Encyclopaedia of Islam.
  30. http://www.kurdistanica.com/english/history/articles-his/his-articles-02.html
  31. Web site: Background to the language, community, and fieldwork 1.1 Introduction The present work is a grammatical description of the Mukri variety of Central. https://web.archive.org/web/20170305034800/http://www.dissertation.xlibx.info/d1-other/240081-1-background-the-language-community-and-fieldwork-introduction-the.php. dead. 2017-03-05. www.dissertation.xlibx.info.
  32. Glottolog 2.3, Subfamily: Central Iran Kermanic . "The Central dialects thus constitute the southernmost group of the so-called Northwest Iranian dialects," Central Dialects (iranicaonline.org)
  33. Philip G. Kreyenbroek, "On the Kurdish Language", a chapter in the book The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview.
  34. Meri, Josef W. Medieval Islamic Civilization: A-K, index. p444
  35. Edmonds, Cecil. Kurds, Turks, and Arabs: politics, travel, and research in north-eastern Iraq, 1919–1925. Oxford University Press, 1957.
  36. J. N. Postgate, Languages of Iraq, ancient and modern, British School of Archaeology in Iraq, [Iraq]: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2007, p. 138.
  37. Web site: The Ethnic Identity of the Kurds in Turkey . 2015-10-15 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151015152331/http://www.let.uu.nl/~Martin.vanBruinessen/personal/publications/Bruinessen_Ethnic_identity_Kurds.pdf . 15 October 2015.
  38. Abd al-Jabbar, Falih. Ayatollahs, sufis and ideologues: state, religion and social movements in Iraq. University of Virginia 2008.
  39. Sykes, Mark. The Caliphs' last heritage: a short history of the Turkish Empire
  40. O'Shea, Maria. Trapped between the map and reality: geography and perceptions of Kurdistan. .
  41. Library Information and Research Service. The Middle East, abstracts and index
  42. Meiselas, Susan. Kurdistan: in the shadow of history. Random House, 1997.
  43. Opengin . Ergin . Haig . Geoffrey . Kurdish: a critical research overview . Academia.edu . en.
  44. Book: Leezenberg, M. . 15 June 2016 . Soviet Kurdology and Kurdish Orientalism . 10 .

    nl:Michiel_Leezenberg

    . 15 June 2016 . 24 November 2017 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20180427211418/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254810726_Soviet_Kurdology_and_Kurdish_Orientalism . 27 April 2018.
  45. Book: Ibn-Waḥšīya, Aḥmad Ibn-ʿAlī . Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall. Ancient Alphabets and Hieroglyphic Characters Explained: With an Account of the Egyptian Priests, Their Classes, Initiation, and Sacrifices . 28 March 2013 . 1806. Bulmer . 53 .
  46. John S. Guest, The Yezidis: A Study in Survival, Routledge Publishers, 1987,,, 299 pp. (see pages 18, 19, 32)
  47. Book: The Cambridge History of the Kurds . . 2021 . 978-1-108-47335-4 . 613 . Bozarslan . Hamit . Gunes . Cengiz . Yadirgi . Veli.
  48. Ernest R. McCarus, Kurdish Language Studies, The Middle East Journal, Published by Middle East Institute, Washington, 1960, p.325
  49. http://www.institutkurde.org/en/conferences/kurdish_studies_irbil_2006/Mirella+GALETTI.html#_ftn5 Kurdistan and Its Christians
  50. Ross, Michael. The Volunteer (chapter: The Road to Ankara)
  51. http://web.amnesty.org/wire/March2005/Syria Repression of Kurds in Syria is widespread
  52. Web site: After 52-year ban, Syrian Kurds now taught Kurdish in schools. 6 November 2015. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160510184634/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/11/syria-kurdistan-self-governance-teach-kurdish-language.html. 10 May 2016.
  53. Web site: Special Focus Cases: Leyla Zana, Prisoner of Conscience . Amnestyusa.org . 2 December 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20050510082350/http://www.amnestyusa.org/action/special/zana.html . 10 May 2005.
  54. Web site: Kurdish performers banned, Appeal from International PEN . Freemuse.org . 2 December 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120113034636/http://www.freemuse.org/sw6195.asp . 13 January 2012.
  55. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D4687417-BAB7-426A-9F30-8D16A9DEE206.htm Turkey to get Kurdish television
  56. Web site: Kurdish TV starts broadcasting in Turkey . Kurdmedia.com . 2 December 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120112035549/http://www.kurdmedia.com/article.aspx?id=15316 . 12 January 2012.
  57. Web site: TRT HABER - Özel Kürtçe Kanala Yeşil Işık . Trt.net.tr . 28 November 2011 . 2 December 2011 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120118223608/http://www.trt.net.tr/Haber/HaberDetay.aspx?HaberKodu=139bfcf2-18ef-46b2-937b-010ad9411f0f . 18 January 2012.
  58. News: On trial for speaking Kurdish. 12 June 2013. ANF-Firatnews. 11 May 2011. dead. https://archive.today/20130615172358/http://en.firatnews.com/news/features/on-trial-for-speaking-kurdish.htm. 15 June 2013.
  59. Web site: Submission to the Sub-Commission on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights: Working Group of Minorities; Tenth Session, Agenda Item 3 (a) . Saniye . Karakaş . . March 2004 . 2006-11-07 . MS Word. Kurds have been officially allowed since September 2003 to take Kurdish names, but cannot use the letters x, w, or q, which are common in Kurdish but do not exist in Turkey's version of the Latin alphabet. [...] Those letters, however, are used in Turkey in the names of companies, TV and radio channels, and trademarks. For example Turkish Army has company under the name of AXA OYAK and there is SHOW TV television channel in Turkey. . https://web.archive.org/web/20070628171743/http://www.unhchr.ch/minorities/statements10/CLA3a.doc . 2007-06-28.
  60. Web site: Turkey legalizes the letters Q, W, and X. Yay Alphabet! . Mark Liberman . . 2013-10-24 . 2013-10-25 .
  61. News: Turkey to allow Kurdish lessons in schools. 12 June 2013. Aljazeera. 12 June 2012. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20130313145427/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/06/2012612133656956705.html. 13 March 2013.
  62. http://www.institutkurde.org/en/language/ The Kurdish Language and Literature
  63. http://www.cogsci.ed.ac.uk/~siamakr/Kurdish/KURDICA/1999/APR/Iran-policy.html The language policy of Iran from State policy on the Kurdish language: the politics of status planning
  64. Web site: Neighboring Kurds Travel to Study in Iraq . Npr.org . 9 March 2005 . 2 December 2011 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20120126080226/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4528599 . 26 January 2012.
  65. Web site: . Number of resident population by selected nationality, mother tongue in 2009 . 9 April 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120710092216/http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/sources/census/2010_PHC/Kyrgyzstan/A5-2PopulationAndHousingCensusOfTheKyrgyzRepublicOf2009.pdf . 53. 10 July 2012 .
  66. Web site: Table 4.1.1 Population by individual ethnic groups . Government of Kazakhstan . stat.kz . 9 July 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120227170112/http://www.eng.stat.kz/publishing/DocLib/2011/%D0%90%D0%9E%20%D0%BD%D0%B0%20%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BC.pdf . 21. 27 February 2012 .

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