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{{Short description|Northern Kurdish dialect}}
{{Prose|date=July 2011}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
{{Infobox language
{{Infobox language
|name = Northern Kurdish
| name = Kurmanji
| altname = Northern Kurdish
|nativename ={{lang|kmr|Kurmancî, Kurdiya Jorîn}}
| nativename = {{lang|ku|کورمانجی}}, {{lang|kmr|Kurmancî}}
|altname =Kurmanji
| region = Autochthonous to [[Kurdistan]], Kurdish diaspora<ref name="ethnologue" >{{cite web|title=Ethnologue - Kurmanji Kurdish|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/kmr|access-date=3 February 2018}}</ref>
|states = [[Iran]], [[Iraq]], [[Syria]], [[Turkey]]
| state = [[Armenia]], [[Azerbaijan]], [[Iraq]], [[Iran]], [[Syria]], [[Turkey]]<ref name=e27/>
|region =
| ethnicity = [[Kurds]]
|speakers= "Very provisional" figure of 15 million in Turkey
| speakers = {{sigfig|16.485750|2}} million
|date=2009
| date = 2021–2023
|ref=e18
| ref = e27
|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/>
| speakers2 =
|familycolor=Indo-European
| familycolor = Indo-European
|fam2=[[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
|fam3=[[Iranian languages|Iranian]]
| fam2 = [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
|fam4=[[Western Iranian languages|Western]]
| fam3 = [[Iranian languages|Iranian]]
|fam5=[[Northwestern Iranian languages|Northwestern]]
| fam4 = [[Western Iranian languages|Western]]
|fam6=[[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]]
| fam5 = [[Northwestern Iranian languages|Northwestern]]
| fam6 = [[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]]
|dia1=[[Kurmanji|Tori]]
|dia2=Botani
| dia1 = Botani (Boti)
| dia2 = Marashi
|dia3=Bazidi
| dia3 = Ashiti
|dia4=Bakrani
| dia4 = Bayezidi
|dia5=Hakkari
| dia5 = Hekari
|dia6=Badini
| dia6 = Shemdinani
|dia7=[[Shengali]]
| dia7 = Badini
|dia8=Judikani
| dia8 = Shikaki
|dia9=Jiwanshiri
| dia9 = Silivi
|dia10=Alburzi
| dia10 = Mihemedi<ref name="ethnologue" />
|dia11=Qochani
| nation = {{plainlist|
|dia12=Birjendi
*{{flag|Kurdistan Region}}<ref name="ethnologue" />
|dia13=Rihayi
*{{flag|Rojava}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Social Contract - Sa-Nes |url=http://rojavabenelux.nl/?page_id=1862 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209113945/http://rojavabenelux.nl/?page_id=1862 |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 December 2018 |publisher=Self-Administration of North & East Syria Representation in Benelux |access-date=22 March 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Rojava could be a model for all Syria |url=https://www.nationalia.info/interview/1905/rojava-could-be-a-model-for-all-syria |access-date=22 March 2019 |work=[[Salih Muslim]] |agency=Nationalita |date=29 July 2014}}</ref>}}
|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>
| minority = {{flag|Armenia}}<ref name="ethnologue" />
|script =[[Latin script|Latin]] (main); [[Perso-Arabic script|Perso-Arabic]]
| script = {{plainlist|
|iso3=kmr
* [[Hawar alphabet]] (Latin) in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran
|glotto=nort2641
* [[Sorani alphabet]] (Arabic) in Iraq and Iran
|glottorefname=Northern Kurdish
* [[Cyrillic script]] in [[Russia]] and [[Armenia]]<ref name="ethnologue" />}}
|map = Kurdish languages map.svg
| iso1 = ku
|mapcaption = Geographic distribution of Kurdish and other Northwestern Iranian languages spoken by Kurds
| iso3 = kmr
| lingua = 58-AAA-a
| glotto = nort2641
| glottorefname = Northern Kurdish
| map = Kurdish languages map.svg
| mapcaption = Geographic distribution of the Kurdish languages spoken by Kurds
{{col-begin}}
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
{{col-break}}
{{legend|#ef6662|Northern Kurdish}}
{{legend|#ef6662|[[Kurmanji]] (Northern Kurdish)}}
{{legend|#c63143|[[Central Kurdish]]}}
{{legend|#c63143|[[Sorani]] (Central Kurdish)}}
{{legend|#8c3143|[[Southern Kurdish]]}}
{{legend|#a56c24|[[Zaza language]]|Zaza}}
{{legend|#c8a65d|[[Southern Kurdish]] ([[Gorani language|Gorani]] is included)}}
{{col-break}}
{{legend|#ffd700|[[Zaza language|Zaza]]}}
{{legend|#b3d423|mixed language areas}}
{{legend|#ff8c00|[[Gorani language|Gorani]]}}
{{legend|#b3d423|mixed areas}}
{{col-end}}
{{col-end}}
| image = Kurmanji Kurdish.svg
| imagecaption = Kurmanji Kurdish written in both scripts
}}
}}


