Can Linguistic Distance help Language Classification? Assessing Hawrami-Zaza and Kurmanji-Sorani

TL;DR

This study uses computational methods to measure linguistic distances among Hawrami, Zaza, Kurmanji, and Sorani dialects to inform their classification as independent languages or dialects.

Contribution

It introduces a quantitative approach using phonetic data to assess linguistic relationships among Iranian dialects and languages, addressing unresolved classification debates.

Findings

Hawrami and Zaza show significant linguistic distance.

Kurmanji and Sorani are closely related linguistically.

All dialect pairs exhibit varying degrees of similarity and dissimilarity.

Abstract

To consider Hawrami and Zaza (Zazaki) standalone languages or dialects of a language have been discussed and debated for a while among linguists active in studying Iranian languages. The question of whether those languages/dialects belong to the Kurdish language or if they are independent descendants of Iranian languages was answered by MacKenzie (1961). However, a majority of people who speak the dialects are against that answer. Their disapproval mainly seems to be based on the sociological, cultural, and historical relationship among the speakers of the dialects. While the case of Hawrami and Zaza has remained unexplored and under-examined, an almost unanimous agreement exists about the classification of Kurmanji and Sorani as Kurdish dialects. The related studies to address the mentioned cases are primarily qualitative. However, computational linguistics could approach the question from a quantitative perspective. In this research, we look into three questions from a linguistic distance point of view. First, how similar or dissimilar Hawrami and Zaza are, considering no common geographical coexistence between the two. Second, what about Kurmanji and Sorani that have geographical overlap. Finally, what is the distance among all these dialects, pair by pair? We base our computation on phonetic presentations of these dialects (languages), and we calculate various linguistic distances among the pairs. We analyze the data and discuss the results to conclude.