Kurdish language information

Kurdish
Kurdish
Kurdî / کوردی
Native to	Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Armenia, Azerbaijan
Region	Kurdistan, Anatolia, Caucasus, Khorasan, Kurdish diaspora
Ethnicity	Kurds
Native speakers	26 million (2020–2022)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Western Northwestern Kurdish; ; ; ; ;
Dialects	Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji); Central Kurdish (Sorani); Southern Kurdish (Xwarîn, Palewani); Laki;
Writing system	Hawar alphabet (Latin script; used mostly in Turkey and Syria); Sorani alphabet (Perso-Arabic script; used mostly in Iraq and Iran); Cyrillic alphabet (former Soviet Union); Armenian alphabet (1921–29 in Soviet Armenia);
Official status
Official language in	Iraq Kurdistan Region; Rojava
Recognised minority; language in	Armenia
Language codes
ISO 639-1	ku
ISO 639-2	kur
ISO 639-3	kur – inclusive code; Individual codes:; kmr – Northern Kurdish; ckb – Central Kurdish; sdh – Southern Kurdish; lki – Laki Kurdish
Glottolog	kurd1259
Linguasphere	58-AAA-a (North Kurdish incl. Kurmanji & Kurmanjiki) + 58-AAA-b (Central Kurdish incl. Dimli/Zaza & Gurani) + 58-AAA-c (South Kurdish incl. Kurdi)
Geographic distribution of Kurdish dialects and other Iranian languages spoken by Kurds	Kurmanji (Northern Kurdish) Sorani (Central Kurdish) Xwarin (Southern Kurdish) and Laki Zazaki Mixed dialect areas
	Kurmanji (Northern Kurdish) Sorani (Central Kurdish) Xwarin (Southern Kurdish) and Laki Zazaki Mixed dialect areas
	This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

The Kurdish languages (Kurdî, کوردی) are a group of languages spoken by Kurds in the geo-cultural region of Kurdistan and the Kurdish diaspora. Kurdish languages constitutes a dialect continuum, many of which are not mutually intelligible,^[11]^[12] belonging to Western Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. The main three dialects or languages of Kurdish are Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji), Central Kurdish (Sorani), and Southern Kurdish (Xwarîn).

A separate group of non-Kurdish Northwestern Iranian languages, the Zaza–Gorani languages, are also spoken by several million ethnic Kurds.^[13]^[14]^[15] The majority of the Kurds speak Kurmanji,^[16] 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 Arabic script.

The classification of Laki as a dialect of Southern Kurdish or as a fourth language under Kurdish is a matter of debate,^[2] but the differences between Laki and other Southern Kurdish dialects are minimal.^[17]

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".^[18]^[19]

^ Kurdish language at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
^ ^a ^b "Atlas of the Languages of Iran A working classification". Languages of Iran. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
^ MacCagg, William O.; Silver, Brian D., eds. (1979). Soviet Asian Ethnic Frontiers. Pergamon Press. p. 94. ISBN 9780080246376. Since the most active Soviet Kurdish center has been and continues to be Yerevan, the first alphabet used for publishing Kurdish in the USSR was the Armenian alphabet.
^ Курдский язык (in Russian). Krugosvet. ...в Армении на основе русского алфавита с 1946 (с 1921 на основе армянской графики, с 1929 на основе латиницы).
^ Khamoyan, M. (1986). "Քրդերեն [Kurdish language]". Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia (in Armenian). Vol. 12. p. 492. ...գրկ. լույս է տեսնում 1921-ից հայկ., 1929-ից՝ լատ., 1946-ից՝ ռուս. այբուբենով...
^ "Iraq's Constitution of 2005" (PDF). p. 4. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
^ "Kurdistan: Constitution of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region". Retrieved 14 April 2019.
^ "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.
^ "Rojava could be a model for all Syria". Salih Muslim. Nationalita. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
^ Pavlenko, Aneta (2008). Multilingualism in Post-Soviet Countries. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters. pp. 18–22. ISBN 978-1-84769-087-6.
^ Cite error: The named reference Iranica was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Kreyenbroek, Philip G.; Sperl, Stefan (17 August 2005). The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-90766-3.
^ Kaya, Mehmet. The Zaza Kurds of Turkey: A Middle Eastern Minority in a Globalised Society. ISBN 1-84511-875-8
^ "Languages of the Middle East". Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
^ McDowall, David (14 May 2004). A Modern History of the Kurds: Third Edition - David McDowall - Google Books. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781850434160. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
^ "Kurmanji Kurdish" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
^ "Lak Tribe". Iranica Online. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
^ 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."
^ "Kurdish language issue and a divisive approach". Kurdish Academy of Language. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

[1] Kurdish language at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)

[Iranatlas-2] "Atlas of the Languages of Iran A working classification". Languages of Iran. Retrieved 25 May 2019.

