Spoken in: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Armenia, Lebanon.

Region: Middle East.

Total speakers: 24,500,000.

Language family: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Western Iranian, Northwestern Iranian, Kurdish.

Writing system: Kurdish alphabet (modified Arabic alphabet in Iraq and Iran, modified Latin alphabet in Turkey and Syria, modified Cyrillic in the former USSR).

Official status
Official language in: Iraq, Kurdish Autonomous Region.

The Kurdish language (Kurdish: Kurdî or کوردی) is the language spoken by Kurds. It is mainly concentrated in the region of Kurdistan, which includes parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.

The Kurdish language belongs to the western sub-group of the Iranian languages, which themselves belong to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. The most closely related languages to Kurdish are Balochi, Gileki and Talysh, all of which belong to the north-western branch of Iranian languages. Also related to Kurdish is the Persian language, which belongs to the south-western branch.

The word, Kurdish, to describe the language or languages that Kurds speak is not commonly used by the majority of Kurds outside of foreign conversations or literatures. The majority use the names of the dialects they speak in order to describe their language while using the term, Kurdish, to describe their ethnic identity. This also may reflect the significant differences between dialects or languages classified as Kurdish and the controversy of such classifications.


Origin and roots

From about the 10th century BC, Iranian tribes spread in the area now corresponding to Kurdistan, among them Medes, speakers of a Northwest Iranian dialect. Gradual linguistic assimilation of the various indigenous peoples to this Median language in the course of the Iron Age marks the beginning of Kurdish ethnogenesis. Some evidence of Hurrian influence on Kurdish is detected in its ergative grammatical structure.. A linguistic group influential on Kurdish to a lesser degree was Aramaic. M.R. Izady (1993) identifies three-quarters of Kurdish clan names and roughly two-third of toponyms are as deriving from Hurrian., e.g., the names of the clans of Bukhti, Tirikan, Bazayni, Bakran, Mand; rivers Murad, Balik and Khabur, lake Van; the towns of Mardin, Ziwiya, Dinawar and Barzan.


Proto-Kurdish

The Proto-Kurdish language was originally spoken by several ancient tribes that comprise Kurdish ancestry in the mountains of the Hakkari region south of Lake Van and west of Lake Urmia. Proto-Kurdish is considered to be the ancestor of the modern Kurdish language and is believed to be most closely related to the modern Kurmanji dialect.

Although the existence of such a language is generally accepted by linguists, there have been debates about its origins and many of the specific details.


History

Although Kurdish has a northwestern Iranian root, little is known about Kurdish in pre-Islamic times. The most notable language in this group is Median, of which little is known either. The sacred book of the Yazidis, Mishefa Reş (Black Book) was written in Kurmanji Kurdish by Shaikh Adi's son in early 13th century . From the 15th to 17th centuries, classical Kurdish poets and writers developed a literary language. The most famous classical Kurdish poets from this period are Ali Hariri, Ahmad Khani, Malaye Jaziri and Faqi Tayran.

In the beginning of the 20th century the countries that controlled the Kurdish-speaking regions refused to accept Kurdish as an official language and placed restrictions on its use, even on basic right such as naming children in Kurdish. Today, only in Iraq, Kurdish is an official language. In Turkey the use of Kurdish is allowed, though with restrictions; In Iran, Kurdish is used in some publications, but it is not allowed to be taught in schools. Syria still opposes the use of Kurdish in the country.

In March 2006, Turkey allowed private television channels to begin airing Kurdish language programming. However, the Turkish government said that they must avoid showing children's cartoons, or educational programs that teach the Kurdish language, and can only broadcast for 45 minutes a day or four hours a week. The programs must carry Turkish subtitles. Kurdish blogs have emerged in recent years as virtual fora where Kurdish-speaking Internet users can express themselves in their native Kurdish or in other languages. Kurdish satellite television is also available.

Today, Kurdish is an official language in Iraq while it is banned in Syria where it is forbidden to publish material in Kurdish. Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish, prohibiting the language in education and broadcast media. The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q which do not exist in the Turkish alphabet has led to prosecution and harassment in 2000 and 2003 . In Iran, though it is used in some local media and newspapers, it is forbidden in schools . As a result many Iranian Kurds have left for Iraqi Kurdistan where they can study in their native language.


Grammar

Although Kurdish has a Kurdistan with northwestern Iranian root,. The most notable language in this group is Median, of which Empair of Medes. The sacred book of the Yazidis, Mishefa Reş (Black Book) was written in Kurmanji Kurdish by Shaikh Adi's son in early 13th century . From the 15th to 17th centuries, classical Kurdish poets and writers developed a literary language. The most famous classical Kurdish poets from this period are Ali Hariri, Ahmad Khani, Malaye Jaziri and Faqi Tayran. In the beginning of the 20th century the countries that controlled the Kurdish-speaking regions refused to accept Kurdish as an official language and placed restrictions on its use, even on basic right such as naming children in Kurdish. Today, only in Iraq, Kurdish is an official language.

