Kurdish Sign Language (ZHK, from Kurdish Zmani Hêmay Kurdi) is the deaf sign language used by the Kurdish deaf community in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It is a distinct sign language with three recognized dialects, associated with the three Kurdish schools for the deaf located in Sulaymaniyah, Erbil, and Duhok. Kurdish Sign Language is unintelligible with Iraqi Sign Language, indicating that the two are separate languages.
Classification and ISO code
Kurdish Sign Language is classified as a deaf-community sign language, possibly a language isolate. Its ISO 639-3 code is zhk, and its Glottolog identifier is kurd1260.
History and origins
The language may have originated with the establishment of the first Kurdish school for the deaf in Sulaymaniyah in 1982. The first teachers at that school reportedly did not know Iraqi Sign Language, which suggests that Kurdish Sign Language does not descend from Iraqi Sign Language. It is uncertain whether the sign language used at the Sulaymaniyah school was based on a pre-existing sign language of the deaf community or whether it developed when deaf children who knew only home sign were brought together. There are lexical similarities with Iraqi Sign Language, but it is unknown whether these reflect influence from Iraqi Sign Language during the 1990s or later, or whether they represent a common inheritance from Ottoman or Arab signs and gestures. Translators for Kurdish Sign Language are reportedly unable to understand deaf Kurds educated in Baghdad, further indicating that the two languages are distinct. Students from the three Kurdish schools are able to communicate with one another, though they note lexical differences between the dialects.
Speakers
As of 2015, over 1,000 students had attended one of the deaf schools, suggesting that figure as a minimum speaking population, out of a total of perhaps 10,000 deaf individuals in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Recognition and status
As of 2024, only five Kurdish Sign Language interpreters were working in the Kurdistan region. In 2024, the American University of Iraq, Sulaymaniyah (AUIS) offered its first classes in Kurdish Sign Language and Deaf Studies. Reports from organizations such as Deaf Worlds, Inc. have noted that Kurdish Sign Language faces challenges related to lack of official recognition, limited educational support, and insufficient resources. The language has also been the subject of academic research, including studies on sign language recognition using computational methods and on conceptual blending mechanisms within the language.
