By: Shaban Meziri
Language is a vital phenomenon and an effective tool for cultural and political advancement. It originates, grows, and evolves alongside the birth of the human being. Just as a human is influenced by their surroundings, the environment in which they live, and neighboring peoples, language likewise is affected by its environment—growing, developing, and being shaped by the setting in which it arises. It is the means of communication and understanding among members of a nation, serving as a link between the nation’s past and its present (1). Human languages are innumerable, totaling approximately 3,000 languages worldwide. In India alone, there are nearly 800 living languages, while other languages died out long ago, leaving behind a cultural heritage inscribed on clay tablets discovered from time to time.
There are also small, forgotten languages used by ancient peoples that have died out and vanished (2). Every living language has its own long and ancient history. Regarding the language known today as Kurdish, we cannot consider its origin to be solely from the Median languages in all their dialects—except for the Avestan dialect—because the term “Kurd” had not yet fully coalesced during that period. If it did exist, it had not yet taken on the general framework of the term as it did in the Christian Era. Similarly, we cannot say that the languages of the peoples who inhabited the land of the Kurds (Mitanni, Lullubi, Guti… etc.) are the direct origin of the ancient Kurdish language. In reality, all these peoples inhabited the Kurdish region and built civilizations there. Rather, we can say that the current Kurdish language shares grammatical and morphological relationships with those ancient languages. Over time, it became an independent language, known to most Kurds as “Kurmanji” and to non-Kurds as the “Kurdish language.”
On the other hand, the ancient Kurdish language was influenced culturally, politically, and religiously by the languages of neighboring peoples, especially Sumerian and Akkadian, and later the Mitanni language. The Mitanni language is considered the language of the inhabitants of the Kurdish region and became the official language of the ruling power in the first half of the second millennium BC, governing the northern region of Mesopotamia. The Mitanni people lived in the 5th century BC in the region extending from the east of the Halys River (Kizilirmak River in Turkey) to the Araxes River in the upper Tigris and to the west of the Zagros Mountains (3). Muhammad Amin Zaki states: “The dwellings of these peoples were in the Middle Euphrates (the Mosul-Tripoli region), where they established a powerful government around the 16th century BC.” He adds: “The Mitanni government became extinct during the reign of Ashurnasirpal, as the Assyrians seized its lands gradually until it ceased to exist” (4). The historian Herodotus (d. 485–425 BC) mentioned that four peoples lived east of Greece: “Armenians, Saspires, Matieni, and Alarodians” (5).
During this period, the name of the Kurds as a people was not well-known, nor was the Kurdish language. However, historians believe that the Kurdish language is the heir to the Mitanni language. This is evident through vocabulary that entered Kurdish from the Hurrian and Mitanni languages. For example, the number nine (No – Naw) resned in Kurdish; this number was sacred and continued until the advent of Islam. Examples of Mitanni words that entered Kurdish include:
خور, فر var tana(wartana)
يه ك Aika
سىَ Terra
ثيَنج panca
هه فت Satta
ثاك Arta
راستي Satya(6)
In the second millennium BC, Indo-European immigrants settled in the Kurdish region and the Zagros Mountains. The Mitanni and Kassite languages were influenced by the languages of these groups. These migrating tribes also spread their religion and culture among the indigenous population. Under the influence of these migrants, especially the Medes, Scythians, and Cimmerians at the beginning of the first millennium BC, the Mitanni language began to be significantly affected by the languages of the migrating tribes. The ancient language of the Mitanni people blended with the languages of these new arrivals. This fusion smoothed the way for the transformation of the indigenous language and the emergence of a common language for all inhabitants of the region. Without a doubt, it can be said that this stage marks the beginning of the emergence of the Kurdish language, according to historians who support the idea that Kurdish is the legitimate heir to the Mitanni language. Their evidence is that the language in which the Assyrian King List was recorded appears to be none other than ancient Kurdish, as most of the vocabulary used in those inscriptions is still used extensively in modern Kurdish today. Additionally, Kurds are the possessors of the linguistic and historical heritage of this region’s inhabitants (7).
