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Kurdish language issue and a divisive
approach
30.6.2008
By Luqman Barwari
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June
30, 2008
California, USA, — Recently, a group of 53
Kurdish intellectuals proposed to the Kurdistan
Parliament to make the “central dialect” the
official language of Kurdistan. Their proposal was
echoed in the interview that the minister of
education gave to a local Kurdish newspaper. Below
is the KNC position on the proposal:
The Kurdish language, like any other language in the
world, consists of many dialects and sub- dialects.
Each dialect/sub-dialect is locally nurtured and
used for communication. The natural residency of
individuals in any region is premised on the “de
facto” law. Human beings learn language/dialect from
the family in which they grow. This is societal
natural law and the demographical decree that a
group or groups of people speak their local dialect
in the country in which they reside.
A dialect could become the national language without
involving the legal system. For the most part it is
a natural phenomenon. It is very rare that a nation
had to use its legal system to determine which
dialect should become the national language. Early
America had multiple ethnic groups including,
English, Germans, French, and Hispanics with no
common language.
Later, in 1795 when German and English were the only
two remaining languages the U. S. Congress
interfered to resolve the language issue. When the
Congress voted, German lost to English by one vote,
41-42. Since then English has been the only formal
language of the United States. The U. S. Congress
interfered to resolve the complex language issue not
dialectical problem!
On the other hand, how the Parisian dialect became
the French language was not in the wake of a legal
action by the French judicial system. Paris was the
main trade center where the French economy was
flourishing. The economic status of Paris promoted
the Parisian dialect over other French dialects
without the interference of the judicial system. A
national assembly of a country would see it as
inappropriate to select a dialect over other
nation’s dialects because it would polarize the
nation. Therefore,www.ekurd.net
for a nation like ours
divided among four nations it is awkward to explore
such a divisive element.
Unfortunately, since the mid-1970s, the delicate
issue of the two main Kurdish dialects has been
creating unnecessary acrimonious debate among
segments of the Kurdish society. Irresponsible
individuals from either side have been trying to
promote their dialect at the expense of the other,
where it has created deep psychological wounds in
the Kurdish society and threatened Kurdish unity
further.
Recently, the issue has resurfaced among a group of
individuals who have advocated widespread adoption
of their preferred dialect. Linguistically speaking,
since their dialect is confined to a restricted
locale, they are not in the position to entertain
such a mandate which would be proved unpopular and
unrealistic.
Kurdish intellectuals, including writers, and poets
are expected to be more responsible and, via their
intellectual work, should try to educate people by
promoting the Kurdish national culture. They should
not be part of the societal perplexity rather they
ought to be a guiding beacon toward more national
cohesiveness.
This group of the Kurdish intellectuals, instead of
launching such a proposal, should have a proposition
that would create a common ground to establish a
foundation for the common Kurdish language by using
the common Kurdish words. This can be a starting
point. It is feasible at the elementary levels.
When they say, "The dialect of central Kurdistan,"
it is believed that they refer to the geographical
area of greater Kurdistan. Just taking what they say
at face value, it can be concluded that this
geographical region includes parts of Duhok, and on
the other side of the border in Kurdistan under
Iranian occupation it encompasses the "Shikak
region."
In retrospect, the Kurdish literature for the first
time was written in the northern dialect when in
1692, Ehmedî Xane wrote “Mem u Zîn,” and later, the
Bedrxanis printed the first Kurdish newspaper in
Cairo on April 22, 1898. This version of the Kurdish
language was used until after the WWI. In the wake
of the Lausanne Agreement on July 23, 1923, the
Turkish state took ownership of northern Kurdistan,
and when in 1924, the Turks outlawed the use of the
Kurdish language it negatively impacted the entire
Kurdish language, particularly the northern dialect.
After annexing the Vilayat of Mosul (Kurdistan-Iraq)
to Iraq and the subsequent decision by the British
on the cultural right to the Kurds in Iraq gave new
hope for reviving the forbidden Kurdish language.
Since the majority of the people of this part of
Kurdistan were speakers of the southern dialect they
practiced their culture using their dialect. This
new opportunity allowed the Kurdish language in
general and the southern dialect in particular to
replenish.
Historically speaking, the terms "Badinani and
Sorani" have no linguistic root. Sorani emanates
from "Soran Emirate," which was located in Rawanduz;
and Badinani stems from "Badinan Emirate," which was
situated in Amedi, and both were political entities.
Sorani only includes Hawler, its vicinity and
Rawanduz; and,www.ekurd.net
Badinan includes Amedi,
only. Even Kirkuk and Sulaimaniyah dialects are not
sorani, and Duhok dialect is not part of the
badinani. We have northern kurmanji and Zazaki
(Dimly); and southern kurmanji and Hawrami. The
so-called sorani and badini issue was created by our
occupiers and due to our naiveté it has lingered
over local mentalities!
The language issue doesn’t have a political context.
It is not a political issue; therefore, a KRG
minister should not see himself in a position where
he should allow himself to entertain such a very
sensitive idea. While the top KRG officials are
promoting both dialects equally, they need to use
the resources available to them to define a format
and begin the journey of creating a foundation for a
common Kurdish language. Ignoring such a
hypersensitive issue allows irresponsible
individuals to contemplate the idea of “living
nationally and thinking locally,” which would only
disunite the sweet Kurdish language. It should be
reminded that, at this delicate time that our people
are experiencing, we must be more vigilant. We
should distance ourselves from using such an
unrealistic approach.
Kurdish National Congress of North America,
www.kncna.org
Contact: Luqman Barwari
Inquiries: 805-402-6440
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