(Jaffi Accent) A Sub-variety of Central Kurdish: A Dialectological Study

Volume 3 ,Issue 1 ,September 2026 ,Pages 109-121

Authors

Asst.Prof.Dr. Twana Saadi Hamid 1 ; L.Dr. Bekhal Abubakr Hussein 1

1 English Dept., College of Languages, University of Sulaimani

DOI logo 10.17656/jzsb.12562

Keywords

Abstract

 

This study investigates a language sub-variety within Central Kurdish (CK henceforth). The sub-variety, spoken by a tribe known as Jaff, is spoken in the northeast of Iraq and west of Iran. The language variety is identical to CK in terms of grammar and vocabulary; it has its own phonetic features. In the literature of Kurdish dialectology, the Jaffi variety has not been studied. Mackenzie (1961, 1962) refers to the variety by collecting raw data from two speakers of the variety without describing its phonetic features or identifying the area where it is spoken.  The current study concludes that Jaffi is an accent within CK, having its own phonetic features. It is also found that the variety is initiated by language contact with Southern Kurdish in the south, with Ardalani Kurdish in the north. There is variation among the Jaffi speakers in different areas where the language variety is spoken

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  • First online30 September 2026
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