Since the Kurds originate from the Aryans, and the Aryans arrived in the mountains of present-day Kurdistan in prehistoric times and merged with the indigenous inhabitants to establish a civilization (8): “Kurdish belongs to the Indo-European language family and the Iranian-Aryan human group of that family. It is likely that the end of the first millennium BC witnessed the beginning of the migration of tribes and peoples speaking Iranian (Aryan) languages from Central Asia and adjacent lands toward the Iranian plains, plateaus, mountains, and the coastal plains of the Black Sea. By sweeping through those regions, these tribes gave their language and name to other Iranian-Aryan peoples residing in those lands. However, some of them completely refused to merge with the incoming peoples, which explains the presence of several small human groups that do not speak Kurdish residing in parts of Kurdistan, whether in Turkey, Iran, or Iraq” (9). In this regard, the scholar Muhammad Amin Zaki says: “The Kurdish people are one of the Indo-Iranian groups who came to Kurdistan at the same time the Medes came to Media and the Persians to Persia. The approximate date of the Kurds’ arrival in Kurdistan is after 650 BC, as Assyrian records and documents dating before this time mention nothing about them” (10).
The Medes were mentioned in the 1929 Encyclopedia Britannica; they established an empire in the 7th century BC and captured Nineveh, the Assyrian stronghold, in 612 BC (11). After the fall of their state in 550 BC, the Medes merged with the Kurds and became “Kurdified” (12). However, Dr. N. MacKenzie, an expert in the Kurdish language, believes that “so far, we do not have sound evidence confirming that the Median language is the origin of the Kurdish language.” He adds: “The name Kurmanji (13) might be a combination of the word ‘Kurd’ with a form of ‘Mada’ (Medes)” (14). Furthermore, “the Kurds are Aryans, and the common claim is that they and the ancient Median people are one and the same.”
The scholar Muhammad Amin Zaki, whose views are cited by most Kurdish researchers and historians (some acknowledging the source and others not), wrote: “The orientalist Thureau-Dangin says he reviewed in the Revue d’Assyriologie two ancient tablets bearing inscriptions dating back two thousand years before the birth of Christ, indicating there was a region called ‘Kar-da-kar’ near the ‘Su’ people who lived south of Lake Van.” He adds: “A thousand years after this date, Tiglath-Pileser I (1098–1068 BC) fought a people in the mountains of ‘Izu’ called ‘Kurtie,’ and he was decisively defeated in battle.” The orientalist (Dario) says that these ‘Izu’ mountains are the current ‘Hazu’ mountains, meaning the Sason mountains (15).
The Kurdish language falls within the family of languages called the Iranian or Aryan language group. While Wallace Lyon believes that the Kurdish language consists of several different dialects: “It follows the Southwestern Iranian language group; however, the dialects are distributed geographically. To the north of the line extending from the Great Zab to Lake Urmia, most Kurds speak the Kurmanji dialect, while to the south of that line they speak Sorani, which is a branch of Kurmanji, and other Kurds speak Zaza or Gorani” (16). The Iranian language group is a section of the group called “Indo-Iranian.” This group is divided into two parts:
The Indic (Indo) branch: includes Prakrit, Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Rajasthani, Bihari, and Bengali. The oldest text of these languages is called Sanskrit, in which the religious hymns of Brahmanism were written. The oldest text is called the Rig-Veda, meaning the book of knowledge and wisdom. It is one of the oldest sacred religious books in the world, written in 1200 BC. The importance of the Rig-Veda in Indic languages is similar to the importance of the Zoroastrian Avesta (17) among Iranian peoples (18).
The Iranian branch: includes Old and New Persian, Old and New Kurdish, Afghan (Pashto), and Balochi (19).
