Zaza language
Zaza | ||
---|---|---|
Zazakî / Kirmanckî / Kirdkî / Dimilkî | ||
Native to | Turkey | |
Region | Provinces of Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Erzurum, Erzincan, Elazığ, Muş, Malatya,[1] Adıyaman and Diyarbakır[1] | |
Ethnicity | Zazas | |
Native speakers | 3–4 million (2009)[1] | |
Indo-European
| ||
Dialects |
| |
Dimli (Southern Zaza) | ||
Glottolog | zaza1246 | |
ELP | Dimli | |
Linguasphere | 58-AAA-ba | |
The position of Zazaki among Iranian languages[4]
| ||
Zaza is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |
Zaza or Zazaki
According to Ethnologue, Zaza is spoken by around three to four million people.[1] Nevins, however, puts the number of Zaza speakers between two and three million.[12] Ethnologue also states that Zaza is threatened as the language is decreasing due to losing speakers, and that many are shifting to Turkish, as well as mentioning that there are a few monolingual speakers mostly the elderly. This is causing a decline as the language is increasingly not being passed down to younger generations, with most choosing to speak Turkish. Some also speak Kurmanji.[1]
Relations to other languages
In terms of grammar, genetics, linguistics and vocabulary Zazaki is closely related to
The formation of these consonants, which form the basis of the historical evolution of languages and the classification in language groups, is almost the same in Zazaki as in
English | Zazaki | Semnani | Gilaki | Tati | Talyshi
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|
"to go" | šin- | šenn- | šun- | šend- | šed- |
"to come" | yen- | ānn- | ān- | āmānd- | omed- |
"to say" | vān- | vān- | gān- | otn- | voted- |
"to see" | vīnen- | ? | īn- | vīnn- | vīnd- |
"to do" | ken- | ken- | kun- | könd- | kerded- |
"I go" | ez šina | e šeni | men šunem | men šenden/ez mešem | ez šedam |
Zazaki, along with Tati, Talysh, and some northwestern dialects, has strongly preserved its West Iranian Proto-Indo-European consonant roots and is quite distant from Persian and Kurdish. While Zazaki, along with Talysh and Tati, remain at the westernmost part of the western Iranian languages, Persian and Kurdish are positioned at the easternmost part:[29]
Proto Indo-European | Part | Azeri/Tati[b] | Zazaki | Talysh | Semnani | Caspian lang./dial. | Central dia. | Balochi | Kurdish | Persian |
*ḱ/ĝ | s/z | s/z | s/z | s/z | s/z | s/z | s/z | s/z | s/z | h/d |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
*kue | -ž- | -ž- | -ĵ- | -ž | -ĵ, ž- | -ĵ- | -ĵ-, ž, z | -ĵ- | -ž- | -z- |
*gue | ž | ž (y-) | ĵ | ž | ĵ,ž | ĵ | ĵ, ž, z | ĵ | ž | z |
*kw29 | ? | isb | esb | asb | esp | s | esb | ? | s | s |
*tr/tl | hr | (h)r | (hi)r | (h)*r | (h)r | r | r | s | s | s |
*d(h)w | b | b | b | b | b | b | b | d | d | d |
*rd/*rz | r/rz | r/rz | r/rz | rz | l/l(rz) | l/l | l/l(rz) | l/l | l/l | l/l |
*sw | wx | h | w | h | x(u) | x(u) | x(u), f | v | x(w) | x(u) |
*tw | f | u | w | h | h | h | h(u) | h | h | h |
*y- | y | y | ĵ | ĵ | ĵ | ĵ | ĵ (y) | ĵ | ĵ | ĵ |
History
Writing in Zaza is a recent phenomenon. The first literary work in Zaza is Mewlîdu'n-Nebîyyî'l-Qureyşîyyî by
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.[31]
In 2009, Zaza was classified as a vulnerable language by UNESCO.[32]
Dialects
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[36]
- East-Koçgiri
- West-
- 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[37]
- Enclitic use of the letter "u"[37]
- Very similar ergative structure[38]
- Masculine and feminine ezafe system[39]
- 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.[40]
Grammar
Pronoun | Zaza | Talysh [41] | Tati[42][43] | Semnani[44] | Sangsari[45] | Ossetian[46] | Persian | English |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st sing. | ez | āz | āz | ā | ā | æz (az) | man | I |
2nd | tı | te/ti | ti | ti | ti | dɨ (di) | to | you |
3rd | o/ey | ay | u | un | no | wuiy | ū, ān | he |
3rd | a/ay | - |
nā | una | na | - |
- |
she |
1st plur. | ma | ama | amā | hamā | mā | max | mā | we |
2nd | şıma | shēma/shūma | shūmā | shūmā | shūmā | shimax | shomā | you |
3rd. | ê, i, ina, ino | ayēn | ē | e | ey | idon/widon | ēnan, ishān, inhā | they |
As with a number of other
Grammatical gender
