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what "other references" is that?
Britanica, Iranica etc. + the dictionary photo is inappropriate. Infoboxes usually contain scripts, eg. see Arabic language, Persian language, Punjabi language, Urdu and other articles. Find a photo of another Pashto script or leave this
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|nativename = <span style="font-size:1.4em;">{{lang|ps|پښتو}} </span>
|nativename = <span style="font-size:1.4em;">{{lang|ps|پښتو}} </span>
|pronunciation = {{IPA-ps|paʂˈto], [paçˈto], [puxˈto|}}
|pronunciation = {{IPA-ps|paʂˈto], [paçˈto], [puxˈto|}}
|image=Pashtunblack.png
|image = Daryab-Pashtu-Pashtu-Dictionary.jpg
|imagesize=190px
|imagecaption = Front cover of a Pashto dictionary with standard [[Pashto alphabet|Pashto text]]
|imagecaption= "[[Pashtun]]" in [[Diwani]]-style calligraphy
|states = [[Afghanistan]] (national)<ref name="Pashto-language"/><br>[[Pakistan]] (regional)
|states = [[Pakistan]] and [[Afghanistan]]. Also spoken among the [[Pashtun diaspora]]
|region = [[South Asia|South]]-[[Central Asia]]
|region = [[South Asia|South]]-[[Central Asia]]
|ethnicity = [[Pashtun people]]
|ethnicity = [[Pashtun people]]
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{{Contains Pashto text}}
{{Contains Pashto text}}
{{Pashtuns}}
{{Pashtuns}}
'''Pashto''' ({{lang|ps|{{Nastaliq|پښتو}}}}, ''Pax̌to'', {{IPA-ps|paʂˈto, paçˈto, puxˈto}}; alternatively spelled '''Pakhto''' or '''Pushto'''), known historically as '''Afghani'''<ref name="Leyden"/> and in India as '''Pathani''',<ref>{{cite book|last=India. Office of the Registrar General|title=Census of India, 1961: Gujarat|year=1961|publisher=Manager of Publications|pages=142, 166, 177}}</ref> is the [[first language|native language]] of the [[Pashtun people]] of [[South Asia|South]]-[[Central Asia]]. It is a member of the [[Eastern Iranian languages]] group, and is descended from [[Avestan language|Avestan]], the oldest preserved [[Iranian Languages|Iranian language]].<ref name="Henderson">{{cite web|last=Henderson|first=Michael|title=The Phonology of Pashto|url=http://people.ku.edu/~mmth/Sample_Pashto_Phonology_I_Term_Paper.pdf|publisher=University of Wisconnsin Madisson|accessdate=2012-08-20}}</ref><ref name="Henderson 1983">{{cite journal|last=Henderson|first=Michael|title=Four Variaties of Pashto|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|year=1983|issue=103.595-8}}</ref><ref name="Darmesteter 1890">{{cite book|last=Darmesteter|first=James|title=Chants populaires des Afghans|year=1890|location=Paris}}</ref> Pashto is spoken in [[Afghanistan]] and [[Pakistan]], as well as among the [[Pashtun diaspora]] around the world.
'''Pashto''' ({{lang|ps|{{Nastaliq|پښتو}}}}, ''Pax̌to'', {{IPA-ps|paʂˈto, paçˈto, puxˈto}}; alternatively spelled '''Pakhto''' or '''Pushto'''), also known historically as '''Afghani'''<ref name="Leyden"/><ref>[[Reference.com|Dictionary.com]], "Afghani," in [[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]], Fourth Edition. Source location: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Afghani. Accessed: 14 July 2010.</ref> and '''Pathani''',<ref>{{cite book|last=India. Office of the Registrar General|title=Census of India, 1961: Gujarat|year=1961|publisher=Manager of Publications|pages=142, 166, 177}}</ref> is the [[first language|native language]] of the [[Pashtun people]] of [[South Asia|South]]-[[Central Asia]]. Pashto is a member of the [[Eastern Iranian languages]] group, and is descended from [[Avestan language|Avestan]], the oldest preserved [[Iranian Languages|Iranian language]].<ref name="Henderson">{{cite web|last=Henderson|first=Michael|title=The Phonology of Pashto|url=http://people.ku.edu/~mmth/Sample_Pashto_Phonology_I_Term_Paper.pdf|publisher=University of Wisconnsin Madisson|accessdate=2012-08-20}}</ref><ref name="Henderson 1983">{{cite journal|last=Henderson|first=Michael|title=Four Variaties of Pashto|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|year=1983|issue=103.595-8}}</ref><ref name="Darmesteter 1890">{{cite book|last=Darmesteter|first=James|title=Chants populaires des Afghans|year=1890|location=Paris}}</ref> Pashto is spoken in [[Afghanistan]] and [[Pakistan]], as well as among the [[Pashtun diaspora]] around the world.<ref name="CAL"/>


Pashto belongs to the Northeastern Iranic branch of the [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]] [[language family]],<ref name="Iranica-Pashto"/><ref name="Iranica">[[Nicholas Sims-Williams]], [http://www.iranica.com/articles/eastern-iranian-languages Eastern Iranian languages], in Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition, 2010. ''"The Modern Eastern Iranian languages are even more numerous and varied. Most of them are classified as North-Eastern: Ossetic; Yaghnobi (which derives from a dialect closely related to Sogdian); the Shughni group (Shughni, Roshani, Khufi, Bartangi, Roshorvi, Sarikoli), with which Yaz-1ghulami (Sokolova 1967) and the now extinct Wanji (J. Payne in Schmitt, p. 420) are closely linked; Ishkashmi, Sanglichi, and Zebaki; Wakhi; Munji and Yidgha; and Pashto."''</ref> although [[Ethnologue]] lists it as Southeastern Iranian.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=2236-16 |title=Pashto Family Tree |editor=Paul M. Lewis |work=SIL International |publisher=Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition |year=2009 |location=Dallas, Texas |accessdate=2011-04-02}}</ref> The number of Pashtuns or Pashto-speakers is estimated 50-60 million [[Pashtun diaspora|people worldwide]].<ref name="Penzl">{{Cite book|title=A Grammar of Pashto a Descriptive Study of the Dialect of Kandahar, Afghanistan |last1=Penzl |first1=Herbert |coauthors=Ismail Sloan|volume=|year=2009|publisher=Ishi Press International |location=|isbn=0-923891-72-2|page=|pages=210|quote=''Estimates of the number of Pashto speakers range from 40 million to 60 million...''|url=http://books.google.com/?id=zvRePgAACAAJ|accessdate=2010-10-25}}</ref><ref name="Omniglot">{{cite web |url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/pashto.htm |title=Pashto |quote=''The exact number of Pashto speakers is not known for sure, but most estimates range from 45 million to 55 million.''|publisher=Omniglot.com|accessdate=2010-10-25}}</ref><ref name="Omniglot"/><ref name="Thomson">{{Cite book|title=Countries of the World & Their Leaders Yearbook 08|last1=Thomson |first1=Gale |authorlink=|coauthors=|volume=2|year=2007|publisher=Indo-European Association|location=European Union|isbn=0-7876-8108-3|page=84|pages=828|url=http://books.google.com/?id=A6vQ-x7V-bYC|accessdate=2010-10-25}}</ref><ref name="Ethnologue-2009">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=pbu|title=Pashto, Northern|work=[[SIL International]]|editor=Paul M. Lewis|quote=''Ethnic population: 49,529,000 possibly total Pashto in all countries.''|publisher=[[Ethnologue|Ethnologue: Languages of the World]], Sixteenth edition|location=Dallas, Texas|year=2009|accessdate=2010-09-18}}</ref> Pashto is one of the two [[official language]]s of Afghanistan (the other being [[Dari (Persian dialect)|Dari]]),<ref name=AO>{{cite web|title=Article Sixteen of the 2004 [[Constitution of Afghanistan]]|url=http://www.afghan-web.com/politics/current_constitution.html#preamble |quote=From among the languages of Pashto, Dari, Uzbeki, Turkmani, Baluchi, Pashai, Nuristani, Pamiri (alsana), Arab and other languages spoken in the country, '''Pashto and Dari are the official languages of the state.'''|year=2004 |accessdate=June 13, 2012}}</ref><ref name="AC">[[Constitution of Afghanistan]] - [http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/af00000_.html ''Chapter 1 The State, Article 16 (Languages) and Article 20 (Anthem)'']</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Afghanistan: The land |last1=Banting |first1=Erinn |authorlink=|coauthors=|volume=|year=2003|publisher=Crabtree Publishing Company |location=|isbn=0-7787-9335-4|page=4|pages=32|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=KRt0HfYFZGsC&lpg=PP1&vq=place%20of%20Afghans&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false|accessdate=2010-08-22}}</ref> and a regional language in western and northwestern Pakistan.
Pashto belongs to the Northeastern Iranic branch of the [[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]] [[language family]],<ref name="Iranica-Pashto"/><ref name="Iranica">[[Nicholas Sims-Williams]], [http://www.iranica.com/articles/eastern-iranian-languages Eastern Iranian languages], in Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition, 2010. ''"The Modern Eastern Iranian languages are even more numerous and varied. Most of them are classified as North-Eastern: Ossetic; Yaghnobi (which derives from a dialect closely related to Sogdian); the Shughni group (Shughni, Roshani, Khufi, Bartangi, Roshorvi, Sarikoli), with which Yaz-1ghulami (Sokolova 1967) and the now extinct Wanji (J. Payne in Schmitt, p. 420) are closely linked; Ishkashmi, Sanglichi, and Zebaki; Wakhi; Munji and Yidgha; and Pashto."''</ref> although [[Ethnologue]] lists it as Southeastern Iranian.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=2236-16 |title=Pashto Family Tree |editor=Paul M. Lewis |work=SIL International |publisher=Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition |year=2009 |location=Dallas, Texas |accessdate=2011-04-02}}</ref> The number of Pashtuns or Pashto-speakers is estimated 50-60 million [[Pashtun diaspora|people worldwide]].<ref name="Penzl">{{Cite book|title=A Grammar of Pashto a Descriptive Study of the Dialect of Kandahar, Afghanistan |last1=Penzl |first1=Herbert |coauthors=Ismail Sloan|volume=|year=2009|publisher=Ishi Press International |location=|isbn=0-923891-72-2|page=|pages=210|quote=''Estimates of the number of Pashto speakers range from 40 million to 60 million...''|url=http://books.google.com/?id=zvRePgAACAAJ|accessdate=2010-10-25}}</ref><ref name="Omniglot">{{cite web |url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/pashto.htm |title=Pashto |quote=''The exact number of Pashto speakers is not known for sure, but most estimates range from 45 million to 55 million.''|publisher=Omniglot.com|accessdate=2010-10-25}}</ref><ref name="Omniglot"/><ref name="Thomson">{{Cite book|title=Countries of the World & Their Leaders Yearbook 08|last1=Thomson |first1=Gale |authorlink=|coauthors=|volume=2|year=2007|publisher=Indo-European Association|location=European Union|isbn=0-7876-8108-3|page=84|pages=828|url=http://books.google.com/?id=A6vQ-x7V-bYC|accessdate=2010-10-25}}</ref><ref name="Ethnologue-2009">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=pbu|title=Pashto, Northern|work=[[SIL International]]|editor=Paul M. Lewis|quote=''Ethnic population: 49,529,000 possibly total Pashto in all countries.''|publisher=[[Ethnologue|Ethnologue: Languages of the World]], Sixteenth edition|location=Dallas, Texas|year=2009|accessdate=2010-09-18}}</ref> Pashto is one of the two [[official language]]s of Afghanistan (the other being [[Dari (Persian)|Dari Persian]]),<ref name="AC">[[Constitution of Afghanistan]] - [http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/af00000_.html ''Chapter 1 The State, Article 16 (Languages) and Article 20 (Anthem)'']</ref><ref name="CAL">Barbara Robson, Juliene Lipson, [[Farid Younos]], Mariam Mehdi. {{cite web |url=http://www.cal.org/co/afghan/alang.html |title=The Afghans - Language and Literacy |accessdate=2010-10-24|publisher=[[Center for Applied Linguistics]] (CAL)|location=United States|date=30 June 2002}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Afghanistan: The land |last1=Banting |first1=Erinn |authorlink=|coauthors=|volume=|year=2003|publisher=Crabtree Publishing Company |location=|isbn=0-7787-9335-4|page=4|pages=32|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=KRt0HfYFZGsC&lpg=PP1&vq=place%20of%20Afghans&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false|accessdate=2010-08-22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.afghan-web.com/facts.html |title=General Information About Afghanistan |work=Abdullah Qazi |publisher=Afghanistan Online |accessdate=2010-09-27}}</ref> and a regional language in western and northwestern Pakistan.


