Teacher translates Quran to save endangered Kurdish dialect
The Kurdish dialect of Hawrami is on the path to extinction, according to UNESCO.
Hawrami, a dialect of the Kurdish language, is spoken by some 23,000 people in Iran’s Western Kurdistan and Iraq’s Hawraman area. UNESCO classed the dialect as “definitely endangered” in 2010.
The people of Hawraman, located in northeastern Iraq, mostly reside in the mountainous highlands where tough conditions have earned them the reputation of being self-reliant, resilient and resourceful. They are known for their traditional attire and long life expectancies.
They are also known as good fighters. After the First World War, when Sheikh Mahmoud Barzinji rebelled against the British in 1919, it was with the help of several hundred Hawrami fighters that he delivered a humiliating defeat to the British at Tasluja Pass just outside Sulaimaniyah.
Today, the region is well represented in national bodies. For example, Ashti Hawrami served as the Kurdistan Regional Government's minister for natural resources.