'''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>
'''Kurmanji''' ({{langx|ku|کورمانجی|Kurmancî|lit=Kurdish}}, {{Pronunciation|Ku-Kurmanji.ogg}}),<ref>{{cite book |author1=Captain R. E. Jardine |title=Bahdinan Kurmanji - A grammar of the Kurmanji of the Kurds of Mosul division and surrounding districts of Kurdistan |date=1922 |publisher=Government Press |location=Baghdad |page=ii}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author1=Ayfer Gokalp |title=Language and Literacy Practices of Kurdish Children Across Their Home and School Spaces in Turkey |url=https://repository.asu.edu/attachments/158115/content/Gokalp_asu_0010E_15288.pdf |date=August 2015 |page=146 |access-date=19 March 2019 |publisher=Arizona State University |archive-date=30 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330233135/https://repository.asu.edu/attachments/158115/content/Gokalp_asu_0010E_15288.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=Iranica>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Kurdish language I. History of the Kurdish language|author-last=Paul|author-first=Ludwig|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]|editor-last=Yarshater|editor-first=Ehsan|editor-link=Ehsan Yarshater|year=2008|publisher=Routledge|location=London and New York|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kurdish-language-i|access-date=28 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Georg Krotkoff |title=Humanism, Culture, and Language in the Near East |date=1997 |page=299}}</ref> also termed '''Northern Kurdish''',<ref name="ethnologue" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Ethnologue - Kurdish |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/kur |access-date=19 March 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=E. S. Soane |title=Notes on Kurdish Dialects |date=1909 |page=906 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=va7ofEPkxpYC |access-date=22 March 2019|isbn=9788120617506 }}</ref> is the northernmost of the [[Kurdish languages]], spoken predominantly in southeast [[Turkey]], northwest and northeast [[Iran]], northern [[Iraq]], northern [[Syria]] and the [[Caucasus]] and [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] regions.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Philip G. Kreyenbroek, Stefan Sperl |title=The Kurds : a Contemporary Overview |date=2005 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=1134907656}}</ref> It is the most widely spoken form of Kurdish.


Kurmanji is also the common and ceremonial language of [[Yazidis]].<ref name="IranicaY" >{{cite web |title=Yazidis i. General |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/yazidis-i-general-1 |access-date=19 March 2019}}</ref> Their sacred book ''[[Yazidi Black Book|Mishefa Reş]]'' and all prayers are written and spoken in Kurmanji.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Arakelova |first1=Victoria |date=2001 |title=Healing Practices among the Yezidi Sheikhs of Armenia |journal=Asian Folklore Studies |volume=60 |issue=2 |pages=319–328 |doi=10.2307/1179060 |quote = As for their language, the Yezidis themselves, in an attempt to avoid being identified with Kurds, call it ''Ezdiki''.|jstor=1179060 |issn = 0385-2342}}</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"/>


''[[Ethnologue]]'' reports that the use of Kurmanji is declining in Turkey even when the language is used as a language of wider communication (LWC) by immigrants to Turkey, and that the language is threatened because it is losing speakers.<ref name="Kmr">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/kmr/|title=Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji)|publisher=Ethnologue|access-date=November 26, 2023}}</ref>
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 ==
== History ==
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]].