==Geographic distribution==
==Geographic distribution==
{{Further|Languages of Afghanistan|Languages of Pakistan}}
{{Further|Languages of Afghanistan|Languages of Pakistan}}
As the [[national language]] of Afghanistan,<ref name="Pashto-language">{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/445534/Pashto-language |title=Pashto language |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|accessdate=2010-12-07}}</ref> Pashto is primarily spoken in the east, south and southwest, but also in some northern and western parts of the country. The exact numbers of speakers are unavailable, but different estimates show that Pashto is the [[first language|mother tongue]] of 35-60%<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2098.html?countryName=Afghanistan&countryCode=af&regionCode=sas&#af|title=Languages: Afghanistan|work=Central Intelligence Agency|publisher=The World Factbook|accessdate=2010-09-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Concise encyclopedia of languages of the world|last1=Brown|first1=Keith|authorlink=|coauthors=Sarah Ogilvie|volume=|edition=|year=2009|publisher=Elsevie|quote=''Pashto, which is mainly spoken south of the mountain range of the Hindu Kush, is reportedly the mother tongue of 60% of the Afghan population.''|location=|isbn=0-08-087774-5|page=845|pages=1283|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=F2SRqDzB50wC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA845#v=onepage&q&f=false|accessdate=2012-04-07}}</ref><ref name="UCLA">{{cite web|author=|url=http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/Profile.aspx?LangID=64&menu=004 |title=Pashto|publisher=[[University of California, Los Angeles]] |work=UCLA International Institute: Center for World Languages |accessdate=2010-12-10}}</ref><ref name="Iranica-languages">{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranica.com/articles/afghanistan-v-languages|title=AFGHANISTAN v. Languages|work=Ch. M. Kieffer|quote=''A. Official languages. Paṧtō (1) is the native tongue of 50 to 55 percent of Afghans...''|publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica|accessdate=2010-10-10}}</ref> of the total [[Demography of Afghanistan|population of Afghanistan]].
As the [[national language]] of Afghanistan,<ref name="Pashto-language">{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/445534/Pashto-language |title=Pashto language |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] Online|accessdate=2010-12-07}}</ref> Pashto is primarily spoken in the east, south and southwest, but also in some northern and western parts of the country. The exact numbers of speakers are unavailable, but different estimates show that Pashto is the [[first language|mother tongue]] of 35-60%<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2098.html?countryName=Afghanistan&countryCode=af&regionCode=sas&#af|title=Languages: Afghanistan|work=[[Central Intelligence Agency]]|publisher=[[The World Factbook|CIA World Factbook]]|accessdate=2010-09-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Concise encyclopedia of languages of the world|last1=Brown|first1=Keith|authorlink=|coauthors=Sarah Ogilvie|volume=|edition=|year=2009|publisher=Elsevie|quote=''Pashto, which is mainly spoken south of the mountain range of the Hindu Kush, is reportedly the mother tongue of 60% of the Afghan population.''|location=|isbn=0-08-087774-5|page=845|pages=1283|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=F2SRqDzB50wC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA845#v=onepage&q&f=false|accessdate=2012-04-07}}</ref><ref name="UCLA">{{cite web|author=|url=http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/Profile.aspx?LangID=64&menu=004 |title=Pashto|publisher=[[University of California, Los Angeles]] |work=UCLA International Institute: Center for World Languages |accessdate=2010-12-10}}</ref><ref name="Iranica-languages">{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranica.com/articles/afghanistan-v-languages|title=AFGHANISTAN v. Languages|work=Ch. M. Kieffer|quote=''A. Official languages. Paṧtō (1) is the native tongue of 50 to 55 percent of Afghans...''|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] Online Version|accessdate=2010-10-10}}</ref> of the total [[Demography of Afghanistan|population of Afghanistan]].


In Pakistan, Pashto is a [[Provincial languages of Pakistan|provincial language]], spoken as a [[first language]] by about 15.42%<ref>[http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/other_tables/pop_by_mother_tongue.pdf Government of Pakistan: Population by Mother Tongue]</ref> of [[Demographics of Pakistan|Pakistan's 170 million people]]. It is the main language of the Pashtun-majority regions of [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas]] (FATA) and northern [[Balochistan (Pakistan)|Balochistan]]. It is also spoken in parts of [[Mianwali District|Mianwali]] and [[Attock District|Attock]] districts of the [[Punjab (Pakistan)|Punjab province]] as well as by Pashtuns who are found living in different cities throughout the country. Modern Pashto-speaking communities are found in the cities of [[Karachi]] and [[Hyderabad, Pakistan|Hyderabad]] in [[Sindh]].<ref name=pbs>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2009/07/karachis_invisi.html|title=Karachi's Invisible Enemy|author=Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy|publisher=PBS|date=2009-07-17|accessdate=2010-08-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090825/FOREIGN/708249931|title=In a city of ethnic friction, more tinder|publisher=The National|date=2009-08-24|accessdate=2010-08-24}}</ref> By some estimates, there are close to 7 million of Pashtuns in [[Karachi]].
In Pakistan, Pashto is a [[Provincial languages of Pakistan|provincial language]], spoken as a [[first language]] by about 15.42%<ref>[http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/other_tables/pop_by_mother_tongue.pdf Government of Pakistan: Population by Mother Tongue]</ref> of [[Demographics of Pakistan|Pakistan's 170 million people]]. It is the main language of the Pashtun-majority regions of [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas]] (FATA) and northern [[Balochistan (Pakistan)|Balochistan]]. It is also spoken in parts of [[Mianwali District|Mianwali]] and [[Attock District|Attock]] districts of the [[Punjab (Pakistan)|Punjab province]] as well as by Pashtuns who are found living in different cities throughout the country. Modern Pashto-speaking communities are found in the cities of [[Karachi]] and [[Hyderabad, Pakistan|Hyderabad]] in [[Sindh]].<ref name=pbs>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2009/07/karachis_invisi.html|title=Karachi's Invisible Enemy|author=Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy|publisher=PBS|date=2009-07-17|accessdate=2010-08-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090825/FOREIGN/708249931|title=In a city of ethnic friction, more tinder|publisher=The National|date=2009-08-24|accessdate=2010-08-24}}</ref> By some estimates, there are close to 7 million of Pashtuns in [[Karachi]].


