Kurdish

Kurdish, which in terms of the translation market is mostly known in its three main dialects of Sorani, Kurmanji and Bahdini, is spoken in areas of west of Iran, in parts of Iraq and in Turkey. Its different dialects and use of both Latin and Persian script have posed challenges for clients wanting to assign a project. Bearing the following in mind will help you to better specify the type of Kurdish translation you would need to order if you have a particular preference.

Kurdish Quick Facts:

It is spoken in parts of Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Afghanistan. In 2010 an estimated 20-30 million people spoke Kurdish.
Kurdish is divided into three groups, where dialects from different groups are not mutually intelligible without acquired bilingualism
Ethnologue breaks up Kurdish into three large groups:
Central Kurdish (Kurdi, Sorani) is roughly spoken by 3.5 million people in Iraq and by 3.2 million in Iran. It is also spoken in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkmenistan. The total population of speakers of Central Kurdish is estimated at 6.8 million speakers. There are 10 varieties of Central Kurdish. The Central dialect is considered to be the literary form of Kurdish.
Northern Kurdish (Kermancî, Kirmancî, Kurdi, Kurdî, Kurmancî, Kurmanji) is spoken by 15 million people in Turkey. It is also spoken in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkmenistan. The worldwide population of speakers of Northern Kurdish is estimated to be around 20.2 million people. There are six regional varieties of Northern Kurdish.
Southern Kurdish (Pehlewani, Kirmashani/Faili/Kalhuri) is spoken by about 3 million in Kermanshah and Ilam provinces of Iran and in the Khanaqin district of eastern Iraq.
The two other major branches of Kurdish language are, Dimílí group also called “Zaza” and Hewramí group also called Goraní (Gúraní)
Sorani is normally written in an adapted form of the Arabic script
Central Kurdish is an official language in Iraq. along with Arabic.
Most Kurds are located around Arbil, Suleymaniyeh and Kirkuk in Iraq as well as those in Iranian Kurdistan speak the Central Kurdish dialects
The Sorani group has been influenced by among other things, by it’s closer cultural proximity to the other languages spoken by Kurds in the region including the Gorani language in parts of Iranian Kurdistan and Iraqi Kurdistan
Sorani has its own divisions:
- Divisions in Iran:
  - Vernacular of Sanandaj is Ardalani dialect
  - Vernacular of Bookan and Mahabad is Mokriani dialect
- Divisions in Iraq:
  - Sulaymaniyah/Ardalani
  - Erbil (Hawler)/Mokriani
- Mokriani dialect of Central Kurdish is widely spoken in Mokrian. Piranshahr and Mahabad are two principal cities of the Mokrian dialect area.
- Kurmanji:
  - Since 1932 most Kurds have used the Roman script to write Kurmanji
  - Kurmanji Kurdish is the language of almost 75%-80% of the Kurds in the Middle East.
  - Since Northern Kurdish, Kurmanji, has the largest number of speakers and is considered as the most important among Kurdish dialects.
  - Kurmanji Divisions:
    - Eastern and Southern Kurmanji:
      - Iraqi Kurmanji
      - Mokri Kurmanji
      - Sanandaj (Sanhandaji) Kurmanji
    - Northern and Western Kurmanji:
  - Russia hosts the second largest community of Kurds.
  - The Kermanshahi group has been influenced by among other things to its closer cultural proximity, Persian.
  - Zaza–Gorani languages, which are spoken by communities in the wider area who identify as ethnic Kurds, are not linguistically classified as Kurdish.
  - Major dialects of Dimilí (more commonly known as Zâza) are Sívirikí, Korí, Hezzú (or Hezo), Motkí (or Motí), and Dumbulí.
  - European scholars have maintained that Gorani is separate from Kurdish and that Kurdish is synonymous with the Northern Kurdish group, whereas ethnic Kurds maintain that Kurdish encompasses any of the unique languages or dialects spoken by Kurds that are not spoken by neighboring ethnic groups.
  - The Zaza language, spoken in the northernmost parts of Kurdistan, differs both grammatically and in vocabulary and is generally not understandable by Gorani speakers but it is considered related to Gorani.
  - Almost all Zaza-speaking communities, as well as speakers of the closely related Shabaki dialect spoken in parts of Iraqi Kurdistan, identify themselves as ethnic Kurds
  - The Hawrami dialects of Gorani includes a variety that was an important literary language since the 14th century, but it was replaced by Central Kurdish in the 20th century.
  - Kurd expats mostly reside in Europe and in particular in countries such as Sweden, Norway, France, German, UK, Finland, Austria, and Russia.
  - There are also a significant number of Kurds living the US, Canada, and Australia.
  - There are around 550 thousand Kurds living in Germany, majority of which are Kurmanji
  - Sorani Kurds are mostly living in Sweden, UK, Germany, Norway and Austria.
  - After the First World War, Kurdistan was divided amongst five new colonial states created or consented to by super- powers in accordance with their strategic and economic interests: Turkey, Iran, lraq, Syria, and the USSR/ Azerbaijan.
  - In Iran Kurdish is recognized as a regional language. It is used in some local media, but not in public schools.
  - The Kurdish languages belong to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European family
  - Developing the ideas of P. Tedesco (1921: 255) and regarding the common phonetic isoglosses shared by Kurdish, Persian, and Baluchi, Mackenzie concluded that the speakers of these three languages may once have been in closer contact.
  - The Kurds (Proto-Kurds), in the wording of G. Windfuhr (1975: 459), lived either in northwestern Luristan or in the province of Isfahan

Kurdish has a strong south-western Iranian element, whereas Zaza and Gurani do belong to the north-west Iranian group.