Etymology of "Kurmanj": Exploring the Origins of Kurdish
The term "Kurmanj" is what the bulk of Kurds may refer to themselves.
It's a sort of an alternative national name, something to gratify Kurds
within their privacy while singing a folklore Kurdish song before all
those firm mountains and their snowcaps scrapping the Mediterranean
clouds.
As a general knowledge, we all are aware that Northern Kurdish
speakers, namely Kurmanjí speakers who comprise the largest Kurdish
linguistic group, alternatively refer to themselves as "Kurmanj" or
"Kormanj" (used by Khorasani Kurds in Northeastern Iran). Also Central
speakers, Soraní ones, pronounce the term as "Kirmanj" and apply it to
nomad or rustic people in a general sense. It's while the Eastern Soraní
speakers, particularly those of Erdellan region, use the term "Kirmanj"
in order to name their northern Soraní speaking neighbors of Mukryan
region. Besides these, the central Zaza speakers resolutely refer to
themselves as "Kirmanj". The varieties of this term as follows:
Northern: kurmanj, kormanj (Khorasani Kurdish), kurmanc (name of a mountain)
Central: kirmanj
Zaza: kirmanj
However the term is still kind of unfamiliar within the Orient, but
it received a pretty good scale of western attention no sooner than the
last century. That was because the modern scholars got acquainted with
Kurdish language through Ottomans and later Turkey, wherein nine persons
out of per ten Kurds speak Kurmanjí for sure. I should confess this
acquaintance cannot be considered as a fortunate one since it ushered
into such a misleading that made most western linguists to blunder by
giving the general sense of "Kurdish" to "Kurmanjí". They exactly
slipped up and reckoned their theories and articles on Kurdish language
without Southern and Central dialects.
One of the first assumptions about the etymology of "Kurmanj" tells
on a probable proto form "Kurdmanj". Then explains that it consists of
two words: "Kurd" and "manj". The first one is clear but the second one
should be an altered type of "majh" ~ "Pre-Islam Iranian clerics with
sorts of magical power", as the assumption asserts. Therefore the term
"Kurmanj" or "Kurdmanj" should be representing a "sacred clergy class
amongst Kurds". But it ain't going to match with the reality anyways.
First there are no explanations how come the Soraní speakers drop the
"-u-" in "Kurd-"* and started off pronouncing it as "Kir-" without the
faintest trace of spelling "Kurd" as "Kird" in all Central and Southern
dialects. Also the suggested definition doesn’t make sense at all. It
tells on "the clergy class" whilst the "Kurmanjí" speaking Kurds were
chiefly nomads with a tough tribal society. And this reality about their
lifestyle just coincides with the Central significance of "Kurmanj":
"nomad Kurds". Also as an obvious fact in this case it's evidently
Northern dialect which has changed the original "Kirmanj" to "Kurmanj".
Since an at hand but famous example tells us: Northern "kurm", "qurm" ~
"worm", while Central and Southern "kirm" (also Persian "kérm").
The other hypothesis about etymology of "Kurmanj" proposes a
"Kirman-j" combination and the all it adds on "Kirman-" is just a
wondering whether it has to do something with the Iranian city of
"Krmana", (modern "Kerman") mentioned in the Achaemenid inscriptions, or
not.
For me it sounded more reasonable than the earlier assumption. I
tried many thoughts and ideas in order to disclose its mystery. I even
attempted to research probable connections between "Kurmanj" and another
term with an obscure root: "German". However the lack of proper
information debarred me from going too far in that case.
I should recite that during inquiring the etymology of
"Kurmanj"/"Kirmanj" I was prosecuting my work on etymology of Kurdish
lexical treasure. And I was getting exhausted of distinguishing Kurdish
words and linguistic features which either seemed closer to the
Southwestern Iranian characteristics or mostly you had to explain them
entirely outside of Northwestern and Southwestern definitions. The
features and words belonging to the later matter were completely amazing
and those which were resembling Southwestern characteristics didn’t
seem to be wholly borrowed from Persian. They mainly sounded inherent
features rather than foreign loans. Also I couldn’t appease my sense of
curiosity by telling myself the story of "Northwesternness" and
"Southwesternness". Since I believe it's just an implausible excuse to
explain the dissent between the conventional linguistic believes and the
reality of Iranian speeches.
