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.

Language Status

4 (Educational).

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

Tunceli, Varto. Lexical similarity: 70% with Southern Zazaki [diq]. A member of macrolanguage Zaza [zza].

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

Abroad, they use Northern Zazaki for close relationships. Home, community. All ages. Also use Turkish [tur]. Used as L2 by Northern Kurdish [kmr].

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.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Zazaki, Northern
Writing

Latin script [Latn].

Other Comments

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