Other communities of Pashto speakers are found in northeastern [[Iran]], primarily in [[South Khorasan Province]] to the east of [[Qaen]], near the Afghan border,<ref name="Ethnologue-Iran">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=iran |title=Languages of Iran|work=SIL International|publisher=Ethnologue: Languages of the World|accessdate=2010-09-27}}</ref> and in [[Tajikistan]].<ref name="Ethnologue-2000">{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_language.asp?code=PBT|title=Pashto, Southern|work=SIL International|publisher=Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 14th edition |year=2000|accessdate=2010-09-18}}</ref> There are also communities of [[Pashtun diaspora|Pashtun descent]] in the southwestern part of [[Jammu and Kashmir]].<ref>Walter R Lawrence, ''Imperial Gazetteer of India. Provincial Series'', pg 36-37, [http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=TvkpSbmwrf8C&pg=PA36&lpg=PA36&dq=pathans&source=bl&ots=a5ZRNGNsMP&sig=5VnsCvOl1qQhpAaTNaELtqb4HJs&hl=en&ei=hVIlSs6WCo_otQP1kLzMAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7#PPA36,M1 Link]</ref><ref name="Khyber">{{cite web|url=http://www.khyber.org/articles/2007/StudyofthePathanCommunitiesinF.shtml|title=Study of the Pathan Communities in four States of India|publisher=Khyber.org|accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://crulp.org/Publication%5CCrulp_report%5CCR03_15E.pdf|format=PDF|title=Phonemic Inventory of Pashto|publisher=CRULP|accessdate=2007-06-07}}</ref>
Other communities of Pashto speakers are found in northeastern [[Iran]], primarily in [[South Khorasan Province]] to the east of [[Qaen]], near the Afghan border,<ref name="Ethnologue-Iran">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=iran |title=Languages of Iran|work=SIL International|publisher=Ethnologue: Languages of the World|accessdate=2010-09-27}}</ref> and in [[Tajikistan]].<ref name="Ethnologue-2000">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_language.asp?code=PBT|title=Pashto, Southern|work=[[SIL International]]|publisher=[[Ethnologue|Ethnologue: Languages of the World]], 14th edition |year=2000|accessdate=2010-09-18}}</ref> There are also communities of [[Pashtun diaspora|Pashtun descent]] in the southwestern part of [[Jammu and Kashmir]].<ref>Walter R Lawrence, ''Imperial Gazetteer of India. Provincial Series'', pg 36-37, [http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=TvkpSbmwrf8C&pg=PA36&lpg=PA36&dq=pathans&source=bl&ots=a5ZRNGNsMP&sig=5VnsCvOl1qQhpAaTNaELtqb4HJs&hl=en&ei=hVIlSs6WCo_otQP1kLzMAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7#PPA36,M1 Link]</ref><ref name="Khyber">{{cite web|url=http://www.khyber.org/articles/2007/StudyofthePathanCommunitiesinF.shtml|title=Study of the Pathan Communities in four States of India|publisher=Khyber.org|accessdate=2009-06-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://crulp.org/Publication%5CCrulp_report%5CCR03_15E.pdf|format=PDF|title=Phonemic Inventory of Pashto|publisher=CRULP|accessdate=2007-06-07}}</ref>


In addition, sizable Pashto-speaking communities also exist in the [[Middle East]], especially in the [[United Arab Emirates]],<ref name="Ethnologue-UAE">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=AE |title=Languages of United Arab Emirates|work=SIL International|publisher=Ethnologue: Languages of the World|accessdate=2010-09-27}}</ref> and [[Saudi Arabia]], as well as in the [[United States]], [[United Kingdom]],<ref name="Ethnologue-UAE">{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=GB |title=Languages of United Kingdom|work=SIL International|publisher=Ethnologue: Languages of the World|accessdate=2010-09-27}}</ref> [[Thailand]], [[Canada]], [[Germany]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Sweden]], [[Qatar]], [[Australia]], [[Japan]], [[Russia]], [[New Zealand]], etc.
In addition, sizable Pashto-speaking communities also exist in the [[Middle East]], especially in the [[United Arab Emirates]],<ref name="Ethnologue-UAE">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=AE |title=Languages of United Arab Emirates|work=SIL International|publisher=Ethnologue: Languages of the World|accessdate=2010-09-27}}</ref> and [[Saudi Arabia]], as well as in the [[United States]], [[United Kingdom]],<ref name="Ethnologue-UAE">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=GB |title=Languages of United Kingdom|work=SIL International|publisher=Ethnologue: Languages of the World|accessdate=2010-09-27}}</ref> [[Thailand]], [[Canada]], [[Germany]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Sweden]], [[Qatar]], [[Australia]], [[Japan]], [[Russia]], [[New Zealand]], etc.


===Official status===
===Official status===
The [[Durrani Empire]] comprised regions on both sides of the [[Durand line]] before the present day ethno-linguistic situation in South-Central Asia, by which the British colonial power annexed about one third of Afghanistan. The border created a buffer zone and was drawn through the [[Pashtunistan|Pashtun areas]] of settlement leaving the larger part of them in what was to become Pakistan.
The [[Durrani Empire]] comprised regions on both sides of the [[Durand line]] before the present day ethno-linguistic situation in South-Central Asia, by which the British colonial power annexed about one third of Afghanistan. The border created a buffer zone and was drawn through the [[Pashtunistan|Pashtun areas]] of settlement leaving the larger part of them in what was to become Pakistan.


Pashto (since 1936) is one of the two [[official language]]s of Afghanistan, along with Dari (Persian).<ref name="socioling">Modarresi, Yahya: ''Iran, Afghanistan and Tadjikistan". 1911 - 1916. In: Sociolinguistics, Vol. 3, Part. 3. Ulrich Ammon, Norbert Dittmar, Klaus J. Mattheier, Peter Trudgill (eds.). Berlin, De Gryuter: 2006. p. 1915. ISBN 3-11-018418-4 [http://books.google.com/books?id=LMZm0w0k1c4C&lpg=PR1&pg=PA1914#v=onepage&q&f=false]</ref> Since the early 18th century, [[List of monarchs of Afghanistan|all the kings of Afghanistan]] were ethnic Pashtuns except for [[Habibullah Kalakani]], and most of them [[bilingual]] although [[Amānullāh Khān]] spoke Pashto as his second language.<ref name=rahman /> Persian as the literary language of the royal court<ref>Lorenz, Manfred. Die Herausbildung moderner iranischer Literatursprachen. In: Zeitschrift für Phonetik, Sprachwissenschaft und Kommunikationsforschung, Vol. 36. Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR. Akademie Verlag, Berlin: 1983. P. 184ff.</ref> was more widely used in government institutions while Pashto was spoken by the [[Pashtun tribes]] as their [[native tongue]]. Amanullah Khan began promoting Pashto during his reign as a marker of ethnic identity and a symbol of "official nationalism"<ref name=rahman /> leading Afghanistan to independence after the defeat of the British colonial power in the [[Third Anglo-Afghan War]]. In the 1930s, a movement began to take hold to promote Pashto as a language of government, administration and art with the establishment of a Pashto Society ''Pashto Anjuman'' in 1931<ref>Other sources note 1933, i.e. Johannes Christian Meyer-Ingwersen. Untersuchungen zum Satzbau des Paschto. 1966. Ph.D. Thesis, Hamburg 1966.</ref> and the inauguration of the [[Kabul University]] in 1932 as well as the formation of the Pashto Academy ''Pashto Tolana'' in 1937.<ref name="hussain" /> Although officially strengthening the use of Pashto, the Afghan elite regarded Persian as a "sophisticated language and a symbol of cultured upbringing".<ref name=rahman>Tariq Rahman. Pashto Language & Identity Formation in Pakistan. Contemporary South Asia, July 1995, Vol 4, Issue 2, p151-20.</ref> King [[Mohammed Zahir Shah|Zahir Shah]] thus followed suit after his father [[Mohammed Nadir Shah|Nadir Khan]] had decreed in 1933, that both Persian and Pashto were to be studied and utilized by officials.<ref>István Fodor, Claude Hagège. Reform of Languages. Buske, 1983. P. 105ff.</ref> In 1936, Pashto was [[Formality|formally]] granted the status of an official language<ref>Campbell, George L.: ''Concise compendium of the world's languages''. London: Routledge 1999.</ref> with full rights to usage in all aspects of government and education by a [[royal decree]] under Zahir Shah despite the fact that the ethnically Pashtun royal family and bureaucrats mostly spoke Persian.<ref name="hussain">Hussain, Rizwan. ''Pakistan and the emergence of Islamic militancy in Afghanistan''. Burlington, Ashgate: 2005. [http://books.google.com/books?id=TRW_M_xybyYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 63.]</ref> Thus Pashto became a [[national language]], a symbol for Afghan nationalism.
Pashto (since 1936) is one of the two [[official language]]s of Afghanistan, along with Dari (Persian).<ref name="socioling">Modarresi, Yahya: ''Iran, Afghanistan and Tadjikistan". 1911 - 1916. In: Sociolinguistics, Vol. 3, Part. 3. Ulrich Ammon, Norbert Dittmar, Klaus J. Mattheier, Peter Trudgill (eds.). Berlin, De Gryuter: 2006. p. 1915. ISBN 3-11-018418-4 [http://books.google.com/books?id=LMZm0w0k1c4C&lpg=PR1&pg=PA1914#v=onepage&q&f=false]</ref> Since the early 18th century, [[List of monarchs of Afghanistan|all the kings of Afghanistan]] were ethnic Pashtuns except for [[Habibullah Kalakani]], and most of them [[bilingual]] although [[Amānullāh Khān]] spoke Pashto as his second language.<ref name=rahman /> Persian as the literary language of the royal court<ref>Lorenz, Manfred. Die Herausbildung moderner iranischer Literatursprachen. In: Zeitschrift für Phonetik, Sprachwissenschaft und Kommunikationsforschung, Vol. 36. Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR. Akademie Verlag, Berlin: 1983. P. 184ff.</ref> was more widely used in government institutions while Pashto was spoken by the [[Pashtun tribes]] as their [[native tongue]]. Amanullah Khan began promoting Pashto during his reign as a marker of ethnic identity and a symbol of "official nationalism"<ref name=rahman /> leading Afghanistan to independence after the defeat of the British colonial power in the [[Third Anglo-Afghan War]]. In the 1930s, a movement began to take hold to promote Pashto as a language of government, administration and art with the establishment of a Pashto Society ''Pashto Anjuman'' in 1931<ref>Other sources note 1933, i.e. Johannes Christian Meyer-Ingwersen. Untersuchungen zum Satzbau des Paschto. 1966. Ph.D. Thesis, Hamburg 1966.</ref> and the inauguration of the [[Kabul University]] in 1932 as well as the formation of the Pashto Academy ''Pashto Tolana'' in 1937.<ref name="hussain" /> Although officially strengthening the use of Pashto, the Afghan elite regarded Persian as a "sophisticated language and a symbol of cultured upbringing".<ref name=rahman>Tariq Rahman. Pashto Language & Identity Formation in Pakistan. Contemporary South Asia, July 1995, Vol 4, Issue 2, p151-20.</ref> King [[Mohammed Zahir Shah|Zahir Shah]] thus followed suit after his father [[Mohammed Nadir Shah|Nadir Khan]] had decreed in 1933, that both Persian and Pashto were to be studied and utilized by officials.<ref>István Fodor, Claude Hagège. Reform of Languages. Buske, 1983. P. 105ff.</ref> In 1936, Pashto was [[Formality|formally]] granted the status of an official language<ref>Campbell, George L.: ''Concise compendium of the world's languages''. London: Routledge 1999.</ref> with full rights to usage in all aspects of government and education by a [[royal decree]] under Zahir Shah despite the fact that the ethnically Pashtun royal family and bureaucrats mostly spoke Persian.<ref name="hussain">Hussain, Rizwan. ''Pakistan and the emergence of Islamic militancy in Afghanistan''. Burlington, Ashgate: 2005. [http://books.google.com/books?id=TRW_M_xybyYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 63.]</ref> Thus Pashto became a [[national language]], a symbol for Afghan nationalism.<ref name="CAL-2">{{cite web |url=http://www.cal.org/co/afghan/alang.html#2 |title=The Afghans - Language Use |work=Barbara Robson and Juliene Lipson, with assistance from Farid Younos and Mariam Mehdi |accessdate=2010-10-24|publisher=[[Center for Applied Linguistics]] (CAL)|location=United States|date=30 June 2002}}</ref>


