View source for Kurmanji

{{Prose|date=July 2011}}
{{Infobox language
|name = Northern Kurdish
|nativename ={{lang|kmr|Kurmancî, Kurdiya Jorîn}}
|altname =Kurmanji
|states = [[Iran]], [[Iraq]], [[Syria]], [[Turkey]]
|region =
|speakers= "Very provisional" figure of 15 million in Turkey
|date=2009
|ref=e18
|speakers2=Maybe 5 million elsewhere, including 2.8 million in Iraq (2004), 940,000 in Syria (1993), and 350,000 in Iran (1988)<ref name=e18/>
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam2=[[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
|fam3=[[Iranian languages|Iranian]]
|fam4=[[Western Iranian languages|Western]]
|fam5=[[Northwestern Iranian languages|Northwestern]]
|fam6=[[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]]
|dia1=[[Tori|Kurmanji]] 
|dia2=Botani
|dia3=Bazidi
|dia4=Bakrani
|dia5=Hakkari
|dia6=Badini
|dia7=[[Shengali]]
|dia8=Judikani
|dia9=Jiwanshiri
|dia10=Alburzi
|dia11=Qochani
|dia12=Birjendi
|dia13=Rihayi
|minority    =[[Armenia]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Pavlenko|first=Aneta|title=Multilingualism in post-Soviet countries|year=2008|publisher=Multilingual Matters|location=Bristol, UK|isbn=978-1-84769-087-6|pages=18–22}}</ref>
|script      =[[Latin script|Latin]] (main); [[Perso-Arabic script|Perso-Arabic]]
|iso3=kmr
|glotto=nort2641
|glottorefname=Northern Kurdish
|map         = Kurdish languages map.svg
|mapcaption  = Geographic distribution of Kurdish and other Northwestern Iranian languages spoken by Kurds
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
{{legend|#ef6662|Northern Kurdish}}
{{legend|#c63143|[[Central Kurdish]]}}
{{legend|#8c3143|[[Southern Kurdish]]}}
{{col-break}}
{{legend|#ffd700|[[Zaza language|Zaza]]}}
{{legend|#ff8c00|[[Gorani language|Gorani]]}}
{{legend|#b3d423|mixed areas}}
{{col-end}}
}}

'''Northern Kurdish''' ({{lang|kmr|کوردیا ژۆرین}}; ''{{lang|kmr|kurdiya jorîn}}''), also called '''Kurmanji''' ({{lang|kmr|کورمانجی}}; ''{{lang|kmr|Kurmancî}}''), is a group of Kurdish dialects predominantly spoken in southeast [[Turkey]], northwest [[Iran]], northern [[Iraq]] and northern [[Syria]]. It is the most widespread dialect group of the [[Kurdish languages]]. <!-- Kurmanji is difficult to classify, like Kurdish in general, due to strong influence from Persian and other neighbouring related Iranian languages, numerous lexical borrowings and conflicting or ambiguous dialectal traits. -->While Kurdish is generally categorized as one of the [[Western Iranian languages|Northwestern Iranian languages]] along with [[Balochi language|Baluchi]]<!-- given its placement regarding the very oldest isoglosses within Iranian -->,<ref name=Iranica>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Kurdish language I. History of the Kurdish language|author-last=Paul|author-first=Ludwig|author-link=|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]|editor-last=Yarshater|editor-first=Ehsan|editor-link=Ehsan Yarshater|volume=|year=2008|publisher=Routledge|location=London and New York|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kurdish-language-i|accessdate=28 August 2013}}</ref><ref>Windfuhr, Gernot (1975), “Isoglosses: A Sketch on Persians and Parthians, Kurds and Medes”, Monumentum H.S. Nyberg II (Acta Iranica-5), Leiden: 457–471</ref> it also shares many traits with Southwestern Iranian languages like [[Persian language|Persian]], apparently due to longstanding and intense historical contacts, and some authorities have gone so far as to classify Kurmanji as a Southwestern or "southern"<!-- this is not a usually acknowledged subgroup, but seems to be merely an alternative term for "Southwestern Iranian" --> Iranian language.<ref>{{cite book|title=Turkey's Alevi Enigma: A Comprehensive Overview|year=2002|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-9004125384|editor=Paul J. White|page=23}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Gunter|first=Michael M.|title=The A to Z of the Kurds|year=2009|publisher=The Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0810868182|url=https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Kurmanji+%28Kurmanc%C3%AE%29+or+Northern+Kurdish&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&sourceid=Mozilla-search&start=0#q=Kurmanji+%28Kurmanc%C3%AE%29+or+Northern+Kurdish&hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbo=u&tbm=bks&source=og&sa=N&tab=wp&ei=tfssUNOuE-Sp0QWX0oGoDA&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=f81dd1ab64a80a9f&biw=980&bih=418|page=112}}</ref>

