Not to be confused with Sorani.
Southern Kurdish
AltnameXwarîn
Nativenameکوردی خوارین
StatesIran, Iraq
RegionKurdistan
EthnicityKurds
Speakersmillion
Date2000–2023
Ref[1]
FamilycolorIndo-European
Fam 2Indo-Iranian
Fam 3Iranian
Fam 4Western
Fam 5Northwestern
Fam 6Kurdish
Iso 3sdh
Glottosout2640
GlottorefnameSouthern Kurdish
Lingua58-AAA-c
ScriptKurdish alphabet (Perso-Arabic script)
Dia 1Feylî
Dia 2Kelhurrî
Dia 3Lekî
Dia 4Xaneqînî
Dia 5Gerrûsî (Bîcarî)
Dia 6Kirmaşanî
Dia 7Kolyai
Dia 8Sanjâbî
Dia 9Melikşayî
Dia 10Bayray
Dia 11Kordalî
Dia 12Korouni

Southern Kurdish,[a] also known by its endonym Xwarîn, is a Kurdish language variety, spoken predominantly in northeastern Iraq and western Iran.[2] The Southern Kurdish-speaking region spans from Khanaqin in Iraq to Dehloran southward and Asadabad eastward in Iran.[3]

Name

The term "Southern Kurdish" was introduced by linguists, and speakers were unfamiliar with the term and did not refer to the language as such.[4][5] Southern Kurdish speakers historically referred to their speech solely as "Kurdish" (Kurdî, Kwirdî), and in contexts where they had to distinguish their dialect from the neighboring dialects, they usually called it "our own Kurdish" ("Kurdi xoman", "Kurdi wizhman") or just added tribal or geographical labels, such as "Kurdi Kalhori" (meaning "Kurdish spoken by the Kalhor") or "Kurdi Kermashani" (meaning "Kurdish spoken in Kermanshah").[6] The terms "Kalhori", "Feyli", "Pa[h]lawani" and "Kermanshahi" were used to collectively describe the Southern Kurdish dialects, although linguists generally preferred the term "Southern Kurdish" as it covered all the dialects without generalizing them under the name of one tribe or region.[7]

Variants

Southern Kurdish has many variants, as linguist Fattah divides them into 35 varieties. These include:

  • Bîcarî
    • The most septentrional variety of Southern Kurdish spoken in and around Bijar in Iran. Bîcarî is the only Southern Kurdish variety detached from the greater Southern Kurdish-speaking region.[8]
  • Qurweyî (Chahar Dawli Xarbi)
    • The Quwreyî variety is spoken around Ghorveh in Iran and is related to the variety spoken in Asadabad and other Kurdish-speaking areas in Hamadan Province.[9]
  • Kulyayî
  • Bîlewerî
  • Dînewerî
    • About 83 villages in Dinavar District speak the Dînewer variety. The differences between the Dînewerî and the Kulyayî varieties are anodine.[12]
  • Sehne / Lekî-Kirmaşanî
    • The Sehne variety, or Lekî-Kirmaşanî has many similar characteristics with Lekî and is spoken in Harsin County and in Sahneh. What distinguishes it most from Lekî is the lack of the ergative case.[12]
  • Kurdelî Pahlavi is quite distant, and may be a distinct language.[13]

Other variants include: Bîstûnî, Çihrî, Hersîn, Payrawend, Kirmaşanî, Sencabî, Xalesa, Çemçemal, Qesri Şîrînî, Serpuli Zehawî, Harasam, Kelhurrî, Îwan, Erkewazî, Şêrwanî, Îlamî, Salihabadî, Rîka, Bedreyî, Melikşahî, Mêxasî, Mihran, Xaneqînî, Mendilî, Duşêxî, Kaprat, Warmizyar, Zurbatiya and Feylî.[14]

Alphabet

The Southern Kurdish alphabet is very similar to the Central Kurdish (Sorani) alphabet, which is a derivation of the Arabic alphabet. Southern Kurdish has one additional letter "ۊ"; the Arabic letter waw with two dots above.

عشسژزڕردخحچجتپبائـ
1716151413121110987654321
ێیۊۆوەھنمڵلگکقڤفغ
3433323130292827262524232221201918

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Kurdish: کوردی خوارین، کوردی باشووری[15]

References

  1. ^
  2. ^ "Kurdish language i. History of the Kurdish language". Iranica Online. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  3. ^ Fattah (2000), pp. VII.
  4. ^ Anonby, Erik; Mohammadirad, Masour; Sheyholislami, Jaffer (299). "Kordestan Province in the Atlas of the Languages of Iran: Research process, language distribution, and language classification". Current issues in Kurdish linguistics. University of Bamberg Press. p. 26.
  5. ^ The Iraqi Ba'th Regime's Atrocities Against the Faylee Kurds: Nation-State Formation Distorted, Adel Soheil, 2025, pp. 106, ISBN 9789180970273
  6. ^ The Laki Variety of Harsin: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon, Sara Belelli, 2021, pp. 14-15, ISBN: 9783863098254.
  7. ^ Current Issues in Kurdish Linguistics, 2019, pp. 77-78, ISBN: 9783863096861.
  8. ^ Fattah (2000), pp. 16–17.
  9. ^ Fattah (2000), pp. 18–19.
  10. ^ Fattah (2000), p. 19.
  11. ^ Fattah (2000), p. 20.
  12. ^ Fattah (2000), p. 21.
  13. ^ Erik Anonby, Mortaza Taheri-Ardali & Amos Hayes (2019) The Atlas of the Languages of Iran (ALI). Iranian Studies 52. A Working Classification
  14. ^ Fattah (2000), pp. 22–40.
  15. ^ "Southern Kurdish". Ethnologue. Retrieved 8 April 2023.

Bibliography

  • Fattah, Ismaïl Kamandâr (2000), Les dialectes Kurdes méridionaux, Acta Iranica, ISBN 9042909188

Further reading