Zazaki, Northern

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A language of Turkey

ISO 639-3
kiu
Alternate Names
Alevica, Dersimki, Dimilki, Kirmanjki, Northern Zaza, So-Bê, Zaza, Zonê Ma
Population

140,000 in Turkey.

Location

Tunceli Province, Tunceli merkez, Hozat, Nazmiye, Pülümür, and Ovacik subprovinces; Erzincan Province, Erzincan and Cayirli subprovinces; Elazig Province, Elazig merkez and Karakoqan subprovinces, 8 or more villages; Bingöl Province, Kigi and Karkiova subprovinces, 3 villages; Mush Province, Varto subprovince, 46 villages; Sivas Province, Zara, Imranli, Kangal, and Divrigi subprovinces, 15 or more villages; Erzerum Province, Hinis and Tekman subprovinces, 11 or more villages. Also in Austria, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

Language Status

4 (Educational).

Classification
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Western, Northwestern, Zaza-Gorani
Dialects

Tunceli, Varto. Most similar to Southern Zazaki [diq]. Lexical similarity: 70% with Southern Zazaki [diq].

Typology

SOV; prepositions and postpositions; genitives, articles, adjectives relatives after noun heads; numerals before noun heads; question word replaces content word in content questions; 2 prefixes, 2 suffixes, word order distinguishes subject, object, indirect object; noun affixes indicate case; verb affixes indicate person, number, gender; ergativity; passives; causatives; comparatives; V, VC, VCC, CV, CVC, CVCC; nontonal

Language Use

Some Kurmanji know Northern Zazaki (Kirmanjki) as L2. Abroad, they use Northern Zazaki for close relationships. Home, community. All ages. Also use Turkish [tur].

Language Development
Literacy rate in L2: School-age children to 40 years old, are literate in Turkish. Poetry. Magazines. Newspapers. New media. Radio programs. Films. TV. Videos. Dictionary. Grammar. Bible portions.
Writing
Latin script.
Other Comments

Ethnonym for Alevi-Zaza: Kirmanj (Kirmanc), Kizilbash-Zaza. Muslim (Alevi).