Editing Kurdish language (section)

==Zazaki and Gorani==
{{Main|Zaza language|Gorani language}}
[[Zaza–Gorani languages]], which are spoken by communities in the wider area who identify as ethnic Kurds, are not linguistically classified as Kurdish.<ref name="ReferenceB" /><ref name="gulf2000.columbia.edu" /><ref name="Books.google.com" /> Zaza-Gorani is classified as adjunct to Kurdish, although authorities differ in the details.<ref name="Windfuhr2009" />{{rp|p=589}} groups Kurdish with Zaza Gorani within a "Northwestern I" group, while [[Glottolog]] based on ''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]'' prefers an areal grouping of "Central dialects" (or "Kermanic") within Northwest Iranic, with Kurdish but not Zaza-Gorani grouped with "Kermanic".<ref>Glottolog 2.3, [http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/cent2264 Subfamily: Central Iran Kermanic] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213173827/http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/cent2264 |date=13 December 2014 }}. "The Central dialects thus constitute the southernmost group of the so-called Northwest Iranian dialects," 
[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/central-dialects Central Dialects] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130905072810/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/central-dialects |date=5 September 2013 }} (iranicaonline.org)</ref>

[[Gorani language (Zaza-Gorani)|Gorani]] is distinct from Northern and Central Kurdish, yet shares vocabulary with both of them and there are some grammatical similarities with Central Kurdish.<ref>Philip G. Kreyenbroek, "On the Kurdish Language", a chapter in the book The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview.</ref> The [[Hawrami dialects]] of Gorani includes a variety that was an important literary language since the 14th century, but it was replaced by Central Kurdish in the 20th century.<ref>Meri, Josef W. Medieval Islamic Civilization: A-K, index. p444</ref>

European scholars have maintained that Gorani is separate from Kurdish and that Kurdish is synonymous with the Northern Kurdish group, whereas ethnic Kurds maintain that Kurdish encompasses any of the unique languages or dialects spoken by Kurds that are not spoken by neighbouring ethnic groups.<ref>Edmonds, Cecil. Kurds, Turks, and Arabs: politics, travel, and research in north-eastern Iraq, 1919–1925. Oxford University Press, 1957.</ref>

Gorani is classified as part of the Zaza–Gorani branch of Indo-Iranian languages.<ref>J. N. Postgate, Languages of Iraq, ancient and modern, British School of Archaeology in Iraq, [Iraq]: British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 2007, p. 138.</ref> The [[Zaza language]], spoken mainly in Turkey, differs both grammatically and in vocabulary and is generally not understandable by Gorani speakers but it is considered related to Gorani. Almost all Zaza-speaking communities,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.let.uu.nl/~martin.vanbruinessen/personal/publications/Bruinessen_Ethnic_identity_Kurds.pdf |title=The Ethnic Identity of the Kurds in Turkey |access-date=2015-10-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015152331/http://www.let.uu.nl/~Martin.vanBruinessen/personal/publications/Bruinessen_Ethnic_identity_Kurds.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015}}</ref> as well as speakers of the closely related [[Shabaki dialect]] spoken in parts of [[Iraqi Kurdistan]], identify themselves as ethnic Kurds.<ref name="ReferenceB" /><ref>Abd al-Jabbar, Falih. Ayatollahs, sufis and ideologues: state, religion and social movements in Iraq. University of Virginia 2008.</ref><ref>Sykes, Mark. The Caliphs' last heritage: a short history of the Turkish Empire</ref><ref>O'Shea, Maria. Trapped between the map and reality: geography and perceptions of Kurdistan. {{ISBN|0-415-94766-9}}.</ref><ref>Library Information and Research Service. The Middle East, abstracts and index</ref><ref>Meiselas, Susan. Kurdistan: in the shadow of history. Random House, 1997.</ref>

Geoffrey Haig and Ergin Öpengin in their recent study suggest grouping the Kurdish languages into Northern Kurdish, Central Kurdish, Southern Kurdish, [[Zaza language|Zaza]], and Gorani, and avoid the subgrouping Zaza–Gorani.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Opengin |first1=Ergin |last2=Haig |first2=Geoffrey |title=Kurdish: a critical research overview |url=https://www.academia.edu/9265357 |via=Academia.edu |language=en}}</ref>

Professor [[Zare Yusupova]] has carried out much work and research into the Gorani dialect (as well as many other minority/ancient Kurdish dialects).<ref name="research-gate-book-1">{{cite book |last=Leezenberg |first=M. |date=15 June 2016 |title=Soviet Kurdology and Kurdish Orientalism |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254810726 |page=10 |author-link=:nl:Michiel Leezenberg |publication-date=15 June 2016 |access-date=24 November 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180427211418/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254810726_Soviet_Kurdology_and_Kurdish_Orientalism |archive-date=27 April 2018}}</ref>