Zaza–Gorani languages

Zaza–Gorani
زازا-گۆرانی
Geographic
distribution		Iraq, Iran, Turkey
Linguistic classificationIndo-European
Subdivisions
Language codes
Glottologtati1243  (Adharic)

Zaza and Gorani are two languages belonging to the Northwestern Iranian branch of the Iranian languages.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] The archaic linguistic features of the two languages[13][14] have led some researchers to propose that they form a Zaza-Gorani subgroup.[12] The proposed Zaza–Gorani languages are the Zaza languages and the Gorani dialects.[15] Zaza is defined as a macrolanguage and composed of two distinct languages: Southern Zaza and Northern Zaza,[16][17] spoken in Turkey. The Gorani dialects, on the other hand, consist of Shabaki,[18][19][20][21][22] Hawrami, Bajelani, Kakayi and Sarli.[23][24]

They are usually classified as a non-Kurdish branch of the Northwestern Iranian languages.[25][26][27] According to some, most of their speakers consider themselves ethnic Kurds.[28][29][30][31] However, many Zazas and Goranis oppose it and emphasize their own identity distinct from Kurds.[32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]

Criticism

Despite the some similarities, there are significant linguistic differences between the Zaza and Gurani languages. Due to these differences, there is no generally accepted view that the Zaza and Gurani languages together form a Zaza-Gorani group on their own in contrast to other Northwestern language groups. The significant linguistic differences between the Zaza and Gorani languages were first noted by Karl Hadank, the first linguist to linguistically study and analyze the Zaza language. Hadank, in the Zâzâ und Gûrânî section of his prominent work, Mundarten der Zâzâ, demonstrated significant linguistic differences between Zaza and Gorani, including important phonological differences, differences and deviations in tense structures, conjugation systems and verbal particles and in glossaries and gender, the very clear gender declension in Zaza, including verb conjugations in contrast to the almost complete absence of gender in Gurani, in prefixs and suffixs, the absence of determinative suffixes in Zaza in contrast to Gorani's explicit use of them, Gorani's characteristic prepositions that Zazaca does not possess.[42] Linguistic features that are assumed to unite Zaza and Gorani are also found in languages and dialects such as Semnani, Tati, Balochi, Talysh and Gilaki. Zaza, shows obvious parallels to Caspian languages (Iranian languages of the Caspian region) that Gurani lacks. Therefore, it has been noted multiple times that there is quite insufficient evidence to substantiate the Zaza-Gorani subgroup, as is often assumed, existing similarities do not imply that Zaza and Gorani ever formed a historical unit and no unifying characteristics have been found from Zaza and the Gorani group to demonstrate that they constitute a group on their own in contrast to other Northwestern language groups.[43][44][45]

