Pashto dialects

Pashto dialects (Pashto: د پښتو ګړدودونه‎ da Pax̌to gəṛdoduna) are divided into two varieties, the "hard" northern variety Pax̌to, and the "soft" southern variety Paṣ̌to. Each variety is further divided into a number of dialects. The southern dialect of Wanetsi is the most distinctive of the dialects.

The geographic dividing line between the southern and the northern variety passes through the Urozgan, Zabul, and Paktika provinces of Afghanistan, then cuts across the Durand Line border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and runs further northeastwards to the Kohat and Nowshera districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Hence, the hard Pax̌to is spoken in eastern and northeastern Afghanistan, central, northern, and eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and northern and central Federally Administered Tribal Areas; while the soft Paṣ̌to is spoken to the south of it, in southern and western Afghanistan, northern Balochistan, southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and southern Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Ethnologue divides Pashto into Northern, Central, and Southern Pashto, and Wanetsi.

Classification

1. Southern variety

• Kandahari dialect (or Southern dialect)
• Kakar dialect (or Southeastern dialect)
• Mandokhel-Shirani dialect
• Marwat-Lodi-Bettani dialect
• Southern Karlani group

• Khattak dialect
• Banuchi dialect
• Dawarwola dialect
• Masidwola dialect
• Wazirwola dialect

2. Northern variety

• Northern Karlani group

• Taniwola dialect
• Khosti dialect
• Zadran-Mangal dialect
• Bangash-Orakzai-Turi-Zazi dialect
• Afridi dialect
• Khogyani dialect
• Wardak dialect

• Kharoti dialect
• Central Ghilji dialect (or Northwestern dialect)
• Northern dialect (or Eastern dialect)
• Yusufzai dialect (or Northeastern dialect)

3. Wanetsi dialect

Prestige varieties

Literary standard

Main article: Central Pashto

Literary Pashto, or High Pashto standard, is the standardized variety of Pashto developed by Radio Television Afghanistan and Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan in Kabul. Its phonetics are based on the Central Pashto dialect (also called Northwestern Pashto), which is spoken in the central Ghilji region, but its vocabulary also derives from Southern Pashto. It has adopted neologisms to coin new terms from already existing words or phrases and introduce them into the Pashto lexicon. Educated Standard Pashto is learned in the curriculum that is taught in the primary schools in the country. It is used for written and formal spoken purposes, and in the domains of media and government.

Regional standards

There are several regional standard forms of Pashto which have high prestige, and serve as a means of communication between the various tribal communities in those regions.

Southern regional standard

Main article: Southern Pashto

Nourthen Pashto, also called Kandahari Pashto, is the prestige variety of Pashto in southern and western Afghanistan, and the Balochistan province of Pakistan.

Northern regional standard

Main article: Northern Pashto

Northern Pashto, also called Eastern Pashto, is the prestige variety of Pashto in eastern and northeastern Afghanistan, and northern part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. This dialect is almost identical to Yusufzai Pashto.

Yusufzai regional standard

Yusufzai Pashto, also called Peshawari or Northeastern Pashto, is the prestige variety of Pashto in central, northern, and eastern parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

Phonetic differences

The differences between the standard varieties of Pashto are primarily phonological, and there are simple conversion rules. The morphological differences between the standard varieties are very few and unimportant. Two of the key phonemes whose pronunciation vary between the different Pashto dialects are ښ and ږ. The southern dialect of Kandahar is the most conservative with regards to phonology, because it retains the original pronunciation of these two phonemes as voiceless and voiced retroflex sibilants, respectively, and does not merge them into other phonemes.

However, the dialects spoken by the tribes from the Karlani confederacy of Pashtuns are lexicologically different and very varied. Moreover, the Karlani dialects have a tendency towards a change in the pronunciation of vowels. Depending on the particular dialect, the standard Pashto [a], [ā], [o], [u] may change into [ā], [â/å/o], [ȯ/ȫ/e], [i], respectively. In the Karlani dialects of Waziristan, Bannu, and Tani (southern Khost), which follow the vowel shift to the greatest extent, these four vowels normally change into [ā], [o], [e], [i], respectively.