== Scripts and books ==
Northern Kurdish dialects, which uses the [[Latin script]], is the most common dialect group of the [[Kurdish language]], spoken by 80% of all [[Kurds]]. The earliest textual record of the Kurdish language dates to the 16th century.<ref name="Iranica"/>

Kurmanji is the ceremonial language<ref>[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/yazidis-i-general-1 Kurmanji is the language of almost all the orally transmitted religious traditions of the Yazidis.]</ref><ref>[http://www.tacentral.com/people.asp?story_no=8 Yazidi people speak a northern dialect of Kurdish (Kurmanji). Except for a few Arabic poems, all religious texts are in Kurmanji, including their hymns (qewl).  All Scriptures and texts that they have are also in Kurdish.]</ref> of [[Yezidism]]. The sacred book ''[[Mishefa Reş]]'' (the "[[Yazidi Black Book]]") and all prayers are written and spoken in Kurmanji.

== Dialects ==
Northern Kurdish forms a [[dialect continuum]] of great variability. Loosely, five dialect areas can be distinguished:<ref>{{citation|title=Regional variation in Kurmanji: A preliminary classification of dialects|first1=Ergin|last1=Öpengin|first2=Geoffrey|last2=Haig|journal=Kurdish Studies|volume=2|year=2014|issn=2051-4883}}</ref>
* '''Northwestern Kurmanji''', spoken in the [[Kahramanmaraş Province|Kahramanmaraş]] (in Kurmanji: ''Meraş''), [[Malatya Province|Malatya]] (''Meletî'') and [[Sivas Province|Sivas]] (''Sêwaz'') provinces of [[Turkey]].
* '''Southwestern Kurmanji''', spoken in the [[Adıyaman Province|Adıyaman]] (''Semsûr''), [[Gaziantep Province|Gaziantep]] (''Entab'') and [[Şanlıurfa Province|Şanlıurfa]] provinces of Turkey and the [[Aleppo Governorate]] of [[Syria]].
* '''Northern Kurmanji''' or '''Serhed''' , spoken mainly in the [[Ağrı Province|Ağrı]] (''Agirî''), [[Erzurum Province|Erzurum]] (''Erzerom'') and [[Muş Province|Muş]] (''Mûş'') provinces of Turkey, as well as adjacent areas.
* '''Southern Kurmanji''', spoken in the [[Al-Hasakah Governorate]] in Syria, the [[Sinjar]] distinct in Iraq, and in several adjacent parts of Turkey centering on the [[Mardin Province|Mardin]] and [[Batman Province|Batman]] provinces. 
* '''Southeastern Kurmanji''' or '''Badînî''', spoken in the [[Hakkâri Province|Hakkâri]] province of Turkey and [[Dohuk Governorate]] of [[Iraqi Kurdistan]].

* '''Anatolian Kurmanji''' is spoken in [[central Anatolia]], especially in [[Konya]], [[Ankara]], [[Aksaray]], by [[Kurds of Central Anatolia|Anatolian Kurds]]

The most distinctive of these is ''Badînî''.<ref>
for [[Bahdinan]], a historical Kurdish principality, paralleling use of [[Sorani Kurdish|Sorani]], also the name of [[Soran Emirate|a historical principality]], for southern dialects. See [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bahdinan-kurdish-region-river-dialect-group-and-amirate BAHDĪNĀN] in ''[[Encyclopedia Iranica]]'' by A. Hassanpour, 1988 (updated 2011): "The majority of the population are Kurds (see figures in Edmonds, [''Kurds, Turks and Arabs'', London, 1957,] p. 439) and speak Kurmanji, the major Kurdish dialect group, also called Bādīnānī (see, among others, Jardine [''Bahdinan Kurmanji: A Grammar of the Kurmanji of the Kurds of Mosul Division and Surrounding Districts'', Baghdad, 1922] and Blau [''Le Kurde de ʿAmādiya et de Djabal Sindjar: Analyse linguistique, textes folkloriques, glossaires'', Paris, 1975])."</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Kurdistan|Languages}}
* [[Kurdish alphabets]]
* [[Central Kurdish dialects]]
* [[Southern Kurdish dialects]]
* ''[[Kurmancî (magazine)|Kurmancî]]'', a Kurdish linguistic magazine

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Interwiki|code=ku}}
{{Incubator|code=kmr}}
* [http://www.institutkurde.org/ Kurdish Institute] Kurdish language, history, books and latest news articles.

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[[Category:Languages of Armenia]]
[[Category:Kurdish language]]
[[Category:Languages of Iran]]
[[Category:Languages of Turkey]]
[[Category:Languages of Iraq]]
[[Category:Languages of Syria]]
[[Category:Languages of Azerbaijan]]