Oxford Kürt Dilbilimi El Kitabı Yedi Yıllık Çalışmanın Ardından Yayımlandı
3. The Oxford Handbook of Kurdish Linguistics arrives after seven years
The first comprehensive English-language academic reference dedicated to the Kurdish language was published in 2026 by Oxford University Press, culminating seven years of collaborative work by over 40 expert authors across 27 chapters and 656 pages. Edited by Jaffer Sheyholislami (Carleton University), Geoffrey Haig (University of Bamberg), Haidar Khezri (University of Central Florida), Salih Akin (University of Rouen-Normandy), and Ergin Öpengin (University of Cambridge/University of Kurdistan-Hewlêr), the handbook is published under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 open access license, a deliberate decision ensuring free access for Kurdish-speaking communities worldwide.
The handbook addresses the fundamental question head-on: is Kurdish one language or several? The editors argue that "the terms 'language' and 'dialect' have no objective basis" in scientific classification and that "the pseudo-scientific criterion of 'mutual intelligibility' cannot be applied with any degree of reliability or objectivity." They identify six main varieties, Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji), Central Kurdish (Sorani), Southern Kurdish, Laki, Gorani/Hawrami, and Zazaki, each receiving its own dedicated chapter.
Mapping Kurdish for the first time
Chapter 15, "Mapping Kurdish" by Erik Anonby and Jaffer Sheyholislami, presents what OUP calls "a groundbreaking and significant new interpretation of the linguistic maps of Kurdish." The handbook reports over 35 million Kurdish speakers across Kurdistan and diaspora communities.
Among the handbook's other notable contributions are a chapter on language contact by world-renowned contact linguist Yaron Matras (Manchester), historical phonology by Ludwig Paul (the leading authority on Zazaki), and Chapter 23's original empirical research featuring interviews with Kurdish heritage-language teachers across five diaspora countries (Canada, Germany, Sweden, UK, USA).