Zazaki (or Kirmanjki, Kirdki, Dimilki) is an Indo-European language spoken primarily in eastern Turkey. According to Ethnologue, the language is a part of the northwestern group of the Iranian section of the Indo-European family. Zazaki shares many features, structures, and vocabulary with Gorani, Talyshi and other Caspian languages, and Kurdish languages. According to Ethnologue (which cites [Paul 1998]), the number of speakers is between 1.5 and 2.5 million (including all dialects). According to Nevins, the number of Zazaki speakers is between 2 and 4 million. Although their language is not a Kurdish dialect, the Zaza people consider themselves to be Kurds and the Kurds accept them as such.

There are three main Zaza dialects:

Its sub-dialects are:

Its sub-dialects are:

Its sub-dialects are:

The first written statements in Zaza were compiled by the linguist Peter Lerch in 1850. Two other important documents are the religious writings of Ehmedê Xasi of 1899, and of Usman Efendiyo Babıc (published in Damascus in 1933); both of these works were written in the Arabic script.