Kurmanji
Northern Kurdish dialect / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kurmanji (Kurdish: کورمانجی, Kurmancî, lit. 'Kurdish'),[5][6][7][8] also termed Northern Kurdish,[1][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 | ||
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Northern Kurdish | ||
کورمانجی, Kurmancî | ||
Region | Autochthonous to Kurdistan, Kurdish diaspora[1] | |
Ethnicity | Kurds | |
Native speakers | 16 million (2021–2023)[2] | |
Dialects |
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Official status | ||
Official language in | ||
Recognised minority language in | ||
Language codes | ||
ISO 639-1 | ku | |
ISO 639-3 | kmr | |
Glottolog | nort2641 | |
Linguasphere | 58-AAA-a | |
Geographic distribution of the Kurdish languages spoken by Kurds
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The earliest textual record of Kurmanji Kurdish dates back to approximately the 16th century and many prominent Kurdish poets like Ehmedê Xanî (1650–1707) wrote in this language.[12][7] Kurmanji Kurdish is also the common and ceremonial language of Yazidis.[13] Their sacred book Mishefa Reş and all prayers are written and spoken in Kurmanji.[14]
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.[15]