Zazaki

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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 400,000-1,140,000 [1] [2] in Turkey, unknown numbers elsewhere
Language family:	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Western Northwestern Zaza-Gorani Zazaki
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	none
ISO 639-2:	`ira`
ISO/FDIS 639-3:	either: `diq` — Dimli (Southern Zazaki) `kiu` — Kirmanjki (Northern Zazaki)
Image:Zaza DialectsMap.gif
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key.

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. Zazaki shares many features, structures, and vocabulary with Gilaki language, spoken in northern Iran, along the Caspian coast.

The 1965 Turkish census counted 171,057 Zazas (%0.54 of total population), divided into 150,644 native and 20,413 second-language Zazaki speakers. However, the 2000 Turkish census counted 3,235,097 Zazaki speakers (including native and second-language speakers). Moreover, according to Ethnologue (which cites [Paul 1998]), the number of Zazaki speakers is between 1.5 and 2.5 million (including all dialects).

1 Zazaki dialects and regional variants
2 Zazaki literature and broadcast programs
3 Comparison between Zazaki, Kurdish, Persian, Turkish, English and German
4 Controversy over classification
5 Some linguistic studies on Zazaki (Zazaish)
6 References
7 See also
8 External links

[edit] Zazaki dialects and regional variants

There are three main Zazaki dialects:

Northern Zazaki [3]: It is spoken in Tunceli, Erzincan, Erzurum, Sivas,

Gumushane, Mus (Varto), Kayseri (Sariz) proviences. Sub-dialects are:

West-Dersim
East-Dersim
Varto
Border Dialects like Sarız, Koçgiri (Giniyan-idiom)

Central Zazaki: It is spoken in Elazig, Bingöl, Diyarbakir proviences.

Sub-dialects are:

Bingol
Palu
Border Dialects like Hani, Kulp, Lice, Ergani, Piran

Southern Zazaki [4]: It is spoken Sanliurfa (Siverek), Diyarbakir (Cermik,

Egil), Adiyaman, Malatya proviences. Sub-dialects are:

Siverek
Cermik, Gerger
Border Dialects like Mutki and Aksaray

[edit] 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.

[edit] Comparison between Zazaki, Kurdish, Persian, Turkish, English and German

Zazaki	Kurdish	Persian	Turkish	English	German
awe	av	ab	su	water	wasser
adır	agir	âtash	od / ateş	fire	feuer
amaene	hatin	âmadan	gelmek	come	kommen
ardene	anin	âvardan	getirmek	bring	bringen
aşmi	mang	māh	ay	moon	mond
bermayiş	girîn	gerye	ağlama	cry	weinen
bıra	bira	barādar	kardeş	brother	bruder
berz	berz	boland	üksek	high	hoch
ber	der	dar	kapı	door	tür
ca	cih	ja	yer	place	platz
ceniye	jin	zan	kadın	woman	frau
cewiyaene	jiyan	zendegi	yaşam	life	leben
çim	çav	cheshm	göz	eye	auge
dest	dest	dast	el	hand	hand
dew	gund / dê	deh	köy	village	dorf
êrd	erd	zamin	toprak	earth	erde
estor	asp / astar	asb / êstir	at	horse	pferd
fek	dev	dahan	ağız	mouth	mund
gırd / pil	gir / mezin	bozorg	büyük	great	groß
gişt	angosht	tili/bêçî/engust	parmak	finger	finger
hak	hêk	tokhm	yumurta	egg	ei
her	ker	khar	eşek	donkey	esel
hire	sê	se	üç	three	drei
hol	baş	khub	iyi	good	gut
homa	xoda	khoda	tanrı	god / deity	gott
huyaene	kenîn	khande	gülmek	laugh	lachen
kerdene	kirin	kardan	yapmak	do	machen
keye	xâne	khaneh	ev	house	haus
key	kenge	key	nezaman	when	wann
mae	dayik	mādar	anne	mother	mutter
mase	mahi	mahi	balık	fish	fisch
merdene	mirin	mordan	ölmek	die	sterben
merdım	mer	mard	erkek	man	mann
name	nav	nam	ad	name	name
nan	nan	nan	ekmek	bread	brot
pi	bav	pedar	ata / baba	father	vater
qıc	piçuk	kuchak	küçük / ufak	small	klein
rakerdene	vekirin	bâz kardan	açmak	open	öffnen
rınd	rind	ziba	güzel	beatiful	schön
roc	roj	rûz	gün	day	tag
ser	ser	sar	kafa	head	kopf
serre	sal	sâl	sene	year	jahr
şund	êvar	asr	akşam	evening	abend
şewe	şev	shab	gece	night	nacht
şiyaene	çun	raftan	gitmek	go	gehen
tarîk	tarik	tarîk	karanlık	dark	dunkel
ters	tirs	tars	korku	fear	angst
va	ba	bâd	rüzgar	wind	wind
vaş	biheş	alaf	ot	gras	grass
vatene	gotin	goftan	söylemek	say	sagen
verg	gur	gork	kurt / böre	wolf	wolf
vêyşan	birçîtî	gorosnegi	açlık	hunger	hunger
vızêr	dirouz	duh	dün	yesterday	gestern
wae	xwişk	khahar	abla	sister	schwester
wastene	xwestın	xâstan	istemek	want	wollen
wendene	xwandin	xândan	okumak	read	lesen
werdene	xwarin	xordan	yemek	food / eat	essen
weş	xweş	khosh	hoş / latif	fine	fein
win	xwîn	Xūn	kan	blut	blood
wısar	bihar	bahar	bahar	spring	frühling
waşte	nâm-zad	dergisî	sözlü / nişanlı	fiancé	vertraute(r)
xoz	xok	khuk	domuz	pig	schwein
ya / ne	ere / na	âre / na	evet / hayır	yes / no	ja / nein
zıwan	ziman	zabân	dil	language	sprache
zerri	dil	del	yürek	heart	herz