=== Pre-modern Kurmanji ===
* '''Anatolian Kurmanji''' is spoken in [[central Anatolia]], especially in [[Konya]], [[Ankara]], [[Aksaray]], by [[Kurds of Central Anatolia|Anatolian Kurds]]
Although Kurds are mentioned in the pre-Islamic period, there is no information of the Kurdish language before the Islamic period. The first mention of Kurmanji Kurdish is by the medieval Chaldean author [[Ibn Wahshiyya]] (d. 930/1) in his treatise about alphabets. Orientalist [[Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall|Joseph Hammer]] also purported the existence of an alphabet for the language.{{Sfnp|Sheyholislami|2021|pp=611–612}}


Kurmanji may have potentially been a literary language from the 10th to the 12th century with the formation of many [[List of Kurdish dynasties and countries|Kurdish dynasties]] such as the [[Hasanwayhids]], [[Rawadid dynasty|Rawadids]], [[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubids]] and especially under the [[Marwanids (Diyar Bakr)|Marwanids]] who commanded sizeable economic and cultural prosperity. However, the language of Marwanid administration and culture life was reported to be exclusively Arabic. Under the Ayyubids, many scholars note that Kurmanji gained a privileged status but admit that there is a paucity of evidence due to the lack of written Kurmanji documents from the Ayyubid court.{{Sfnp|Sheyholislami|2021|pp=612–613}}
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>
The first known written attestation of Kurmanji is from the geographical work Mu'jam ul-Buldān by [[Yaqut al-Hamawi]] in which few words have been identified in a mostly indecipherable text. The first proper text in Kurmanji is a [[Christian mission|Christian missionary prayer]] in the [[Armenian alphabet|Armenian script]] from the first half of the 14th century.{{Sfnp|Sheyholislami|2021|p=613}}

A growing interest in the use of Kurmanji in literature began from the 14th century on when Kurdistan had relative political stability and economic prosperity. However, it was not until the 16th century, that a Kurmanji literary tradition arose. During this era, [[Sharafkhan Bidlisi]] from the [[Principality of Bitlis]], wrote that a certain leader of the [[Adakale, Baykan|Derzin Castle]] wrote most of his poetry and theological commentaries in Kurmanji. Furthermore, during his trips to Kurdistan, [[Evliya Çelebi]] praised the educational institutions of the [[Amedi]] and [[Akre]] regions and quoted a Kurmanji poem by local poet in his work. Prominent scholars from this period, whose works are preserved today include [[Melayê Cizîrî]], [[Feqiyê Teyran]], [[Elî Teremaxî]] and [[Ehmedê Xanî]]. Unlike his peers, Xanî consciously worked to codify Kurmanji as a written language.{{Sfnp|Sheyholislami|2021|p=614-617}} Pre-modern Kurmanji began to decline in the 19th century simultaneously with decline of the Kurdish principalities.{{Sfnp|Sheyholislami|2021|pp=620–621}}

== Phonology ==
{{Further|Kurdish phonology}}
Phonological features in Kurmanji include the distinction between [[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]] and [[Unaspirated consonant|unaspirated]] [[Stop consonant|voiceless stop]]s and the presence of facultative phonemes.<ref>{{cite book|author-last=Khan|author-first=Celadet Bedir|author2-last=Lescot|author-link=Celadet Bedir Khan|author2-first=Roger|title=Grammaire Kurde (Dialecte kurmandji)|year=1970|publisher=La librairie d'Amérique et d'Orient Adrien Maisonneuve|location=Paris|access-date=28 October 2017|url=http://tirsik.net/danegeh/pirtuk/celadet_ali_bedirxan/Grammaire%20kurde%20(Dialecte%20kurmandji).pdf
}}</ref><ref name="HaigMatras" >{{cite journal|author-last=Haig|author-first=Geoffrey|author2-last=Matras|author2-first=Yaron|year=2002|title=Kurdish linguistics: a brief overview|journal=Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung|location=Berlin|volume=55|issue=1|page=5|url=https://www.uni-bamberg.de/fileadmin/aspra/bib-haig/kurdish_linguistics_a_brief.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010095745/https://www.uni-bamberg.de/fileadmin/aspra/bib-haig/kurdish_linguistics_a_brief.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 October 2017|access-date=27 April 2013}}</ref> For example, Kurmanji Kurdish distinguishes between aspirated and unaspirated [[voiceless stop]]s, which can be aspirated in all positions. Thus {{IPA|/p/}} contrasts with {{IPA|/pʰ/}}, {{IPA|/t/}} with {{IPA|/tʰ/}}, {{IPA|/k/}} with {{IPA|/kʰ/}}, and the affricate {{IPA|/t͡ʃ/}} with {{IPA|/t͡ʃʰ/}}.<ref name="HaigMatras" />

