The Kurdish languages ( or ) are several Western Iranian languages spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. The Kurdish languages are divided into four dialect groups, known as Kurmanji or Northern Kurdish, Central Kurdish, Southern Kurdish, Laki, and sometimes also Zazaki. Recent (as of 2009) estimates admit anywhere between 20 and 30 million native speakers of Kurdish in total. The literary output in the Kurdish languages was mostly confined to poetry until the early 20th century, when a more general literature began to be developed. In its written form today, Kurdish has two principal dialects, namely Kurmanji in the northern parts of the geographical region of Kurdistan, and Sorani further east and south. Sorani is the second official language of Iraq and is referred to in political documents simply as “Kurdish”, whereas the recognized minority language in Armenia is Kurmanji, which is also spoken in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Another group of languages, Zaza–Gorani, is spoken by several million Kurds.