The status of official language was reaffirmed in 1964 by the constitutional assembly when Afghan Persian was officially renamed to Dari.<ref>[[Louis Dupree (professor)|Dupree, Louis]]: ''Language and Politics in Afghanistan''. In: Contributions to Asian Studies. Vol. 11/1978. p. 131 - 141. E. J. Brill, Leiden 1978. p. 131.</ref><ref>Spooner, Bryan: "Are we teaching Persian?". In: Persian studies in North America: studies in honor of Mohammad Ali Jazayery. Mehdi Marashi (ed.). Bethesda, Iranbooks: 1994. p. 1983.</ref> The lyrics of the [[Afghan National Anthem|national anthem of Afghanistan]] are in Pashto.
The status of official language was reaffirmed in 1964 by the constitutional assembly when Afghan Persian was officially renamed to Dari.<ref>[[Louis Dupree (professor)|Dupree, Louis]]: ''Language and Politics in Afghanistan''. In: Contributions to Asian Studies. Vol. 11/1978. p. 131 - 141. E. J. Brill, Leiden 1978. p. 131.</ref><ref>Spooner, Bryan: "Are we teaching Persian?". In: Persian studies in North America: studies in honor of Mohammad Ali Jazayery. Mehdi Marashi (ed.). Bethesda, Iranbooks: 1994. p. 1983.</ref> The lyrics of the [[Afghan National Anthem|national anthem of Afghanistan]] are in Pashto.


In Pakistan, Urdu and English are the two official languages, but Pashto has no official status at the federal level. On a provincial level, Pashto is the regional language of [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas]] and northern [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]].<ref>Septfonds, D. 2006. Pashto. In: Concise encyclopedia of languages of the world. 845 - 848. Keith Brown / Sarah Ogilvie (eds.). Elsevier, Oxford: 2009.</ref> In 1984, Pashto was permitted to be used as the medium of instruction in [[education in Pakistan|primary schools]]. In government-controlled primary schools in Pashto-speaking areas, Pashto is now the medium of instruction in class 1 and 2, and taught as a compulsory subject up to class 5, however, Urdu remains the main language of education and activities outside home, while English is a compulsory subject from class 1. [[English medium education#Pakistan|English medium]] private schools do not use Pashto even as a compulsory subject at primary level. The imposition of Urdu as the language of [[early childhood education|early education]] has caused a systematic degradation and decline of many of Pakistan's indigenous languages including Pashto.<ref>{{cite report |title=TEACHING AND LEARNING IN PAKISTAN: THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN EDUCATION |url= http://www.britishcouncil.org/pakistan-ette-role-of-language-in-education.htm|author= Hywel Coleman|year= 2010 |publisher= [[British Council]], Pakistan|accessdate= 24 September 2012}}</ref>
In Pakistan, Urdu and English are the two official languages, but Pashto has no official status at the federal level. On a provincial level, Pashto is the regional language of [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]], [[Federally Administered Tribal Areas]] and northern [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]].<ref>Septfonds, D. 2006. Pashto. In: Concise encyclopedia of languages of the world. 845 - 848. Keith Brown / Sarah Ogilvie (eds.). Elsevier, Oxford: 2009.</ref> In 1984, Pashto was permitted to be used as the medium of instruction in [[education in Pakistan|primary schools]]. In government-controlled primary schools in Pashto-speaking areas, Pashto is now the medium of instruction in class 1 and 2, and taught as a compulsory subject up to class 5, however, Urdu remains the main language of education and activities outside home, while English is a compulsory subject from class 1. [[English medium education#Pakistan|English medium]] private schools do not use Pashto even as a compulsory subject at primary level. The imposition of Urdu as the language of [[early childhood education|early education]] has caused a systematic degradation and decline of many of Pakistan's indigenous languages including Pashto.<ref>{{Cite report |title=TEACHING AND LEARNING IN PAKISTAN: THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN EDUCATION |url= http://www.britishcouncil.org/pakistan-ette-role-of-language-in-education.htm|author= Hywel Coleman|year= 2010 |publisher= [[British Council]], Pakistan|accessdate= 24 September 2012}}</ref>


==History==
==History==
[[File:Afghanistan region during 500 BC.jpg|thumb|upright|The ''[[Arachosia]]'' [[Satrap]]y and the ''[[Pakthas|Pactyan people]]'' during the [[Achaemenid Empire]] in 500 B.C.]]
According to the renowned linguists Darmesteter and Henderson, Pashto has "descended form [[Avestan language|Avestan]]".<ref name="Henderson"/><ref name="Henderson 1983"/><ref name="Darmesteter 1890"/>
According to the renowned linguists Darmesteter and Henderson, Pashto has "descended form [[Avestan language|Avestan]]".<ref name="Henderson"/><ref name="Henderson 1983"/><ref name="Darmesteter 1890"/>
The word "Pashto" derives by regular phonological processes from ''Parsawā-'' "Persian".<ref name="Comrie">{{Cite book|title=The World's Major Languages|last1=Comrie|first1=Bernard|authorlink=|coauthors=|volume=|year=1990|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=|isbn=|page=549}}</ref> Nonetheless, the Pashtuns are sometimes compared with the Pakhta tribes mentioned in the [[Rigveda]] (1700–1100 BC), apparently the same as a people called ''[[Pakthas|Pactyans]]'', described by the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] historian [[Herodotus]] as living in the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]]'s [[Arachosia]] [[Satrap]]y as early as the [[1st millennium BC]].<ref name="Heredotus">{{Cite web |url=http://www.piney.com/Heredotus7.html|title=The History of Herodotus Chapter 7|work=Translated by [[George Rawlinson]]|publisher=The History Files|year=440&nbsp;BC|accessdate=2007-01-10}}</ref> However, this comparison appears to be due mainly to the apparent, etymologically unjustified, similarity between their names.<ref name="Nath">{{Cite book|title=Dictionary of Vedanta|last1=Nath|first1=Samir|authorlink=|coauthors=|volume=|year=2002|publisher=Sarup & Sons|location=|isbn=81-7890-056-4|page=273|pages=425|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=yGBaXO54-HwC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA273#v=onepage&q&f=false|accessdate=2010-09-10}}</ref>
The word "Pashto" derives by regular phonological processes from ''Parsawā-'' "Persian".<ref name="Comrie">{{Cite book|title=The World's Major Languages|last1=Comrie|first1=Bernard|authorlink=|coauthors=|volume=|year=1990|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=|isbn=|page=549}}</ref> Nonetheless, the Pashtuns are sometimes compared with the Pakhta tribes mentioned in the [[Rigveda]] (1700–1100 BC), apparently the same as a people called ''[[Pakthas|Pactyans]]'', described by the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] historian [[Herodotus]] as living in the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]]'s [[Arachosia]] [[Satrap]]y as early as the [[1st millennium BC]].<ref name="Heredotus">{{Cite web |url=http://www.piney.com/Heredotus7.html|title=The History of Herodotus Chapter 7|work=Translated by [[George Rawlinson]]|publisher=The History Files|year=440&nbsp;BC|accessdate=2007-01-10}}</ref> However, this comparison appears to be due mainly to the apparent, etymologically unjustified, similarity between their names.<ref name="Nath">{{Cite book|title=Dictionary of Vedanta|last1=Nath|first1=Samir|authorlink=|coauthors=|volume=|year=2002|publisher=Sarup & Sons|location=|isbn=81-7890-056-4|page=273|pages=425|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=yGBaXO54-HwC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA273#v=onepage&q&f=false|accessdate=2010-09-10}}</ref>


