Zaza language

In terms of grammar, genetics, linguistics and vocabulary Zazaki is closely related to Talysh, Old Azeri, Tati, Sangsari, Semnani, Mazandarani and Gilaki languages spoken on the shores of the Caspian Sea and central Iran.[13][14] Ludwig Paul demonstrated that Zazaki is closely related to Old Azeri, Talysh and Parthian (an extinct northwestern Iranian language), shares many similarities with these languages[15] and does not have universal Kurdish vowel changes.[16] According to the head of the Paris Kurdish Institute, linguist Prof. Dr. Joyce Blau, Zazaki is a separate language and the history of Zazaki is older than that of Kurdish.[17][18] Zaza is linguistically more closely related to Gorani, Gilaki, Talysh, Tati, Mazandarani and the Semnani language.[13] Due to centuries of interaction, Kurmanji has had an impact on the language, which have blurred the boundaries between the two languages.[19] This and the fact that Zaza speakers are identified as ethnic Kurds by some scholars,[20][21] has encouraged some linguists to classify the language as a Kurdish dialect.[22][23]

Writing in Zaza is a recent phenomenon. The first literary work in Zaza is Mewlîdu'n-Nebîyyî'l-Qureyşîyyî by Ehmedê Xasi in 1899, followed by the work Mawlûd by Osman Efendîyo Babij in 1903. As the Kurdish language was banned in Turkey during a large part of the Republican period, no text was published in Zaza until 1963. That year saw the publication of two short texts by the Kurdish newspaper Roja Newe, but the newspaper was banned and no further publication in Zaza took place until 1976, when periodicals published a few Zaza texts. Modern Zaza literature appeared for the first time in the journal Tîrêj in 1979 but the journal had to close as a result of the 1980 coup d'état. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most Zaza literature was published in Germany, France and especially Sweden until the ban on the Kurdish language was lifted in Turkey in 1991. This meant that newspapers and journals began publishing in Zaza again. The next book to be published in Zaza (after Mawlûd in 1903) was in 1977, and two more books were published in 1981 and 1986. From 1987 to 1990, five books were published in Zaza. The publication of books in Zaza increased after the ban on the Kurdish language was lifted and a total of 43 books were published from 1991 to 2000. As of 2018, at least 332 books have been published in Zaza.[24]

Due to the above-mentioned obstacles, the standardization of Zaza could not have taken place and authors chose to write in their local or regional Zaza variety. In 1996, however, a group of Zaza-speaking authors gathered in Stockholm and established a common alphabet and orthographic rules which they published. Some authors nonetheless do not abide by these rules as they do not apply the orthographic rules in their oeuvres.[25]

In 2009, Zaza was classified as a vulnerable language by UNESCO.[26]

The institution of Higher Education of Turkey approved the opening of the Zaza Language and Literature Department in Munzur University in 2011 and began accepting students in 2012 for the department. In the following year, Bingöl University established the same department.[27] TRT Kurdî also broadcast in the language.[28] Some TV channels which broadcast in Zaza were closed after the 2016 coup d'état attempt.[29]

There are two main Zaza dialects:

• Northern Zaza [kiu]: It is spoken in Tunceli, Erzincan, Erzurum, Sivas, Gümüşhane, Muş, and Kayseri provinces.

Its subdialects are:

• West-Dersim[30]
• East-Dersim, Varto, Hınıs, Sarız, Koçgiri

• Southern Zaza [diq]: It is spoken in primarily Bingöl, Çermik, Dicle, Eğil, Gerger, Palu and Hani, Turkey.

Its subdialects are:

• Sivereki, Kori, Hazzu, Motki, Dumbuli, Eastern/Central Zazaki, Dersimki.

Zaza shows many similarities with other Northwestern Iranian languages:

• Similar personal pronouns and use of these[31]
• Enclitic use of the letter "u"[31]
• Very similar ergative structure[32]
• Masculine and feminine ezafe system[33]
• Both languages have nominative and oblique cases that differs by masculine -î and feminine -ê
• Both languages have forgotten possessive enclitics, while it exists in such other languages as Persian, Sorani, Gorani, Hewrami or Shabaki
• Both languages distinguish between aspirated and unaspirated voiceless stops
• Similar vowel phonemes

Ludwig Paul divides Zaza into three main dialects. In addition, there are transitions and edge accents that have a special position and cannot be fully included in any dialect group.[34]

As with a number of other Iranian languages like Talysh,[41] Tati,[14][42] central Iranian languages and dialects like Semnani, Kahangi, Vafsi,[43] Balochi[44] and Kurmanji, Zaza features split ergativity in its morphology, demonstrating ergative marking in past and perfective contexts, and nominative-accusative alignment otherwise. Syntactically it is nominative-accusative.[45]

• 
  Partial tree of Indo-European languages.[57]
• 
  Gippert, Jost (1999), Iranische Sprachen / Iranian Languages[58]
• 
  Position of Zaza language in Iranian Languages

• Arslan, İlyas. 2016. Verbfunktionalität und Ergativität in der Zaza-Sprache. Dissertation, Universität Düsseldorf.
• 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)
• Gajewski, Jon. (2004) "Zazaki Notes" Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• Gippert, Jost. (1996) "Historical Development of Zazaki" University of Frankfurt
• Haig, Geoffrey. and Öpengin, Ergin. "Introduction to Special Issue Kurdish: A critical research overview" Archived 22 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine University of Bamberg, Germany
• Larson, Richard. and Yamakido, Hiroko. (2006) "Zazaki as Double Case-Marking" Stony Brook University and University of Arizona.
• Lynn Todd, Terry. (1985) "A Grammar of Dimili" University of Michigan
• Mesut Keskin, Zur dialektalen Gliederung des Zazaki. Magisterarbeit, Frankfurt 2008. Archived 19 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine (PDF)
• Malmîsanij, Mehemed (2021). "The Kirmanjki (Zazaki) Dialect of Kurdish Language and the Issues it Faces". In Bozarslan, Hamit; Gunes, Cengiz; Yadirgi, Veli (eds.). The Cambridge History of the Kurds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 663–684. doi:10.1017/9781108623711.027. ISBN 978-1-108-62371-1. S2CID 235541104.
• Paul, Ludwig. (1998) "The Position of Zazaki Among West Iranian languages" University of Hamburg
• Werner, Brigitte . (2007) "Features of Bilingualism in the Zaza Community" Archived 29 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine Marburg, Germany

• Zazas
• Zaza nationalism

• Henarek – Granatäpfelchen: Welat Şêrq ra Sonîk | Märchen aus dem Morgenland. Gesammelt und verfasst von Suphi Aydin. Hamburg: Landeszentrale für politische Bildung, 2022. ISBN 978-3-929728-89-7.

Zazaki edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Zaza language test of Wiktionary at Wikimedia Incubator

Kirmanjki test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zazaki language.

• Zaza People and Zazaki Literature
• News, Articles and Columns (in Zaza)
• News, Folktales, Grammar Course Archived 29 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine (in Zaza)
• News, Articles and Bingöl city (in Zaza)
• Center of Zazaki (in Zaza, German, Turkish, and English)
• Website of Zazaki Institute Frankfurt
• "Zaza a Northwestern Iranic language of eastern Turkey". Endangered Language Alliance.