Language Use and Attitudes among the Kurds of Baghdad

Abstract

Several studies have dealt with the Kurdish minorities in different regions far and wide, but few studies have focused on the Kurds of Baghdad, Iraq, especially after the 2005 Constitution which supported the Kurdish language. This study aims at investigating the contexts wherein the Kurdish language is used by the Kurds of Baghdad and their attitudes towards their ethnic language (Kurdish) to see if the official status that has been accorded to it is mirrored in society. To do so, a sample of 100 respondents selected from the Kurdish community living in Baghdad took part in a questionnaire and pilot interviews. The study shows that home and family are the most common contexts within which the Kurds use the Kurdish language. Results also show that Arabic and Kurdish are used side by side within the neighborhood, workplace, and education institutions contexts. As for attitudes towards Kurdish, the participants have displayed positive attitudes towards their ethnic language and felt proud of it as a unifying symbol of the Kurdish nation. This study concludes that the new official status that has been given to Kurdish for over fifteen years has not been in force yet and suggests directions for future research on language policy in Iraq. Keywords: Language Use, Language Attitudes, Kurds, Kurdish, Iraq.