[edit] 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]

Northwestern Iranian languages
- Kurdish language
  - Kurmanji language
  - other sublanguages/dialects of Kurdish
- Zaza-Gorani language group
  - Dimli/Zazaki
  - Gorani

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 migrated from Deylaman towards the west. Zazaki shows many connections the Iranian dialects of the Caspian region, especially Gilaki language.

The language differs from most Persian dialects in that it contains archaic strains of Hurrian; it has this in common with the languages Auramani (Hawrami or Gorani) and Bajelani, and these languages are put together in the Zaza-Gorani language group, but also Goran-Zazaistan by those who want emphasize their distinctness from the Kurds.

Hawrami and Bajelani are spoken in region of northern Iraq sometimes referred to as Southern Kurdistan. Hurrian itself is extinct; however it is thought to have had a close relationship to modern Chechen and was a member of the Alarodian language family. On the other hand, the Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies (CAIS) lists Zazaki as a dialect of Kurdish language [6]. The US State Department "Background Note" lists Zaza as one of the major languages of Turkey, along with Turkish (official), Kurdish, Armenian, Greek, and Arabic. [7]. However, Encyclopaedia Britannica lists Zazaki as a subdialect of Kurdish language [8].

[edit] Some linguistic studies on Zazaki (Zazaish)

Paul, Ludwig. (1998) "The Position of Zazaki Among West Iranian languages" University of Hamburg,[9].
Lynn Todd, Terry. (1985) "A Grammar of Dimili" University of Michigan,[10].
Gippert, Jost. (1996) "Historical Development of Zazaki" University of Frankfurt University,[11].
Gajewski, Jon. (2003) "Evidentiality in Zazaki" Massachusetts Institute of Technology,[12].
Gajewski, Jon. (2004) "Zazaki Notes" Massachusetts Institute of Technology,[13].
Larson, Richard. and Yamakido, Hiroko. (2006) "Zazaki as Double Case-Marking" Stony Brook University and University of Arizona,[14].
Iremet, Faruk. (1996) "The difference between Zaza, Kurdish and Turkish" Stockholm, Sweden,[15].

[edit] References

Raymond Gordon, Jr., Editor. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Fifteenth Edition. SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/: Dimli

Paul, Ladwig. (1998) The Position of Zazaki Among West Iranian languages. (Classification of Zazaki Language.)

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)