Zaza language

Zaza (endonym: , , , , , , Template:Literal translation) is an Iranian language belonging to the Northwestern Iranian branch and spoken in various regions of Turkey by the Zaza people.Template:Sfnp The language has three main dialects; northern, southern, and centralTemplate:Sfnp and these dialects are spoken in Bingöl, Elazığ, Erzincan, Erzurum, Malatya, Muş, Bitlis and Tunceli provinces in Eastern Anatolia; Adıyaman, Diyarbakır and Şanlıurfa provinces in Southeastern Anatolia; Kars and Ardahan in Northeastern Anatolia; Sivas, Kayseri, Aksaray in Central Anatolia and Tokat and Gümüşhane in Black Sea regions of Turkey.Template:Sfnp International linguistic authorities such as SIL Global, Glottolog and Ethnologue divide the language into northern and southern dialects with numerous sub-dialects. In terms of grammar, genetics (diachronic) and core vocabulary, the Zaza language is closely related to Tati, Talysh, Sangsari, Semnani, Mazandarani and Gilaki.Template:Sfnp The language shares also significant grammatic similarities with Parthian and Bactrian languages, two "Middle Iranian" era languages. The glossonym Zaza originated as a pejorative. According to Ethnologue, Zaza is spoken by around 1.48 million people, and the language is considered threatened due to a declining number of speakers, with many shifting to Turkish. Nevins, however, puts the number of Zaza speakers between two and three million.

Macrolanguage

Zaza language is classified as a macrolanguage by international linguistic authorities. SIL International classifies Zaza language as a macrolanguage, including the varieties of Southern Zaza (diq) and Northern Zaza (kiu). Other international linguistic authorities, the Ethnologue and the Glottolog, also classify the Zaza language as a macrolanguage composed of two distinct languages: Southern Zaza and Northern Zaza.

Classification

The Zaza language is considered a branch of the Kurdic subgroup within the Northwestern Iranian languages. The varieties of Kurdic do not directly descend from any known Middle Iranian languages, such as Middle Persian or Parthian, or from Old Iranian languages, such as Avestan or Old Persian. Zaza is considered a macrolanguage, consisting of Southern and Northern Zaza. Glottolog database classifies Zazaki under the Adharic branch of Northwestern Iranian languages.

Linguistically, the classification of Zazaki as either a Kurdish dialect or a distinct language is a topic of debate among scholars. Some, such as Ludwig Paul, do not consider Zazaki and Gorani to be Kurdish dialects. According to him, they can only be classified as Kurdish dialects in a political and ethnic context, and it would be more accurate to refer to them as Kurdish languages. The differences between them arise from the Kurdish adoption of Persian linguistic features due to historical contact. Other scholars contend that the classification of Zazaki as a separate language from Kurdish is based on insufficient data, and a detailed comparison between Zazaki and Kurmanji in terms of phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon reveals a significant degree of shared features, suggesting that Zazaki and Kurmanji are dialects of the same language.

Furthermore, arguments regarding the classification of both Zazaki and Gorani highlight that the distinction between a dialect and a language is a social construct influenced by factors such as shared identity, history, beliefs, and living conditions, rather than being based solely on linguistic evidence. Therefore, Kurdish can be seen as a socio-cultural umbrella that encompasses both recognized Kurdish dialects (such as Kurmanji, Sorani, and Southern Kurdish) as well as the Zaza and Gorani languages. The term "Kurdic" is used to refer to this broad grouping.

German linguist Jost Gippert has demonstrated that the Zaza language is very closely related to the Parthian language in terms of phonetics, morphology, syntax and lexicon and that it has many words in common with the Parthian language. According to him, the Zaza language may be a residual dialect of the Parthian language that has survived to the present day.

Endangerment

Many Zaza speakers resided in conflict-affected regions of eastern Turkey and have been significantly impacted by both the current and historical political situations. Only a few elderly monolingual Zaza speakers remain, while the younger generation predominantly speaks other languages. Turkish laws enacted from the mid-1920s until 1991 banned Kurdish language, including Zazaki, from being spoken in public, written down, or published. The Turkish state's efforts to enforce the use of Turkish have led many Zaza speakers to leave Turkey and migrate to other countries, primarily Germany, Sweden, Netherlands and the United States, and Australia.

Efforts to preserve and revitalize Zazaki are ongoing. Many Kurdish writers in Turkey are fighting to save Zazaki with children's books and others with newspapers, but the language faces an uncertain future.

The decline of Zazaki speakers could also lead the Zazas to lose their identity and shift to a Turkish identity. According to a study led by Dr. Nadire Güntaş Aldatmaz, an academic at Ankara University, 402 people aged between 15 and 75 from Mamekîye in Dersim province, were interviewed. Respondents younger than 18 mostly stated their ethnicity as 'Turk', their mother language as 'Turkish', and their religion as 'Islam', despite having some proficiency in Zazaki.