Sources

  1. ^ Ethnologue.com - Zaza-Gorani
  2. ^ Glottolog - Family Zaza
  3. ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Zaza". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  4. ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Gurani". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  5. ^ "Zaza". Ethnologue. 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
  6. ^ "Gurani". Ethnologue. 2025. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
  7. ^ "639 Identifier Documentation: Zaza [zza]". SIL International. 2008. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  8. ^ "639 Identifier Documentation: Gurani [hac]". SIL International. 2025. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
  9. ^ Asatrian, Garnik Serobi (1995). "DIMLĪ". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 3 November 2025.
  10. ^ MacKenzie, David Neil (2002). "GURĀNI". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
  11. ^ Paul, Ludwig (2009). "Zazaki". In Windfuhr, Gernot (ed.). The Iranian Languages. New York: Routledge. pp. 545–546. ISBN 978-0-7007-1131-4.
  12. ^ a b Joyce Blau (1989), « Gûranî et zâzâ » in R. Schmitt (ed.), Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum, Wiesbaden, Reichert, p. 336.
  13. ^ Paul, Ludwig (1998). "The Pozition of Zazaki the West Iranian Languages" (PDF). Zazaki.de. Retrieved January 28, 2025.
  14. ^ Windfuhr, Gernot (2009). The Iranian Languages. New York: Routledge. pp. 19–21. ISBN 978-0-7007-1 131-4.
  15. ^ "Zaza-Gorani". Ethnologue. 2025. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
  16. ^ "Zaza". Ethnologue. 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
  17. ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Zaza". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  18. ^ I. M. Nick (2019). Forensic linguistics asylum-seekers, refugees and immigrants. Vernon Press. p. 60. ISBN 9781622731305.
  19. ^ Hulst, Harry van der; Goedemans, Rob; Zanten, Ellen van (2010). A Survey of Word Accentual Patterns in the Languages of the World. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783110196313.
  20. ^ Hindo, Walid A. (2016-09-08). From Baghdad on the Tigris to Baghdad on the Subway. Archway Publishing. ISBN 9781480834033.
  21. ^ Gunter, Michael M. (2018-02-20). Historical Dictionary of the Kurds. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781538110508.
  22. ^ "Zaza-Gorani". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-10-22.
  23. ^ "Bajalan". Iranica Online. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  24. ^ "Gurani". Iranica Online. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  25. ^ Frye, Richard Nelson (1984). The History of Ancient Iran. C.H.Beck. p. 30. ISBN 9783406093975.
  26. ^ Minahan, James (2002-05-30). Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups Around the World A-Z [4 Volumes]. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780313076961.
  27. ^ Hamelink, Wendelmoet (2016-04-21). The Sung Home. Narrative, Morality, and the Kurdish Nation. BRILL. ISBN 9789004314825.
  28. ^ Arakelova, Victoria (1999). "The Zaza People as a New Ethno-Political Factor in the Region". Iran & the Caucasus. 3/4: 397–408. doi:10.1163/157338499X00335. JSTOR 4030804.
  29. ^ Kehl-Bodrogi; Otter-Beaujean; Barbara Kellner-Heikele (1997). Syncretistic religious communities in the Near East : collected papers of the international symposium "Alevism in Turkey and comparable syncretistic religious communities in the Near East in the past and present", Berlin, 14-17 April 1995. Leiden: Brill. p. 13. ISBN 9789004108615.
  30. ^ Nodar Mosaki (14 March 2012). "The zazas: a kurdish sub-ethnic group or separate people?". Zazaki.net. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  31. ^ J.N. Postgate (2007). Languages of Iraq, ancient and modern (PDF). Cambridge: British School of Archaeology in Iraq. p. 148. ISBN 978-0-903472-21-0. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  32. ^ Hennerbichler, Ferdinand (2004). Die Kurden (Geschichte des kurdischen Volkes). Mosonmagyaróvár: Fhe-Ed. p. 46. ISBN 963-214-575-5. Considerable residential areas of ethnic groups such as Dimili/Zaza speakers in northwestern Anatolia are not considered Kurdish by linguistic research, but are included by most Kurdish authors in maps of Kurdistan because they identify as Kurdish. Many Zaza/Dimili, however, do not see it that way and emphasize their own "distinct identity".
  33. ^ Aratemür, Yaşar (2025). Sprachatlas Der Zaza-Sprache: Lautgeographie Des Zazaki. Leiden: Brill. pp. 42, 75. ISBN 978-9004746206. The participants ranged in age from 65 to 106, with an average age of 77.In total, slightly over 500 people participated in the interviews, including 101 primary sources... Participants were asked whether they identified themselves directly with other groups, whether they considered themselves as different from Turks and Kurds, or whether they consider these groups as different or foreign. All of our participants gave clear answers to these questions. They consciously distinguish themselves from other ethnic groups. None of the participants identified themselves with the neighboring Kurdish people in such a way that they would regard themselves as a single people.
