ABSTRACT
Language plays a powerful role in the struggle of the Kurds for recognition as a people. In the eyes of many, the Kurdish language is both proof and symbol of the separate identity of the Kurds, and impressive efforts are made to preserve and develop it. Some governments, on the other hand, have also realized the significance of language, and have sought to ªassimilate º the Kurds by attempting to suppress Kurdish altogether, or to discourage its development. The problems created by official repression are compounded by the fact that considerable differences exist between the various dialects of Kurdish; this has precluded the development of a unified standard form of Kurdish that could be used as a generally accepted written language. As a result of the partition of Kurdistan after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, two different standard languages have now emerged, one of which has evolved almost entirely in exile. This paper will give a brief survey of the origin and early history of Kurdish, and go on to examine in greater detail the recent history and present position of the Kurdish language in Turkey, Iraq and Iran, with special reference to the development of written forms of Kurdish. Some developments which took place in Syria will be discussed in the context of the history of Kurdish in Turkey and in exile. The situation in the Soviet Union, including questions of language, is discussed elsewhere in this volume.
