Kurdish languages
Kurdish (Kurdî, کوردی) is a language or 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, 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).
| Kurdish | ||
|---|---|---|
| Kurdî / کوردی | ||
| Native to | Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Armenia, Azerbaijan | |
| Region | Kurdistan, Anatolia, Caucasus, Khorasan, Kurdish diaspora | |
| Ethnicity | Kurds | |
Native speakers | 25 million (2019–2020) | |
| Dialects |
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| Official status | ||
Official language in | Iraq Rojava | |
Recognised minority language in | ||
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1 | ku | |
| ISO 639-2 | kur | |
| ISO 639-3 | kur – inclusive codeIndividual codes: kmr – Northern Kurdishckb – Central Kurdishsdh – Southern Kurdishlki – 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
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A separate group of non-Kurdish Northwestern Iranian languages, the Zaza–Gorani languages, are also spoken by several million ethnic Kurds. The majority of the Kurds speak Kurmanji, 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, but the differences between Laki and other Southern Kurdish dialects are minimal.
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".