Kurmancî (Kurmanji) vs Soranî: what is the difference?

Kurmancî (Kurmanji, Northern Kurdish) and Soranî (Sorani, Central Kurdish) are the two Kurdish varieties with the most speakers. They share many words and a long history, but they look different on the page and build sentences in different ways. This guide goes through the differences one at a time, using real examples from the ZimanGo lessons.

The short answer: Kurmancî is written in Latin letters, has masculine and feminine nouns, and is spoken mainly in Turkey, Syria and the north of Iraq. Soranî is written in an Arabic-based script, has no grammatical gender, and is spoken mainly in Iraq around Erbil and Sulaymaniyah and in western Iran.

Where each dialect is spoken

Kurmancî is the Kurdish of most Kurds in Turkey and Syria. It is also spoken in the north of Iraq, in north-western and north-eastern Iran, and by Kurdish communities in the Caucasus, for example in Armenia. Around Duhok and Zakho in Iraq, people speak Behdînî (Badini), which is a variety of Kurmancî.

Soranî is spoken mainly in Iraq, in cities such as Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, and in western Iran, in cities such as Sanandaj and Mahabad. Both dialects are also spoken by Kurdish families in Europe and around the world.

Nobody knows the exact number of speakers, and estimates vary a lot. Kurmancî is clearly the larger of the two: it is usually estimated at around 15 to 20 million speakers, and Soranî at around 6 to 12 million.

Latin letters or Arabic-based script

The first thing you notice is the alphabet. Kurmancî uses a Latin alphabet of 31 letters: the 26 letters of English plus five with marks, ç, ê, î, ş and û. Soranî uses an alphabet based on Arabic script, written from right to left.

The Soranî alphabet is not simply Arabic, though. It writes its vowels as full letters, except for a short i sound that is usually left out, and it adds letters for Kurdish sounds such as a heavy L and a rolled R. Here are a few words you already know in both scripts:

The Soranî word for hello, سڵاو, contains the heavy L. The word for good morning, ڕۆژباش, starts with the rolled R.

Each dialect has its usual script, but you will also see Kurmancî written in Arabic-based letters in Iraq and Iran, and Soranî written in Latin letters now and then. Our Kurdish alphabet guide shows every letter.

Grammar: masculine, feminine or neither

Kurmancî nouns are either masculine or feminine, a bit like in French or Spanish. Soranî has no grammatical gender at all. For learners, this is one of the biggest differences between the two.

• Masculine in Kurmancî: bav (father), bajar (city), nan (bread), çav (eye)
• Feminine in Kurmancî: dayik (mother), mal (house), çay (tea), av (water)

You hear the gender in the ezafe, the small ending that links a noun to the word after it. Masculine nouns take -ê and feminine nouns take -a. Soranî simply attaches “my” to the noun as the ending -m, whatever the word.

In the Kurmancî column, bav and bajar take -ê, while dayik and mal take -a. In the Soranî column there is no gender to remember: father and mother work the same way, and so do city and house.

Kurmancî also has case endings. A noun can change its form after a word like “in”, and the pronoun “I” changes too.

In Kurmancî, bajar turns into bajêr after li (in). Soranî keeps the same word for city in both rows. In the same way, the Kurmancî pronoun ez (I) becomes min in Navê min (my name).

Grammar: “the”, “my” and the past tense

Kurmancî has no separate word for “the”. Soranî marks a known, specific noun with the ending -eke.

In مەتبەخەکە metbexeke, the ending -eke turns “kitchen” into “the kitchen”. Kurmancî just says Mitfax, and the context does the rest.

Soranî also attaches “my”, “your” and the other pronouns straight onto words. Kurmancî keeps them as separate words after the noun.

The past tense is where the two really part ways. With verbs that take an object, such as eat, see or write, Kurmancî changes the word for “I” in the past: ez becomes min. Linguists call this an ergative pattern.

Soranî shows the same idea with its endings instead: the ending for “I”, -m, moves from the verb to the word in front of it.

In the present, Soranî puts -m on the verb: دەخۆم dexom. In the past, the -m attaches to the word for bread instead: نانم nanim.

Everyday words that differ

Many everyday words are completely different in the two dialects. The word for friend is a good example:

Heval /hɛˈval/ هاوڕێ hawrê Friend

Some pairs are closer than they look: tea is almost the same word, and father sounds similar in both. In Kurmancî, roj means both “sun” and “day”. Soranî has its own word for the sun, خۆر.

Yes and no have a small twist. Kurmancî also has Belê, a more formal “yes” that sounds like the Soranî word. And Soranî also says نا for “no”, just like Kurmancî Na.

Do speakers understand each other?

Partly. The two dialects share many basic words, so speakers often catch single words and short phrases. Longer conversations are harder, because the grammar and a lot of everyday vocabulary differ.

How much people understand depends on exposure. Someone who grew up hearing both, through neighbours, family, music or television, may follow the other dialect with little effort. Someone hearing it for the first time often has to slow down, choose simpler words, or switch to another language both people know.

This is also why experts use different labels. Some describe Kurmancî and Soranî as dialects of one Kurdish language, others as closely related languages. For a learner the practical point is the same: they are different enough that it pays to start with one.

Kurmancî or Soranî: which should you learn?

The best choice is the dialect of the people you want to talk to.

• Choose Kurmancî if your family or friends come from Turkey, Syria, Duhok or the Caucasus, or if you want an alphabet you can read from day one.
• Choose Soranî if your family or friends come from Erbil, Sulaymaniyah or western Iran, or if you already read Arabic or Persian script.
• No family link? Kurmancî has more speakers and uses Latin letters. Soranî has no genders to learn. Both are a good way into Kurdish.

If you grew up hearing Kurdish at home but never learned to read it, our tips for heritage speakers help you build on what you already know. Learning the second dialect later is much easier, because so many words carry over.

ZimanGo teaches both Kurmancî and Soranî, starting with the alphabet. Behdînî, Zazakî (Kirmanckî) and Hewramî (Gorani) are coming soon. To see how all the varieties fit together, read our guide to Kurdish dialects.