From Zeus to Zagros: Linguistic Similarities Between Kurdish and Greek Languages

Written by Elif Gulce Batgi

Language is the common means by which people communicate with each other throughout their lives, consisting of words used in a structured and conventional manner and expressed through speech, writing, or gesture. Beyond this fundamental yet imprecise definition, language reveals the connections between different communities and the story of human migration, playing a key role in showing us how people separated by vast distances and time can share common linguistic roots. This article explores the similarities between the Kurdish and Greek languages, acknowledging that drawing a single conclusion on such a complex and controversial topic is challenging and not intended. Yet, recent research approaches into the irrefutable nature of change in languages emphasize that the synchronic and diachronic views can be unified, providing a panchronic perspective that observes the relevance of small shifts in the present can be signaling for larger-scale evolutions in the past.^[1]

Two Ancient Languages: Kurdish and Greek

Kurdish is among the Indo-European language family, which is the biggest language family in the world. Geographical and other non-linguistic reasons at play, the Kurdish language has been spoken under four main dialects: Northern Kurdish ‘Kurmanji’, Central Kurdish ‘Sorani’, Southern Kurdish, and Zazaki-Gorani.^[2] Mutual understanding between these dialects has been decreasing over the past decades, proportionally with the number of people using the language as their mother tongue decreasing.^[2] Within the Indo-European language family, Kurdish, with all four dialects, is included in the Iranian language group, resembling Persian, Pashto, Balochi, and other Iranian languages as a result.^[2] Some similarities between the Kurdish and Turkish, and Arabic also appear, even though they do not belong to he same language group; however, these resemblances aren’t considered original since their origins are not the same. 

For instance, the word “water” in Kurdish is “av,” where the Persian version is “ab.” Or, the work ”door” is “der” in Persian, where it is “deri” in Kurdish. The word used for saying “two” is the same in Persian and Kurdish, which is “du.” However, these words in Arabic and Turkish are: “su,” “kapı,” and “iki” in Turkish; whereas in Arabic they are translated as “ba,” “bab,” and “esnan,” further affirming the non-originality of the resemblance between Kurdish and Turkish and Arabic. 

Kurdish lacks a unified alphabet, preventing the language unity and understanding between different Kurdish communities, making it easier for Kurds in Iran/Iraq to learn Arabic and Persian while Turkish Kurds find these languages more difficult due to different writing systems. 

Currently, Kurds use three different alphabets due to their population splitting into different countries: the modified Arabic alphabet, widely used by Iranian and Iraqi Kurds for Central Kurdish, Southern Kurdish, and Hawrami, with historical roots dating to the 15th century and used by classical poets like Malay Jaziri and Nali; the Latin alphabet, developed by Jaladat Ali Badirkhan in 1932 and used by Turkish and Syrian Kurds, which is similar to the Turkish alphabet; and the Cyrillic alphabet, formerly used by Soviet Kurds who have recently converted to Latin script.^[2]

While Iraqi and Iranian Kurds show readiness to adopt the Latin alphabet due to its prevalence in media and daily life, Turkish Kurds have less familiarity with the Arabic script, and notably, Syrian Kurdistan uniquely uses a different alphabet from that of their central state. 

Accounting for over 3000 years of history, the longest recorded history of any living language, Greek became the language of intellectual inquiry, expressing revolutionary ideas in philosophy, art, mathematics, and astronomy that shaped Ancient Greek civilization.^[3] During the classical period, Greek was spoken on the mainland of Greece, the Aegean islands including Rhodes, Crete, and Cyprus, and in the Greek colonies in Asia, Africa, and Italy. It is also among the Indo-European language family. Modern and classical Greek differ from each other. Classical Greek refers to the period between the 8th and the 4th century BCE, with the adoption of the alphabet.^[4] After getting through the Hellenistic and Roman phase (4th Century BCE to 4th century CE) and the Byzantine phase (5th to 15th century CE),  today, the Greek language is in its Modern phase.^[4] The Mycenaean script disappeared when the Mycenaean palaces were destroyed, possibly by Dorian invasions. The disappearance resulted in the Greeks being illiterate for a few centuries. 

The Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet through commercial contacts by the 8th century BCE, but made the crucial innovation of adding vowel letters α (a), ε (e), ι (i), ο (o), υ (u) to create the first true alphabet, where vowel letters were left unexpressed in the Phoenician alphabet.^[4] The earliest inscriptions date to 725 BCE, and while regional variations existed from the 8th-5th centuries BCE, the alphabet standardized around 400 BCE with the adoption of the Asiatic Ionic form.^[4] This development produced tens of thousands of surviving inscriptions and allowed the preservation of ancient Greek literature through papyri and manuscripts. The Greek alphabet's influence extends globally, serving as the foundation for the Latin alphabet and many other writing systems used throughout the modern world. 

