Zazaki

Information about Zazaki

Zazaki (Zazaki, Dimili, Kirmanjki, Dimli, Dimilki, So-Bê, Zonê Ma )
Spoken in:Turkey, Germany, Georgia, Kazakhstan
Region:Eastern Turkey (Bingöl, Elazığ, Tunceli, Diyarbakır, Erzincan, Erzurum, Muş, Sivas, Gümüşhane, Şanlıurfa, and Adıyaman), diasporic in Mutki, Sarız, Aksaray, Batum, and Taraz
Total speakers:About 1.5 - 2.5 million [1] [2] in Turkey, unknown numbers elsewhere
Ranking:
Genetic classification:
Official status
Official language of:
Regulated by:
Language codes
ISO 639-1
ISO 639-2zza
SIL
See also: Language – List of languages


Zazaki (Zazaish) is a language spoken by Zazas in eastern Anatolia (Turkey). According to Ethnologue, the Zazaki language is a part of the northwestern group of the Iranian section of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family.[1]. Zazaki shares many features, structures, and vocabulary with Gilaki language, spoken in northern Iran, along the Caspian coast. According to Ethnologue (which cites [Paul 1998][2]), the number of Zazaki speakers is between 1.5 and 2.5 million (including all dialects).

Zazaki dialects and regional variants

There are three main Zazaki dialects: Its sub-dialects are:
*West-Dersim
*East-Dersim
*Varto
*Border dialects like Sarız, Koçgiri (Giniyan-idiom)
  • Central Zazaki: It is spoken in Elazığ, Bingöl, Solhan, Girvas and Diyarbakır provinces.
Its sub-dialects are:
*Bingol
*Palu
*Border dialects like Hani, Kulp, Lice, Ergani, Piran
  • Southern Zazaki [4]: It is spoken Şanlıurfa (Siverek), Diyarbakır (Cermik, Egil), Adiyaman, Malatya provinces.
Its sub-dialects are:
*Siverek
*Cermik, Gerger
*Border dialects like Mutki and Aksaray

Zazaki literature and broadcast programs

The first written statements in the Zazaki language were compiled by the linguist Peter Lerch in 1850. Two other important documents are the religious writings (Mewlıd) of Ehmedê Xasi of 1899, and of Usman Efendiyo Babıc (published in Damascus in 1933); both of these works were written in the Arabic alphabet.

The use of the Latin alphabet to write Zazaki became popular only in the diaspora in Sweden, France and Germany at the beginning of the 1980s. This was followed by the publication of magazines and books in Turkey, particularly in Istanbul. The efforts of Zaza intellectuals to advance the comprehensibility of their native language by alphabetizing were not fruitless: the number of publications in Zaza has multiplied. The rediscovery of the native culture by Zaza intellectuals not only caused a renaissance of Zaza language and culture, it also triggered feelings among younger generations of Zazas (who, however, rarely speak Zaza as a mother tongue) in favor of this modern Western use of the Zaza language, rekindling their interest in their ancestral language. The diaspora, has also generated a limited amount of Zaza-language broadcasting. Moreover, after restrictions were removed on local languages in Turkey during their move toward accession to the European Union, the state-owned TRT television lanched a Zazaki TV program and a radio program on Fridays.

Controversy over classification

As with many other languages in the region, the exact positioning of Zazaki in terms of language families is controversial; it parallels a similar controversy about the relationship of the various ethnic groups and is politically fraught. Ethnologue favors the following hierarchy: [5] The US State Department "Background Note" lists the Zazaki language as one of the major languages of Turkey, along with Turkish (official), Kurdish, Armenian, Greek, and Arabic. [6]. Despite the Ethnologue's classification, Kurdish Academy, which describes itself an "electronic non-governmental organization (e-NGO), lists Zazaki as a dialect of Kurdish language [7]. Encyclopedia Britannica notes Zazaki to be a dialect of Kurdish. [8]However, this classification is not supported by linguistics and regarded as political rather than scientific. [9]

Linguists connect the word Dimli with the Daylamites in the Alborz Mountains near the shores of Caspian Sea in Iran and believe that the Zaza have immigrated from Deylaman towards the west. Zazaki shows many connections the Iranian dialects of the Caspian region, especially Gilaki language.

