Postby Quaere Verum » 2010-06-08, 15:51
Zazaki is an Iranian language belonging to the same branch as Kirmanji (so-called "Kurdish"), namely "Northwestern branch". Both languages, Zaza and Kirmanji, as well as Gorani (also referred to as "Hewrami") are spoken merely and exclusively by Kurdish people. On account of this fact, to refer to them all as "Kurdish languages" is the best choice to opt. They could be named particularly as "Kirmanji Kurdish" (including Kurmanji-Northern, Sorani-Central, and Kirmajhi-Southern dialects), "Zaza Kurdish", and "Gorani Kurdish". The first one, Kirmanji Kurdish, encompasses some 90% of Kurdish speakers at least, thus many people prefer to call it as "Kurdish", whilst Zaza Kurdish and Gorani Kurdish each contain some 5% of Kurdish speakers.