The nine phonemes represented in the column headings below show key phonetic differences between the dialects. Five of them are consonants written in the Pashto alphabet, and four are vowels written in the Latin script; sounds are transcribed in the IPA:

Dialect	Location	ښ	ږ	څ	ځ	ژ	a	ā	o	u
Durrani (or Southern)	Southern and western Afghanistan, including Kandahar	[ʂ]	[ʐ]	[t͡s]	[d͡z]	[ʒ]	[a]	[ɑ]	[o]	[u]
Kakar (or Southeastern)	Northern Balochistan, including Quetta	[ʃ]	[ʒ]	[t͡s]	[d͡z]	[ʒ, z]	[a]	[ɑ]	[o]	[u]
Wanetsi	Harnai and Sinjawi	[ʃ]	[ʒ]	[t͡s, t͡ʃ]	[z, d͡ʒ]	[z]	[a]	[ɑ]	[o]	[u]
Mandokhel-Shirani	Shirani, Zhob, and Darazinda	[ʃ]	[ʒ]	[t͡s]	[z]	[z]	[a]	[ɑ]	[o]	[u]
Marwat-Lodi-Bettani	Lakki Marwat, Jandola, Tank, and northern Dera Ismail Khan	[ʃ]	[ʒ]	[t͡ʃ]	[d͡ʒ]	[z]	[a]	[ɑ]	[o]	[u]
Khattak	Karak, southern and eastern Kohat, and southwestern Nowshera	[ʃ]	[ʒ]	[t͡s]	[z]	[ʒ]	[ɑ]	[ɔ]	[ɤ]	[u]
Banuchi	Bannu	[ʃ]	[ʒ]	[s]	[z]	[ʒ]	[ɑ]	[o]	[e]	[i]
Dawarwola	Tochi in North Waziristan	[ʃ]	[ʒ]	[t͡s, s]	[z]	[ʒ]	[ɑ]	[o]	[e]	[i]
Masidwola	From Janimela, South Waziristan to Shuidar, North Waziristan	[ʃ, ɕ]	[ʒ, ʑ]	[t͡ʃ]	[d͡ʒ]	[ʒ, ʑ]	[ɑ]	[o]	[e]	[i]
Wazirwola	Darweshkhel (Wazir) areas in South and North Waziristan	[ʃ, ɕ]	[ʒ, ʑ]	[t͡s, s]	[z]	[ʒ, ʑ]	[ɑ]	[o]	[e]	[i]
Taniwola	Tani, Gurbuz, and Mandozayi, in southern Khost	[x]	[ɡ]	[t͡s]	[z]	[ʒ]	[ɑ]	[o]	[e]	[i]
Khosti	Central and northern Khost	[x]	[ɡ]	[t͡s]	[z]	[ʒ]	[ɑ]	[ɒ]	[ɵ]	[u]
Zadran-Mangal	The Zadran-Mangal Arc in eastern Loya Paktia	[x]	[g]	[t͡s]	[d͡z]	[ʒ]	[ɑ]	[o]	[o, e]	[u, i]
Bangash-Orakzai-Turi-Zazi	Kurram, Aryob, Zazi Maidan, Orakzai, Hangu, and northwestern Kohat	[x]	[ɡ]	[t͡s]	[z]	[ʒ]	[ɑ]	[ɔ]	[ɤ]	[u]
Afridi	Khyber and Darra Adamkhel	[x]	[ɡ]	[t͡s]	[z]	[ʒ, d͡ʒ]	[ɑ]	[ɔ]	[ɤ]	[u]
Khogyani	Khogyani, Sherzad, and Pachir aw Agam, in southwestern Nangarhar	[x]	[ɡ]	[t͡s]	[z]	[ʒ]	[ɑ]	[ɒ]	[ɵ]	[u]
Wardak	Chak, Saydabad, Jaghatu, and Jilga, in southern Maidan Wardak	[ç]	[ʝ]	[t͡s]	[d͡z]	[ʒ, z]	[ɑ]	[ɒ]	[ɵ]	[u]
Kharoti	Urgun, Gomal, Barmal, Omna, Surobi, and Sar Hawza, in eastern Paktika	[ç]	[ʝ]	[t͡s]	[z]	[ʒ, z]	[a]	[ɑ]	[o]	[u]
Central Ghilji (or Northwestern)	Central Ghilji region (Ghazni, Gardez, western Paktika, etc.)	[ç]	[ʝ]	[t͡s]	[z]	[ʒ, z]	[a]	[ɑ]	[o]	[u]
Northern (or Eastern)	Eastern and northeastern Afghanistan, and northern FATA (Jalalabad, Kunar, Kunduz, Bajaur, etc.)	[x]	[ɡ]	[t͡s]	[z]	[ʒ]	[a]	[ɑ]	[o]	[u]
Khalil-Mohmand-Yusufzai (or Northeastern)	Central, northern, and eastern Pakhtunkhwa (Peshawar, Dir, Swat, Swabi, Mansehra, etc.)	[x]	[ɡ]	[s]	[z]	[d͡ʒ]	[a]	[ɑ]	[o]	[u]