[[Strabo]], who lived between 64 BC and 24 [[Common Era|CE]], explains that the tribes inhabiting the lands west of the [[Indus River]] were part of [[Ariana]] and to their east was [[History of India|India]]. Since the 3rd century CE and onward, they are mostly referred to by the [[Afghan (name)|name ''"Afghan"'']] (''"Abgan"'')<ref name="Habibi">{{Cite web |url=http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/Afghan_and_Afghanistan.htm |title=Afghan and Afghanistan |work=[[Abdul Hai Habibi]]|publisher=alamahabibi.com|year=1969|accessdate=2010-10-24}}</ref><ref name="Britannica-Abgan">{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/7798/Afghanistan/129450/History?anchor=ref261360|title=History of Afghanistan|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|accessdate=2010-11-22}}</ref><ref name="Abgan">{{Cite book|title=Afghanistan - a country without a state?|last1=Noelle-Karimi|first1=Christine|authorlink=|coauthors=Conrad J. Schetter, Reinhard Schlagintweit|volume=|year=2002|publisher=IKO|location=[[University of Michigan]], United States|isbn=3-88939-628-3|page=18|pages=241|quote=The earliest mention of the name 'Afghan' (Abgan) is to be found in a Sasanid inscription from the third century AD, and it appears in India in the form of 'Avagana'...|url=http://books.google.com/?id=eo3tAAAAMAAJ|accessdate=2010-09-24}}</ref> and their language as ''"Afghani"''.<ref name="Leyden">{{cite web |url= http://persian.packhum.org/persian//pf?file=03501051&ct=92 |title= Events Of The Year 910 (1525) |page=5 |editor=John Leyden, Esq., M.D. and William Erskine, Esq.|work=[[Baburnama|Memoirs of Babur]] |publisher=[[Packard Humanities Institute]] |year=1921|accessdate=2012-01-10 |authorlink= Babur |quote=To the south is Afghanistān. There are eleven or twelve different languages spoken in Kābul: Arabic, Persian, Tūrki, Moghuli, Hindi, '''Afghani''', Pashāi, Parāchi, Geberi, Bereki, and Lamghāni.}}</ref>
[[Strabo]], who lived between 64 BC and 24 [[Common Era|CE]], explains that the tribes inhabiting the lands west of the [[Indus River]] were part of [[Ariana]] and to their east was [[History of India|India]]. Since the 3rd century CE and onward, they are mostly referred to by the [[Afghan (name)|name ''"Afghan"'']] (''"Abgan"'')<ref name="Habibi">{{Cite web |url=http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/Afghan_and_Afghanistan.htm |title=Afghan and Afghanistan |work=[[Abdul Hai Habibi]]|publisher=alamahabibi.com|year=1969|accessdate=2010-10-24}}</ref><ref name="Britannica-Abgan">{{Cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/7798/Afghanistan/129450/History?anchor=ref261360|title=History of Afghanistan|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] Online|accessdate=2010-11-22}}</ref><ref name="Abgan">{{Cite book|title=Afghanistan - a country without a state?|last1=Noelle-Karimi|first1=Christine|authorlink=|coauthors=Conrad J. Schetter, Reinhard Schlagintweit|volume=|year=2002|publisher=IKO|location=[[University of Michigan]], United States|isbn=3-88939-628-3|page=18|pages=241|quote=''The earliest mention of the name 'Afghan' (Abgan) is to be found in a Sasanid inscription from the third century AD, and it appears in India in the form of 'Avagana'...''|url=http://books.google.com/?id=eo3tAAAAMAAJ|accessdate=2010-09-24}}</ref> and their language as ''"Afghani"''.<ref name="Leyden">{{cite web |url= http://persian.packhum.org/persian//pf?file=03501051&ct=92 |title= Events Of The Year 910 (1525) |page=5 |editor=John Leyden, Esq., M.D. and William Erskine, Esq.|work=[[Baburnama|Memoirs of Babur]] |publisher=[[Packard Humanities Institute]] |year=1921|accessdate=2012-01-10 |authorlink= Babur |quote=To the south is Afghanistān. There are eleven or twelve different languages spoken in Kābul: Arabic, Persian, Tūrki, Moghuli, Hindi, '''Afghani''', Pashāi, Parāchi, Geberi, Bereki, and Lamghāni.}}</ref>


Scholars such as [[Abdul Hai Habibi]] and others believe that the earliest modern Pashto work dates back to [[Amir Kror Suri]] in the eighth century, and they use the writings found in [[Pata Khazana]]. However, this is disputed by several European experts due to lack of strong evidence. Pata Khazana is a Pashto [[manuscript]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://patakhazana.home.comcast.net/~patakhazana/Khazana.pdf |title=Pata Khazana |format=pdf |work= |publisher= |date=|accessdate=2010-09-27}}</ref> claimed to be first [[anthology|compiled]] during the [[Hotaki dynasty]] (1709–1738) in [[Kandahar]], Afghanistan. During the 17th century Pashto poetry was becoming very popular among the Pashtuns. Some of those who wrote poetry in Pashto are [[Khushal Khan Khattak]], [[Rahman Baba]], [[Nazo Tokhi]] and [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]], founder of the modern state of Afghanistan or the [[Durrani Empire|Afghan Empire]].
Scholars such as [[Abdul Hai Habibi]] and others believe that the earliest modern Pashto work dates back to [[Amir Kror Suri]] in the eighth century, and they use the writings found in [[Pata Khazana]]. However, this is disputed by several European experts due to lack of strong evidence. Pata Khazana is a Pashto [[manuscript]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://patakhazana.home.comcast.net/~patakhazana/Khazana.pdf |title=Pata Khazana |format=pdf |work= |publisher= |date=|accessdate=2010-09-27}}</ref> claimed to be first [[anthology|compiled]] during the [[Hotaki dynasty]] (1709–1738) in [[Kandahar]], Afghanistan. During the 17th century Pashto poetry was becoming very popular among the Pashtuns. Some of those who wrote poetry in Pashto are [[Khushal Khan Khattak]], [[Rahman Baba]], [[Nazo Tokhi]] and [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]], founder of the modern state of Afghanistan or the [[Durrani Empire|Afghan Empire]].


==Grammar==
==Grammar==
{{Main|Pashto grammar}}
{{Main|Pashto grammar}}
Pashto is a [[subject–object–verb]] (SOV) language with [[split ergativity]]. [[Adjective]]s come before [[noun]]s. Nouns and adjectives are [[inflection|inflected]] for two [[Grammatical gender|gender]]s (masc./fem.),<ref>Emeneau, M. B. (1962) "Bilingualism and Structural Borrowing" ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'' 106(5): pp. 430-442, p. 441</ref> two [[Grammatical number|number]]s (sing./plur.), and four [[Grammatical case|cases]] (direct, oblique I, oblique II and vocative). The [[verb]] system is very intricate with the following tenses: present, simple past, past progressive, present perfect and past perfect. There is also an inflection for the [[subjunctive mood]]. The sentence construction of Pashto is akin to Indo-Aryan languages like [[Prakrits]] and [[Hindi-Urdu]], unlike [[Persian language|Persian]]. 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 any of the past tenses (simple past, past progressive, present perfect or past perfect). In such cases, the verb agrees with the subject if it is intransitive, but if it is transitive, it agrees with the object,<ref name="Pashto-language"/> therefore Pashto shows a partly [[ergative-absolutive language|ergative]] behavior. The language uses both [[preposition and postposition]], but also circumpositions.
Pashto is a [[subject–object–verb]] (SOV) language with [[split ergativity]]. [[Adjective]]s come before [[noun]]s. Nouns and adjectives are [[inflection|inflected]] for two [[Grammatical gender|gender]]s (masc./fem.),<ref>Emeneau, M. B. (1962) "Bilingualism and Structural Borrowing" ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'' 106(5): pp. 430-442, p. 441</ref> two [[Grammatical number|number]]s (sing./plur.), and four [[Grammatical case|cases]] (direct, oblique I, oblique II and vocative). The [[verb]] system is very intricate with the following tenses: present, simple past, past progressive, present perfect and past perfect. There is also an inflection for the [[subjunctive mood]]. The sentence construction of Pashto is akin to Indo-Aryan languages like [[Prakrits]] and [[Hindi-Urdu]], unlike [[Persian language|Persian]]. 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 any of the past tenses (simple past, past progressive, present perfect or past perfect). In such cases, the verb agrees with the subject if it is intransitive, but if it is transitive, it agrees with the object,<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/445534/Pashto-language Encyclopædia Britannica]</ref> therefore Pashto shows a partly [[ergative-absolutive language|ergative]] behavior. Pashto uses both [[preposition and postposition]], but also circumpositions.


