The Kurdish dialects are known by various names such as Kurmanji, Sorani, Kalhuri, etc. Some of them are named after their speakers’ tribe, region, or city, such as Jafi, Sourchi, Khoshnawi, ...Sulaymaniyaie, Arbili, Garmiani, etc. As the main Kurdish dialect, Central Kurdish has been known as “Sorani.” From the beginning of its development as a literary language in the 18th century in the Baban emirate, this dialect has been mentioned differently. In the early poems of the Baban emirate poets, this dialect was named “Kurdi” while Northern Kurdish was called “Kurmanji” and Gurani was called “Guran” and sometimes “Kurdi.” In the 1920s, the Central Kurdish dialect got a new name “Babani,” and Southern and Central Kurmanji later. In the second half of the 20th century, it was called by another new name, “Sorani,” which is the most frequent name for this Kurdish dialect. This study investigated the historical roots of these names, their emergence, and dissemination. It also explained why “Sorani” is not appropriate for this dialect. This name has no historical background; it has been the name of the Kurdish emirate in the past, and it is the name of a local variety of Central Kurdish. Therefore, it is not an appropriate name for the large size of its speakers inhabited the southern and eastern parts of Kurdistan, between the two main Kurdish dialects: Northern and Southern Kurdish. If we look at the map of greater Kurdistan, this dialect is located in the central part of it. Thus, the most appropriate and scientific name for this Kurdish dialect is the Central Kurdish.
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