Is Kurdish language similar to Persian?
“Genetically” (in linguistic terms), Kurdish and Persian are both Western Iranian languages (as opposed to Eastern Iranian languages), which makes them very similar in comparison, since the Western Iranian languages have gone through many similar morphological and phonological changes.
Are Kurdish dialects mutually intelligible?
Kurdish is divided into three or four groups, where dialects from different groups are not mutually intelligible without acquired bilingualism. Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) is the largest dialect group, spoken by an estimated 15 to 20 million Kurds in Turkey, Syria, northern Iraq, and northwest and northeast Iran.
What languages are mutually intelligible with Farsi?
Yes, modern standard Tajik, Dari and Iranian Persian are mutually intelligible. All three descend from Middle Persian. In some cases the Tajiki variant is actually truer to older or more formal Persian.
How different is Kurdish from Persian?
The two people also speak different languages. The Kurds speak in Kurdish while Persians speak Farsi, the dominant language in Iran. Both the Kurdish and Persian languages are part of the Iranian language, specifically the Western Iranian language. The Kurds are mostly nomads and without a permanent settlement.
Can Kurdish speakers understand Persian?
But still, the difference between Persian and Kurdish is huge enough to not be mutually intelligible. Reversely, I have met several Kurds from Iraq who do not speak Persian. Generally, they understand Persian much better than the way Persians understand Kurdish.
Can Persian speakers understand Kurdish?
Simply no, they don’t. As an Azerbaijani Turkish/Persian speaker who has been exposed to Kurdish language a lot because of Kurd relatives/friends, I still cannot understand Kurdish.
What language is Kurdish similar to?
Persian
Kurdish and Persian are linguistically sister languages and both are in the Iranian branch, much like how English and German can be considered sister languages of the Germanic branch. Since Persian is an Indo-European language, it is not linguistically related to Arabic.
Are Pashto and Dari mutually intelligible?
Similarly Pashto and Dari are Iranian language but they are not mutually intelligible. Both are spoken in same geographical territory and use the same Perso-Arabic script for their writing. Most of the speakers use these languages as their second languages.
What language do they speak in Kurdistan?
The Kurdish languages ( Kurmanji Kurdish: Zimanê kurdî, Sorani Kurdish: زمانی کوردی, Southern Kurdish: زوان کوردی) constitute a dialect continuum, belonging to the Iranian language family, spoken by Kurds in the geo-cultural region of Kurdistan and the Kurdish diaspora.
What is the difference between Kurdish and Iranian?
Martin van Bruinessen notes that “Kurdish has a strong south-western Iranian element”, whereas “Zaza and Gurani […] do belong to the north-west Iranian group”.
What is the difference between northern and Central Kurdish?
Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) is the largest dialect group, spoken by an estimated 15 to 20 million Kurds in Turkey, Syria, northern Iraq, and northwest and northeast Iran. Central Kurdish (Sorani) is spoken by an estimated 6 to 7 million Kurds in much of Iraqi Kurdistan and the Iranian Kurdistan Province.
What is the literary output of Kurdish?
The literary output in Kurdish was mostly confined to poetry until the early 20th century, when more general literature became developed. Today, the two principal written Kurdish dialects are Kurmanji and Sorani. Sorani is, along with Arabic, one of the two official languages of Iraq and is in political documents simply referred to as “Kurdish”.