Kurdish language

The Kurdish language refers to a group of closely related Northwestern Iranian varieties spoken predominantly by the Kurds across the historical region of Kurdistan. This region stretches across south-eastern Türkiye, northern Iraq, north-western Iran, and northern Syria, with additional Kurdish-speaking communities in north-eastern Iran, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The language forms a dialect continuum with varying degrees of mutual intelligibility, collectively accounting for approximately twenty-six million native speakers.
Kurdish is traditionally divided into three principal varieties—Kurmanji, Sorani, and Southern Kurdish—each with distinct linguistic features, writing systems, and geographical distributions. Written Kurdish historically centred on poetic expression, but from the early twentieth century onward, prose literature, journalism, and academic writing became increasingly developed. Today Kurmanji and Sorani function as the main written standards, with Sorani recognised as an official language in Iraq alongside Arabic.

Classification and Origins

Kurdish varieties belong to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. They are commonly classified within the Northwestern Iranian group, although some scholars describe them as occupying an intermediate position between Northwestern and Southwestern Iranian. This reflects the complex linguistic history of the region, characterised by prolonged and intense contact with neighbouring Iranian languages.
Several linguists regard Kurdish as having a strong Southwestern Iranian component, while Zaza and Gorani—often spoken by ethnic Kurds—are considered firmly Northwestern Iranian. Other scholars, drawing on phonological and lexical evidence, retain Kurdish within the Northwestern classification but acknowledge lexical affinities with Persian that arise from historical interaction.
Historical linguistic research suggests that Kurdish shares important sound correspondences with Persian and Baluchi. These shared isoglosses underpinned the influential hypothesis that speakers of these languages once lived in close proximity. The approximate homeland of the original Kurdish-speaking population has been widely debated, with theories ranging from an eastern Iranian origin to areas situated between ancient Median and Parthian language zones.

Varieties and Mutual Intelligibility

Kurdish comprises several varieties grouped into three or four main categories. These groups exhibit significant internal diversity, and mutual intelligibility varies between them.

• Kurmanji (Northern Kurdish): The most widely spoken variety, used by around fifteen to twenty million speakers across Türkiye, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. It employs the Latin-based Hawar alphabet in most written contexts and is considered morphologically conservative compared with other Kurdish varieties.
• Sorani (Central Kurdish): Spoken by approximately six to seven million people, primarily in Iraqi Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Province of Iran. It is written in a modified Arabic-derived alphabet and serves as an official language of Iraq. The Mokriani sub-variety is prominent in areas such as Mahabad and Piranshahr.
• Southern Kurdish (Pehlewani): Used in the Iranian provinces of Kermanshah, Ilam, and Lorestan and in districts of eastern Iraq. Closely related varieties such as Laki and Kordali are often included within this category, though some scholars treat Laki as a potential fourth Kurdish language due to specific linguistic traits.

From a historical perspective, Kurmanji retains older phonetic and morphological features, whereas Sorani and Southern Kurdish show greater modification, partly influenced by cultural proximity to Gorani and other neighbouring languages.

Zaza–Gorani and Related Languages

A separate set of Northwestern Iranian languages—Zaza and Gorani—are spoken by communities that widely identify as Kurdish but are not linguistically classified as Kurdish. These languages share vocabulary and certain structural features with Kurdish but form their own subgroup.
The Gorani dialects, including Hawrami, once served as significant literary languages during the medieval period before being supplanted by Central Kurdish in the twentieth century. Scholarly opinion varies regarding their relationship to Kurdish, with classifications ranging from adjunct languages to fully separate but culturally linked linguistic traditions.
Despite linguistic distinctions, the majority of speakers of Zaza and Shabaki, as well as speakers of various Gorani varieties, identify ethnically as Kurds, and many academic treatments consider them part of the broader Kurdish linguistic landscape.

Historical Attestations

One of the earliest documented references to Kurdish writing dates to the early ninth century. During his stay in Damascus, the historian Ibn Wahshiyya encountered two treatises on agriculture composed in Kurdish—one discussing viticulture and the cultivation of palm trees, the other detailing methods of locating underground water sources. He translated both works into Arabic, providing important evidence of early Kurdish scholarly writing.
Subsequent centuries saw the development of a rich oral and written tradition, especially in poetry. From the fourteenth century onward, Gorani dialects played a central role in Kurdish literary culture. In the modern era, Kurmanji and Sorani emerged as dominant written standards, expanding into prose, political literature, and modern education.