The Kurdish language found in the region grew and developed like other living languages, carrying its dialects with it (20). The oldest Aryan languages are Zend (21) and Pahlavi. “In all likelihood, Kurmanji is the closest living language to the ancient Aryan languages, especially the language of the Zend-Avesta” (22). As for the Zend language, it was the tongue of the ancient Iranian religious books called the Zend-Avesta (23), as named by Al-Masudi in Meadows of Gold. It became the language of conversation and dialogue starting from the west of the country (Bukhara) to Azerbaijan—that is, in all northern Iranian lands (24), from the Iranian plateau and the Zagros mountain range. It was spoken across the empire extending from the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates to the Arabian Gulf.
As for the Pahlavi language, it was used in Persian Iraq (Jibal), Greater Media, and Parthia (Fars province), where it was the language of the common people in conversation (25). Several artifacts and documents written in this language dating back to the Sassanid era have been discovered. The ancient Kurdish language was called the “language of the Pahlawans (Heroes)” because the words “Kutu” and “Kardu” mean warrior and hero (26). There is a belief that this Pahlavi language is very likely the origin of the current Kurdish language, as many of its words closely resemble current Kurdish words (27). Most researchers and linguists lean toward the view that Kurdish is not a language derived or corrupted from Persian; it is older than the Persian language used in the inscriptions of Darius I, known as the “Behistun Inscription” (Dara Plate), and it is an independent Aryan language (28). If this is correct, historians have the right to say that the Kurdish language existed in the 6th century BC (29).
This is the view held by Sydney Smith, Justi, and Sosni: that the Kurdish language is independent in its structures and meanings, possessing its own historical developments. It is an excellent language, distinct in its phonological music, and it stands alone, bearing no direct relation to Pahlavi or modern Persian (30). Justi confirms that Kurdish is authentic and unrelated to Persian, and that Kurdish grammar differs radically from Arabic, Turkish, and Persian. This belief was shared by Major Edmonds, a specialist in Kurdish history, who stated that Kurdish is an independent language with its own unique characteristics and developments. This was also the conclusion of German scholars Rüdiger and Pott in 1840, who proved through continuous comparative studies of Kurdish words, origins, and sounds that it is a specific language independent of Iranian (31).
Since the history of the migration of Indo-European tribes to Iran is a shared history between the Medes and Persians, both Kurds and Persians are considered possessors of this history (32). As the Medes constitute an important part of the Kurdish people, researcher Tawfiq Wahbi confirms, according to ancient Pahlavi texts, “that the Medes and Kurds are of one nationality” (33). Within the Indo-European family (34), there are shared vocabularies between Kurdish and other languages in this family, especially Aryan, Pahlavi, Sanskrit (native to India), Balochi, Old and New Persian, Median, Afghan, and Urdu.
“The oldest history from which surviving samples have reached us, pointing to the mother tongue that we can consider the living parent of Kurdish, is the Zoroastrian (35) holy book (the Avesta), which dates back to the 7th century BC. It is the oldest recorded model for the smaller linguistic group known as the Iranian languages, which belong to the larger family known as Indo-European” (36). The language of Zoroaster, as found in the Zend-Avesta, is very close to the Mukri dialect (37). Muhammad Amin Zaki believes “it is the Mukri dialect itself” (38). Regarding this Kurdish dialect, Soane—who has extensive experience in the Kurdish language, its dialects, and Iranian languages—says: “Mukri is a dialect regular in form and complete in its morphological expressions.” He adds: “The Mukris living in the same land where Zoroaster (who spoke Median) revealed his teachings speak the Kurdish dialect closest to the ancient Zend-Avesta language” (39). Sources confirm that Zoroaster—the Mede, the Kurd—was born in northern Media in “Takht-e Soleyman” in the Mukriyan region (40). Others say he was from the Urmia (Rezaiyeh) region (41) (600 or 1000 BC), and his religion became the official religion of the Median-Kurdish and Persian states (42). He was the Aryan prophet from the people of Media, from the Magian tribe (43). Another view suggests that Zoroaster was from the Mukri tribe (44). Zoroaster was a Kurdish man who migrated to other people to preach, and thus the Avesta remained a common heritage for all Iranian peoples and a dictionary to refer to whenever any of those peoples found a deficiency in their grammar (45). Zoroaster claimed prophethood for a modified individual creed in Afghanistan in the 7th century BC, as that region was inhabited by settled or semi-nomadic agricultural tribes who established a city of some importance. He passed away in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan, adjacent to the Iranian border.
