Kurmanc (English Pronunciation Kur-manj) is a term used to describe Kurds that speak the Kurmanci dialect or language. While the term was previously used by Kurds to identify tribes that speak dialects belonging to the Kurmanji Kurdish linguist branch, the term has also been used in modern times as a synonym for Kurd.

The term, Kurmanc, is generally associated with Kurds that speak the Northern Kurmanci dialect. However, the term has also been historically used (and is still used throughout Kurdistan) to also refer to Kurds that speak other dialects classified as part of the Kurmanji Kurdish branch, such as the Sorani dialect. This term is in contrast to Goran or Dimili (also Zaza), which has been used to describe Kurds that speak what some linguists describe as the other branch of the Kurdish language, Pehlewani.

Ethnicity

R2 was found at an unusually high frequency of 44% among Kurmanji-speakers (Kurmanjs) in Georgia, but at a much lower frequency of 8% among Kurmanjs in Turkmenistan.^[1]

References

• Ethnologue

See also

• Kurmanci
• Northern Kurmanji
• Sorani
• Gorani (language)
• Dimili
• Kurdish language
• Kurds