Meanwhile I was incrementally getting aware of the exclusive
likenesses between Kurdish (its all speeches) and Northeastern Iranian
languages (such as Bactrian, Sogdian, etc.). This just led to a wider
horizon as soon as I recognized the incredible similarity between
Kurdish and Khotanese Scythian. The likenesses between these two, which I
am going to talk about em in another topic, are too interesting and
fully amazing.
But I still couldn’t realize what must connect Kurds with Scythians
in that incredible manner? Thinking on it just helped me to discern the
scintilla that a Kirmanshani friend of mine gave me: in our conversation
I willfully asked him about the Southern Kurdish sub-dialects, namely
Kelhúrí, Gerrusí, Pehlí (Feylí), Lekí, Zengene, etc. and harped on
Kurdish language as I always do. A usual trouble which every single
individual has to deal with in case of writing about Southern Kurdish
sub-dialects is that there is no certain general name to refer to them
as. Local Kurdish scholars used to refer to these sub-dialects as
"Goraní" or "Gúraní" but it became a confounding term as soon as the
western scholars titled Hewramí Kurdish and its relative speeches and
dialects as "Goraní" (since Kurds conventionally call a kind of archaic
Kurdish poetry as "Goraní" which benefits from a speech similar to
Hewramí for the sake of inditing). Thereafter we always have trouble to
name the mentioned Southern sub-dialects in a proper manner. But that
Kirmanshaní friend just told me the most precious term I could ever
anticipate: "Well, yes I am also introduced with other Southern
sub-dialects: Kelhúrí, Gerrusí, Ílamí, Lekí, Zengene, Feylí, Xaneqíní,
or as we use to refer to them generally "Kirmajhí""
It was really exciting to hear it. At first I hastily assumed that it
might be a distorted form of a possible "Kirmanjhí". But when I
measured it rationally I figured out it's impossible to assume that it's
derived from "Kirmanjhí". Because if "Kirmanjhí" is going to be another
form of "Kirmanjí" and "Kurmanjí", with a probable change of "j" >
"jh", so what for the Northern sub-dialects which are stubbornly apt to
change "j" > "jh" didn’t change it that way? Why still "Kirmanj" and
"Kurmanj" are the predominant spellings over the populous territories of
Northern and Central dialects and there is not any noticeable trace of
"Kirmanjh"?
I got the final answer when I turn the pages of my motherland's
history once again. Specially those chapters pertaining to Scythian
tribes that left their homeland somewhere in the Volga steps and roamed
all the way till to intrude the ancient land of Hurrians. We can read
about their loots within Hittite cities and other Anatolian places, and
their temporary alliance with Assyrians, or fraternizing with their
Iranian cousins: Medes. The most interesting and well-known part of
Scythian waves is what Assyrians and Georgians refer to as "Gimer"*.
They didn’t leave a good impression on the minds of Anatolian people of
the ancient times. So that they received the sense of "residents of the
darkling land" or "Cimmerians" in the western literature!
The last thing we can read about them is that they never ever showed
up again in the history. It would be the most puerile thing if we
considered they disappeared just like that! For sure they didn’t
suddenly vanish neither got on an alien spaceship probably to try a
spatial-pillage! They just instilled into the body of the western Medes.
After that there raises a new nation which is neither Mede nor
Scythian, but a blend of them with a pre-Aryan background pertaining to
Hurrians: Kurds.
However there are not too much stuffs about Scythian/Cimmerian
language but the Khotanese Scythian (a type of Scythian spoken in
ancient Khotan ~ modern Chinese Turkistan) texts evidence that the
modern Kurdish speeches in some sorts are a unique relative of it as
well as they explain those features of Kurdish which don’t match with
Northwestern and Southwestern Iranian characteristics.
Also as someone mentioned before over the "Etymology Kirmashan"
topic, the earliest Zoroastrian text, Karnamag-i Ardashir-i Babagan,
points out a "Krma Khwaday" (in unified Kurdish letters: Kirma Xweday)
that means "the Lord of Krma/Kirma" as the king of where we today call
it "Kirmashan" (official Persian "Kermanshahan"). The term "Kirma" is
they key. Something we can use to clue ourselves in figuring out the
true etymology of "Kurmanj"/"Kirmanj". For sure no one can say it with
any certainty that the varied forms such as "Kimeru"*, "Gimr"*,
"Gimer"*, etc. are the true-local names which Cimmerians used to refer
to themselves. These are all Greek, Assyrian or Georgian types which
could be easily far from the original form (just compare the name
"Cyrus" with its original form of "Kurosh", or "Achaemenid" with
"Hakhamaenesh" ). I try to say that the original form evidently should
be a "Kirma" as the Zoroastrian text along with modern Kurdish national
names and toponyms vouch for it.
