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Kurdistan and The Kurds A Divided Homeland and a Nation without ...

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2. Middle Kurmanji/Sorani: This is the second widest<br />

spread dialect amongst the <strong>Kurds</strong>, however it is the<br />

first in terms of linguistic development <strong>and</strong> it is the<br />

language of instruction used in the schools for over<br />

eighty years in the Southern parts of <strong>Kurdistan</strong>.<br />

Everyone who is Kurdish speaks this dialect in the<br />

Southern parts, except the region of Badinan where it<br />

is the Northern Kurmanji that is widespread, as well<br />

as the region of Horaman where it is the Horamani<br />

dialect that is spoken <strong>and</strong> the region of Southern<br />

M<strong>and</strong>ali where the Fayli <strong>Kurds</strong> live. <strong>The</strong> Sorani is<br />

spoken by the <strong>Kurds</strong> in the Eastern part of <strong>Kurdistan</strong><br />

<strong>and</strong> the Middle region, which falls between Sinah <strong>and</strong><br />

Mahabad.<br />

3. Southern Kurmanji including Lor with its different<br />

branches Lik, Fayli, Bakhtiari. In terms of its speak<br />

it's considered the third dialect of Kurdish. It is spoken<br />

by the <strong>Kurds</strong> living in the region south of the Middle<br />

Kurmanji/Sorani <strong>and</strong> extends until the Gulf.<br />

4. <strong>The</strong> other dialect branches are the Horamy, Gorany<br />

<strong>and</strong> the Zaza.<br />

<strong>The</strong> Kurdish language is an independent language in<br />

<strong>and</strong> of itself with its own grammatical rules <strong>and</strong> units<br />

<strong>and</strong> its own specific developments. It is not a distorted<br />

Turkish dialect or a Persian one as claimed by Turkish<br />

<strong>and</strong> Persian chauvinists (see the report of League of the<br />

<strong>Nation</strong>s on the Mosul Governorate Cause).<br />

Like the Persians <strong>and</strong> other nations in the region <strong>Kurds</strong><br />

have used the Arabic alphabet ever since they have<br />

embraced Islam. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Kurds</strong> in Iran <strong>and</strong> Iraq still use the<br />

improved Arabic alphabet while the <strong>Kurds</strong> in the Soviet<br />

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