Zaza, Zazaki, Zazaistan

Zazaki

Zazaki Zazaki, Dimili, Kirmanjki, Dimli, Dimilki, So-Bê, Zonê Ma
Spoken in:	Turkey, Germany, Georgia, Kazakhstan
Region:	Eastern Turkey (Bingöl, Elazığ,Tunceli, Diyarbakır, Erzincan, Erzurum, Muş, Sivas, Gümüşhane, Şanlıurfa, and Adıyaman), diasporic in Mutki, Sarız, Aksaray, and Taraz
Total speakers:	About 1.5 - 2.5 million [1] [2] in Turkey, unknown numbers elsewhere
Language family:	Indo-European  Indo-Iranian   Iranian    Western     Northwestern      Zaza-Gorani       Zazaki
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	none
ISO 639-2:	zza
ISO 639-3:	variously: zza — Zazaki (generic) diq — Dimli (Southern Zazaki) kiu — Kirmanjki (Northern Zazaki)
The regions where Zazaki is spoken in Turkey. (With three main dialect areas)
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

Zazaki (Zazaish) is a language spoken by Zazas in eastern Anatolia (Turkey). According to Ethnologue, the Zazaki language is a part of the northwestern group of the Iranian section of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family.^[1]. Zazaki shares many features, structures, and vocabulary with Gilaki language, spoken in northern Iran, along the Caspian coast. According to Ethnologue (which cites [Paul 1998]^[2]), the number of Zazaki speakers is between 1.5 and 2.5 million (including all dialects).

Zazaki dialects and regional variants

There are three main Zazaki dialects:

• Northern Zazaki ^[3]: It is spoken in Tunceli, Erzincan, Erzurum, Sivas, Gumushane, Mus (Varto), Kayseri (Sariz) provinces.

Its sub-dialects are:

• West-Dersim
• East-Dersim
• Varto
• Border dialects like Sarız, Koçgiri (Giniyan-idiom)

• Central Zazaki: It is spoken in Elazığ, Bingöl, Solhan, Girvas and Diyarbakır provinces.

Its sub-dialects are:

• Bingol
• Palu
• Border dialects like Hani, Kulp, Lice, Ergani, Piran

• Southern Zazaki ^[4]: It is spoken Şanlıurfa (Siverek), Diyarbakır (Cermik, Egil), Adiyaman, Malatya provinces.

Its sub-dialects are:

• Siverek
• Cermik, Gerger
• Border dialects like Mutki and Aksaray

Zazaki literature and broadcast programs

The first written statements in the Zazaki language were compiled by the linguist Peter Lerch in 1850. Two other important documents are the religious writings (Mewlıd) of Ehmedê Xasi of 1899, and of Usman Efendiyo Babıc (published in Damascus in 1933); both of these works were written in the Arabic alphabet.
The use of the Latin alphabet to write Zazaki became popular only in the diaspora in Sweden, France and Germany at the beginning of the 1980s. This was followed by the publication of magazines and books in Turkey, particularly in Istanbul. The efforts of Zaza intellectuals to advance the comprehensibility of their native language by alphabetizing were not fruitless: the number of publications in Zaza has multiplied. The rediscovery of the native culture by Zaza intellectuals not only caused a renaissance of Zaza language and culture, it also triggered feelings among younger generations of Zazas (who, however, rarely speak Zaza as a mother tongue) in favor of this modern Western use of the Zaza language, rekindling their interest in their ancestral language. The diaspora, has also generated a limited amount of Zaza-language broadcasting. Moreover, after restrictions were removed on local languages in Turkey during their move toward accession to the European Union, the state-owned TRT television lanched a ZazakiTV program and a radio program on Fridays.