• Dialects belonging to the southern non-Karlani variety, the southern Karlani variety, the northern Karlani variety, and the northern non-Karlani variety, respectively, are color-coded.

Lexical comparison

English gloss	Kandahari	Kakar	Wanetsi	Marwat	Khattak	Banuchi	Wazirwola	Taniwola	Afridi	Khogyani	Wardak	Central Ghilji	Northern	Yusufzai	Pashto lexeme
Pashto	Paṣ̌to	Pašto	Pašto	Pašto	Pāštȫ	Pāšte	Pāšte	Pāxte	Pāxtȫ	Pāxtȯ	Pāx̌tȯ	Pax̌to	Puxto	Puxto	پښتو
four	tsalor	tsalor	tsalor	čalor	tsālȫr	sāler	tsālwer	tsāler	tsālwȫr	tsālȯr	tsālȯr	tsalor	tsalor	salor	څلور
six	špaẓ̌	špaž	špož	špaž	špež	špež	špež	špeg	špeg	špeg	špeǵ	špaǵ	špag	špag	شپږ
woman	ṣ̌ədza	šədza	šəza	šəǰa	šəzā	šəzā	šəzā	xəzā	xəzā	x̌əzā	x̌ədzā	x̌ədza	xəza	xəza	ښځه
father	plār	plār	piyār	plār	plår	plor	plor	plor	plår	plâr	plâr	plār	plār	plār	پلار
many	ḍer zyāt	ḍer zyāt	tsaṭ	ḍer zyāt	ḍer zyåt	pirā zyot	rəṭ zyot	rəṭ zyot	ḍer zyåt	ḍer zyât	ḍer zyât	ḍer zyāt	ḍer zyāt	ḍer zyāt	ډېر زيات
few	ləẓ̌	ləž	ləž	ləž	ləž	ləški	ləški	ləg	ləg	ləg	ləǵ	ləǵ	ləg	ləg	لږ
how	tsənga	tsənga	tsona	čərang	tsərāng	sərāng	tsərāng	tsərge	tsərāng	tsəngā	tsəngā	tsənga	tsənga	singa	څنګه
who	tsok	tsok	čok	čok	tsȫk	sek	tsek	tsek	tsȫk	tsȯk	tsȯk	tsok	tsok	sok	څوک
to drink	čṣ̌əl	čšəl	ğwətang	čšəl	čšəl	čšəl	čšəl	tsəxəl	tsəxəl	tsəxəl	čx̌əl	čx̌əl	tskəl	skəl	څښل
foot	pṣ̌a	pša	špa, ğədəi	pša	pšā	pšā	pšā	pxā	pxā	pxā	px̌ā	px̌a	pxa	xpa	پښه
we	muẓ̌	muž	moš	muž	muž	miž	miž	mig	mu	mu	muǵ	muǵ	mung	mung	موږ
my	zmā	zmā	mā eğē	emā	emå	emo	emo	emo	emå	emâ	emâ	zmā	zəmā	zamā	زما
your	stā	stā	tāğa	etā	etå	eto	eto	eto	etå	etâ	etâ	stā	stā	stā	ستا
girl	nǰiləi	nǰiləi	čuwara	ǰinkəi	wȫṛkəi	weṛkye	weṛkye	weṛkye	wȫṛkye	wȯṛkəi	wȯṛkəi	ǰiləi	ǰinəi	ǰinē	نجلۍ
boy	halək	halək	waṛīz, čorī	kṛāčay	wȫṛkāi	weṛkā	weṛkāi	weṛkāi	wȫṛkāi	wȯṛkāi	wȯṛkāi	halək	halək	halək	هلک
Sun	lmar	lmar	mērə	nmar	merə stərgā	myerə stərgā	ğormə stərgā	myerə stərgā	merə stərgā	lmerə stərgā	lmer	lmar	nmar	nwar	لمر
egg	hagəi	hagəi	hoya	angəi	wȫyā	yeyā	yeyā	yeyā	wȫyā	ȯyā	ȯyā	hagəi	hagəi, hā	hagē, hā	هګۍ
yes/no	wo/ya	wo/na	wo/na	ya/na	wȫ	ē/nā	ē/nā	yē/nā	ē/nā	wȯ/nā	wȯ/nā	wo/na	wo/na	ao/na	هو\نه
home	kor	kor	kor	kor	kȫr	ker	ker	ker	kȫlə	kȯr	kȯr	kor	kor	kor	کور
I am	yəm	yəm	ī	yəm	yəm	yə	yə	yə	yəm	yəm	yəm	yəm	yəm	yəm	یم
I go	dzəm	dzəm	drimī	ǰəm	tsəm	sə	tsə	tsə	tsəm	tsəm	tsəm	dzəm	zəm	zəm	ځم
tongue	žəba	zəba	zbə	zəba	žəbā	žəbā	žəbā	žəbā	ǰəbā	žəbā	zəbā	zəba	žəba	ǰəba	ژبه
it exists	sta	sta	sta	sta	štā	štā	štā	štā	štā	štā	stā	sta	šta	šta	شته
bear	yiẓ̌	yiž	yirž	yiž	yiž	yiž	yiž	yig	yig	yig	yiǵ	yiǵ	yig	yig	ايږ
ant	meẓ̌ay	mežay	merža	mežay	mežāi	mežāi	mežāi	megāi	megāi	megāi	məǵātāi	meǵay	megay	megē	مېږی
English gloss	Kandahari	Kakar	Wanetsi	Marwat	Khattak	Banuchi	Wazirwola	Taniwola	Afridi	Khogyani	Wardak	Central Ghilji	Northern	Yusufzai	Pashto lexeme