Among all Western Iranian languages Zaza, Semnani,[52][53][54] Sangsari,[55] Tati,[56][57] central Iranian dialects like Cālī, Fārzāndī, Delījanī, Jowšaqanī, Abyāne'i[58] and Kurmanji distinguish between masculine and feminine grammatical gender. Each noun belongs to one of those two genders. In order to correctly decline any noun and any modifier or other type of word affecting that noun, one must identify whether the noun is feminine or masculine. Most nouns have inherent gender. However, some nominal roots have variable gender, i.e. they may function as either masculine or feminine nouns.[59]
Phonology
Vowels
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | ɨ | u |
ʊ | |||
Mid | e | ə | o |
Open | ɑ |
The vowel /e/ may also be realized as [ɛ] when occurring before a consonant. /ɨ/ may become lowered to [ɪ] when occurring before a velarized nasal /n/ [ŋ], or occurring between a palatal approximant /j/ and a palato-alveolar fricative /ʃ/. Vowels /ɑ/, /ɨ/, or /ə/ become nasalized when occurring before /n/, as [ɑ̃], [ɨ̃], and [ə̃], respectively.
Consonants
Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Palato- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Pharyngeal | Glottal | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
plain | phar. | |||||||||
Nasal | m | n
|
(ŋ) | |||||||
Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t
|
tˁ | t͡ʃ | k | q | |||
voiced | b | d
|
d͡ʒ | ɡ | ||||||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s | sˤ | ʃ | x | ħ | h | ||
voiced | v | z | ʒ | ɣ | ʕ | |||||
Rhotic | tap/flap
|
ɾ | ||||||||
trill | r
|
|||||||||
Lateral | central | l
|
||||||||
velarized | ɫ
|
|||||||||
Approximant | w | j |
/n/ becomes a velar [ŋ] when following a velar consonant.[60][61]
Alphabet
Zaza texts written during the
Upper case
|
A | B | C | Ç | D | E | Ê | F | G | Ğ | H | I[A] | İ/Î[A] | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | Ş | T | U | Û | V | W | X | Y | Z |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lower case
|
a | b | c | ç | d | e | ê | f | g | ğ | h | ı/i [A] | i/î [A] | j | k | l | m | n | o | p | q | r | s | ş | t | u | û | v | w | x | y | z |
phonemes
|
a | b | d͡ʒ | t͡ʃ | d
|
ɛ | e | f | g | ɣ | h | ɨ | i | ʒ | k | l
|
m | n
|
o | p | q | r, ɾ
|
s | ʃ | t
|
ʊ | u | v | w | x | j | z |
Gallery
-
Partial tree of Indo-European languages.[69]
-
Gippert, Jost (1999), Iranische Sprachen / Iranian Languages[70]
-
Position of Zaza language in Iranian Languages
References
- ^ a b c d e f Zaza at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
Kirmanjki (Northern Zaza) at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
Dimli (Southern Zaza) at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) - ^ "Multitree | The LINGUIST List". linguistlist.org. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
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- ^ "worldhistory". titus.fkidg1.uni-frankfurt.de. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
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- ^ Elfenbein, J. (2000). Zazaki: Grammatik und Versuch einer Dialektologie. By Ludwig Paul. pp. xxi, 366. Wiesbaden, Reichert Verlag, 1999. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 10(2), 255-257. p. 255
- ^ "Zazaca Kürtçe'den Daha Eski Bir Dildir". Dersim News. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
- ^ "Zazaca Kürtçe'den çok daha eski bir dil". siverekhaber.com/. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
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- ^ van Wilgenburg, Wladimir (28 January 2009). "Is Ankara Promoting Zaza Nationalism to Divide the Kurds?". The Jamestown Foundation. Archived from the original on 4 December 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
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- ^ According to the linguist Jacques Leclerc of Canadian "Laval University of Quebec, Zazaki is a part of Kurdish languages, Zaza are Kurds, he also included Goura/Gorani as Kurds "Turquie : situation générale". tlfq.ulaval.ca (in French). Archived from the original on 28 September 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
- ^ T.C. Millî Eğitim Bakanlığı, Talim Ve Terbiye Kurulu Başkanlığı (2012). Ortaokul Ve İmam Hatip Ortaokulu Yaşayan Diller Ve Lehçeler Dersi (Kürtçe; 5. Sınıf) Öğretim Programı (PDF) (in Turkish). Ankara. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2012.