[3] MacCagg, William O.; Silver, Brian D., eds. (1979). Soviet Asian Ethnic Frontiers. Pergamon Press. p. 94. ISBN 9780080246376. Since the most active Soviet Kurdish center has been and continues to be Yerevan, the first alphabet used for publishing Kurdish in the USSR was the Armenian alphabet.

[4] Курдский язык (in Russian). Krugosvet. ...в Армении на основе русского алфавита с 1946 (с 1921 на основе армянской графики, с 1929 на основе латиницы).

[5] Khamoyan, M. (1986). "Քրդերեն [Kurdish language]". Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia (in Armenian). Vol. 12. p. 492. ...գրկ. լույս է տեսնում 1921-ից հայկ., 1929-ից՝ լատ., 1946-ից՝ ռուս. այբուբենով...

[6] "Iraq's Constitution of 2005" (PDF). p. 4. Retrieved 14 April 2019.

[8] "Kurdistan: Constitution of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region". Retrieved 14 April 2019.

[9] "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.

[10] "Rojava could be a model for all Syria". Salih Muslim. Nationalita. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2019.

[11] Pavlenko, Aneta (2008). Multilingualism in Post-Soviet Countries. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters. pp. 18–22. ISBN 978-1-84769-087-6.

[Iranica-12] Cite error: The named reference Iranica was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[13] Kreyenbroek, Philip G.; Sperl, Stefan (17 August 2005). The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-90766-3.

[ReferenceB-14] Kaya, Mehmet. The Zaza Kurds of Turkey: A Middle Eastern Minority in a Globalised Society. ISBN 1-84511-875-8

[gulf2000.columbia.edu-15] "Languages of the Middle East". Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2011.

[Books.google.com-16] McDowall, David (14 May 2004). A Modern History of the Kurds: Third Edition - David McDowall - Google Books. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781850434160. Retrieved 18 December 2012.

[17] "Kurmanji Kurdish" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.

[iranicaonline-18] "Lak Tribe". Iranica Online. Retrieved 25 May 2019.

[19] 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."

[20] "Kurdish language issue and a divisive approach". Kurdish Academy of Language. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015.

Kurdish language information

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Kurdish language

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Kurdish

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Kurds in Iraq

Laki language

Kurds in Turkey

Gorani language

Kurdish Christians

History of the Kurds

Kurdish Americans

Kurdish Academy of Language

Kurdish Sign Language

Human rights of Kurdish people in Turkey

Kurdish grammar

Kurdish phonology

Kurdish population

Kurdish Sun

Languages of Armenia

Iraqi Kurdistan

Peshmerga

Kurdistan

Part of a series on: Kurdish history and Kurdish culture

People List of Kurds
Population Homeland Kurdistan Turkey (Northern Kurdistan) Iran (Eastern Kurdistan) Iraq (Southern Kurdistan) Syria (Western Kurdistan) Diaspora Armenia Australia Azerbaijan Belgium Canada Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Iraq Iran Ireland Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Lebanon Netherlands New Zealand Norway Palestine Pakistan Romania Russia Syria Sweden Turkmenistan Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom United States
History Timeline of Kurdish uprisings Ancient Karduchian dynasties Corduene Zabdicene Cyrtians Moxoene Kayusids Medieval Shahrizor Sadakiyans Mir Jafar Dasni Aishanids Daisam Shaddadids Rawadids Hasanwayhids Annazids Marwanids Hadhabani Hazaraspids Ayyubids Zands Badlis Ardalan Badinan Soran Mokryan Baban Modern Kurdistansky Uyezd Kurdish rebellions during World War I Simko Shikak revolt Koçgiri Rebellion Ararat rebellion Dersim Rebellion Kingdom of Kurdistan Kurdish Republic of Ararat Republic of Mahabad Al-Anfal campaign Iraqi Kurdistan (Kurdistan Region) Iranian Kurdistan Turkish Kurdistan Syrian Kurdistan
Culture Kurdish culture Clothing Cuisine Celebrations Dance Flag Historical sites Language Folklore Literature Music Kurdish philosophers
Languages Kurdish languages Kurmanji Sorani Xwarin Zaza Laki Gorani
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