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What is the Pashto language?
The Pashto language is part of the Iranian division of Indo-European languages and is spoken by Pashtuns, an ethnolinguistic group residing primarily between northeastern Afghanistan and the northern stretch of the Indus River in Pakistan. In 1936, Pashto became the national language of Afghanistan.
There are over 35 million Pashto speakers residing in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. The dialects of Pashto fall into two main divisions: the southern, which preserves the ancient /sh/ and /zh/ sounds, and the northern, which uses /kh/ and /gh/ sounds instead. Pashto is written with a modified Arabic alphabet.
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Where is Pashto mainly spoken?
Pashto, an Indo-Iranian language, is spoken by over 35 million people, mainly residing in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is the national language of Afghanistan since 1936. There are also smaller Pashto-speaking communities in Iran, Tajikistan, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. In Pakistan, Pashto is spoken by Pashtuns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The cities of Kandahār, Jalālābād, and Lashkar Gāh in Afghanistan, and Peshawar and Quetta in Pakistan, are important centers of Pashtun culture.
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Who are the native speakers of Pashto?
Pashto is spoken by the Pashtun people, an ethnolinguistic group residing primarily between the Hindu Kush in northeastern Afghanistan and the northern stretch of the Indus River in Pakistan. It is the national language of Afghanistan since 1936. There are more than 35 million Pashto speakers, with most residing in Afghanistan or Pakistan. Smaller communities exist in Iran, Tajikistan, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. Pashto has a rich oral tradition, but a scant literary one.
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What language family does Pashto belong to?
Pashto is part of the Iranian division within the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages. As the national language of Afghanistan since 1936, Pashto is spoken by over 35 million people, mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Though scholars disagree on the specifics of its origin, Pashto's location has resulted in it borrowing from other languages, such as ancient Greek, Saka, Parthian, and Persian. It also converged with northwestern Indian languages, like Sindhi and Balochi, which led to the adoption of retroflex sounds and approximately 5,550 loanwords.
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What are some features of Pashto, such as its script or sounds?
Pashto, a member of the Iranian division of Indo-Iranian languages, is spoken by over 35 million people, mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where it became the national language in 1936. It uses a modified Arabic alphabet in its writing. Pashto's sentence construction is similar to Hindi, with the noun following the adjective. The language has two main dialect divisions: a southern one preserving ancient sounds and a northern one using different sounds. It has loanwords from ancient Greek, Persian and also from Prakrit, Balochi and Sindhi, from which it gained retroflex sounds.
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How has Pashto influenced the culture and literature of its speakers?
Pashto, the national language of Afghanistan since 1936, is spoken by over 35 million people, mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It has significantly shaped the culture and literature of the Pashtun people. Pashto shares features with the Indo-Aryan group of Indo-European languages due to extensive borrowing.
Khushhal Khan Khatak (1613–94), the national poet of Afghanistan, is considered the father of Pashto poetry for translating Persian traditions into Pashto. His poetry reflects a love for freedom. Pashto uses a modified Arabic script, with early literature mainly in poetry. Mohammad Hotak's Pata Khazana is a collection of Pashto poetry from the 8th century. Today, cities such as Kandahar and Peshawar are important centers of Pashtun culture.
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Pashto language, member of the Iranian division of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages. Extensive borrowing has caused Pashto to share many features of the Indo-Aryan group of the Indo-European languages as well. Originally spoken by the Pashtun people, Pashto became the national language of Afghanistan in 1936. It is spoken by more than 35 million people, most of whom reside in Afghanistan or Pakistan. Smaller speech communities exist in Iran, Tajikistan, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
Origins and lexicon
Scholars have found it difficult to reach consensus regarding specific claims about Pashto’s origins. Nonetheless, it is clear that the speech community’s location in a contested part of the ancient world instigated extensive contact with, and borrowing from, other languages, including varieties of ancient Greek, Saka, Parthian, and Persian. Pashto also converged with the northwestern Indian languages, especially the Prakrits, Balochi, and Sindhi. From these languages, Pashto acquired retroflex sounds (sounds produced with the tip of the tongue curled against the roof of the mouth) and approximately 5,550 loanwords.
The dialects of Pashto fall into two main divisions: the southern, which preserves the ancient /sh/ and /zh/ sounds, and the northern, which uses /kh/ and /gh/ sounds instead. Aspirates—sounds accompanied by an audible breath—are common to most of Pashto’s neighbouring Indo-Aryan languages but are uncommon in Pashto.
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The slight changes that denote loanwords from the Prakrits, Sindhi, and Balochi are generally quite easy to identify. For instance, gadi ‘a cart’ in Sindhi is rendered as gari in Hindi and gadai in Pashto. Likewise, the term for ‘male buffalo’ is rendered sand in Hindi and sanr in Pashto. A number of words are identical in Hindi, Sindhi, and Pashto, including sadak ‘road,’ peda ‘a sweet,’ and khirki ‘window.’
The Pashto language has also borrowed words from Tajik (a form of Persian) and Uzbek (a Turkic language); examples include ruai-jirge ‘a common platform’ and ilghar ‘attack.’ A number of Arabic words or their Persianized forms have also been assimilated into Pashto, as have several Persian verbs. The sound /n/ of Persian is replaced by /l/ in Pashto.
Grammar and literature
The sentence construction of Pashto is akin to that of Hindi. Unlike Persian, but as in the Prakrits, the Pashto noun comes after the adjective and the possessor precedes the possessed in the genitive construction. The verb generally agrees with the subject in both transitive and intransitive sentences. An exception occurs when a completed action is reported in the past tense. In such cases, Pashto forms are the same as Hindi forms: the verb agrees with the subject if it is intransitive and with the object if it is transitive.
Pashto is written with a modified Arabic alphabet. The earliest literary form is poetry; Mohammad Hotak’s Pata Khazana (1728–29; “The Hidden Treasure”) is a collection of Pashto poetry from the 8th century onward. The national poet of Afghanistan, Khushhal Khan Khatak (1613–94), wrote spontaneous and forceful poetry of great charm. His grandson Afzal Khan was the author of an early history of the Pashtun.
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