Footnotes:
Ismet Cheriff Vanly, The Question of Unifying the Kurdish Language, Al-Ahali Press, (Baghdad – 1960), p. 3.
Dr. Ghalib al-Muttalibi, Linguistics, House of General Cultural Affairs, (Baghdad – 1986), p. 107.
Dr. Jamal Rashid Ahmed, A Linguistic Study on the History of the Kurdish Homeland, Dar al-Hurriya for Printing, (Baghdad, 1980), p. 146.
Muhammad Amin Zaki, Summary of the History of the Kurds and Kurdistan from the Oldest Historical Eras to the Present, translated by Muhammad Ali Awni, Vol. 1, 2nd ed., Baghdad, 1961, p. 304.
Dr. Jamal Rashid Ahmed, Previous Source, p. 146.
Dr. Jamal Rashid Ahmed, Previous Source, p. 224.
Ibid, p. 99.
Dr. Blach Sherkoh, The Kurdish Issue: The Past and Present of the Kurds, Sa’ada Press, (Cairo – 1930), p. 4.
Joyce Blau, On the Language and Literature of the Kurds, translated by Saad Hadi Suleiman, Al-Ittihad (Newspaper), Issue (806) on August 21, 2004, Year 12, p. 7, Baghdad.
Muhammad Amin Zaki, Previous Source, pp. 56–57.
Salah Saadalla, On the Language and History of the Kurds: A Critique in Kurdish Culture, Shafiq Press, (Baghdad – 1989), p. 10.
Muhammad Zaki Hussein Ahmed, Contribution of Iraqi Kurdistan Scholars to Islamic Culture During the 13th and 14th Centuries AH and 18th Century AD, 1st ed., Ministry of Education Press, (Erbil – 1999), p. 2.
The term “Kurmanji” is another name for the Kurds: Tawfiq Wahbi, His Journey from Darbandi Bazian to Malay Tasluja, Ma’arif Press, (Baghdad – 1965), p. 6.
Major General Muhammad Najm al-Din al-Naqshbandi, Kurds and Kurdistan, an article translated from the Encyclopedia of Islam 1986, Dr. N. MacKenzie, Al-Ma’rouf Press, Baghdad – 2002, p. 189.
D.K. Fieldhouse, Kurds, Arabs and Britons: The Memoir of Wallace Lyon in Iraq 1918–1944, translated from English by Shakhawan Kirkuki, Al-Ta’akhi (Newspaper), Part (8), Issue (4347) on November 3, 2004, p. 7, Baghdad.
D.K. Fieldhouse, Kurds, Arabs and Britons, Previous Source.
Zoroastrianism: A monotheistic religion that influenced subsequent religions. It is mentioned that its founder is (Ashur Zoroaster), who appeared long before Christianity, born to a mother named (Ghadu) and a father named (Pourushaspa), Median-Kurdish. He was born in the province of Media in the (Takht-e Soleyman) area of Mukriyan, near Lake (Urmia) in Azerbaijan, Iran. Prophethood was revealed to him at age 30, and he was martyred at age 77 by his killer (Tur-baratur) in the temple of (Balkh) in present-day Afghanistan. Zoroastrianism was neglected and forgotten; let us not forget that Alexander the Great ordered the burning of ancient holy books, yet people remained faithful. (Dr. Muayyad Abd al-Sattar, The Avesta: The Holy Book of Zoroaster and Zend, the Ancient Language it was Written In, Al-Ittihad Newspaper, Issue 1462, December 28, 2006, Baghdad.)
Dr. Pakiza Rafiq Hilmi, The Kurdish Language, Kurdish Notebook, Journal, Issue (3), Baghdad, 1970, p. 104.
