Page Type: languageKurdish, Central | Ethnologue

CKB ISO 639-3

Kurdish, Central

زمانێ سۆرانی‎ (zimanê soranî) Autonym

A language of Iraq

ISO 639
ckb
Alternate Names
Kurdi, Sorani
Autonym
زمانێ سۆرانی‎ (zimanê soranî)
Population
4,700,000 in Iraq (2020). Total users in all countries: 5,266,050.
Location:
Arbil, As Sulaymaniyah, At Ta’mim (Kirkuk), and Diyala governorates; Salah ad Din governorate: east of Tuz Khurmatu; all areas are south of Great Zab river; diaspora communities elsewhere.
Language Status
1 (National). Statutory national language (2005, Constitution, Article 4(1)).
Classification
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Western, Northwestern, Kurdish
Dialects
Hewleri (Arbili), Xoshnaw, Pizhdar, Suleimani (Silemani), Warmawa, Rewandiz, Bingird, Kerkuki, Garmiyani, Jafi. In Sulaimaniya, Hewleri and Kerkuki dialects seen as mutually intelligible. A member of macrolanguage Kurdish [kur].
Typology
SOV; no grammatical gender or case; noun head initial; tense-split ergative pattern; 9 vowel phonemes, 31 consonant phonemes (McCarus 2009).
Language Use
All domains. Children learn it first. Positive attitudes.
Language Development
Taught in primary and secondary schools. Fully developed. Bible: 2017.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Kurdish, Central
Writing
Arabic script, Naskh variant [Arab], primary usage.
Other Comments
Muslim.

Also Spoken in

Language Name
Kurdish, Central
User Population
557,000 in Iran (2019).
Location
West Azerbaijan and Kordestan provinces; also Hamadan, Kermanshah, and Zanjan provinces; Mahabad area (Mukri dialect); Sanandaj (Sine) area (Sanandaji dialect).
Dialects
Mukriyani (Kordi, Mokri, Mukri), Jafi, Pijdari, Ardelani (Sanandaji, Sina’i, Sine’i, Sineyi).
Language Status
3 (Wider communication)
Other Comments
90% in cities or villages, 10% nomadic. Kordi may also refer to Northern Kurdish varieties (such as in Khorasan Province), and Southern Kurdish [sdh] varieties, such as Kermanshahi [sdh]. Muslim.
View other languages of Iran
Language Name
Kurdish, Central
User Population
6,300 in Kuwait (2020 Joshua Project).
Language Status
Unestablished
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
View other languages of Kuwait
Language Name
Kurdish, Central
User Population
2,750 in Sweden (2020 census). , based on nationality.
Language Status
Unestablished
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
View other languages of Sweden

Map

Location: Arbil, As Sulaymaniyah, At Ta’mim (Kirkuk), and Diyala governorates; Salah ad Din governorate: east of Tuz Khurmatu; all areas are south of Great Zab river; diaspora communities elsewhere.