==Phonology==
==Phonology==
Line 192: Line 194:


==Vocabulary==
==Vocabulary==
In Pashto, most of the native elements of the lexicon are related to other [[Eastern Iranian languages]]; those words can be easily compared to those known from [[Avestan]], [[Ossetic]] and [[Pamir languages]]. However, a remarkably large number of words are special to Pashto.<ref name="Iranica-Pashto">{{cite web|url=http://www.iranica.com/articles/afghanistan-vi-pasto|title=AFGHANISTAN vi. Paṧto|publisher=Encyclopaedia Iranica|work=[[Georg Morgenstierne|G. Morgenstierne]]|quote=Paṧtō undoubtedly belongs to the Northeastern Iranic branch.|accessdate=2010-10-10}}</ref> Post-7th century borrowings came primarily from the [[Arabic]], Persian and [[Hindustani language]]s (in Pakistan),<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/4030748|title=Areal Lexical Contacts of the Afghan (Pashto) Language (Based on the Texts of the XVI-XVIII Centuries)|author=Vladimir Kushev|volume=1|journal=Iran and the Caucasus|pages=159–166|publisher=Brill|accessdate =2009-06-07|year=1997}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://books.google.com/?id=8qUJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA75&dq=pashto+vocabulary+hindustani#v=onepage&q=pashto%20vocabulary%20hindustani&f=false|title=Census of India, 1931, Volume 17, Part 2|publisher=[[Times of India]]|year=1937|quote=At the same time Pashto has borrowed largely from Persian, and through those languages from Arabic.|accessdate=7 June 2009}}</ref> with the modern educated speech borrowing words from English,<ref name="Penzl"/> [[French language|French]],<ref name="Penzl"/> and [[German language|German]].<ref name="Penzl">{{Cite journal
In Pashto, most of the native elements of the lexicon are related to other [[Eastern Iranian languages]]; those words can be easily compared to those known from [[Avestan]], [[Ossetic]] and [[Pamir languages]]. However, a remarkably large number of words are special to Pashto.<ref name="Iranica-Pashto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranica.com/articles/afghanistan-vi-pasto|title=AFGHANISTAN vi. Paṧto|publisher=Encyclopaedia Iranica Online Version|work=[[Georg Morgenstierne|G. Morgenstierne]]|quote=Paṧtō undoubtedly belongs to the Northeastern Iranic branch.|accessdate=2010-10-10}}</ref> Post-7th century borrowings came primarily from the [[Arabic]], Persian and [[Hindustani language]]s (in Pakistan),<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/4030748|title=Areal Lexical Contacts of the Afghan (Pashto) Language (Based on the Texts of the XVI-XVIII Centuries)|author=Vladimir Kushev|volume=1|journal=Iran and the Caucasus|pages=159–166|publisher=Brill|accessdate =2009-06-07|year=1997}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://books.google.com/?id=8qUJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA75&dq=pashto+vocabulary+hindustani#v=onepage&q=pashto%20vocabulary%20hindustani&f=false|title=Census of India, 1931, Volume 17, Part 2|publisher=[[Times of India]]|year=1937|quote=At the same time Pashto has borrowed largely from Persian, and through those languages from Arabic.|accessdate=7 June 2009}}</ref> with the modern educated speech borrowing words from English,<ref name="Penzl"/> [[French language|French]],<ref name="Penzl"/> and [[German language|German]].<ref name="Penzl">{{Cite journal
|doi = 10.2307/594900
|doi = 10.2307/594900
|journal = [[Journal of the American Oriental Society]]
|journal = [[Journal of the American Oriental Society]]
Line 270: Line 272:


==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
* {{Cite book|title=Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum|last=Schmidt|first=Rüdiger (ed.)|publisher=Reichert|location=Wiesbaden|year=1989|isbn=3-88226-413-6}}
*{{Cite book|title=Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum|last=Schmidt|first=Rüdiger (ed.)|publisher=Reichert|location=Wiesbaden|year=1989|isbn=3-88226-413-6}}
* Gusain, Lakhan (2008?) ''A Grammar of Pashto''. Ann Arbor, MI: Northside Publishers.
* Gusain, Lakhan (2008?) ''A Grammar of Pashto''. Ann Arbor, MI: Northside Publishers.
* [[Georg Morgenstierne]] (1926) ''Report on a Linguistic Mission to Afghanistan''. [[Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture|Instituttet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning]], Serie C I-2. Oslo. ISBN 0-923891-09-9
* [[Georg Morgenstierne]] (1926) ''Report on a Linguistic Mission to Afghanistan''. [[Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture|Instituttet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning]], Serie C I-2. Oslo. ISBN 0-923891-09-9
Line 293: Line 295:
*[http://www.afghanwiki.com/en/index.php?title=Pashto Origins of Pashto]
*[http://www.afghanwiki.com/en/index.php?title=Pashto Origins of Pashto]
*[http://uiuc.libguides.com/content.php?pid=194326&sid=1628823 Resources for the Study of the Pashto Language]
*[http://uiuc.libguides.com/content.php?pid=194326&sid=1628823 Resources for the Study of the Pashto Language]
*[http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afghanistan-vi-pasto article on ''Pashto''] at [[Encyclopaedia Iranica]] online


{{Pashto language}}
{{Pashto language}}

Revision as of 21:29, 13 January 2013

"Pushtu" redirects here. For places in Iran, see Pushtu, Iran.

Pashto
پښتو
File:Pashtunblack.png
"Pashtun" in Diwani-style calligraphy
Pronunciation[paʂˈto], [paçˈto], [puxˈto]
Native toPakistan and Afghanistan. Also spoken among the Pashtun diaspora
RegionSouth-Central Asia
EthnicityPashtun people
Native speakers
40–60 million (2007–2009)[1][2]
Dialects
Pashto alphabet
Official status
Official language in
 Afghanistan[4]
Recognised minority
language in
Regulated byAcademy of Sciences of Afghanistan
Pashto Academy (Pakistan)[6]
Language codes
ISO 639-1ps
ISO 639-2pus
ISO 639-3pus – inclusive code
Individual codes:
pst – Central Pashto
pbu – Northern Pashto
pbt – Southern Pashto
wne – Waneci
Linguasphere58-ABD-a
File:Pashtun Language Location Map.svg
Map of Pashto-speaking regions (orange)
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Template:Contains Pashto text

Part of a series on
Pashtuns
Empires and dynasties

Pashto (پښتو, Pax̌to, Pashto pronunciation: [paʂˈto, paçˈto, puxˈto]; alternatively spelled Pakhto or Pushto), also known historically as Afghani[7][8] and Pathani,[9] is the native language of the Pashtun people of South-Central Asia. Pashto is a member of the Eastern Iranian languages group, and is descended from Avestan, the oldest preserved Iranian language.[10][11][12] Pashto is spoken in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as among the Pashtun diaspora around the world.[13]

Pashto belongs to the Northeastern Iranic branch of the Indo-Iranian language family,[3][14] although Ethnologue lists it as Southeastern Iranian.[15] The number of Pashtuns or Pashto-speakers is estimated 50-60 million people worldwide.[2][16][16][17][18] Pashto is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan (the other being Dari Persian),[4][13][19][20] and a regional language in western and northwestern Pakistan.

Geographic distribution

Further information: Languages of Afghanistan and Languages of Pakistan

As the national language of Afghanistan,[21] Pashto is primarily spoken in the east, south and southwest, but also in some northern and western parts of the country. The exact numbers of speakers are unavailable, but different estimates show that Pashto is the mother tongue of 35-60%[22][23][24][25] of the total population of Afghanistan.

In Pakistan, Pashto is a provincial language, spoken as a first language by about 15.42%[26] of Pakistan's 170 million people. It is the main language of the Pashtun-majority regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and northern Balochistan. It is also spoken in parts of Mianwali and Attock districts of the Punjab province as well as by Pashtuns who are found living in different cities throughout the country. Modern Pashto-speaking communities are found in the cities of Karachi and Hyderabad in Sindh.[27][28] By some estimates, there are close to 7 million of Pashtuns in Karachi.

Other communities of Pashto speakers are found in northeastern Iran, primarily in South Khorasan Province to the east of Qaen, near the Afghan border,[29] and in Tajikistan.[30] There are also communities of Pashtun descent in the southwestern part of Jammu and Kashmir.[31][32][33]

In addition, sizable Pashto-speaking communities also exist in the Middle East, especially in the United Arab Emirates,[34] and Saudi Arabia, as well as in the United States, United Kingdom,[34] Thailand, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Qatar, Australia, Japan, Russia, New Zealand, etc.

Official status

The Durrani Empire comprised regions on both sides of the Durand line before the present day ethno-linguistic situation in South-Central Asia, by which the British colonial power annexed about one third of Afghanistan. The border created a buffer zone and was drawn through the Pashtun areas of settlement leaving the larger part of them in what was to become Pakistan.

Pashto (since 1936) is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan, along with Dari (Persian).[35] Since the early 18th century, all the kings of Afghanistan were ethnic Pashtuns except for Habibullah Kalakani, and most of them bilingual although Amānullāh Khān spoke Pashto as his second language.[36] Persian as the literary language of the royal court[37] was more widely used in government institutions while Pashto was spoken by the Pashtun tribes as their native tongue. Amanullah Khan began promoting Pashto during his reign as a marker of ethnic identity and a symbol of "official nationalism"[36] leading Afghanistan to independence after the defeat of the British colonial power in the Third Anglo-Afghan War. In the 1930s, a movement began to take hold to promote Pashto as a language of government, administration and art with the establishment of a Pashto Society Pashto Anjuman in 1931[38] and the inauguration of the Kabul University in 1932 as well as the formation of the Pashto Academy Pashto Tolana in 1937.[39] Although officially strengthening the use of Pashto, the Afghan elite regarded Persian as a "sophisticated language and a symbol of cultured upbringing".[36] King Zahir Shah thus followed suit after his father Nadir Khan had decreed in 1933, that both Persian and Pashto were to be studied and utilized by officials.[40] In 1936, Pashto was formally granted the status of an official language[41] with full rights to usage in all aspects of government and education by a royal decree under Zahir Shah despite the fact that the ethnically Pashtun royal family and bureaucrats mostly spoke Persian.[39] Thus Pashto became a national language, a symbol for Afghan nationalism.[42]

The status of official language was reaffirmed in 1964 by the constitutional assembly when Afghan Persian was officially renamed to Dari.[43][44] The lyrics of the national anthem of Afghanistan are in Pashto.