== Dialect continuum ==
Kurmanji forms a [[dialect continuum]] of great variability. Loosely, six 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 the northwest of [[Turkish Kurdistan]].
* Southwestern Kurmanji, spoken in the [[Adıyaman Province|Adıyaman]] (''Semsûr''), [[Gaziantep Province|Gaziantep]] (''Entab'') and [[Şanlıurfa Province|Şanlıurfa]] (''Riha'') provinces of Turkish, and [[Aleppo Governorate]] in the west of [[Syrian Kurdistan]].
* Northern Kurmanji or Serhed Kurdish, spoken mainly in the [[Ağrı Province|Ağrı]] (''Agirî''), [[Erzurum Province|Erzurum]] (''Erzerom'') and [[Muş Province|Muş]] (''Mûş'') provinces of the northeast of Turkish Kurdistan, as well as adjacent areas.
* Southern Kurmanji, spoken in [[Al-Hasakah Governorate]] in the east of Syrian Kurdistan, [[Sinjar District]] (''Şingal'') in the west of [[Iraqi Kurdistan]], and in several adjacent parts of the south of Turkish Kurdistan, centered on the [[Mardin Province|Mardin]] (''Mêrdîn'') and [[Batman Province|Batman]] (''Êlih'') provinces.
* Southeastern Kurmanji or Badînî, spoken in [[Hakkâri Province]] (''Parêzgeha Colêmêrgê'') in the southeast of Turkish Kurdistan, and the [[Dohuk Governorate]] (''Parêzgeha Dihokê'') and parts of [[Erbil Governorate]] (''Parêzgeha Hewlêr'') in the north of Iraqi Kurdistan.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Kurdish language |url=http://previous.cabinet.gov.krd/p/page.aspx?l=12&s=050000&r=305&p=215 |website=previous.cabinet.gov.krd |access-date=13 August 2019}}</ref>
* Anatolian Kurmanji is spoken in [[Central Anatolia]] (''Anatolya Navîn''), especially in [[Konya]], [[Ankara]], and [[Aksaray]], by [[Kurds of Central Anatolia|Anatolian Kurds]]

===Ezdîkî and Yazidi politics===
Among some [[Yazidi]]s, the [[glossonym]] Ezdîkî is used for Kurmanji to differentiate themselves from Kurds. While Ezdîkî is no different from Kurmanji,<ref name="IranicaY" /><ref>{{cite web|title=The Human Rights Situation of the Yezidi Minority in the Transcaucasus |url=https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/485fa2342.pdf |date=May 2008 |page=5 |access-date=23 March 2019 |publisher=Refworld}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Sebastian Maisel |title=Yezidis in Syria: Identity Building among a Double Minority |date=2017 |publisher=Lexington Books |location=Lanham |page=123}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7XuMAgAAQBAJ&q=ezdiki&pg=PA68|title=The Caucasus - An Introduction|last=Coene|first=Frederik|date=2009-10-16|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135203023|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Tork Dalalyan |title=Construction of Kurdish and Yezidi Identities among the Kurmanji-speaking Population of the Republic of Armenia, in: Changing Identities: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia – 2011 |journal=Changing Identities: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (Collection of Selected Works, Edited by V. Voronkov, S. Khutsishvili, J. Horan), Heinrich Böll Stiftung South Caucasus |date=2011 |page=6 |url=https://www.academia.edu/23284513 |access-date=23 March 2019 |language=en}}</ref> some attempt to prove that Ezdîkî is an independent language, including claims that it is a [[Semitic language]]. This has been criticized as not being based on scientific evidence and lacking scientific consensus.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Majid Hassan Ali |title=The identity controversy of religious minorities in Iraq: the crystallization of the Yazidi identity after 2003 |journal=British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies |date=15 February 2019 |volume=47 |issue=5 |page=8 |doi=10.1080/13530194.2019.1577129 |publisher=Routledge |s2cid=150358224 |issn=1353-0194}}</ref>

