Alternate Names: Kermancî, Kirmancî, Kurdi, Kurdî, Kurmancî, Kurmanji
Dialects: Ashiti, Bayezidi, Boti (Botani), Hekari, Marashi, Mihemedî, Shemdinani, Shikakî, Silivî. Dialect differences but all use the same written form. A member of macrolanguage Kurdish ,.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 15,000,000 in Turkey (McCarus 2009), decreasing. Very provisional figures for Northern Kurdish speaker population. Population total all countries: 20,210,890. 3,000,000 monolinguals. Especially in Hakkari and Shirnak provinces.
Language Use: Home, market, political situations. Many are adults above age 30. Positive attitudes. 80% also use Turkish [tur]. Also use Northern Zazaki [kiu], Southern Zazaki [diq]. Used as L2 by Hértevin [hrt], Southern Zazaki [diq].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L1: Overall about 83%, but not differentiated by L1 or L2 usage. While overall speakers are decreasing, literates are increasing. Many literary works from 16th and 17th centuries onward. Poetry. Magazines. Newspapers. New media. Radio programs. Films. TV. Videos. Dictionary. Grammar. Bible: 2008.
Writing System: Arabic, Cyrillic, Latin
Nation of Origin: Lebanon
Other Comments: Muslim (Sunni), Muslim (Alevi), Yezidi.