Dr. Pakiza Rafiq Hilmi, The Kurdish Language, Previous Source, p. 105.
Salah Saadalla, On the Kurdish Issue, Dar al-Jahiz Press (Baghdad – 1985), p. 17.
Dr. Muayyad Abd al-Sattar believes the Zend language is the Kurdish-Zend-Luri or Feyli language, the language of the ancient Avesta book before it was transferred to Pahlavi and then to Modern Persian. (Ibid).
Ismet Cheriff Vanly, Previous Source, p. 8.
The Avesta was written on 12,000 pieces of gold cowhide, containing promises, warnings, commands, prohibitions, and matters of law and worship. It was a holy book that kings followed until the time of Alexander.
Muhammad Amin Zaki, Previous Source, p. 304.
Ibid, p. 304.
Dr. Blach Sherkoh, Previous Source, pp. 6–20.
Muhammad Amin Zaki, Previous Source, p. 300.
Anwar al-Ma’i, The Kurds in Behdinan, Hisan Press (Mosul – 1960), p. 50; Muhammad Amin Zaki, Previous Source, p. 56.
Muhammad Amin Zaki, Previous Source, p. 56.
Muhammad Zaki Hussein Ahmed, Previous Source, p. 3.
Akram Qaradaghi, A Brief Look at the Origin of the Kurdish Language, Sardam, Issue (2), 2003, p. 281, Sulaymaniyah.
Khalid Bakr Ayub, The Quest for Immortality: A Comparative Historical Study Between Kurdish and Persian Mythology, Al-Ittihad (Newspaper), Issue (756) on June 21, 2004, Year 12, Baghdad, p. 6.
Khalid Bakr Ayub, Previous Source.
Indo-European languages: A term used by linguists for a large group of languages stretching from India to Ireland. After discovering the relationship between Indo-Iranian languages, Sanskrit, and European languages, they categorized them into groups such as Aryan, Italic, Germanic, Baltic-Slavic, Greek, Albanian, Armenian, and Celtic. (Dr. Pakiza Rafiq Hilmi, Where to Start with Kurdish Grammar, Baghdad – 1973; Ali Seydo al-Kurani, From Amman to Amadiya, Sa’ada Press, 1939, p. 261; Dr. Ghalib al-Muttalibi, Previous Source, pp. 110-112).
Zoroastrianism is an ancient religion known only among Aryan peoples and still exists in parts of Kurdistan, especially among the Yezidi community in Iraq, Turkey, and Iran. (Dr. Blach Sherkoh, Previous Source, pp. 6-7).
Dr. Pakiza Rafiq Hilmi, Where to Start with Kurdish Grammar, Previous Source, p. 207.
Anwar al-Ma’i, Previous Source, p. 50.
Muhammad Amin Zaki, Previous Source, pp. 308-309.
Ali Seydo al-Kurani, Previous Source, p. 265.
Salah Saadalla, On the Language and History of the Kurds, Shafiq Press, Baghdad – 1989, p. 11; Muhammad Amin Zaki, Previous Source, pp. 308-309.
Dr. Pakiza Rafiq Hilmi, The Kurdish Language, pp. 103-104.
Muhammad Zaki Hussein Ahmed, Previous Source, p. 10, Footnote (10).
Akram Qaradaghi, Previous Source, p. 282.
Sheikh Hassan al-Dasni, the author of Mizdeha Roz (Good Tidings of the Sun), which is considered the origin of the Mushaf Resh, the original holy book of the Yezidi religion. (Sheikh Hassan al-Dasni, Mizdeha Roz, translated by Anwar al-Ma’i, 1st ed., Khabat Press, Duhok – 2001, p. 13; Abdul Razzaq Bimar, Kurdish Prose, Dar al-Hurriya, Baghdad – 1998, p. 33; Saeed al-Diwachi, The Yezidis, University of Mosul, pp. 143, 102, 103.
Masoud Muhammad, The Tongue of the Kurds, Al-Hawadeth Press, Baghdad, p. 29.
November – 2007
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