On January 25, 2002, Armenia ratified the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]] and placed Kurdish under state protection.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4M4wDwAAQBAJ&q=jesidisch+sprache&pg=PA186|title=Handbuch des Russischen in Deutschland: Migration – Mehrsprachigkeit – Spracherwerb |last1=Witzlack-Makarevich|first1=Kai|last2=Wulff|first2=Nadja|date=2017-08-08|publisher=Frank & Timme GmbH |isbn=9783732902279 |language=de}}</ref> However, because of the divided [[Yazidis in Armenia|Yazidi community in Armenia]] and after strong criticism from parts of the community, the authorities chose to ratify the charter by mentioning both "Kurdish" and "Yezidi" as two separate languages.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kurds (Kurdmanzh) |url=https://minorityrights.org/minorities/kurds-kurdmanzh/ |website=Minority Rights Group International |date=19 June 2015 |access-date=22 March 2019}}</ref> This resulted in the term Êzdîkî being used by some researchers when delving into the question of minority languages in Armenia, since most Kurdish-speakers in Armenia are Yazidis.<ref name="Schulze" >{{Cite web|last=Schulze |first=Ilona |title=Methodologische Überlegungen zur soziokulturellen Dokumentation von Minderheiten in Armenien. Iran and the Caucasus Vol. 18, 2, pp. 169-193 |url=https://www.academia.edu/15116713 |language=de<!--with English abstract-->}}</ref> As a consequence of this move, Armenian universities offer language courses in both Kurmanji and Êzdîkî as two different dialects.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rudaw.net/english/people-places/28052014|title=The Yezidis of Armenia Face Identity Crisis over Kurdish Ethnicity|last=Serinci|first=Deniz|date=28 May 2014|website=Rudaw}}</ref>

== Kurmanji among other groups ==
During the end of the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman era]], [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] in [[Tur Abdin]] shifted from speaking their traditional [[Turoyo language|Turoyo]] language to either Kurmanji or [[Arabic]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gaunt |first1=David |title=Massacres, Resistance, Protectors: Muslim-Christian Relations in Eastern Anatolia During World War I |date=2006 |publisher=Gorgias Press |isbn=978-1-59333-301-0 |page=4 |language=en}}</ref> Kurdophone [[Armenians]] also exist and there were prior to the [[Armenian genocide]] around 110 Kurmanji-speaking Armenian villages in [[Beşiri]] and [[Silvan, Diyarbakır|Silvan]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Galip |first=Özlem Belçim |title=New Social Movements and the Armenian Question in Turkey: Civil Society vs |year=2020 |isbn=9783030594008 |pages=161|publisher=Springer }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kévorkian |first=Raymond |title=The Armenian Genocide: A Complete History |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2011 |isbn=9780857730206 |pages=355}}</ref>

[[Bulgarians|Bulgarian]],<ref>{{cite news |date=17 May 2017 |title=Türkçe için getirilen Bulgarlar Kürtçe konuşuyor |publisher=Rûdaw |url=http://www.rudaw.net/turkish/kurdistan/170520178 |access-date=21 May 2019}}</ref> [[Chechens|Chechen]] and [[Circassians|Circassian]]<ref>{{cite book |title=Aşiretler raporu |date=2000 |publisher=Kaynak Yayınları |isbn=9753432208 |edition=1st |location=İstanbul}}</ref> immigrants in Turkish Kurdistan also speak Kurmanji.


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


== References ==
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==

* {{Citation |last=Sheyholislami |first=Jaffer |title=The Cambridge History of the Kurds |pages=603–632 |year=2021 |editor-last=Bozarslan |editor-first=Hamit |chapter=The History and Development of Literary Central Kurdish |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |doi=10.1017/9781108623711.026 |isbn=9781108623711 |s2cid=235541104 |doi-access=free}}

==Further reading==
*Mustafa, Hanar Hoshyar, and Rebwar M. Nabi. "[https://journals.uhd.edu.iq/index.php/uhdjst/article/view/1076/755 Kurdish Kurmanji Lemmatization and Spell-checker with Spell-correction.]" UHD Journal of Science and Technology 7.1 (2023): 43-52.