History

Writing in Zaza is a recent phenomenon. The first literary work in Zaza is Mewlîdu'n-Nebîyyî'l-Qureyşîyyî by Ehmedê Xasi in 1899, followed by the work Mawlûd by Osman Efendîyo Babij in 1903. As the Kurdish language was banned in Turkey during a large part of the Republican period, no text was published in Zaza until 1963. That year saw the publication of two short texts by the Kurdish newspaper Roja Newe, but the newspaper was banned and no further publication in Zaza took place until 1976, when periodicals published a few Zaza texts. Modern Zaza literature appeared for the first time in the journal Tîrêj in 1979 but the journal had to close as a result of the 1980 coup d'état. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most Zaza literature was published in Germany, France and especially Sweden until the ban on the Kurdish language was lifted in Turkey in 1991. This meant that newspapers and journals began publishing in Zaza again. The next book to be published in Zaza (after Mawlûd in 1903) was in 1977, and two more books were published in 1981 and 1986. From 1987 to 1990, five books were published in Zaza. The publication of books in Zaza increased after the ban on the Kurdish language was lifted and a total of 43 books were published from 1991 to 2000. As of 2018, at least 332 books have been published in Zaza.Template:Sfnp

Due to the above-mentioned obstacles, the standardization of Zaza could not have taken place and authors chose to write in their local or regional Zaza variety. In 1996, however, a group of Zaza-speaking authors gathered in Stockholm and established a common alphabet and orthographic rules which they published. Some authors nonetheless do not abide by these rules as they do not apply the orthographic rules in their oeuvres.Template:Sfnp

In 2010, Zaza was classified as a "vulnerable" language by UNESCO.

The institution of Higher Education of Turkey approved the opening of the Zaza Language and Literature Department in Munzur University in 2011 and began accepting students in 2012 for the department. In the following year, Bingöl University established the same department. TRT Kurdî also broadcast in the language. Some TV channels which broadcast in Zaza were closed after the 2016 coup d'état attempt.Template:Sfnp

Dialects

File:Zaza DialectsMap-5.gif

  Northern Zaza
  Central Zaza
  Southern Zaza

There are three main Zaza dialects:

• Northern Zaza [kiu] is spoken mainly in Aşkale, Hozat, Hınıs, Kelkit, Nazimiye, Ovacık, Pülümür, Tekman, Tercan, Varto, and Yayladere.
• Central Zaza [diq] is spoken mainly in Çemişgezek, Genç, Karakoçan, Karlıova, Mazgirt, Mutki, Pertek, and Solhan.
• Southern Zaza [diq] is spoken mainly in Alacakaya, Arıcak, Çermik, Çüngüş, Dicle, Ergani, Eğil, Hani, Kovancılar, Kulp, Lice, Palu, and Siverek.

Zaza shows many similarities with other Northwestern Iranian languages:

• Similar personal pronouns and use of these
• Enclitic use of the letter "u"
• Very similar ergative structure
• Masculine and feminine ezafe system
• Both languages have nominative and oblique cases that differs by masculine -î and feminine -ê
• Both languages have forgotten possessive enclitics, while it exists in such other languages as Persian, Sorani, Gorani, Hewrami or Shabaki
• Both languages distinguish between aspirated and unaspirated voiceless stops
• Similar vowel phonemes

Ludwig Paul divides Zaza into three main dialects. In addition, there are transitions and edge accents that have a special position and cannot be fully included in any dialect group.

Grammar

In terms of grammar, genetics, linguistics (diachronic) and core vocabulary the Zaza language is closely related to Old Azeri, Tati of Iran, Talysh, Sangsari, Semnani, Mazandarani and Gilaki languages spoken on the shores of the Caspian Sea and northern Iran.Template:Sfnp Zaza also has distinctive and significant grammatical similarities with Parthian and Bactrian languages, which are two Iranian languages of late antiquity. Zaza, along with Talysh, Tati, Semnani, Sangesari, Gilaki and some other central Iranian dialects, forms a belt of Northwestern Iranian languages among Northwestern Iranian languages. This belt is geographically divided by speakers of Persian, Azerbaijani and Kurdish into two parts: Zaza, Talysh and Tati languages in the western part and Semnani, Sangesari, Gilaki (and other Caspian/Central dialects) in the eastern part. The Zaza language, along with Tati, Talysh and some northwestern dialects, has strongly preserved its Northwestern Iranian isogloss roots and is quite distant from Persian and Kurdish. Overall, from Zaza, Tat and Talysh downward to Kurdish and Persian, the Western Iranian languages are successively less "archaic". Zaza, along with Talysh and Tati, is located at the westernmost part of the Western Iranian languages while Persian and Kurdish are positioned at the easternmost part:

