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,[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).

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Kurdish
Kurdî / کوردی
Native to	Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Armenia, Azerbaijan
Region	Kurdistan, Anatolia, Caucasus, Khorasan, Kurdish diaspora
Ethnicity	Kurds
Native speakers	25 million (2022)[1]
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Western Northwestern Kurdish
Dialects	Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) Central Kurdish (Sorani) Southern Kurdish (Xwarîn, Palewani) Laki[2]
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)[3][4][5]
Official status
Official language in	Iraq[6][lower-alpha 1]  Kurdistan Region[7]  Rojava[8][9]
Recognised minority language in	Armenia[10]
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)   Mixed 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.

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
Religion Islam Spread Christianity Judaism Shabakism Yarsanism Yazdânism Yazidism Zoroastrianism
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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.[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]