What is Kurdish? The language, its dialects and speakers
A clear introduction to Kurdish: its language family, speakers, the main dialects and how it is written.
Kurdish is the language of the Kurds, a people living mainly in the mountainous region where Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria meet, and in communities across Europe and beyond. Kurds call their language Kurdî. This guide explains what Kurdish is, how it is related to other languages, how many people speak it and which form you will probably want to learn.
Where Kurdish comes from
Kurdish belongs to the Indo-European language family, in its Iranian branch. That makes it a distant relative of English, German and Hindi, and a closer relative of Persian and Pashto. You can still spot old family resemblances, such as bira (brother) next to English “brother” and German “Bruder”.
It is not a dialect of Persian, Arabic or Turkish. It has its own grammar, its own sounds and a long oral and written tradition. Our post on the Kurdish people tells the story of the speakers; this one stays with the language.
How many people speak Kurdish?
Estimates range from about 20 to 40 million speakers. The range is wide because many countries do not count languages in their censuses. Kurdish is spoken in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria, and by diaspora communities in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK and elsewhere. In Iraq, Kurdish is one of the official languages together with Arabic.
One name, several varieties
When people say “Kurdish” they usually mean one of two written standards:
- Kurmancî (Northern Kurdish): the largest group, written in Latin letters with ç, ê, î, ş, û.
- Soranî (Central Kurdish): written in an Arabic-based alphabet, from right to left.
Kurmancî is the Kurdish of most Kurds in Turkey and Syria. Soranî is the main language of Kurds in the Erbil and Sulaymaniyah areas of Iraq and in parts of Iran. Southern Kurdish, Zazakî and Hewramî are further related varieties; our guide to Kurdish dialects sorts them out, and Kurmancî vs Soranî compares the two big ones side by side.
The same word in both
The two standards share a lot, but spelling and grammar differ. Here are a few words from the ZimanGo lessons:
| Kurmancî | Soranî | English |
|---|---|---|
| ziman | زمان | language |
| peyv | وشە | word |
| wate | واتا | meaning |
| pirtûk | پەرتووک | book |
| Kurdistan | کوردستان | Kurdistan |
Notice that “language”, “word” and “meaning” look quite different, even though they mean the same. That is normal: the two standards grew apart over centuries, while a speaker of one usually learns to follow the other with some practice.
How Kurdish is written
Kurmancî uses a Latin alphabet of 31 letters, introduced for Kurdish in the 1930s by Celadet Bedirxan. Soranî uses an Arabic-based alphabet with extra letters for Kurdish vowels and sounds. Read the Kurdish alphabet for both, or who created the alphabet for the history.
Which Kurdish should I learn?
Choose the form your family or the people you want to talk to use. If you are not sure, Kurmancî is spoken by the most people, and Soranî is a strong choice if your contacts come from Iraqi Kurdistan or Iran. ZimanGo teaches both with a free core course, so you can start with either and switch later.
Try Is Kurdish hard to learn? and then the first greetings. Five minutes a day is enough to begin.
Questions people ask
What language is Kurdish?
Kurdish is an Indo-European language of the Iranian branch, spoken by an estimated 20 to 40 million people.
What is Sorani Kurdish?
Soranî (Central Kurdish) is one of the two main written standards of Kurdish. It is written in an Arabic-based script and spoken mostly in Iraqi Kurdistan and parts of Iran.
Is Kurdish the same as Persian or Arabic?
No. Kurdish is related to Persian within the Iranian branch, but it is a separate language with its own grammar. It is not related to Arabic or Turkish.