Proto Indo-European	Parthian	Azeri/Tati	Zaza	Talysh	Semnani	Caspian lang./dial.	Central dia.	Balochi	Kurdish	Persian
*ḱ/ĝ	s/z	s/z	s/z	s/z	s/z	s/z	s/z	s/z	s/z	h/d
*kue	-ž-	-ž-	-ĵ-	-ž	-ĵ, ž-	-ĵ-	-ĵ-, ž, z	-ĵ-	-ž-	-z-
*gue	ž	ž (y-)	ĵ	ž	ĵ,ž	ĵ	ĵ, ž, z	ĵ	ž	z
*kw29	?	isb	esb	asb	esp	s	esb	?	s	s
*tr/tl	hr	(h)r	(hi)r	(h)*r	(h)r	r	r	s	s	s
*d(h)w	b	b	b	b	b	b	b	d	d	d
*rd/*rz	r/rz	r/rz	r/rz	rz	l/l(rz)	l/l	l/l(rz)	l/l	l/l	l/l
*sw	wx	h	w	h	x(u)	x(u)	x(u), f	v	x(w)	x(u)
*tw	f	u	w	h	h	h	h(u)	h	h	h
*y-	y	y	ĵ	ĵ	ĵ	ĵ	ĵ (y)	ĵ	ĵ	ĵ

Like most other languages of the belt, the Zaza language shows a two-case system in the nouns with an oblique ending generally going back to the Old Iranian language genitive ending *-ahya. Linguist W. B. Henning demonstrated about a 100 years ago that Zaza, Talysh, Tati/Azeri, Semnani and Gilaki, and Caspian dialects derive their present stem from the same old Iranian present participle ending in *-ant-. Zaza, Talyshi, Azeri, Semnani, Gilaki and some other Caspian dialects derive their present stem from the same old Iranian present participle ending in *-ant:Template:Sfnp

English	Zaza	Semnani	Gilaki	Tati/Azeri	Talyshi
"to go"	ši-n-	še-nn-	šu-n-	še-nd-	še-d-
"to come"	ye-n-	ā-nn-	ā-n-	āmā-nd-	ome-d-
"to do"	ke-n-	ke-nn-	kū-n-	kö-nd-	kerd-ed-
"to say"	vā-n-	vā-nn-	gū-n-	ot-n-	vot-ed-
"to see"	vīn-en-	?	ī-n-	vīn-n-	vīn-d-

English	Zaza	Semnani	Gilaki	Sangesari	Tati/Azeri	Talyshi
"i go"	ez ši-n-a	a še-nn-ī	man šu-n-em	a šu-nd-ī	men še-nd-en	ez še-d-am

In contrast to these languages, in Kurdish and Persian languages the present tense is formed by adding the prefix می mî- (mi-ravam), -di (di-çim) (I go), as a modal prefix to the present stem.

Morphologically, like most of the languages of the belt, the dialects of the Zaza language show two-case system of nouns. In Zaza, the oblique ending -ī (that going back to the Old Iranian language genitive ending *-ahya) is only attached to masculines. In Southern Zaza (Çermik-Siverek dialects) there is an ending -e(r) attached to feminine nouns in the oblique case and its origin is the old stem expansion in *-a(r) of relationship terms. Zaza -e(r) actually denoting the oblique case of relationship terms of both genders, probably have started spreading to feminines in general later. Just like Zaza, in Tati dialects, the oblique case of relationship terms -r also has spread from relationship terms to other terms. Like Zaza, other members of the belt, Talysh, Semnani, Tati also have the same oblique case of relationship terms:

	father (nom.)	father (obl.)
Zaza	pī	pēr
Talysh	pə	pār
Semnani	pia	piär
Tati/Azeri	pia	piar

Additionally, mother (nom.) and mother (obl.) are mā -> mār in Zaza, mâ -> mâr in Tati, mā -> moār in Talysh and brother (nom.) and brother (obl.) are bıra -> bırar in Zaza, bera -> berar in Tati and bäre -> bärār in Semnani.

Henning also demonstrated that the Harzandi dialect of the Tati language has many common linguistic features with Zaza and Talysh and classified it with these languages. Zaza, as with a number of other Iranian languages like Talysh, Tati, central Iranian languages and dialects like Semnani, Kahangi, Vafsi, Balochi and Kurmanji features split ergativity in its morphology, demonstrating ergative marking in past and perfective contexts, and nominative-accusative alignment otherwise. Syntactically it is nominative-accusative.

Grammatical gender

The grammatical gender forms of Old Iranian -except for the neuter form- remain largely the same in the Zaza language. The distinction between masculine and feminine forms is present in the entire morphology of the Zaza language, including nouns, adjectives, pronouns, cases and verb conjugations. In the Old Iranian era, the Old Iranian languages like Avestan, Old Persian featured a grammatical gender system that included masculine, feminine, and neuter. And in Zaza, the feminine suffix of Old Iranian –ā remained as the unstressed suffix –e [-ə] in the northern dialect and as -ı in the southern dialect of Zaza.

