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Indiana University begins class in
Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish
28.9.2006
Update 2 |
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind.
- "Kurdish is the most important Middle Eastern
language that isn't commonly taught, and this is a
great opportunity to develop our program of regional
languages," he said.
Kurmanji, also called Northern Kurdish, is the most
widely spoken dialect of the language, used by
approximately half of the estimated 27 to 30 million
Kurds worldwide, most are from Iran, Iraq and
Turkey, with smaller populations in Syria, Lebanon,
the Caucuses and Central Asia, a new release said.
Kurdish is classified as an Iranian language and is
closely related to Persian, Tajik and Pashto, all of
which are also taught at IU.
The opportunity to offer Kurdish came when Kutbettin
Kilic, an ethnic Kurd from Istanbul, Turkey, applied
to the doctoral program in NELC.
"We were able to arrange a fellowship for him to
teach the language class," though a formal Kurdish
program had not existed before this year, Walbridge
said.
Kilic said he is enthusiastic about teaching his
native language in the United States.
"We have five students in the class, which is a very
good number for the first year of the only program
in North America," he said. "Arabic, Turkish and the
other Middle Eastern languages have states and
governments supporting them, sending students abroad
and promoting the teaching of these languages. This
is really a great opportunity to finally promote
Kurdish."
This year NELC is offering only first-year Kurdish,
which meets five days each week. The department
plans to offer at least second-year Kurdish next
year and possibly other dialects of Kurdish in the
future, said Martha Held, a graduate student in NELC
who was actively involved in organizing the course.
Graduate student Maryah Converse jumped at the
chance to take the class.
"I study Arabic as well and hope to work for a
humanitarian organization in the Middle East," she
said. "Kurdish would be very useful, especially in
Iraq."
Job opportunities for Kurdish speakers have
increased tremendously in recent years, said
Walbridge, and it is now also possible to conduct
academic research in Kurdish areas.
"Turkey has opened up to the point where research
can be done in the Kurdish regions there, and
hopefully in the future the situation in northern
Iraq will stabilize to that point too," he said.
Graduate student Suncem Kocer is a native of Turkey
where, until recently, teaching Kurdish was illegal.
"Even now, it's bureaucratically difficult to set up
a Kurdish language program in Turkey," she said.
"I've always wanted to take Kurdish, which would
help my research on anthropology and ethnic
identity."
Kocer laughed at the fact that she finally got the
chance in Indiana to study a language so widely used
in her own country.
"This is a great opportunity. The class is small, so
we get a lot of speaking practice," she said. "I'm
so glad I've been able to do this here."
idsnews com
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan".
Others estimate as many as 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan but
unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag is
banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it is
a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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