View source for Kurmanji

{{Short description|Northern Kurdish dialect}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Kurmanji
| altname          = Northern Kurdish
| nativename       = {{lang|ku|کورمانجی}}, {{lang|ku|Kurmancî}}
| 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>
| ethnicity        = [[Kurds]]
| speakers         = {{sigfig|16.485750|2}} million
| date             = 2021–2023
| ref              = e27
| speakers2        = 
| 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             = Botani (Boti)
| dia2             = Marashi
| dia3             = Ashiti
| dia4             = Bayezidi
| dia5             = Hekari
| dia6             = Shemdinani
| dia7             = Badini
| dia8             = Shikaki
| dia9             = Silivi
| dia10            = Mihemedi<ref name="ethnologue" />
| nation           = {{plainlist|
*{{flag|Kurdistan Region}}<ref name="ethnologue" />
*{{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         = {{flag|Armenia}}<ref name="ethnologue" />
| script           = {{plainlist|
* [[Hawar alphabet]] (Latin) in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran
* [[Sorani alphabet]] (Arabic) in Iraq and Iran
* [[Cyrillic script]] in [[Russia]] and [[Armenia]]<ref name="ethnologue" />}}
| iso1             = ku
| 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-break}}
{{legend|#ef6662|[[Kurmanji]] (Northern Kurdish)}}
{{legend|#c63143|[[Sorani]] (Central Kurdish)}}
{{legend|#a56c24|[[Zaza language]]|Zaza}}
{{legend|#c8a65d|[[Southern Kurdish]] ([[Gorani language|Gorani]] is included)}}
{{legend|#b3d423|mixed language areas}}
{{col-end}}
| image            = Kurmanji Kurdish.svg
| imagecaption     = Kurmanji Kurdish written in both scripts
}}

'''Kurmanji''' ({{langx|ku|کورمانجی|Kurmancî|lit=Kurdish}}),<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>

''[[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>

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

== References ==
{{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==
{{Interwiki|code=ku|Kurmanji Kurdish}}
{{Wikivoyage|Kurdish phrasebook|Kurdish|a phrasebook}}
* {{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://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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