==External links==
==External links==
{{Interwiki|code=ku}}
{{Interwiki|code=ku|Kurmanji Kurdish}}
{{Wikivoyage|Kurdish phrasebook|Kurdish|a phrasebook}}
{{Incubator|code=kmr}}
* {{icon|wictionary}} [http://ku.wiktionary.org/wiki/Ser%C3%BBpel Wîkîferheng] Kurdish (Kurmanji) [[Wiktionary]]
* [http://www.institutkurde.org/ Kurdish Institute] Kurdish language, history, books and latest news articles.
* [http://www.institutkurde.org/ Kurdish Institute] Kurdish language, history, books and latest news articles.
* [http://egerin.com/ Egerîn, Kurdish (Kurmanji) search engine]

* [https://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~iranian/Kurmanji/index.html Reference Grammar with Selected Readings for Kurmanji Kurdish, written by W. M. Thackston (Harvard University)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729150359/https://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~iranian/Kurmanji/index.html |date=2021-07-29 }}
* {{cite book
|last=Baran
|first=Murat
|title=Kurdish Grammar: Kurmanji Reference Book
|publisher=Amazon publishing
|year=2021
|location=Erzîrom
|isbn=979-8666578360
}}
*[https://doreco.huma-num.fr/languages/nort2641 Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) DoReCo corpus] Audio recordings of narrative texts with transcriptions time-aligned at the phone level, translations, and time-aligned morphological annotations.
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{{Languages of Iran}}
{{Languages of Iran}}
{{Languages of Turkey}}
{{Languages of Turkey}}
{{Languages of Syria}}
{{Languages of Armenia}}
{{Kurdish language}}
{{Kurdish language}}
{{Iranian languages}}
{{Iranian languages}}
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{{Authority control}}


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[[Category:Languages of Armenia]]
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[[Category:Languages of Syria]]
[[Category:Languages of Syria]]
[[Category:Languages of Azerbaijan]]
[[Category:Languages of Azerbaijan]]
[[Category:Languages of Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Languages of Lebanon]]
[[Category:Languages of Jordan]]
[[Category:Languages of Russia]]
[[Category:Languages of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Languages of Kyrgyzstan]]
[[Category:Languages of Turkmenistan]]
[[Category:Languages of Kurdistan]]

Latest revision as of 16:45, 12 December 2024

Kurmanji
Northern Kurdish
کورمانجی, Kurmancî
Kurmanji Kurdish written in both scripts
Native toArmenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey[1]
RegionAutochthonous to Kurdistan, Kurdish diaspora[2]
EthnicityKurds
Native speakers
16 million (2021–2023)[1]
Dialects
  • Botani (Boti)
  • Marashi
  • Ashiti
  • Bayezidi
  • Hekari
  • Shemdinani
  • Badini
  • Shikaki
  • Silivi
  • Mihemedi[2]
Official status
Official language in
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-1ku
ISO 639-3kmr
Glottolognort2641
Linguasphere58-AAA-a
Geographic distribution of the Kurdish languages spoken by Kurds

Kurmanji (Kurdish: کورمانجی, romanized: Kurmancî, lit. 'Kurdish', pronunciationⓘ),[5][6][7][8] also termed Northern Kurdish,[2][9][10] is the northernmost of the Kurdish languages, spoken predominantly in southeast Turkey, northwest and northeast Iran, northern Iraq, northern Syria and the Caucasus and Khorasan regions.[11] It is the most widely spoken form of Kurdish.

Kurmanji is also the common and ceremonial language of Yazidis.[12] Their sacred book Mishefa Reş and all prayers are written and spoken in Kurmanji.[13]

Ethnologue reports that the use of Kurmanji is declining in Turkey even when the language is used as a language of wider communication (LWC) by immigrants to Turkey, and that the language is threatened because it is losing speakers.[14]

History

Pre-modern Kurmanji

Although Kurds are mentioned in the pre-Islamic period, there is no information of the Kurdish language before the Islamic period. The first mention of Kurmanji Kurdish is by the medieval Chaldean author Ibn Wahshiyya (d. 930/1) in his treatise about alphabets. Orientalist Joseph Hammer also purported the existence of an alphabet for the language.[15]

Kurmanji may have potentially been a literary language from the 10th to the 12th century with the formation of many Kurdish dynasties such as the Hasanwayhids, Rawadids, Ayyubids and especially under the Marwanids who commanded sizeable economic and cultural prosperity. However, the language of Marwanid administration and culture life was reported to be exclusively Arabic. Under the Ayyubids, many scholars note that Kurmanji gained a privileged status but admit that there is a paucity of evidence due to the lack of written Kurmanji documents from the Ayyubid court.[16]