Controversy over classification

As with many other languages in the region, the exact positioning of Zazaki in terms of language families is controversial; it parallels a similar controversy about the relationship of the various ethnic groups and is politically fraught. Ethnologue favors the following hierarchy: ^[5]

• Northwestern Iranian languages
  • Kurdish language
    • other sublanguages/dialects of Kurdish
  • Zaza-Gorani language group
    • Dimli/Zazaki
    • other sublanguages/dialects of Zazaki-Gorani group
  • Caspian Languages
    • Mazandarani
    • Gilaki
    • others

Linguists connect the word Dimli with the Daylamites in the Alborz Mountains near the shores of Caspian Sea in Iran and believe that the Zaza have immigrated from Deylaman towards the west. Zazaki shows many connections the Iranian dialects of the Caspian region, especially Gilaki language.
The Zazaki language shows similarities with (Hewrami or Gorani), Shabaki and Bajelani. Gorani, Bajelani, and Shabaki languages are spoken around Iran-Iraq border; however, it is believed that they are also immigrated from Northern Iran to their present homelands. These languages are sometimes put together in the Zaza-Gorani language group.

linguistic comparison

letter	pronunciation [IPA]	Zazaki	Persian (UniPers)	English	German	Spanish
a	a [α]	asmên	âsmân	sky	Himmel	cielo
b	be [b]	bıze	boz	she-goat	Ziege	cabra
c	ce [dz / dj]	cemed	yax	ice	Eis	hielo
ç	çe [ts / tsh]	çê (keye)	xâne	house	Haus	casa
d	de [d]	dare	dâr/deraxt	tree	Baum	árbol
e	e [ε]	ez	man	I	ich	yo
ê	ê [e]	dês	divâr	wall	Wand, Mauer	pared
f	fe [f]	fek	dahan/fak	mouth	Mund	boca
g	ge [g]	gırs (gırd)	bozorg	big	groß	grande
ğ	ğe [gh]	ğezale	qazâl	gazelle	Gazelle	gacela
h	he [h]	hak	toxm/hâg	egg	Ei	huevo
ı	ı [ə]	bırr	jangal	forest	Wald	bosque
i	i [i]	isot	felfel	pepper	Paprika	pimiento
j	je [zh]	jên (zên)	zin	saddle	Sattel	silla
k	ke [k]	koli	hizom	firewood	Feuerholz	leña
l	le [l]	lew	lab	lip	Lippe	labio
m	me [m]	most	mâst	yogurt	Joghurt	yogur
n	ne [n]	name	nâm	name	Name	nombre
p	pe [p]	porr	mu	hair	Haar	pelo
q	qe [q]	qatır	qâter/xar	mule	Maultier	mulo
r	re [r]	ri	ru	face	Gesicht	cara
s	se [s]	sole	namak	salt	Salz	sal
ş	şe [sh]	şêr	šir	lion	Löwe	león
t	te [t]	tı	to	you	du	tu
u	u [u]	ustıne	sotun	column	Säule	columna
ü	ü [ü]	dü (du)	dud	smoke	Rauch	humo
v	ve [v]	vewre (vore)	barf	snow	Schnee	nieve
w	we [w]	ware	ham.vâr	tableland	Sommerweide	meseta
x	xe [kh]	ém	ame	aunt (paternal)	Tante	Tía
y	ye [y]	yene (êne)	jom'e/âdine	Friday	Freitag	Viernes
z	ze [z]	zıwan (zon)	zabân	tongue; language	Zunge; Sprache	lenguaje

Some linguistic studies on Zazaish

• Paul, Ludwig. (1998) "The Position of Zazaki Among West Iranian languages" University of Hamburg,[3].
• Lynn Todd, Terry. (1985) "A Grammar of Dimili" University of Michigan,[4].
• Gippert, Jost. (1996) "Historical Development of Zazaki" University of Frankfurt University,[5].
• Gajewski, Jon. (2003) "Evidentiality in Zazaki" Massachusetts Institute of Technology,[6].
• Gajewski, Jon. (2004) "Zazaki Notes" Massachusetts Institute of Technology,[7].
• Larson, Richard. and Yamakido, Hiroko. (2006) "Zazaki as Double Case-Marking" Stony Brook University and University of Arizona,[8].
• Iremet, Faruk. (1996) "The difference between Zaza, Kurdish and Turkish" Stockholm, Sweden,[9].
• Brigitte Werner. (2007) "Features of Bilingualism in the Zaza Community" Marburg, Germany [10]