Along with Zaza, the Semnani and Tati languages also exhibit the same feminine suffix form. For example, the word for donkey her in Zaza and xar in Semnani and Tati:Template:Sfnp

• her (Zaza), xar (Semnani and Tati)
• here (Zaza) xára (Semnani and Tati)

While the words her and xar refer to jack or jackass, a male donkey in Zaza, Semnani and Tati; feminine forms of the words her and xar, respectivey, the word with unstressed suffix –e, here in Zaza and xára in Semnani and Tati refer to a jenny or jennet, a female donkey.

Among all Western Iranian languages, Zaza, Semnani, Sangsari, Tati dialects, Hazārrūdi, Cālī, Tākestāni, Kajali, Khalkhali, Karani, Lerdi, Diz, Sagzābādi, Eštehārdi, Ashtiani, Amorei, Alviri, Abyānei and central Iranian languages like Jowšaqāni, Abuzeydābādi, Fārzāndī, Delījanī and Kurmanji distinguish between masculine and feminine grammatical gender. In Zaza, each noun belongs to one of those two genders. In order to correctly decline any noun and any modifier or other type of word affecting that noun, one must identify whether the noun is feminine or masculine. Most nouns have inherent gender. However, some nominal roots have variable gender, i.e. they may function as either masculine or feminine nouns.

As a unique linguistic feature, among all Northwestern Iranian languages, only in Zaza, Semnani, Sangsari and Tati languages, grammatical gender is marked on verbs. And unlike other Northwestern Iranian languages, Zaza and some Tati dialects do distinguish gender in second singular person too. In addition to nouns, adjectives and verbs, in Zaza, Semnani and Tati dialects grammatical gender is marked on demonstrative pronouns too. For instance:

	Zaza	Semnani	TatiTemplate:Efn	TatiTemplate:Efn	TatiTemplate:Efn	TatiTemplate:Efn	TatiTemplate:Efn
this (masc.)	eno	en	eno	na	əm	ém	am
this (fem.)	ena	ena	enona	nā	əma	éma	ama

Verbs

The Zaza verbal forms are based on three stems: subjunctive, present, and past. The subjunctive and past stems generally continue inherited Iranian present stems, while the present stems are derived from the Zaza subjunctive stems by the formant -(e)n.

The passive and causative

Another feature of the Zaza language dating back to the Old and Middle Iranian era is that the passive stem (diathesis) is formed synthetic. The Old Indo-Iranian passive stem -ya and its reflection in Pahlavi -īh- appear as -i- in Zaza and the passive stem is derived by the -i.Template:Sfnp Just like Zaza, in other members of the belt, in Tati dialects (e.g. Eštehārdī, Ashtiani, Alviri, Čālī, Čarza etc.) and Talysh (e.g. Asālem) and SemnaniTemplate:Efn the passive stem is formed by adding the -i to the verb stem. Examples of passive voices are: nan weriyeno: bread is being eaten, şıt şımiyeno: milk is being drunk, nuşte nuşiyeno: the text is being written, keye viniyeno: the house is being seen. The causative stem is derived by -en,Template:Sfnp which comes from the causative suffix -ēn of the Middle Iranian period. Examples of the causative voice are: veşneno: burns, vurneno: changes, musneno: teaches. The causative stem -n- of Zaza appears as -(e)n in Semnani, -en- in Tati and Talysh, -en(d)- in Mazanderani and -an in Gilaki.

Tenses

The infinitive ending is formed with -ene in the north dialect and -enı in the south dialect of the Zaza language.The basic stem of the verb is formed by deleting this ending. The present tense is formed by taking the present stem of the verb, adding the present participle ending and conjugating it. Zaza, Semnani, Talysh, Tati/Azeri and Gilaki derive their present stem from the same old Iranian present participle ending in *-ant-. For example, the present stem of the verbs şiyaene 'to go'" and vınderdene "to stop":

	1st	2nd fem.	2nd masc.	3rd fem.	3rd masc.
Zaza	ez şı-n-a(n)	tı şı-n-a(y)	tı şı-n-ê	a şı-n-a	o şı-n-o
English	i go	you (fem.) go	you (masc.) go	she goes	he goes

	1st	2nd fem.	2nd masc.	3rd fem.	3rd masc.
Zaza	ez vınd-en-an	tı vınd-en-ay	tı vınd-en-ê	a vınd-en-a	o vınd-en-o
English	i stop	you (fem.) stop	you (masc.) stop	she stops	he stops

The present continuous is used in several instances. Its most common use is to describe something that is happening at the exact moment of speech. Present continuous can also describe an event planned in the future when combined with a time indicator for the future. The present continuous in Zaza is formed by conjugating the copula in accordance with the subject and conjugating the verb in accordance with the present tense:

	1st	2nd fem.	2nd masc.	3rd fem.	3rd masc.
Zaza	ezo şına (ezan şınan)	tıya şına(y)	tıyê şınê	aya şına	oyo şıno
English	i am going	you (fem.) are going	you (masc.) are going	she is going	he is going

Number

Nouns in Zaza are unmarked for the singular and marked with the unstressed -i in the plural. For instance, kerg (hen) kergi (hens), verg (wolf) vergi (wolves), merdım (man) merdımi (men), vaş (grass) vaşi (grasses), estor (horse) estori (horses). Just like Zaza, in Semnani, another member of the belt, nouns are marked with the plural suffix -i in the nominative plural. For example, trees/horses = dari/estori in Zaza and dåri/asbi in Semnani. In addition to mutual nominative plural suffix -i in two languages, both in Zaza and Semnani nouns are marked with the plural suffix -un in the oblique plural. For instance:

	snakes (nom. pl.)	snakes (obl. pl.)	goats (nom. pl.)	goats (obl.pl.)
Zaza	mor + i	mor + un	bız + i	bız + un
Semnani	mār + i	mār + un	boz + i	boz + un

Among all Western Iranian languages, only in Zaza and closely related languages like Semnani (and its dialects like Sorkhei, Lasgerdi, Biyabunaki) and Tati (and its dialects like Harzandi, Kilit) listed below, the number three is cognate with Parthian hry/hrē. Old Iranian *θr further became *hr, in initial position acquired a supporting vowel here.Template:Sfnp In these languages, the v -> b and s -> h consonant change (vist and das in Zaza, Semnani, Tati, Parthian vs. bist and dah in Persian and Kurdish) is also clearly evident. As a unique linguistic feature, only in Zaza and Semnani the number one takes both masculine and feminine forms. In Avestan, which is an extinct Old Iranian language, numbers took gender specific forms. Cardinal numerals in Zaza and other closely related languages are as follows:

	one	two	three	four	five	six	seven	eight	nine	ten	twenty
Avestan	aēva/aēvā (m./f.)	dva	hrī	čahwar	panca	hšvaš	hapta	ašta	nava	dasa	vīsati
Parthian	ēw	dō	hrē	čafār	panǰ	šwah	haft	hašt	nah	das	wist
Zaza	žew/žû (m./f.)	di	hīrē	čahār	panǰ	šaš	hawt	hašt	naw	das	vist
Semnani	i/iya (m./f.)	do	heyra	čār	panǰ	šaš	haft	hašt	na	das	vist
SemnaniTemplate:Efn	i	do	heré	čār	panǰ	šaš	haft	hašt	na	das	vist
SemnaniTemplate:Efn	i	do	heyré	čār	panǰ	šaš	haft	hašt	na	das	vist
SemnaniTemplate:Efn	i	dū	häirä	čāhār	pahānǰ	šāš	hāft	hāšt	nā	dās	vist
Tati	i	de	here	čö	pinǰ	šoš	hoft	hašt	növ	doh	vist
TatiTemplate:Efn	i	de	heri	ču	pinǰ	šaš	hoft	hašt	nov	da	vist
TatiTemplate:Efn	ivi	dèv	he	čoy	pinǰ	šaš	haft	hašt	nav	dah	vist

The cardinal numbers from 10 to 20 and numbers in tens in Zaza exhibit strong similarities with Avestan, which, together with Old Persian, is one of two directly attested languages of the Old Iranian era and Parthian, which is an extinct Northwestern Iranian language of the Middle Iranian era:

	eleven	twelve	thirteen	fourteen	fifteen	sixteen	seventeen	eighteen	nineteen
Zaza	žewendes	diwēs	hirēs	čahārēs	panǰēs	šiyēs	hawtēs	haštēs	nawēs
Parthian	ēwandas	dwaδes	hrēδas	čafārδas	panǰδas	šwahδas	haftād	haštād	nawad
Avestan	aēvandasa	dvadasa	hrīdasa	čahrudasa	pancadasa	hšwašdasa	haptadasa	aštadasa	navadasa

	ten	twenty	thirty	forty	fifty	sixty	seventy	eighty	ninety	hundred
Zaza	das	vist	hīris	čāwras	panǰās	šašti	hawtāy	haštāy	nawāy	sa
Parthian	das	wist	hrīst	čāfarast	panǰāst	šašt	?	?	?	sad
Avestan	dasa	vīsati	hrīsat	čahwarsat	pancasāt	hšvašti	haptaiti	aštaiti	navaiti	sata

Word derivation

The stressed suffix "-ıj" added to nouns of place in Zaza denotes origin or relationship. Just like Zaza, in Tati and Talysh languages of the belt, suffix ""-ij" and -ıj", respectively, added to nouns to denote origin or relationship. This suffix is thought to be a relic of Daylami language. The word "dehche" in the Daylami language had the meaning of peasant, someone from village, and the farmer. Its derivation was deh (village) + che (the suffix denoting origin or relationship). The suffix "-che", that is the same as the modern "-ij" in Caspian dialects. "-ij" is a suffix for attributing to a place, such as Yoshij, someone from Yosh.