In Pakistan, Urdu and English are the two official languages, but Pashto has no official status at the federal level. On a provincial level, Pashto is the regional language of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and northern Balochistan.[45] In 1984, Pashto was permitted to be used as the medium of instruction in primary schools. In government-controlled primary schools in Pashto-speaking areas, Pashto is now the medium of instruction in class 1 and 2, and taught as a compulsory subject up to class 5, however, Urdu remains the main language of education and activities outside home, while English is a compulsory subject from class 1. English medium private schools do not use Pashto even as a compulsory subject at primary level. The imposition of Urdu as the language of early education has caused a systematic degradation and decline of many of Pakistan's indigenous languages including Pashto.[46]

History

The Arachosia Satrapy and the Pactyan people during the Achaemenid Empire in 500 B.C.

According to the renowned linguists Darmesteter and Henderson, Pashto has "descended form Avestan".[10][11][12] The word "Pashto" derives by regular phonological processes from Parsawā- "Persian".[47] Nonetheless, the Pashtuns are sometimes compared with the Pakhta tribes mentioned in the Rigveda (1700–1100 BC), apparently the same as a people called Pactyans, described by the Greek historian Herodotus as living in the Achaemenid's Arachosia Satrapy as early as the 1st millennium BC.[48] However, this comparison appears to be due mainly to the apparent, etymologically unjustified, similarity between their names.[49]

Strabo, who lived between 64 BC and 24 CE, explains that the tribes inhabiting the lands west of the Indus River were part of Ariana and to their east was India. Since the 3rd century CE and onward, they are mostly referred to by the name "Afghan" ("Abgan")[50][51][52] and their language as "Afghani".[7]

Scholars such as Abdul Hai Habibi and others believe that the earliest modern Pashto work dates back to Amir Kror Suri in the eighth century, and they use the writings found in Pata Khazana. However, this is disputed by several European experts due to lack of strong evidence. Pata Khazana is a Pashto manuscript[53] claimed to be first compiled during the Hotaki dynasty (1709–1738) in Kandahar, Afghanistan. During the 17th century Pashto poetry was becoming very popular among the Pashtuns. Some of those who wrote poetry in Pashto are Khushal Khan Khattak, Rahman Baba, Nazo Tokhi and Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the modern state of Afghanistan or the Afghan Empire.

Grammar

Main article: Pashto grammar

Pashto is a subject–object–verb (SOV) language with split ergativity. Adjectives come before nouns. Nouns and adjectives are inflected for two genders (masc./fem.),[54] two numbers (sing./plur.), and four cases (direct, oblique I, oblique II and vocative). The verb system is very intricate with the following tenses: present, simple past, past progressive, present perfect and past perfect. There is also an inflection for the subjunctive mood. The sentence construction of Pashto is akin to Indo-Aryan languages like Prakrits and Hindi-Urdu, unlike Persian. 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 any of the past tenses (simple past, past progressive, present perfect or past perfect). In such cases, the verb agrees with the subject if it is intransitive, but if it is transitive, it agrees with the object,[55] therefore Pashto shows a partly ergative behavior. Pashto uses both preposition and postposition, but also circumpositions.

Phonology

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e ə o
Open a ɑ

Pashto also has the diphthongs /ai/, /əi/, /ɑw/, /aw/.

Consonants

Labial Dental Alveolar Retroflex Post-
alveolar 		Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n ɳ
Plosive p b t̪ d̪ ʈ ɖ k ɡ q ʔ
Affricate t͡s d͡z t͡ʃ d͡ʒ
Fricative f s z (ʂ ʐ) ʃ ʒ (ç ʝ) x ɣ h
Approximant l j w
Rhotic r ɭ̆

The phonemes /q/, /f/ tend to be replaced by [k], [p].

The retroflex lateral flap /ɭ̆/ (ɺ˞ or ) is pronounced as retroflex approximant [ɻ] when final.

The retroflex fricatives /ʂ/, /ʐ/ and palatal fricatives /ç/, /ʝ/ represent dialectally different pronunciations of the same sound, not separate phonemes. In particular, the retroflex fricatives, which represent the original pronunciation of these sounds, are preserved in the southern/southwestern dialects (especially the prestige dialect of Kandahar), while they are pronounced as palatal fricatives in the west-central dialects. Other dialects merge the original retroflexes with other existing sounds: The southeastern dialects merge them with the postalveolar fricatives /ʃ/, /ʒ/, while the northern/northeastern dialects merge them with the velar phonemes in an asymmetric pattern, pronouncing them as /x/, /ɡ/ (not /ɣ/). Furthermore, according to Henderson (1983),[56] the west-central voiced palatal fricative /ʝ/ actually occurs only in the Wardak Province, and is merged into /ɡ/ elsewhere in the region.

The velars /k/, /ɡ/, /x/, /ɣ/ followed by the close back rounded vowel /u/ assimilate into the labialized velars [kʷ], [ɡʷ], [xʷ], [ɣʷ].

Vocabulary

In Pashto, most of the native elements of the lexicon are related to other Eastern Iranian languages; those words can be easily compared to those known from Avestan, Ossetic and Pamir languages. However, a remarkably large number of words are special to Pashto.[3] Post-7th century borrowings came primarily from the Arabic, Persian and Hindustani languages (in Pakistan),[57][58] with the modern educated speech borrowing words from English,[2] French,[2] and German.[2]

Writing system

Main article: Pashto alphabet

Pashto employs the Pashto alphabet, a modified form of the Persian alphabet which on its part is derived from the Arabic alphabet. The reason for this is that it is not a Semitic language, and thus it is modified. It has extra letters for Pashto-specific sounds. Since the 17th century Pashto has been primarily written in the Naskh script, rather than the Nasta'liq script used for neighboring Persian and Urdu languages. The Pashto alphabet consists of 44 letters, and 4 diacritic marks. The following table gives the letters' isolated forms, along with the Latin equivalents and the IPA values for the letters' typical sounds:

ا
ā, nothing
/ɑ, ʔ/		 ب
b
/b/		 پ
p
/p/		 ت
t
/t̪/		 ټ
ṭ
/ʈ/		 ث
s
/s/		 ج
j
/d͡ʒ/		 ځ
ź
/d͡z/		 چ
č
/t͡ʃ/		 څ
c
/t͡s/		 ح
h
/h/		 خ
x
/x/
د
d
/d̪/		 ډ
ḍ
/ɖ/		 ﺫ
z
/z/		 ﺭ
r
/r/		 ړ
ṛ
/ɺ˞~ɻ/		 ﺯ
z
/z/		 ژ
ž
/ʒ/		 ږ
ǵ (or ẓ̌)
/ʐ, ʝ, ɡ/		 س
s
/s/		 ش
š
/ʃ/		 ښ
x̌ (or ṣ̌)
/ʂ, ç, x/
ص
s
/s/		 ض
z
/z/		 ط
t
/t̪/		 ظ
z
/z/		 ع
nothing
/ʔ/		 غ
ğ
/ɣ/		 ف
f
/f/		 ق
q
/q/		 ک
k
/k/		 ګ
g
/ɡ/		 ل
l
/l/
م
m
/m/		 ن
n
/n/		 ڼ
ṇ
/ɳ/		 و
w, ū, o
/w, u, o/		 ه
h, a, ə
/h, a, ə/		 ي
y, ī
/j, i/		 ې
e
/e/		 ی
ay, y
/ai, j/		 ۍ
əi
/əi/		 ئ
əi, y
/əi, j/

Pashto is written from right to left.[59]

Dialects

Main article: Pashto dialects

Pashto has two main dialects: a softer dialect spoken in the south, and a harsher dialect in the north. The former is further divided into southwestern and southeastern dialects, and the latter into northwestern (also called central or Ghiljai dialect) and northeastern. It is dominated by the geographical spread of the shift in the pronunciation of these five consonants:

Southwest [ʂ] [ʐ] [ts] [dz] [ʒ]
Southeast [ʃ] [ʒ] [ts] [dz] [ʒ]
Central [ç] [g]/[ʝ] [ts] [z] [ʒ]
Northeast [x] [ɡ] [s] [z] [dʒ]

The morphological differences between the most extreme north-eastern and south-western dialects are comparatively few and unimportant, and the criteria of dialect differentiation in Pashto are primarily phonological.[60]

Literature

Main article: Pashto literature and poetry

Khushal Khan Khattak (1613–1689) wrote in Pashto. His poetry consists of more than 45,000 poems. According to some historians, the number of books written by Khattak are more than 200. His more famous books are Bāz Nāma, Fazal Nāma, Distār Nāma and Farrah Nāma. From the time of Ahmad Shah Baba (1723-1773), Pashto has been the language of the court. Its first teaching text was written during the period of Ahmad Shah by Pir Mohammad Kakerr with the title of Ma'refa al-Afghāni ("Introduction of Afghani"). After that, the first grammar book of Pashto verbs was written in 1805 A.D. in India under the title of Riāz al-Muhabat ("Training in Affection") through the patronage of Nawab Mohabat Khan son of Hafez Rahmatullah Khan, the famous chief of the Barreitsh. Nawabullah Yar Khan, another son of Hafez Rahmat Khan in 1808 A.D. wrote a book of Pashto words entitled Ajāyeb-al-Lughat ("Strangeness of Words").