From "Kirme" To "Kirmanj"
The Old Iranian "cít" has an alternative function in Iranian
language. That's to say besides being used in meaning of "too/ also", it
also acts as a suffix indicating the state of pertaining to something.
In Northernwestern Iranian languages it appears as "-sh" (archaic
Daylami); "-íj" (Mazandarani, Gilaki, southern Talyshi), "-ijh"
(Northern Talyshi, Sangsari), "-jí" (Central dialects), and surprisingly
"-cí" (only northern Gilaki dialect of Anzali). The above mentioned are
almost used merely in order to indicate belonging to a place:
"Enzelící" ~ "from Anzal"; "Enberunijh" ~ "from Anbaran", "Rají" ~ "from
Rey". The same thing also appears in Zaza: Southern "-ijh", Central
"-ij", and Northern "-iz".
In modern Kurmanji, Sorani, and Southern dialects it appears to
connect something to another. Sorts of the same role as English "-ish" I
could example. It appears as either "-ijh" or "-ish": e.g. pakish,
paqijh ~ "clean", from "pak" and "-ish", "-ijh". Also it shows up in the
famous Kurdish suffix: "-íshk" (like in "keníshk" ~ "girl") which is
the modern form of Old Iranian "cít-eke").
So the term "Kirma" receives this suffix and becomes "Kirmajh" which
you can still find it amongst Southern speakers. There is another
Kurdish feature which is exclusively Kurdish: "jh" > "nj". It appears
in some words: tanjí < tajhí ~ greyhound; dirinj < dirijh ~ from
Old Iranian "diruj" ~ "demon". Therefore we get the term "Kirmanj" which
later undergoes a Northern change of "kirm-" into "kurm-" and becomes
"Kurmanj". It retains the former shape in the Zaza speech however. It's
worthy of mention that we can speculate the etymology of "Crimea", an
ancient dwelling of Cimmerians, in the same way. So far the only
etymology for "Crimea" is a Tatar "Qirim" ~ "my hill" which is too
simple to be taken serious.
The term "Kirmanshan" however could be originally "Kirman-Shahan",
the first one which consists of "Kirman" ~ "Kirm(a)-an" (like "Sor-an",
"Hewram-an", "Gor-an", "Eyr-an" ~ "Iran" etc.), as the official Persian
name confirms too. The other pronunciation "Kirmashan" must be a
dropping of the middle "-n-" due to the final one. The later form of
"Kirmasha" is either dropped a middle "-n-" from original "Kirmanshah"
or occasionally lost the final "-n" (as also happens in Lekí accents,
and a phenomenon among Luri dialects).
There is another noticeable toponym, a place not too far from
Kirmanshan, named "Kirmend" which is comprised of "Kirm-" and "-ente".
By the way the Scythian invasion toward Kurdistan left linguistic
impacts besides ethnic one, which owe both fortunate and unfortunate
consequences. These linguistic impacts later enhanced during the
Parthian reign and the introduction of Parthian as the official
language: diversities between Kurdish speeches. The contemporary
Kurmanjí, Soraní, and Southern speakers who speak the same language from
a linguistic outlook, seem to speak a variety closer to that of
Scythians. It's just my initial hypothesis. At least they have kept the
second national title, Kirmanj, in a wider range. More inquiries are
required over this issue. But for beginning this knowledge can be really
helpful in case of reconstructing the Proto Kurdish language.
By the way according to the above I prefer to classify Kurdish speeches into two major groups:
Kirmanjí* group:
Northern Kirmanjí or Kurmanjí
Central Kirmanjí or Soraní
Southern Kirmanjí or Kirmajhí
Pehlewaní group:
Goraní ? : Hewramí, Gúraní, Kakeí, Shebekí, Síwendí, etc.
Zaza**? : Southern or Dimbúlí, Central or Kirmanjkí, and Northern or Aléví
(Kirmanjí*: since the wide and extensive use of "-nj" instead original "-jh", I suggest to admit it
Zaza**: this is allegedly a scornful term of Armenian origin without
any reasonable etymologies outside of that. Unfortunately this silly and
disrespectful term has received a huge attention thru articles of
misunderstood scholars and continuous efforts of some malevolent fellows
over Turkey and their nerd moles)
I will remark the Scythian (which I believe is related with Cimmerian
speech) elements in the Modern Kurdish speeches in an independent topic |