The first known written attestation of Kurmanji is from the geographical work Mu'jam ul-Buldān by Yaqut al-Hamawi in which few words have been identified in a mostly indecipherable text. The first proper text in Kurmanji is a Christian missionary prayer in the Armenian script from the first half of the 14th century.[17]

A growing interest in the use of Kurmanji in literature began from the 14th century on when Kurdistan had relative political stability and economic prosperity. However, it was not until the 16th century, that a Kurmanji literary tradition arose. During this era, Sharafkhan Bidlisi from the Principality of Bitlis, wrote that a certain leader of the Derzin Castle wrote most of his poetry and theological commentaries in Kurmanji. Furthermore, during his trips to Kurdistan, Evliya Çelebi praised the educational institutions of the Amedi and Akre regions and quoted a Kurmanji poem by local poet in his work. Prominent scholars from this period, whose works are preserved today include Melayê Cizîrî, Feqiyê Teyran, Elî Teremaxî and Ehmedê Xanî. Unlike his peers, Xanî consciously worked to codify Kurmanji as a written language.[18] Pre-modern Kurmanji began to decline in the 19th century simultaneously with decline of the Kurdish principalities.[19]

Phonology

Further information: Kurdish phonology

Phonological features in Kurmanji include the distinction between aspirated and unaspirated voiceless stops and the presence of facultative phonemes.[20][21] For example, Kurmanji Kurdish distinguishes between aspirated and unaspirated voiceless stops, which can be aspirated in all positions. Thus /p/ contrasts with /pʰ/, /t/ with /tʰ/, /k/ with /kʰ/, and the affricate /t͡ʃ/ with /t͡ʃʰ/.[21]

Dialect continuum

Kurmanji forms a dialect continuum of great variability. Loosely, six dialect areas can be distinguished:[22]

Ezdîkî and Yazidi politics

Among some Yazidis, the glossonym Ezdîkî is used for Kurmanji to differentiate themselves from Kurds. While Ezdîkî is no different from Kurmanji,[12][24][25][26][27] some attempt to prove that Ezdîkî is an independent language, including claims that it is a Semitic language. This has been criticized as not being based on scientific evidence and lacking scientific consensus.[28]

On January 25, 2002, Armenia ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and placed Kurdish under state protection.[29] However, because of the divided Yazidi community in Armenia and after strong criticism from parts of the community, the authorities chose to ratify the charter by mentioning both "Kurdish" and "Yezidi" as two separate languages.[30] This resulted in the term Êzdîkî being used by some researchers when delving into the question of minority languages in Armenia, since most Kurdish-speakers in Armenia are Yazidis.[31] As a consequence of this move, Armenian universities offer language courses in both Kurmanji and Êzdîkî as two different dialects.[32]

Kurmanji among other groups

During the end of the Ottoman era, Assyrians in Tur Abdin shifted from speaking their traditional Turoyo language to either Kurmanji or Arabic.[33] Kurdophone Armenians also exist and there were prior to the Armenian genocide around 110 Kurmanji-speaking Armenian villages in Beşiri and Silvan.[34][35]

