Kurdish Studies

ISSN: 2051-4883 | e-ISSN: 2051-4891
Email: editor@kurdishstudies.net

Language shift among Kurds in Turkey: A spatial and demographic analysis

Sinan Zeyneloglu
Istanbul Kent University
Ibrahim Sirkeci
International Business School, UK
Yaprak Civelek
Istanbul Arel university
Keywords: Language shift; ethnicity; internal migration; Turkey; Kurds.

Abstract

This study explores language shift and interregional migration among Turkey’s Kurdish-origin population using census data as well as TDHS data. First, the geographical retraction of the Kurdish language between 1945 and 1965 is depicted using respective censuses as data sources. Second, patterns of intergenerational language shift and the effects of migration and education on this shift are elaborated utilising 2003 TDHS data and the 2000 Census data. Interregional mobility by birth regions and language concentration across Turkey has also been mapped. The Kurdish population in Turkey appears to be on the verge of near-universal bilingualism prompting concerns about the future of the language.

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Keywords

Kurdish StudiesKurdsmigrationTurkeyKurdishKurdistangenderSyriaimmigrationIraqIraqi KurdistanrefugeesmediadiasporaMigrationfamilyAlevismRojavaYezidisautonomyUnited StatesKurdish studiestransnational migrationIranstereotypesminoritiesAlevisactivismEuropesovereigntyareal linguisticsPKKIndiaBalkans