For instance; Soyreg -> Soyreg-ıj- in Zaza, Lankon -> Lankon-ıj- in Talysh, Teron -> Teron-ij in Tati and Yosh -> Yosh-ij- in Caspian dialects (someone from Soyreg, Lankon, Tehran and Yosh respectively) and dew -> dew-ıj- (village -> villager) in Zaza, di -> div-oj- (village -> villager) in Talysh.

	Place	From/of
Zaza	Soyreg	Soyregıj
Talysh	Lankon	Lankonıj
Tati	Teron	Teronij
Caspian	Yosh	Yoshij

Vocabulary

Zaza language distinguishes gender for third person pronoun in both the direct and oblique case. The masculine third person pronoun is o, the feminine one is a. Among all western Iranian languages, Zaza, Semnani, Sangsari, Tati dialects, Hazārrūdi, Cālī, Tākestāni, Kajali, Khalkhali, Karani, Lerdi, Diz, Sagzābādi, Eštehārdi, Ashtiani, Amorei, Alviri, Abyānei, Jowšaqāni, Abuzeydābādi, Farizandi distinguish gender for third person pronoun:

English	Zaza	TatiTemplate:Efn	TatiTemplate:Efn	TatiTemplate:Efn	TatiTemplate:Efn	TatiTemplate:Efn	TatiTemplate:Efn	Ashtiani	TatiTemplate:Efn	Semnani	Sangsari	Abyanei	Talysh	Ossetian
i	ez	az	az	az	az	az	az	az	a(z)	a	a	az	əz	əz
you	tı	ta	tö	ta	tö	ta	tə	ta	ta	tö	tö	tö	tı	dɨ
he	o	o	o	u	a	a	av	ān	āv	u	nö	nūn	əv/ay	wɨj
she	a	oa	ona	ua	ā	aya	ava	āna	āvā	una	nā	nūnā
we	mā	amā	hāmā	ǰema	čama	amā	âmâ	īma	āmā	hamā	ham	hāmā	ama	maχ
you	šımā	šomā	šomā	šemā	šəma	šömā	šâmâ	īšma	šomā	šemā	xā	šömā	šımə	sɨmaχ
they	ê/inā	o	(en)ogal	unehā	āhā	ay	avə	āngal	ānā	uni	anun	nūmā	əvon/ayēn	wɨdon

Phonology

Distinctive (diachronic) phonological changes of Western Iranian languages in terms of their historical evolution:Template:Sfnp

v -> b

	wind	snow	willow	twenty	see
Zaza	va	vore	viale	vist	vin
Semnani	va	vara	via	vist
Sangsari	ve	varf	vi	vist	vin
Talysh	vā	vār	vi	vist	vin
Tati	vör	vohor	via	vist	vin
Gilaki	vā	varf	vi
Mazanderani	vo(t)	varf			vīn
Persian	bād	barf	bid	bist	bin
Kurdish	ba	berf	bi	bist	bin

v -> g

	wolf	flower	grass
Zaza	verg	vıle	vaš
Semnani	verg	vala	vāš
Sangsari	varg	vala
Talysh	varg	vıl	vāš
Tati	vorg	vile	vaš
Gilaki	verg		vāš
Mazandarani	varg	vel	vaš
Persian	gorg	gol	geyā
Kurdish	gur	gul	giya

m -> v

	eye	name	winter	guest
Zaza	čım	name	zımıstān	meymān
Semnani		nom	zemeston	memon
Sangsari	čašm	noum	zemestun	memoun
Talysh	čam	nom	zımıston	meymun
Tati	čam	nom	zimeston
Gilaki	čūm	nūm	zemestūn	meymūn
Mazandarani		nom	zemestūn	memān
Persian	češm	nām	zemestān	mehmān
Kurdish	çav	nav	zivistan	mivan

h/x -> k

	donkey
Zaza	har
Semnani	xar
Sangsari	xar
Talysh	har
Tati	har
Gilaki	xar
Mazandarani	xar
Persian	xar
Kurdish	kar

r -> l

	year
Zaza	sēri
Semnani
Sangsari
Talysh	sār
Tati	sār
Gilaki	sāl
Mazandarani	sāl
Persian	sāl
Kurdish	sāl

b -> d

	door
Zaza	bar
Semnani	bar
Sangsari	bar
Talysh	bar
Tati	bar
Gilaki	bar
Mazandarani	bar
Persian	dar
Kurdish	dari

b -> g

	cry
Zaza	barm
Semnani	barm
Sangsari	burme
Talysh	bāme
Tati	berām
Gilaki	barmā
Mazandarani	barm
Persian	gerya
Kurdish	girin

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
			Template:IPA link
Mid	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Open		Template:IPA link

The vowel may also be realized as when occurring before a consonant. may become lowered to when occurring before a velarized nasal , or occurring between a palatal approximant and a palato-alveolar fricative . Vowels , , or become nasalized when occurring before , as , , and , respectively.

