International Journal of Language & Linguistics

Gorani: A Distinct and Independent Language Not a Variety of the So-called Kurdish
Sayyed Mahdi Sadjadi

Abstract
Spoken mainly in some parts of Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, especially around the borders, and known by different names, in fact, the names of its dialects, particularly Hawrami, among the populace, Gorani, having at least 1400-year-old literary background, is the most neglected Iranian language and literature erroneously regarded as a variety of the so-called Kurdish. It has had a far wider and richer geographical and cultural distribution in the past, but today forms some islands in such a way that UNESCO has recognized it as one of the Iranian endangered languages. It is also the sacred language of Ahl-e Haqq. This paper is mainly in search of answering two questions: a) Is Gorani a distinct and independent language or a variety of the so-called Kurdish?, and b) What is the position of the so-called Kurdish among the Iranian languages? For finding the answers of the questions, some peculiarities of Gorani in different linguistic levels including phonology, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary are studied, contrasted with those of the so-called Kurdish and Persian, and analysed both synchronically and diachronically. Having lived among the Gorani, the so-called Kurdish, and Persian speakers for years, the author as a native speaker of Gorani and fluent in both the so-called Kurdish and Persian makes use of his linguistic intuition and knowledge, field observations and experience, interviews, the attitudes of the Gorans and the so-called Kurds towards each other, some scholarsʼ views and written sources in this regard.The data description, contrast, and analysis indicate that, contrary to popular perception, a) Gorani is a distinct and independent language having its own specific various dialects and unique grammar and vocabulary, and b) the so-called Kurdish is not a distinct and independent language, but actually a Persian variety. It was originally a pidgin that then and now has become a creole. Mutual intelligibility without conscious instruction is impossible between Gorani and the so-called Kurdish, but it is more or less possible between the so-called Kurdish and Persian. Interestingly, the majority of similarities are seen between the so-called Kurdish and Persian confirming the idea that the so-called Kurdish is the continuation of Old and Middle Persian and, actually a Persian variety. If some similarities, specifically lexical and morphological, are seen between Gorani and the so-called Kurdish, they are the result of the Gorani influence on the so-called Kurdish since it has been the lingua franca, literary, and court language in the so-called Kurdistan until the end of the 19th century in general and the year 1919 in particular. The only reason why Gorani is considered a variety of the so-called Kurdish is the speakersʼ residence of these two varieties in a specific geographical area, their intermixing, and some linguistic similarities between them due to Gorani influence on the so-called Kurdish, although the direction of this influence has become opposite today.

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