language fact file: Kurmanji

Kurmanji is spoken as a native language in: Turkey, Syria and northern Iraq

Number of users: 17 million

Learn some: Greet people with ‘silav!’ or ‘merheba!’, and say goodbye with ‘bi xatire te’ (bi khatiray te).

Fast facts:

Kurmanji dialect is spoken by at least 60% of ethnic Kurds, the second most widely spoken Kurdish dialect being Sorani. Despite the fact that they are both Kurdish dialects, the two are mutually unintelligible, meaning that if you are booking an interpreter for a Kurdish service user, it’s very important to find out their native tongue!

Many Kurds were not educated in their mother tongue, so if you’re using the written word you may wish to ask if your service user would prefer to use a different language. These are commonly Arabic, Farsi and Turkish.

Speaking Kurmanji in public was banned in Turkey until 1991, which helped the language to become a symbol of cultural resistance. It is also the language of much Kurdish folklore, songs and literature, reinforcing its importance for native speakers.