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link), "Bu program ortaokul 5, 6, 7, ve 8. sınıflar seçmeli Kürtçe dersinin ve Kürtçe’nin iki lehçesi Kurmancca ve Zazaca için müşterek olarak hazırlanmıştır. Program metninde geçen “Kürtçe” kelimesi Kurmancca ve Zazaca lehçelerine birlikte işaret etmektedir." - ^ Paul, Ludwig (1998). "The Pozition of Zazaki the West Iranian Languages" (PDF). Iran Chamber. Open Publishing. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- ^ Keskin, Mesut (2012). "Orta ve Eski İrani Dillerin Zazacaya Tuttuşu Işık". ResearchGate. Open Publishing. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- ^ Henning, W. B. The Ancient Language of Azerbaijan”, TPhS 157-77, 1954. Mitteliranisch", in Handbuch der Orientalistik, 1(1), 20-130.
- ^ Language of Azerbaijan. Transactions of the philological Society, 53(1), 157-177. s. 175.
- ^ Paul, Ludwig (1998). "The Pozition of Zazaki the West Iranian Languages" (PDF). Iran Chamber. Open Publishing. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- ^ Malmîsanij (2021), pp. 675–676.
- ^ Malmîsanij (2021), pp. 676–677.
- ^ Malmîsanij (2021), p. 681.
- ^ Erdoğmuş, Hatip; Orki̇n, Şeyhmus (2018). "Bingöl ve Munzur Üniversitesinde Açılan Zaza Dili ve Edebiyatı Bölümleri ve Bu Bölümlerin Üniversitelerine Katkıları". Kent Akademisi (in Turkish). 11 (1): 164.
- ISBN 978-1-78453-737-1.
- ^ Malmîsanij (2021), p. 679.
- ^ Prothero, W. G. (1920). Armenia and Kurdistan. London: H. M. Stationery Office. p. 19. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
- ^ ISBN 3-447-05276-7.
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- ^ Kahnemuyipour, Arsalan (7 October 2016). "The Ezafe Construction: Persian and Beyond" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 November 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2019 – via iub.edu.
- ^ Paul, Ludwig (1998). Zazaki – Versuch einer Dialektologie (in German). Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag.
- ^ Wolfgang, Schulze: Northern Talysh. Lincom Europa. 2000. (page 35)
- ^ مفيدي روح اله. تحول نظام واژه بستي در فارسي ميانه و نو.
- ^ Sabzalipour, J., & Vaezi, H. (2018). The study of clitics in Tati Language (Deravi variety).
- ^ احمدی پناهی سمنانی، محمد (۱۳۷۴). آداب رسوم مردم سمنانی. نشر پژوهشگاه علوم انسانی و مطالعات فرهنگی. ص. ۴۰–۴۴.
- ^ Pierre Lecoq. 1989. "Les dialectes caspiens et les dialectes du nord-ouest de l'Iran," Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum. Ed. Rüdiger Schmitt. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag. Pages 296–314.
- ^ Oranskij, Iosif Mikhailovich. “Zabānhā ye irani [Iranian languages]”. Translated by Ali Ashraf Sadeghi. Sokhan publication (2007).
- ^ Mirdehghan, M., & Nourian, G. Ergative Case Marking and Agreement in the Central Dialect of Talishi.
- ^ Ergative in Tāti Dialect of Khalkhāl, Jahandust Sabzalipoor
- ^ Koohkan, Sepideh. The typology of modality in modern West Iranian languages. 2019. PhD Thesis. University of Antwerp.
- ^ Agnes Korn. The Ergative System in Balochi from a Typological Perspective. Iranian Journal of Applied Language Studies, 2009, 1, pp.43-79. ffhal-01340943
- ^ Haig, Geoffrey L. J. (2004). Alignment in Kurdish: A Diachronic Perspective (PDF) (Habilitation thesis). Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
- ^ Mohammad- Ebrahimi, Z. et. al. (2010). “The study of grammatical gender in Semnani dialect”. Papers of the First International Conference on Iran’s Desert Area Dialects. Pp. 1849-1876.
- ^ Seraj, F. (2008). The Study of Gender, its Representation & Nominative and accusative cases in Semnani Dialect. M. A. thesis in Linguistics, Tehran: Payame- Noor University.
