Zazaki language

Zaza
Native to	Anatolia
Region	Main in Tunceli, Bingöl, Erzincan, Sivas, Elazığ, Erzurum, Malatya Gümüşhane Province, Şanlıurfa Province, and Varto, Adıyaman Province; diasporic in Mutki, Sarız, Aksaray, and Taraz
Ethnicity	Zaza
Native speakers	1.6 million (1998)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Western Northwestern I Zaza–Gorani Zaza
Writing system	Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-2
ISO 639-3	– inclusive code Individual codes: `kiu` – Kirmanjki (Northern Zaza) `diq` – Dimli (Southern Zaza)
Glottolog	`zaza1246`
Linguasphere	`58-AAA-ba`

Zaza language, also called Zazaki, Kirmanjki and Dimli, is an Indo-European language spoken primarily in eastern Turkey by the Zazas. The language is a part of the northwestern group of the Iranian section of the Indo-European family, and belongs to the Zaza–Gorani and Caspian dialect group. Zaza shares many features, structures, and vocabulary with Gorani. Zaza also has some similarities with Talyshi and other Caspian languages. According to Ethnologue (which cites [Paul 1998]), the number of speakers is between 1.5 and 2.5 million (including all dialects). According to Nevins, the number of Zaza speakers is between 2 and 4 million.

Zaza belongs to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. From the point of view of the spoken language, its closest relatives are Mazandarani, Hewrami, Gilaki and other Caspian languages. However, the classification of Zaza has been an issue of political discussion. It is sometimes classified as a subdialect of Kurdish. The majority of Zaza-speakers in Turkey identify themselves as ethnic Kurds.

The US State Department "Background Note" lists the Zaza language as one of the major languages of Turkey, along with Turkish (official), Kurdish, Armenian, Greek, and Arabic. Linguists connect the word Dimli with the Daylamites in the Alborz Mountains near the shores of the Caspian Sea in Iran and believe that the Zazas have immigrated from Deylaman towards the west. Zaza shows many connections to the Iranian languages of the Caspian region, especially the Gilaki language.

...
Wikipedia