  34. ^ Keskin, Mesut (2025). Identitätsdynamik und Ethnizität der Zaza-sprachigen Bevölkerung zwischen Fremdzuschreibung und Selbstverortung. Berlin: Verlag. p. 158. ISBN 978-3-643-15771-3. The question whether Zaza and Kurmanji speakers form a single people was answered "no" by 69%, "yes" by 20%, "I do not know" by 2.7%..".
  35. ^ Torgut, Furkan (2019). Etnik Kimlik İnşasında Mezhep Farklılığının Oynadığı Rol: Zazalar Örneği [The Role of Mezhep Difference in the Construction of Ethnic Identity: The Case of Zazas] (Master's thesis) (in Turkish). Van: Van Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi / Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü. Retrieved 30 December 2025. ...Alevi Zazas and Sunni Zazas, who are divided into different sects, have shown the same behaviors in terms of ethnic identity. Both groups have stated that they are ethnically different. Alevi and Sunni Zazas do not accept the claim that Zaza is a dialect of Kurdish; they do not consider themselves ethnically Turkish or Kurdish.
  36. ^ Rençber, Fevzi (2013). "Within The Scope of Religion-Identity Discussıons, An Evaluation for Ethnic Identities Of Alawi People Speaking Zazaki". The Journal of Academic Social Science Studies. 6 (6): 952–953. [As a result of the research, a large majority of the subjects, 70% (560), identified themselves as "Zaza" Alevis. In contrast, 20% (160) stated that they considered themselves "Turkish" Alevis, while 10% (80) stated that they considered themselves "Kurdish" Alevis." "In conclusion, we can say that the vast majority of Alevis who speak Zazaki consider themselves Zaza.]
  37. ^ Tasci, Hülya (2010). "Funktion von Zazaki und der kurmancî Sprache im Kontext der alevitischen Identität". In Hunner-Kreisel, Christine; Andresen, Sabine (eds.). Kindheit und Jugend in muslimischen Lebenswelten: Aufwachsen und Bildung in deutscher und internationaler Perspektive. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. pp. 150, 152. ISBN 978-3-531-16751-0. Zazaki is not described as a Kurdish language by most Zazaki-speaking Alevis. However, it is considered a Kurdish language by Kurmanji-speaking Alevis." "Some Zazaki-speaking Alevis consciously distinguish themselves from Kurmanji-speaking Alevis and/or Turkish-speaking Alevis.
  38. ^ Çetkin, Süreyya (2016). "Search of Zazaki Speaking Individuals For Identity". Bingöl Üniversitesi Yaşayan Diller Enstitüsü Dergisi. 2 (4): 51. The ones who claim Zaza people are a separate ethnic group highlight that though they were identified as Turkish or Kurdish until a certain point, they have a language, religion and culture of their own that distinguish them from other two nations and this is supported by the researches.
  39. ^ Selcan, Zülfü (2011). "Zaza Dilinin Tarihi Gelişimi" [Historical Development of Zaza Language] (PDF). I. Uluslararası Zaza Dili Sempozyumu. 127-129. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
  40. ^ Gholami, Saloumeh (2024). Gorani in Its Historical and Linguistic Context:. Berlin: De Gruyter. pp. 17–22. ISBN 978-3111168685. In such contexts, they assert the distinctiveness of their ethnic and linguistic background, emphasizing the unique aspects of their Gorani heritage as separate from Kurdish identity.
  41. ^ Sadjadi, Sayyed Mahdi (2023). "Gorani: A Distinct and Independent Language Not a Variety of the So-called Kurdish" (PDF). International Journal of Language and Linguistics. 10 (3): 23–24. The use of these terms and the existence of these attitudes among both the Kurds and Gorans towards each other demonstrate that Gorani is not Kurdish and the Gorans are not Kurdish since both of them make use of such terms frequently and have such attitudes towards each other substantiating their distinction and separateness both linguistically and ethnically.
  42. ^ Hadank, Karl (1932). Mundarten der Zâzâ, Hauptsächlich aus Siwerek und Kor (in German). Walter de Gruyter. pp. 24-26.
  43. ^ Haig, G., & Öpengin, E. (2024). Introduction to Special Issue Kurdish: A critical research overview. Kurdish Studies Archive, 107-110.
  44. ^ Gholami, Saloumeh (2022). "Classification of the Zazaki language based on the perspectives of perceptual dialectology and comparative linguistics". Iranian Journal of Comparative Linguistic Research. 11 (11): 27–28.
  45. ^ Anonby, Erik John (2021), "Atlas of the Languages of Iran A working classification", Languages of Iran, retrieved 25 May 2019
  • Partial tree of Indo-European languages.
  • Position of Zaza-Gorani languages in Iranian Languages
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