Today’s spotlight language is Kurmanji. We’ve gathered some background info and interesting facts about the language. We also have information on our newest Kurmanji children’s book.
Where is Kurmanji spoken?
Kurmanji is a major dialect of the Kurdish language. It’s spoken in Kurdistan, Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq. There are approximately 15 million speakers worldwide.
How Many Kurdish Speakers in the US?
According to the most recent US Census data, there are about 17,000 Kurdish speakers in the US. Some of the largest Kurdish populations are in New York, California, New Jersey and Florida.
Interesting Facts About Kurmanji
Kurdish dialects are broken into three main groups: Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji), Central Kurdish (or Sorani) and Southern Kurdish (Pehlewani).
Nearly all people in the Kurdistan Region can speak or understand Kurmanji and Sorani.
The Kurdish language came into being around 3,000 years ago.
Kurmanji can be written with Latin or Cyrillic scripts.
Kurmanji Books – Bilingual Children’s Books
We have long offered many bilingual Sorani Kurdish storybooks and audio books for kids, like The Little Red Hen and the Grains of Wheat and Hansel and Gretel. We are proud to now offer Pinocchio and the Real Boys in Kurmanji Kurdish, and we will be adding more titles in the Kurmanji language in the coming months.
Do you speak Kurmanji, or know someone who does? Comment below and share your interesting language facts!
“Sulaimani city view from slemani palace building” by Diyar se via Flickr is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/d1VH7U