Kurdish Dialects | Can they Understand Each Other?

Kurdish is primarily categorized into three main groups, each containing several different regional accents and subdialects, and the degree of mutual intelligibility varies among them. In this video, we will take a look at three of them, with Züleyha representing Kurmanji (کورمانجی / Kurmancî) from Mardin, Turkey (ماردین / Mêrdîn), Daphne representing Sorani (سۆرانی) from Sulaymaniyah, Iraq (سلێمانی / Silêmanî), and Roozbeh representing another variety of Sorani from Sanandaj, Iran (سنە / Sine). For any questions, suggestions for future episodes, or any feedback, contact us on Instagram:   / bahadoralast   Kurdish is classified as a Western Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. The Kurdish language is mainly divided into three groups and each one has its own subdialects. Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) is the largest, spoken in Turkey, Syria, northern Iraq, and northwest and northeast Iran. Central Kurdish (Sorani) is primarily spoken in Iraqi Kurdistan and the Iranian Kurdistan Province. Southern Kurdish (Pehlewani) is for the most part spoken in Kermanshah and Ilam provinces of Iran and in the Khanaqin district of eastern Iraq. Literary Kurdish works have been written extensively in Kurmanji and Sorani, as well Pehlewani, Zaza, and Gorani (Hawrami), with many famous poets, such as Mela Huseynê Bateyî, Malaye Jaziri (Nîşanî), Faqi Tayran (Feqiyê Teyran), Ahmad Khani (Ehmedê Xanî‎), and Mahmud Bayazidi who wrote in the Kurmancî dialect; Nalî (نالی‎), Haji Qadir Koyi (Hacî Qadirî Koyî), Sheikh Riza Talabani (شێخ ڕەزای تاڵەبانی), Mahwi (مەحوی) who wrote in the Sorani dialect.