- ^ Rezapour, Ebrahim (2015). "Word order in Semnani language based on language typology". IQBQ. 6 (5): 169-190
- ^ Borjian, H. (2021). Essays on Three Iranian Language Groups: Taleqani, Biabanaki, Komisenian (Vol. 99). ISD LLC.
- ^ Vardanian, A. (2016). Grammatical gender in New Azari dialects of Šāhrūd. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 79(3), 503 511.
- ^ A Morpho-phonological Analysis of Vowel Changes in Takestani-Tati Verb Conjugations: Assimilation, Deletion, and Vowel Harmony
- ^ H. Rezai Baghbidi (ed.), Exploring grammatical gender in New Iranian languages and dialects, proceedings of the First Seminar of Iranian Dialectology, 29 April-1 May 2001, Tehran, Department of Dialectology, Academy of Persian Language and Literature, 2003.
- ^ Todd, Terry Lynn (2008). A Grammar of Dimili (also Known as Zaza) (PDF). Electronic Publication. p. 33. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 January 2012.
- ^ Ludwig, Paul (2009). Zazaki. The Iranian Languages: London & New York: Routledge. pp. 545–586.
- ^ Todd, Terry Lynn (2008). A Grammar of Dimili (also Known as Zaza). Stockholm: Iremet.
- ^ "Sultan Efendi'nin Zazaca El Yazması" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
- ^ Varol, Murat (2012), Zazalarda Mevlid ve Siyer Geleneği, vol. 1, II. Uluslararası Zaza Tarihi ve Kültürü Sempozyumu/Bingöl Üniversitesi Yayınları, pp. 93–114
- ^ Keskin, Mesut (2015), Zaza Dili, vol. 1, Bingöl Üniversitesi Yaşayan Diller Enstitüsü Dergisi, pp. 93–114
- ISBN 978-605-65457-0-2.
- ^ Jacobson, C.M. (1993). Rastnustena Zonê Ma -Handbuch für die Rechtschreibung der Zaza-Sprache. Bonn: Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft.
- ^ Selcan, Zülfü (2011), Zazaca Alfabe ve alfabetik sıralama, Bingöl Üniversitesi I. Uluslararası Zaza Dili Sempozyumu, pp. 263–270
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- ^ "worldhistory". titus.fkidg1.uni-frankfurt.de. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
- Northern Kurdish.
- ^ Harzandi
Literature
- Arslan, İlyas (2016). Verbfunktionalität und Ergativität in der Zaza-Sprache [Verb functionality and ergativity in the Zaza language] (PDF) (PhD thesis). Universität Düsseldorf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 December 2016.
- Blau, Joyce (1989). "Gurânî et Zâzâ". In Schmitt, Rüdiger (ed.). Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum. Wiesbaden: Reichert. pp. 336–340. ISBN 3-88226-413-6. (About Daylamite origin of Zaza-Guranis)
- Gajewski, Jon. (2004) "Zazaki Notes" Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Gippert, Jost (4 May 1996). Die historische Entwicklung der Zaza-Sprache (PDF) (Speech). Mannheim Zaza Book Festival (in German). University of Frankfurt. (not original published speech)
- Gippert, Jost (4 May 1996). Zazaca'nın tarihsel gelişimi (PDF) (Speech). Mannheim Zaza Book Festival (in Turkish). Translated by Dursun, Hasan. University of Frankfurt. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 June 2006.
- Haig, Geoffrey; Öpengin, Ergin. "Introduction to Special Issue - Kurdish: A critical research overview" (PDF). Kurdish Studies. 2 (2). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 October 2014.
- Keskin, Mesut (2008). Zur dialektalen Gliederung des Zazaki (Thesis). Frankfurt am Main: Goethe-Universität.
- Larson, Richard K.; Yamakido, Hiroko (8 January 2006). Zazaki "Double Ezafe" as Double Case-Marking (PDF). LSA. Albuquerque, NM. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2006.
{{cite conference}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - Todd, Terry Lynn (1985). A Grammar of Dimili (Also Known as Zaza) (Thesis). University of Michigan. hdl:2027.42/160737.
- 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. S2CID 235541104.
- Paul, Ludwig (1998). "The Position of Zazaki Among West Iranian languages" (PDF). In Sims-Williams, Nicholas (ed.). Proceedings of the Third European Conference of Iranian Studies held in Cambridge, 11th to 15th September 1995. Vol. I: Old and Middle Iranian Studies. Wiesbaden: Ludwig Reichert. pp. 163–177.
- Werner, Brigitte (2007). Features of Bilingualism in the Zaza Community (PDF) (Report). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 December 2009.
See also
Further reading
- 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.
External links
- 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.