Zaza (endonym: , , , , , , ), also known by its endonym Zazaki, is an Iranic language or group of languages belonging to the Northwestern Iranian branch and spoken in various regions of Turkey by the Zaza people. The language comprises three primary varieties; northern, southern, and central and these varieties 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. Leading linguistic authorities, including SIL Global, Glottolog and Ethnologue, categorize the language into distinct northern and southern varieties, which are further delineated by extensive sub-dialectal variation.
In terms of morphosyntactic structure, core lexicon and diachronic development, the Zaza language demonstrates a close linguistic affiliation with Tati, Talysh, Sangsari, Semnani, Mazandarani and Gilaki.Lecoq, P. (1989) Le classement des langues irano-aryennes occidentales, in: C.-H. de Fouchecour I Pb. Gignoux (Hg.), Etudes irano-aryennes offertes a Gilbert Lazard, Paris pp. 247-264. Furthermore, the language exhibits significant grammatical affinities with Parthian and Bactrian, two ancient and extinct Iranian languages spoken in antiquity. 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 is recognized as a macrolanguage by international linguistic authorities. SIL International classifies the Zaza language as a macrolanguage, including the varieties of Southern Zaza (diq) and Northern Zaza (kiu). Other international linguistic authorities, Ethnologue and Glottolog, also categorize the Zaza language as a macrolanguage composed of two distinct individual languages: Southern Zaza and Northern Zaza.
Classification
The first linguist to linguistically study and analyze the Zaza language was the German linguist . Commissioned by the Prussian Academy of Sciences in 1905/1906 to document and linguistically analyze the Western Iranian languages, Oskar Mann undertook comprehensive lexical compilation and linguistic documentation of the Zaza language in the Bingöl and Siverek regions. He analyzed the Zaza language from phonological, morphological, lexical and etymological aspects and demonstrated that Zaza is a northwestern Iranian language in its own right, among the Iranian languages. His work was subsequently published by Karl Hadank, who also classified Zaza as a language in its own right among the Northwestern Iranian languages. Since then, the language has been classified as a northwestern Iranian language in its own right among the Northwest Iranian languages and is classified as a distinct northwestern Iranian language by international linguistic authorities. Ethnologue classifies Zaza within a genetic subgroup called Zaza-Gorani, along with Gorani, within the Northwestern Iranian languages. However, this classification is contested. There are significant linguistic differences between the Zaza and Gorani languages, despite some similarities. Zaza also shares many linguistic structures with the Caspian languages that are not found in Gorani. No unifying characteristics have been found from Zaza and the Gorani group to demonstrate that they constitute a group on their own in contrast to other Northwestern language groups.
The Glottolog database proposes a more detailed classification and classifies Zaza within the Adharic subgroup (related to Old Azeri), along with languages such as Talysh, Tati and its dialects such as Harzandi, Kajali and Kilit, spoken on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. Belgian philologist and Iranologist Pièrre Lecoq classifies Zaza within the Medo-Caspian subgroup along with languages such as Tati, Talysh, Gilaki, Semnani and Balochi.برجیان, حبیب (2021). "ایرانشناس نستوه". بیست و هشتمین جایزۀ ادبی و تار یخی دکتر محمود افشار اهداشده به ایرانشناس بلژیکی پیر لکوک (Persian). بنیاد موقوفات دکتر محمود افشار. s. 17 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 relic dialect of the Parthian language that has survived to the present day. He classifies Zaza within the Hyrcanian subgroup, referring to the historical Hyrcania region south of the Caspian Sea, and includes languages such as Sangsari and Balochi in the same subgroup as Zaza. Gippert also demonstrated that the Zaza language is genetically very close to Semnani and suggested that both languages may have originated from a common ancestor.Gippert, Jost (2008). "Zur dialektalen Stellung des Zazaki". Die Sprache. 47 (1): 103. According to linguists Stilo, Paul and Windfuhr the Zaza language is a Northwestern Iranian language in its own right among the Northwestern Iranian languages. And according to Paul, it is linguistically close to Tati and its dialects (modern Azeri dialects), Talysh and Gorani. Instead of grouping Zaza in the same subgroup with another language, Stilo, Paul and Windfuhr classify Zaza as a standalone language within the Northwestern Iranian languages. Encyclopædia Iranica classifies the Zaza language within the Caspian subgroup of the Northwestern Iranian languages, along with Talysh, Tati dialects, Harzandi, Gilaki, Mazanderani, Gurani and Semnani dialects and states that historically all of these Caspian dialects are related to the Parthian language.: "For almost a millennium the Dimlīs had no direct contact with their closest linguistic relatives. Nevertheless, their language has preserved numerous isoglosses with the dialects of the southern Caspian region, and its place in the Caspian dialect group of Northwest Iranian is clear." The Glottolog database proposes the following phylogenetic classification:
Northwestern Iranian Adharic (Azeri) Adhari (Old Azeri) Zaza (Zaza) Southern Zaza (Dimli) (Dumbuli, Hazzu, Kori, Motki, Sivereki) Northern Zaza (Kirmanjki) (Tunceli, Varto) Tatic (Tati-Talysh) Alamuti Central Tat: Khalkhali (Kajali), Karanic [Diz, Gandomabi, Hezarrudi Karan (Khoresh-e Rostam) Karnaq, Kelasi, Lerd, Nowkiani], Shahrudi -Southern Talysh ([Shali-Kolur, Shandermani, Southern Talysh, Massali Masulei]), Khoini, Maraghei [Dikini], North-Central Talysh (Central Talysh [Asalemi, Hashtpari], Northern Talysh [Astara, Lenkoran, Lerik], Taromic [Kabate, Kalasi, Upper Taromi] Northern Tatic: Harzandi-Kilit (Harzandi, Kilit), Karingani-Kalasuri-Khoynarudi (Karingani, Kalasuri-Khoynarudi) Southern Tatic: Alviri-Vidari (Alviri, Vidari), Vafsic (Ashtiani [Amorei, Kahaki, Nuclear Ashtiani, Tafresh], Vafsi), Ramand-Karaj: Eshtehardi, Razajerdi,Takestani (Khalkhal, Kharaqani, Ramandi, Tarom, Zanjan) Gurani (Gorani) [Gurani Shabaki-Bajelani (Bajelani, Chabak, Sarli)]
The Zaza language is considered a branch of the Kurdic subgroup within the Northwestern Iranian languages in a study. 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 Zaza under the Adharic branch of Northwestern Iranian languages 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.Paul, Ludwig (2008). "Kurdish language I. History of the Kurdish language". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica. London and New York: Routledge. Archived from the original on 4 December 2011. The differences between them arise from the Kurdish adoption of Persian linguistic features due to historical contact.Elfenbein, J. (2000). Zazaki: Grammatik und Versuch einer Dialektologie. By Ludwig Paul. pp. xxi, 366. 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.
Endangerment In 2010, Zaza was classified as a "vulnerable" language by UNESCO. 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 conducted in Dersim province, 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 Zaza.
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.