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second phase · Language · zza · Iranian, Northwestern

Zazaki (Kirmanckî, Dimilkî)

Zazakî · Latn script, written left to right. Spoken in Eastern Türkiye: Dersim, Bingöl, Elazığ, Diyarbakır and neighbouring provinces.

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zza · Latn · left to right · second phase

Language · zza · Iranian, Northwestern · second phase

Zazaki (Kirmanckî, Dimilkî)

Zazakî · Latn script, written left to right. Spoken in Eastern Türkiye: Dersim, Bingöl, Elazığ, Diyarbakır and neighbouring provinces.

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
ScriptLatnleft to rightsecond phase
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Record

zza
ZazakîZazaki (Kirmanckî, Dimilkî) · Latn
Code
zza
Family
Iranian, Northwestern
Where
Eastern Türkiye: Dersim, Bingöl, Elazığ, Diyarbakır and neighbouring provinces
Phase
second phase
Coverage
not yet measured
Codes are BCP 47 language and script subtags.

Courses that teach it

1 in the catalogue
ZazakiKCO-LNG-08 · 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

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Writing

no scripts yet

Its own names

Zazakî
left to right
Kirmanckî
left to right
Dimilkî
left to right

Scripts

The script page for this variety is not built yet. It is written in the Latn script, left to right.

  • No major machine translation found; identity of speakers varies
  • Zazaki is written in a Latin alphabet close to the Hawar alphabet. Spelling conventions vary between publishers; the alphabet chart is in preparation.
Names in the language's own writing; each sample keeps its direction.
All scripts

Resources

2 resources
Glottolog: Dimlireference · Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology · checked 2026-10-23
verified
Glottolog: Kirmanjkireference · 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 Adharic, then Zaza
Codes
ISO 639-3 diq, kiu · macrolanguage zza · Glottolog diml1238, kirm1248
Dialects
Dimli: Dumbuli, Hazzu, Kori, Motki, Sivereki (5 listed in all)
Dialects
Kirmanjki: Tunceli, Varto (2 listed in all)
Standing
Dimli: threatened (Vulnerable) secondary
Standing
Kirmanjki: not endangered (5 (Developing)) secondary
Sounds
30 consonants and 14 vowels, after Todd 1985 · the inventory verified

b d̪ d̠ʒ f ɡ ɣ h ħ j k l ɫ m n p q r ɾ s̪ s̪ˤ ʃ t̪ t̠ʃ t̪ˤ v w x z̪ ʒ ʕ a ai au e ə əi əu i ɨ o oi u ʉ ʉi

Zaza
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Grammar in short

  • Nouns have two genders, masculine and feminine.
  • Nouns and pronouns have a direct and an oblique case.
  • Past tenses of transitive verbs are ergative.

to verify · Paul. Zazaki: Grammatik und Versuch einer Dialektologie. Reichert.

Classification

Linguists classify Zazaki as a Northwestern Iranian language, distinct from Kurdish. Glottolog places it in its own Zaza group, and ISO 639-3 gives it a macrolanguage code (zza) with Dimli (diq) and Kirmanjki (kiu).

to verify · Hammarström, Forkel, Haspelmath and Bank. Glottolog 5.3. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.; ISO 639-3 code tables. SIL International, registration authority.; Paul. Zazaki: Grammatik und Versuch einer Dialektologie. Reichert.

Identity

Many Zazaki speakers identify as Kurds. Others see Zaza as a people of their own. A language's classification does not settle a person's identity.

to verify · Haig and Öpengin. Kurdish: A critical research overview. Kurdish Studies 2 (2).

Names

The language is called Zazaki, Dimilkî and Kirmancki. Zazaki is used most for the language and Zaza for its speakers. Dimili is the name used in the southern speech area.

secondary · Arslan. Language, Religion, and Emplacement of Zazaki Speakers. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies 6(2), 11 to 22. Open access.

Varieties and region

One account divides Zazaki into Northern (Dersim), Central (for example Elazığ) and Southern (for example Diyarbakır) varieties. The differences are mostly small points of pronunciation. Zazaki is spoken mainly in eastern Türkiye.

secondary · Arslan. Language, Religion, and Emplacement of Zazaki Speakers. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies 6(2), 11 to 22. Open access.

Faith and identity

About half of Zaza speakers are reported to be Alevi and about half Sunni. Some scholars treat Alevi and Sunni Zazas as two social groups. The two groups have lived far apart and many know little of each other. The author of this account proposes moving beyond the views that Zazas are Kurds or a separate people. The platform takes no side.

secondary · Arslan. Language, Religion, and Emplacement of Zazaki Speakers. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies 6(2), 11 to 22. Open access.

In law

The Constitution of Türkiye (Article 42) says no language other than Turkish shall be taught as a mother tongue to Turkish citizens at any institution of education.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
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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
ZazakiKCO-LNG-08 · Open for enrolment on study.kurds.global
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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.
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