The Indo-European Connection

In the figure above, you are seeing all the subgroups of language families that languages belong to. As seen in the figure, the Indo-European language family separates into four subcategories: Tocharian languages, Anatolian languages, Eastern languages, and Western languages. Both the Greek and Kurdish languages are in the Western languages subcategory until their split between Greek languages and Indo-Iranian languages, which gives us a hint of a connection between these two. 

Key Similarities

Before highlighting the key similarities between Greek and Kurdish, it is crucial to acknowledge that current research on this connection is scarce, yet the best way to analyze closeness is by comparing Kurdish with Balkan languages.

Orders, statements, and questions follow the same pattern across all four languages of Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Kurdish, with particles typically in utterance-final position. For example, the phrase “Come on, man!” in English is:

• Serbian: Ajde bre!

• Bulgarian: Haide be!

• Greek: Ela vre!

• Kurdish: Dei bre!

Besides Kurdish not being a part of the Balkan Sprachbund, it also uses bre in the same expressive way. Outside the Balkans, bre also appears in Assyrian and Ukrainian. A common dictionary claim is that the particles come from the Greek moros (“moron”), while some sources suggest a Turkish origin; in contrast, the Kurdish etymology is clear, with bre/bra meaning “brother.”^[6]

Other B-particle examples confirm this parallel:

Orders: “Go to sleep, man!”

• Serbian: Idi spavaj bre!

• Bulgarian: Idi da spiš be!

• Greek: Pigaíne na koimithís vre!

• Kurdish: Bcho bnu bre!

Questions: “How are you, man?”

• Serbian: Kako si bre?

• Bulgarian: Kak si be?

• Greek: Ti káneis vre?

• Kurdish: Chooniit bre?

Statements: “It’s very late!”

• Serbian: Mnogo je kasno bre.

• Bulgarian: Mnogo e kasno be.

• Greek: Eínai polí argá vre.

• Kurdish: Esta zor drenga bre.

Understanding the Differences

Greek and Kurdish communities have long lived under the Ottoman Empire for centuries. Despite the kilometers separating them, the languages and shared cultural experiences developed between these communities under Ottoman rule. However, after the Greek War of Independence (1821-1832) and the establishment of the modern Greek state, their linguistic paths diverged significantly. While Greek gained official status, standardized orthography, and institutional support for language development, Kurdish remained fragmented across multiple nation-states—Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria—each imposing different writing systems and varying degrees of linguistic suppression. This political fragmentation prevented Kurds from achieving the unified development that the Greeks experienced, resulting in the multiple alphabets and dialectal divisions that persist today. The geographical separation that began with Greek independence was further cemented by the post-World War I borders, creating distinct trajectories for these two Indo-European languages despite their ancient shared origins.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the linguistic similarities between the Kurdish and Greek stem from their shared Indo-European heritage rather than direct contact, as both descended from Proto-Indo-European ancestors thousands of years ago but followed different trajectories due to political factors. While Greeks developed unified writing systems and institutional support over three millennia, Kurds remained fragmented across multiple nation-states with different alphabets and suppression policies, hindering comprehensive analysis. The evidence presented—including shared particles like "bre" and similar syntactic patterns—suggests deeper connections exist, but limited Kurdish documentation prevents thorough comparative studies. As Kurdish gains greater literary expression and scholarly attention increases, we may uncover more evidence of the ancient bonds connecting these Indo-European languages.

References:

1. Dinillah, Trisna, et al. “LANGUAGE CHANGE and DEVELOPMENT: HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS.” PREMISE, vol. 5, no. 1, 2016, pp. 977244248–977244251. Accessed 12 Aug. 2025.

2. Kurdinameyê Ya Navnetewî, Kovara, and Jimar. “KURDISH LANGUAGE, ITS FAMILY and DIALECTS *.” 2020.

   Beals, J., & Grammar, N. A. G. (2010). History of Greek Language. Retrieved fro m (PDF) HISTORY OF THE GREEK LANGUAGE| Jason Beals-Academia. edu.

3. Angeliki Malikouti-Drachman, and Cornelis Jord Ruijgh. “Greek Language.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 13 Apr. 2018, www.britannica.com/topic/Greek-language.

4. SULAIMAN, M. I. (2022). The language policy and the linguistic rights in Syria: The Kurdish language a pattern.

   Vastenius, A. (2011). Expressive Particles in Serbian, Bulgarian, Greek and Kurdish.