In general, the Karlani dialects, both in southern and northern varieties, show more vocabulary differences than the non-Karlani southern and northern dialects. However, the most distinctive of the Pashto dialects is Wanetsi. Although Wanetsi follows the normal phonetic rules of the southern dialects near it, it is still greatly different from them in lexicon:

Wanetsi	Kandahari	Translation
sī	səl	hundred
šwī	šəl	twenty
(a)ğa	da	of
tərža	təẓ̌ay	thirsty
tōw, tōwa	tod, tawda	hot
ğandəm	ğanəm	wheat
māst	myāst	month
atā	atyā	eighty
wžəndz	ẓ̌mundz	comb
sunzən	stən	needle
brēstəṇ	bṛastən	quilt
činostang	kṣ̌enāstəl	to sit down
wayang	wayəl	to say
ze kī	zə kawəm	I do

Examples of sentences showing the difference between Wanetsi and the regional standard Kandahari:

Wanetsi	Kandahari	Translation
اندي وګوړي چي موښ پيار غه څټ لېژدي وي indī waguṛī čī mōš piyār ğa tsaṭ lēždī wī	په دې کلي کې زموږ د پلار ډېر غويان وو pə de kəli ke zmuẓ̌ da plār ḍer ğwayān wu	In this village our father had many bulls.
شمزې و خوارږه شوې مي دې غوزين šamze o xwāržə šwe mī de ğōzīn	شلومبې او خواږه شوده هم چښي šlombe aw xwāẓ̌ə šawdə ham čṣ̌i	[They] also drink buttermilk and sweet milk.

See also

• Eastern Iranian languages
• Proto-Indo-European language
• Indo-Iranian languages