Skip to content
KCOkurds.global
Your country is not known yet
EN

Not yet in these languages

Sign in Join

second phase · Language · sdh · Iranian, Northwestern, Kurdish

Southern Kurdish (Kelhurî, Feylî)

کوردی خوارین · Arab script, written right to left. Spoken in Kermanshah and Ilam in Iran, and eastern Iraq.

See the courses

kurds.globalThis variety

sdh · Arab · right to left · second phase

Language · sdh · Iranian, Northwestern, Kurdish · second phase

Southern Kurdish (Kelhurî, Feylî)

کوردی خوارین · Arab script, written right to left. Spoken in Kermanshah and Ilam in Iran, and eastern Iraq.

See the courses

On the mapWhere spokenrecordedCourses1
Now
Academy128 courses, 128 open for enrolmentCivic3 campaigns, 6 programmesHeritage70 days to keep, 34 chronology entriesNews80 approved sources, no confirmed events yetCommunity Cellsforming. No Chapter is recognised yet
ScriptArabright to leftsecond phase
Translate a page in this variety

Record

sdh
کوردی خوارینSouthern Kurdish (Kelhurî, Feylî) · Arab
Code
sdh
Family
Iranian, Northwestern, Kurdish
Where
Kermanshah and Ilam in Iran, and eastern Iraq
Phase
second phase
Coverage
not yet measured
Codes are BCP 47 language and script subtags.

Courses that teach it

1 in the catalogue
Southern KurdishKCO-LNG-09 · Open for enrolment on study.kurds.global
Open
Courses from the Academy catalogue; a course opens for enrolment one by one after review.
The Academy

Translate as a task

coverage per page, from NXS Translate
pages translatedunknown
segments approvedunknown
A page you translate here is a task in a language course. The translation service is not open yet. Coverage shows when it opens.
Translate a page

Writing

1 script

Its own names

کوردی خوارینkurdî xwarîn
right to left
فەیلیfeylî
right to left
Kelhurrî
left to right

Scripts

Arab34 letters
  • Wikipedia still in the Incubator

From one script to another

Kurdish Arabic-based alphabet to Latin, ALA-LC (2012)و and ی are read as consonants beside a vowel and as vowels between consonants. Short i is not written, so it does not appear.
Names in the language's own writing; each sample keeps its direction.
All scripts

Resources

1 resource
Glottolog: Southern Kurdishreference · Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology · checked 2026-10-23
verified
Each resource shows whether its link was checked. A resource without a checked link is labelled to verify.

Linguistics

family, dialects, sounds and standing
Family
Indo-European, then Classical Indo-European, then Indo-Iranian, then Iranian-Nuristani, then Iranian, then Central Iranian PBS, then Central Iranian PB, then Northwestern Iranian, then Laki-Kurdish, then Kurdish
Codes
ISO 639-3 sdh · macrolanguage kur · Glottolog sout2640
Dialects
Southern Kurdish: Ilami, Lakic Southern Kurdish, Peripheral Kermanshahic (13 listed in all)
Standing
Southern Kurdish: threatened (6b (Threatened)) secondary
Kurdish
verified
Verify, add a source or report
Help check this value

What happens next. A steward reads your note and checks the source. The page changes only after that. You are not named.

Grammar in short

  • Word order is usually subject, object, verb.
  • Unlike Kurmanji and Sorani, past tenses are not ergative.
  • Nouns have no grammatical gender.

to verify · Fattah. Les dialectes kurdes méridionaux. Acta Iranica 37. Peeters.

Names and grouping

Local names include Kelhurî, Feylî and Kirmaşanî. ISO 639-3 gives Southern Kurdish its own code (sdh) inside the Kurdish macrolanguage. Glottolog groups Laki with it as Lakic Southern Kurdish.

to verify · ISO 639-3 code tables. SIL International, registration authority.; Hammarström, Forkel, Haspelmath and Bank. Glottolog 5.3. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.; Fattah. Les dialectes kurdes méridionaux. Acta Iranica 37. Peeters.

Feyli and Kalhori

Feyli and Kalhori name Southern Kurdish speech after the Feyli and Kalhor tribes. Speakers have called their speech Kurdish spoken by the Kalhor. Feyli is also the name of a Northern Luri dialect, and sources differ on whether the Feyli are Kurds or Lurs. One account says Feyli Kurds are distinct from Feyli Lurs. Fattah used the name Posht-e-Kuh Kurds. Many academics now avoid Feyli because it is ambiguous. The Arabic-script spelling of Kalhori is not yet checked.

to verify · Southern Kurdish. Wikipedia (read 2026-11-03; it cites Fattah 2000, Belelli 2021, Anonby, Taheri-Ardali and Hayes 2019).; Feyli Kurds. Wikipedia (read 2026-11-03; it cites Fattah 2000, van Bruinessen, Aliakbari et al. 2014).; Fattah. Les dialectes kurdes méridionaux. Acta Iranica 37. Peeters.

Where the Feyli live

Feyli Kurds live traditionally in Ilam and Kermanshah provinces in Iran and in eastern Iraq. In Iraq many live in Baghdad and in Diyala, Wasit, Maysan and Basra provinces. They are mostly Shia, with a minority of Yarsan. Many use Sorani as their written language.

to verify · Feyli Kurds. Wikipedia (read 2026-11-03; it cites Fattah 2000, van Bruinessen, Aliakbari et al. 2014).

In law

The Constitution of Iraq (2005) makes Arabic and Kurdish the two official languages of Iraq.Constitute Project. Constitutions of the world, English translations.
verified
The Constitution of Iran (Article 15) allows regional languages in the press, media and literature teaching, alongside Persian.Constitute Project. Constitutions of the world, English translations.
verified

Speakers

unknown
Measure
speakers
Year
not recorded
Source
No source yet. We show unknown, not a guess.
Status
unknown
Verify, add a source or report
Help check this value

What happens next. A steward reads your note and checks the source. The page changes only after that. You are not named.

No speaker figure has been verified for this platform yet. It stays unknown until a census or survey figure is checked with its measure, year and source.

Classification and standing from the sources named on each line. Where views differ, each view is shown with its sources.

Learn

1 course
1
Southern KurdishKCO-LNG-09 · Open for enrolment on study.kurds.global
A course opens after its outline is reviewed. Until then it is listed with its state.
All courses

Key

labels and checks
  • verifiedA figure or claim read at its primary source by a steward or checkers from at least two communities.
  • secondaryA figure or claim cited through a reviewed work rather than read at its primary source.
  • to verifyA figure or claim whose source has not yet been read; it stays in the verification queue.
  • unknownNo source yet. We show unknown, not a guess.
A steward checks the source before anything changes. You are not named.
Formats
This record · JSONMarkdownRSS · varietiesAtomJSON FeedCSVJSONCardevery value keeps its source and label