Consonants

		Labial	Dental/ Alveolar		Palato- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Pharyngeal	Glottal
			plain	phar.
Nasal		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link				(Template:IPA link)
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
	voiced	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Fricative	voiceless	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
	voiced	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Rhotic	tap/flap		Template:IPA link
	trill		Template:IPA link
Lateral	central		Template:IPA link
	velarized		Template:IPA link
Approximant		Template:IPA link				Template:IPA link

becomes a velar when following a velar consonant.

Alphabet

File:Mewlıd (Ehmedê Xasi) Seyfa.jpg

Zaza text in Arabic letters, written in 1891 and printed in 1899

Zaza texts written during the Ottoman era were written in Arabic letters. The works of this era had religious content. The first Zaza text, written by Sultan Efendi, in 1798, was written in Arabic letters in the Nesih font, which was also used in Ottoman Turkish. Following this work, the first Zaza language Mawlid, written by the Ottoman-Zaza cleric, writer and poet Ahmed el-Hassi in 1891–1892, was also written in Arabic letters and published in 1899.Template:Sfnp Another Mawlid in Zaza language, written by another Ottoman-Zaza cleric Osman Esad Efendi between 1903–1906, was also written in Arabic letters. After the Republic, Zazaki works began to be written in Latin letters, abandoning the Arabic alphabet. However, today Zazaki does not have a common alphabet used by all Zazas. An alphabet called the Jacabson alphabet was developed with the contributions of the American linguist C. M Jacobson and is used by the Zaza Language Institute in Frankfurt, which works on the standardization of Zaza language. Another alphabet used for the language is the Bedirxan alphabet. The Zaza alphabet, prepared by Zülfü Selcan and started to be used at Munzur University as of 2012, is another writing system developed for Zazaki, consisting of 32 letters, 8 of which are vowels and 24 of which are consonants. The Zaza alphabet is an extension of the Latin alphabet used for writing the Zaza language, consisting of 32 letters, six of which (ç, ğ, î, û, ş, and ê) have been modified from their Latin originals for the phonetic requirements of the language.

Zaza alphabet

Upper case	A	B	C	Ç	D	E	Ê	F	G	Ẍ/Ğ	H	I	Î	J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R	S	Ş	T	U	Û	V	W	X	Y	Z
Lower case	a	b	c	ç	d	e	ê	f	g	ẍ/ğ	h	i	î	j	k	l	m	n	o	p	q	r	s	ş	t	u	û	v	w	x	y	z
IPA phonemes	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	ɪ	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link, Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link

Literature

Zaza literature consists of oral and written texts produced in the Zaza language. Before it began to be written, it was passed on through oral literature types. In this respect, Zaza literature is very rich in terms of oral works. The language has many oral literary products such as deyr (folk song), kilam (song), dêse (hymn), şanıke (fable), hêkati (story), qesê werênan (proverbs and idioms). Written works began to appear during the Ottoman Empire, and the early works had a religious/doctrinal nature. After the Republic, long-term language and cultural bans caused the revival of Zaza literature, which developed in two centers, Turkey and Europe, mainly in Europe. After the loosened bans, Zaza literature developed in Turkey.

Ottoman period

The first known written works of Zaza literature were written during the Ottoman period. Written works in the Zaza language produced during the Ottoman period were written in Arabic letters and had a religious nature. The first written work in Zaza during this period was written in the late 1700s. This first written text of the Zaza language was written by İsa Beg bin Ali, nicknamed Sultan Efendi, an Islamic history writer, in 1212 Hijri (1798). The work was written in Arabic letters and in the Naskh script, which is also used in Ottoman Turkish. The work consists of two parts III. It includes the Eastern Anatolia region during the reign of Selim III, the life of Ali (caliph), Alevi doctrine and history, the translation of some parts of Nahj al-balagha into Zaza language, apocalyptic subjects and poetic texts. About a hundred years after this work, another work in the Zaza language, Mevlit (Mewlid-i Nebi), was written by the Ottoman-Zaza cleric, writer and poet Ahmed el-Hassi (1867–1951) in 1891–1892. The first Mevlit work in the Zaza language was written in Arabic letters and published in 1899.Template:Sfnp The mawlid, written using the Arabic prosody (aruz), resembles the mawlid of Süleyman Çelebi and the introduction includes the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the details of Allah, tawhid, munacaat, ascension, birth, birth and creation, etc. It includes religious topics and consists of 14 chapters and 366 couplets.Template:Sfnp Another written work written during this period is another Mevlit written by Siverek mufti Osman Esad Efendi (1852–1929). The work called Biyişa Pexemberi (Birth of the Prophet) consists of chapters on the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the Islamic religion and was written in Zaza language in Arabic letters in 1901 (1903 according to some sources). The work was published in 1933, after the author's death. Apart from Zaza writers, non-Zaza/Ottoman writers/researchers such as Peter Ivanovich Lerch (1827–1884), Robert Gordon Latham (1812–1888) Dr. Humphry Sandwith (1822–1881), Wilhelm Strecker (1830–1890), Otto Blau (1828–1879), Friedrich Müller (1864) and Oskar Mann (1867–1917) included Zaza content (story, fairy tales dictionary) in their works in the pre-Republican period.Template:Sfnp