Bulgarian,[36] Chechen and Circassian[37] immigrants in Turkish Kurdistan also speak Kurmanji.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Kurmanji at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Ethnologue - Kurmanji Kurdish". Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  3. ^ "Social Contract - Sa-Nes". Self-Administration of North & East Syria Representation in Benelux. Archived from the original on 9 December 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Rojava could be a model for all Syria". Salih Muslim. Nationalita. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  5. ^ Captain R. E. Jardine (1922). Bahdinan Kurmanji - A grammar of the Kurmanji of the Kurds of Mosul division and surrounding districts of Kurdistan. Baghdad: Government Press. p. ii.
  6. ^ Ayfer Gokalp (August 2015). "Language and Literacy Practices of Kurdish Children Across Their Home and School Spaces in Turkey" (PDF). Arizona State University. p. 146. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  7. ^ Paul, Ludwig (2008). "Kurdish language I. History of the Kurdish language". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica. London and New York: Routledge. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  8. ^ Georg Krotkoff (1997). Humanism, Culture, and Language in the Near East. p. 299.
  9. ^ "Ethnologue - Kurdish". Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  10. ^ E. S. Soane (1909). Notes on Kurdish Dialects. Asian Educational Services. p. 906. ISBN 9788120617506. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  11. ^ Philip G. Kreyenbroek, Stefan Sperl (2005). The Kurds : a Contemporary Overview. Routledge. ISBN 1134907656.
  12. ^ a b "Yazidis i. General". Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  13. ^ Arakelova, Victoria (2001). "Healing Practices among the Yezidi Sheikhs of Armenia". Asian Folklore Studies. 60 (2): 319–328. doi:10.2307/1179060. ISSN 0385-2342. JSTOR 1179060. As for their language, the Yezidis themselves, in an attempt to avoid being identified with Kurds, call it Ezdiki.
  14. ^ "Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji)". Ethnologue. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  15. ^ Sheyholislami (2021), pp. 611–612.
  16. ^ Sheyholislami (2021), pp. 612–613.
  17. ^ Sheyholislami (2021), p. 613.
  18. ^ Sheyholislami (2021), p. 614-617.
  19. ^ Sheyholislami (2021), pp. 620–621.
  20. ^ Khan, Celadet Bedir; Lescot, Roger (1970). Grammaire Kurde (Dialecte kurmandji) (PDF). Paris: La librairie d'Amérique et d'Orient Adrien Maisonneuve. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  21. ^ a b Haig, Geoffrey; Matras, Yaron (2002). "Kurdish linguistics: a brief overview" (PDF). Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung. 55 (1). Berlin: 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  22. ^ Öpengin, Ergin; Haig, Geoffrey (2014), "Regional variation in Kurmanji: A preliminary classification of dialects", Kurdish Studies, 2, ISSN 2051-4883
  23. ^ "The Kurdish language". previous.cabinet.gov.krd. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  24. ^ "The Human Rights Situation of the Yezidi Minority in the Transcaucasus" (PDF). Refworld. May 2008. p. 5. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  25. ^ Sebastian Maisel (2017). Yezidis in Syria: Identity Building among a Double Minority. Lanham: Lexington Books. p. 123.
  26. ^ Coene, Frederik (2009-10-16). The Caucasus - An Introduction. Routledge. ISBN 9781135203023.
  27. ^ Tork Dalalyan (2011). "Construction of Kurdish and Yezidi Identities among the Kurmanji-speaking Population of the Republic of Armenia, in: Changing Identities: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia – 2011". Changing Identities: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (Collection of Selected Works, Edited by V. Voronkov, S. Khutsishvili, J. Horan), Heinrich Böll Stiftung South Caucasus: 6. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  28. ^ Majid Hassan Ali (15 February 2019). "The identity controversy of religious minorities in Iraq: the crystallization of the Yazidi identity after 2003". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 47 (5). Routledge: 8. doi:10.1080/13530194.2019.1577129. ISSN 1353-0194. S2CID 150358224.
  29. ^ Witzlack-Makarevich, Kai; Wulff, Nadja (2017-08-08). Handbuch des Russischen in Deutschland: Migration – Mehrsprachigkeit – Spracherwerb (in German). Frank & Timme GmbH. ISBN 9783732902279.
  30. ^ "Kurds (Kurdmanzh)". Minority Rights Group International. 19 June 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  31. ^ Schulze, Ilona. "Methodologische Überlegungen zur soziokulturellen Dokumentation von Minderheiten in Armenien. Iran and the Caucasus Vol. 18, 2, pp. 169-193" (in German).
  32. ^ Serinci, Deniz (28 May 2014). "The Yezidis of Armenia Face Identity Crisis over Kurdish Ethnicity". Rudaw.
  33. ^ Gaunt, David (2006). Massacres, Resistance, Protectors: Muslim-Christian Relations in Eastern Anatolia During World War I. Gorgias Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-59333-301-0.
  34. ^ Galip, Özlem Belçim (2020). New Social Movements and the Armenian Question in Turkey: Civil Society vs. Springer. p. 161. ISBN 9783030594008.
  35. ^ Kévorkian, Raymond (2011). The Armenian Genocide: A Complete History. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 355. ISBN 9780857730206.
  36. ^ "Türkçe için getirilen Bulgarlar Kürtçe konuşuyor". Rûdaw. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  37. ^ Aşiretler raporu (1st ed.). İstanbul: Kaynak Yayınları. 2000. ISBN 9753432208.

Bibliography

Further reading

Kurmanji Kurdish edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wikivoyage has a phrasebook for Kurdish.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Kurmanji&oldid=1262677726"