Diglossic Patterns of Language Use among Kurmanj People, Residents of North Khorasan, Iran

This study attempts to investigate the diglossic patterns of Kurmanji, a dialect of Kurdish,among people in Esfarayen, northeast of Iran. Attempts have been made to analyze thedifferences in language choice between Farsi and Kurmanji in different settings and if therewould be any effect of Kurmanji on non-Kurmanj people since about ۴۳% of the populationin the city is Kurmanj. To do these, both qualitative and quantitative types of research wereadapted. For qualitative, interviews and observation were conducted in various settings, and aquestionnaire was designed based on the work of Nercissians (۲۰۰۱). For quantitativeresearch, ۸۲ Participants, ۳۴ females and ۴۸ males, were chosen randomly to find out howeducation, age, and place of living, whether in the city or villages, can affect language choice.The results indicated various factors for language choice among the speakers of this languageresiding in Iran. Such diversity in language choice can be according to the context, and theusage is according to social distance, solidarity, and participants.

کلیدواژه ها:

Kurmanj ، literature ، Iranian peoples