Post-Republic Zaza literature

Post-Republican Zaza literature developed through two branches, Turkey-centered and Europe-centered. During this period, the development of Zaza literature stagnated in Turkey due to long-term language and cultural bans. Zaza migration to European countries in the 1980s and the relatively free environment enabled the revival of Zaza literature in Europe. One of the works in the Zaza language written in post-Republican Turkey are two verse works written in the field of belief and fiqh in the 1940s. Following this work, another Mevlit containing religious subjects and stories was written by Mehamed Eli Hun in 1971. Zaza Divan, a 300-page manuscript consisting of Zaza poems and odes, started to be written by Mehmet Demirbaş in 1975 and completed in 2005, is another literary work in the divan genre written in this period. Mevlids and sirahs of Abdulkadir Arslan (1992–1995), Kamil Pueği (1999), Muhammed Muradan (1999-2000) and Cuma Özusan (2009) are other literary works with religious content. Written Zaza literature is rich in mawlid and religious works, and the first written works of the language are given in these genres. The development of Zaza literature through magazine publishing took place through magazines published by Zazas who immigrated to Europe after 1980 and published exclusively in the Zaza language, magazines that were predominantly in the Zaza language but published multilingually, and magazines that were not in the Zaza language but included works in the Zaza language. Kormışkan, Tija Sodıri, Vate are magazines published entirely in Zaza language. Apart from these, Ayre (1985–1987), Piya (1988–1992) and Raa Zazaistani (1991), which were published as language, culture, literature and history magazines by Ebubekir Pamukçu, the leading name of Zaza nationalism, are important magazines in this period that were predominantly Zaza and published multilingually. Ware, ZazaPress, Pir, Raştiye, Vengê Zazaistani, Zazaki, Zerq, Desmala Sure, Waxt, Çıme are other magazines that are Zazaki-based and multilingual. In addition to these magazines published in European countries, Vatı (1997–1998), which is the first magazine published entirely in Zaza language and published in Turkey, and Miraz (2006) and Veng u Vaj (2008) are other important magazines published in Zaza language in Turkey. Magazines that are mainly published in other languages but also include works in Zaza language are magazines published in Kurdish and Turkish languages. Roja Newé (1963), Riya Azadi (1976), Tirêj (1979) and War (1997) are in the Kurdish language; Ermin (1991), Ateş Hırsızı (1992), Ütopya, Işkın, Munzur (2000), Bezuvar (2009) are magazines in Turkish language that include texts in Zaza language. Today, works in different literary genres such as poetry, stories and novels in Zaza language are published by different publishing houses in Turkey and European countries.

Gallery

• Partial tree of Indo-European languages.[143]
  Partial tree of Indo-European languages.
• Gippert, Jost (1999), Iranische Sprachen / Iranian Languages[144]
  Gippert, Jost (1999), Iranische Sprachen / Iranian Languages
• Position of Zaza language in Iranian Languages
  Position of Zaza language in Iranian Languages

See also

• Zazas
• Zaza nationalism

notes

Works cited

• Template:Cite thesis
• (About Daylamite origin of Zaza-Guranis)
• Gajewski, Jon. (2004) "Zazaki Notes" Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• (not original published speech)
• Template:Cite thesis
• Template:Cite thesis
• Template:Cite report

Further reading

• Template:Cite thesis

Folktale collections

• Henarek – Granatäpfelchen: Welat Şêrq ra Sonîk | Märchen aus dem Morgenland. Gesammelt und verfasst von Suphi Aydin. Hamburg: Landeszentrale für politische Bildung, 2022. Template:ISBN.

External links

• Zaza People and Zazaki Literature
• News, Articles and Columns Template:In lang
• News, Folktales, Grammar Course Template:Webarchive Template:In lang
• News, Articles and Bingöl city Template:In lang
• Center of Zazaki Template:In lang
• Website of Zazaki Institute Frankfurt
• Zazaki Program at Halbuki