KURDISH LANGUAGE, ITS FAMILY AND DIALECTS

Authors : Hewa S. KHALİD

Pages : 133-146

View : 10 | Download : 7

Publication Date : 2020-04-29

Article Type : Other Papers

Abstract :Abstract Kurdish belongs to the Iranian language group within Indo-European language family. So, there are many similarities between Kurdish and other Iranian languages. such similarities among various languages lead to categorizing languages within some families. Kurdish is unstandardized language, and it has four main dialects. In this arena, there is a huge gap and it has had negative effects on Kurds in general. Kurdish language is very linked with Kurdish identity on the same time. So, the invaders of Kurdistan work hard to deform Kurdish, then destroy Kurdish identity. The assimilation process affected many areas of Kurdistan intensively, for example; the number of Kurdish speakers has decreased significantly in Northern Kurdistan, and Turkish language has taken its place. Thus, we as a linguist try to clarify the Kurdish language situation linguistically. In this study, we discuss Kurdish language family, Kurdish dialects, mutual understanding between Kurdish dialects, and analyzing the current situation. This would be done by reviewing various sources and publishing a questionnaire among students at Koya University. With support of the student responses, we have designed a model to illuminate mutual understanding between Kurdish dialects in Southern Kurdistan.
Keywords : Kurdish Language, Northern Kurdish, Central Kurdish, Southern Kurdish, Gorani, Zazaki, Hawrami