In Turkey the use of Kurdish is not allowed, though with restrictions; In Iran, Kurdish is used in some publications, but it is not allowed to be taught in schools. Syria still opposes the use of Kurdish in the country.In March 2006, Turkey Promissed to EU and Kurdish people to allowed private television channels to begin airing Kurdish language programming. However, the Turkish government never allowad or regonaized educational programs that teach the Kurdish language or TV for children's cartoons, But Kurdish satellite television is also available in Krdistan and Europe control and support by Kurdsh people. Today, Kurdish is an official language in Iraq while it is banned in Syria where it is forbidden to publish material in Kurdish.. In Iran, though it is used in some local media and newspapers, it is forbidden in schools . As a result many Iranian Kurds have left for Iraqi Kurdistan where they can study in their native language.


Dialects

According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, Kurdish has two main northern and central dialects. The northern dialect, Northern Kurmanji also commonly referred to simply as Kurmanji (and sometimes Bahdini), is spoken in northern half of Iraqi Kurdistan, Caucasus, Turkey, Syria and northwest of Iran. The central group, called Sorani, is spoken in west of Iran and central part of Iraqi Kurdistan. Linguists often classify both dialects as part of the same Kurmanji branch (as well as the larger branch) of the Kurdish language.

In contrast, the southern dialects (ironically are spoken in both Northern and Southern Kurdistan regions) are largely referred to by linguists as the Zaza-Gorani branch. While some scholars reject the classification of Zaza-Gorani as belonging to the Kurdish branch of Indo-Iranian languages, it is noteworthy that a large number of people who speak dialects belonging to the Zaza-Gorani branch identify as Kurds.


Dialects or Languages?

The use of the word, Kurdish, to describe the language or languages that Kurds speak may be the very cause of controversies regarding the differences among the dialects or languages. Outside of foreign conversation or literatures, the majority of Kurds use the name of the dialect they speak in order to describe their dialect or language, and sometimes even one another. The use of the word, Kurdish, by contrast, has been used more often to simply describe the ethnic identity of the Kurds reflecting the significant differences between the dialects or languages.

Some linguistic scholars assert that the term Kurdish has been extrinsically applied in describing the language the Kurds speak, while Kurds intuitively have used the word to simply describe their ethnic or national identity and refer to their language as Kurmanji, Sorani, Zazaki, Hewrami, or whatever other dialect or language they are native to. Some historians have noted that only until recent history have a small minority of Kurds who speak the Sorani dialect begun referring to their language as Kurdî, in addition to their identity, which is translated to simply mean Kurdish.

Kurmanji and Sorani

According to Philip Kreyenbroek (1992), it may also be misleading to call Northern Kurmanji and Sorani "dialects" because they are in some ways as different from one another as German and English. However, both dialects are widely accepted as part of a Kurmanji branch of languages spoken by Kurds.

Kurmanji or Northern Kurmanji is more archaic than the other dialects in both phonetic and morphological structure, and it is conjectured that the differences between central and northern dialects, have been caused by the proximity of central group to the other Iranian languages..

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 of northern and central. Northern group (Kurmanji) is spoken in Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Mosul and Bahdinan regions in Iraq and Kurdish communities in Khorasan (northeast of Iran). Central group (Sorani) is spoken in Arbil, Sulaimaniya, Kirkuk (all in Iraq), Mahabad and Sanandaj (in Iran). .

A potentially unified form, emerging either via natural or organised merger of Kurmanji and Sorani is humorously dubbed Soranji by Kurds.

Pehlewani

Often regarded to as the smaller branch of the Kurdish language apart from Kurmanji is Pehlewani, today referred to as Zaza-Gorani. According to medieval Islamic sources, the language spoken by Hurrian ancestors of Kurds that primarily belonged to the Yazdanism sect of religious belief spoke a Proto-Pehlewani language. Today, Pehlewani is survived by few dialects spoken by modern-day Kurds including Gorani and Dimili or Zazaki. While these dialects similarly vary in ways that Northern Kurmanji and Sorani do, linguists have largely classified the dialects under the same branch.


Indo-European linguistic comparison

Due to the fact that Kurdish language is an Indo-European language, there are many words that are cognates in Kurdish and other Indo-European languages such as Avestan, Persian, Sanskrit, German, English, Latin and Greek.


Writing system

The Kurdish language uses three different writing systems. In Iran and Iraq it is written using a modified version of the Arabic alphabet (and more recently, sometimes with the Latin alphabet in Iraqi Kurdistan). In Turkey and Syria, it is written using the Latin alphabet. As an example, see the following online news portal published in Iraqi Kurdistan. Also see the VOA News site in Kurdish. Kurdish in the former USSR is written with a modified Cyrillic alphabet. There is also a proposal for a unified international recognised Kurdish alphabet based on ISO-8859-1.