The Zazaki language shows similarities with (Hewrami or Gorani), Shabaki and Bajelani. Gorani, Bajelani, and Shabaki languages are spoken around Iran-Iraq border; however, it is believed that they are also immigrated from Northern Iran to their present homelands. These languages are sometimes put together in the Zaza-Gorani language group, but also Goran-Zazaistan by those who want emphasize their distinctness from the Kurds.

Some linguistic studies on Zazaki (Zazaish)

Notes

References

  • Bozdağ, Cem and Üngör, Uğur. Zazas and Zazaki. (Zazaki Literature.)
  • Blau, Gurani et Zaza in R. Schmitt, ed., Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum, Wiesbaden, 1989, ISBN 3-88226-413-6, pp. 336-40 (About Daylamite origin of Zaza-Guranis)

See also

External links



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Iranian languages
Old
Middle
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 Legend: † Extinct language (no surviving native speakers and no spoken descendant)
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Yurtta Sulh, Cihanda Sulh
Peace at Home, Peace in the World
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İstiklâl Marşı
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"Strength is in Unity"
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"Tavisupleba"
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My Kazakhstan


Capital Astana

Largest city Almaty
Official languages Kazakh (state language), Russian
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Bingöl Province is a province of Turkey in Eastern Anatolia. The province was created in 1946 out of parts of Elazığ and Erzincan. The new province was known as Çapakçur Province until 1950.
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Tunceli (Zazaki: Dêsim, Kurdish: Dêrsim) is a province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The province was named Dersim until 1936 (Dersim
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Erzincan Province is a province on the Eastern region of Anatolia, Turkey, and home to Erzincan, a city which was destroyed and rebuilt after an earthquake of magnitude 7.9 on December 27, 1939.
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Province of Erzurum (Arzen in antiquity, Karin in ancient Armenian, Theodosiupolis or Theodosiopolis during Byzantine rule) is one of the Provinces of Turkey, in the Eastern Anatolia Region, to the east of the country.
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Sivas (Kurdish: Sêwas) is located at the eastern part of the Central Anatolian region of Turkey; it is the second largest province in Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Yozgat to the west, Kayseri to the southwest, Kahramanmaraş to the south, Malatya to the southeast,
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Mutki is a district of Bitlis Province, Turkey. Mutki is also a variant of the Motikan, a Kurdish clan inhabiting the Bitlis Province.


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Aksaray is a province in central Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Konya along the west and south, Niğde to the southeast, Nevşehir to the east, and Kırşehir to the north. It covers an area of 7,626 km². The provincial capital is the city of Aksaray.
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Location of Batumi in Georgia
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Taraz
Тара?

Seal
Location in Kazakhstan
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Country ‎ The Republic of Kazakhstan
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This is a list of languages, ordered by the number of native-language speakers, with some data for second-language use. Languages are listed for secondary locations only when spoken by more than 1% of the population.
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ISO 639 consists of different parts, of which two parts have been approved and a third part that is in the final approval (FDIS) stage. The other parts are works in progress.
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Zazas are an Iranic (Aryan) ethnic group and an ethnic minority in Turkey. They primarily live in the eastern Anatolia provinces, such as Adıyaman, Aksaray, Batman, Bingöl, Diyarbakır (Diyarbekır), Elazığ (Xarpêt), Erzurum, Erzincan (Erzıngan),
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Motto
Yurtta Sulh, Cihanda Sulh
Peace at Home, Peace in the World
Anthem
İstiklâl Marşı
The Anthem of Independence
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Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics), a Christian linguistic service organization which studies lesser-known languages primarily to provide the speakers with Bibles in
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Iranian languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family. With the Indo-Aryan languages they form the Indo-Iranian languages group. Avestan and Old Persian are the oldest recorded Iranian languages.
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Indo-Iranian can refer to:
  • The Indo-Iranian languages
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Indo-European languages comprise a family of several hundred related languages and dialects [1], including most of the major languages of Europe, the northern Indian subcontinent (South Asia), the Iranian plateau (Southwest Asia), and much of Central Asia.
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The Giləki language (گیلکی in Persian and Gilaki in English) is a northwestern Iranian language and is spoken in Iran's Gīlān Province.
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Anthem
Sorūd-e Mellī-e Īrān ²


Capital
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