See also

Bibliography

  • Schmidt, Rüdiger (ed.) (1989). Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum. Wiesbaden: Reichert. ISBN 3-88226-413-6. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  • Gusain, Lakhan (2008?) A Grammar of Pashto. Ann Arbor, MI: Northside Publishers.
  • Georg Morgenstierne (1926) Report on a Linguistic Mission to Afghanistan. Instituttet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning, Serie C I-2. Oslo. ISBN 0-923891-09-9
  • Daniel G. Hallberg (1992) Pashto, Waneci, Ormuri (Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan, 4). National Institute of Pakistani Studies, 176 pp. ISBN 969-8023-14-3.
  • Herbert Penzl A Grammar of Pashto: A Descriptive Study of the Dialect of Kandahar, Afghanistan, ISBN 0-923891-72-2
  • Herbert Penzl A Reader of Pashto, ISBN 0-923891-71-4

References

  1. ^ Nationalencyklopedin "Världens 100 största språk 2007" The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007 (39 million)
  2. ^ a b c d e Penzl, Herbert (2009). A Grammar of Pashto a Descriptive Study of the Dialect of Kandahar, Afghanistan. Ishi Press International. p. 210. ISBN 0-923891-72-2. Retrieved 25 October 2010. Estimates of the number of Pashto speakers range from 40 million to 60 million... {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) Cite error: The named reference "Penzl" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c "AFGHANISTAN vi. Paṧto". G. Morgenstierne. Encyclopaedia Iranica Online Version. Retrieved 10 October 2010. Paṧtō undoubtedly belongs to the Northeastern Iranic branch.
  4. ^ a b Constitution of Afghanistan - Chapter 1 The State, Article 16 (Languages) and Article 20 (Anthem)
  5. ^ "Population by Mother Tongue". Population Census Organization, Government of Pakistan. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  6. ^ Sebeok, Thomas Albert (1976). Current Trends in Linguistics: Index. Walter de Gruyter. p. 705.
  7. ^ a b John Leyden, Esq., M.D. and William Erskine, Esq., ed. (1921). "Events Of The Year 910 (1525)". Memoirs of Babur. Packard Humanities Institute. p. 5. Retrieved 10 January 2012. To the south is Afghanistān. There are eleven or twelve different languages spoken in Kābul: Arabic, Persian, Tūrki, Moghuli, Hindi, Afghani, Pashāi, Parāchi, Geberi, Bereki, and Lamghāni.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  8. ^ Dictionary.com, "Afghani," in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Source location: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Afghani. Accessed: 14 July 2010.
  9. ^ India. Office of the Registrar General (1961). Census of India, 1961: Gujarat. Manager of Publications. pp. 142, 166, 177.
  10. ^ a b Henderson, Michael. "The Phonology of Pashto" (PDF). University of Wisconnsin Madisson. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  11. ^ a b Henderson, Michael (1983). "Four Variaties of Pashto". Journal of the American Oriental Society (103.595-8).
  12. ^ a b Darmesteter, James (1890). Chants populaires des Afghans. Paris.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. ^ a b Barbara Robson, Juliene Lipson, Farid Younos, Mariam Mehdi. "The Afghans - Language and Literacy". United States: Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL). 30 June 2002. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  14. ^ Nicholas Sims-Williams, Eastern Iranian languages, in Encyclopaedia Iranica, Online Edition, 2010. "The Modern Eastern Iranian languages are even more numerous and varied. Most of them are classified as North-Eastern: Ossetic; Yaghnobi (which derives from a dialect closely related to Sogdian); the Shughni group (Shughni, Roshani, Khufi, Bartangi, Roshorvi, Sarikoli), with which Yaz-1ghulami (Sokolova 1967) and the now extinct Wanji (J. Payne in Schmitt, p. 420) are closely linked; Ishkashmi, Sanglichi, and Zebaki; Wakhi; Munji and Yidgha; and Pashto."
  15. ^ Paul M. Lewis, ed. (2009). "Pashto Family Tree". SIL International. Dallas, Texas: Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  16. ^ a b "Pashto". Omniglot.com. Retrieved 25 October 2010. The exact number of Pashto speakers is not known for sure, but most estimates range from 45 million to 55 million.
  17. ^ Thomson, Gale (2007). Countries of the World & Their Leaders Yearbook 08. Vol. 2. European Union: Indo-European Association. p. 84. ISBN 0-7876-8108-3. Retrieved 25 October 2010. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help)
  18. ^ Paul M. Lewis, ed. (2009). "Pashto, Northern". SIL International. Dallas, Texas: Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Retrieved 18 September 2010. Ethnic population: 49,529,000 possibly total Pashto in all countries.
  19. ^ Banting, Erinn (2003). Afghanistan: The land. Crabtree Publishing Company. p. 4. ISBN 0-7787-9335-4. Retrieved 22 August 2010. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help)
  20. ^ "General Information About Afghanistan". Abdullah Qazi. Afghanistan Online. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
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  23. ^ Brown, Keith (2009). Concise encyclopedia of languages of the world. Elsevie. p. 845. ISBN 0-08-087774-5. Retrieved 7 April 2012. Pashto, which is mainly spoken south of the mountain range of the Hindu Kush, is reportedly the mother tongue of 60% of the Afghan population. {{cite book}}: More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ "Pashto". UCLA International Institute: Center for World Languages. University of California, Los Angeles. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
  25. ^ "AFGHANISTAN v. Languages". Ch. M. Kieffer. Encyclopædia Iranica Online Version. Retrieved 10 October 2010. A. Official languages. Paṧtō (1) is the native tongue of 50 to 55 percent of Afghans...
  26. ^ Government of Pakistan: Population by Mother Tongue
  27. ^ Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (17 July 2009). "Karachi's Invisible Enemy". PBS. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  28. ^ "In a city of ethnic friction, more tinder". The National. 24 August 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
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  30. ^ "Pashto, Southern". SIL International. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 14th edition. 2000. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  31. ^ Walter R Lawrence, Imperial Gazetteer of India. Provincial Series, pg 36-37, Link
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  35. ^ Modarresi, Yahya: Iran, Afghanistan and Tadjikistan". 1911 - 1916. In: Sociolinguistics, Vol. 3, Part. 3. Ulrich Ammon, Norbert Dittmar, Klaus J. Mattheier, Peter Trudgill (eds.). Berlin, De Gryuter: 2006. p. 1915. ISBN 3-11-018418-4 [1]
  36. ^ a b c Tariq Rahman. Pashto Language & Identity Formation in Pakistan. Contemporary South Asia, July 1995, Vol 4, Issue 2, p151-20.
  37. ^ Lorenz, Manfred. Die Herausbildung moderner iranischer Literatursprachen. In: Zeitschrift für Phonetik, Sprachwissenschaft und Kommunikationsforschung, Vol. 36. Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR. Akademie Verlag, Berlin: 1983. P. 184ff.
  38. ^ Other sources note 1933, i.e. Johannes Christian Meyer-Ingwersen. Untersuchungen zum Satzbau des Paschto. 1966. Ph.D. Thesis, Hamburg 1966.
  39. ^ a b Hussain, Rizwan. Pakistan and the emergence of Islamic militancy in Afghanistan. Burlington, Ashgate: 2005. p. 63.
  40. ^ István Fodor, Claude Hagège. Reform of Languages. Buske, 1983. P. 105ff.
  41. ^ Campbell, George L.: Concise compendium of the world's languages. London: Routledge 1999.
  42. ^ "The Afghans - Language Use". Barbara Robson and Juliene Lipson, with assistance from Farid Younos and Mariam Mehdi. United States: Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL). 30 June 2002. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  43. ^ Dupree, Louis: Language and Politics in Afghanistan. In: Contributions to Asian Studies. Vol. 11/1978. p. 131 - 141. E. J. Brill, Leiden 1978. p. 131.
  44. ^ Spooner, Bryan: "Are we teaching Persian?". In: Persian studies in North America: studies in honor of Mohammad Ali Jazayery. Mehdi Marashi (ed.). Bethesda, Iranbooks: 1994. p. 1983.
  45. ^ Septfonds, D. 2006. Pashto. In: Concise encyclopedia of languages of the world. 845 - 848. Keith Brown / Sarah Ogilvie (eds.). Elsevier, Oxford: 2009.
  46. ^ Hywel Coleman (2010). TEACHING AND LEARNING IN PAKISTAN: THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN EDUCATION (Report). British Council, Pakistan. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  47. ^ Comrie, Bernard (1990). The World's Major Languages. Oxford University Press. p. 549. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  48. ^ "The History of Herodotus Chapter 7". Translated by George Rawlinson. The History Files. 440 BC. Retrieved 2007-01-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  49. ^ Nath, Samir (2002). Dictionary of Vedanta. Sarup & Sons. p. 273. ISBN 81-7890-056-4. Retrieved 10 September 2010. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help)
  50. ^ "Afghan and Afghanistan". Abdul Hai Habibi. alamahabibi.com. 1969. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  51. ^ "History of Afghanistan". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
  52. ^ Noelle-Karimi, Christine (2002). Afghanistan - a country without a state?. University of Michigan, United States: IKO. p. 18. ISBN 3-88939-628-3. Retrieved 24 September 2010. The earliest mention of the name 'Afghan' (Abgan) is to be found in a Sasanid inscription from the third century AD, and it appears in India in the form of 'Avagana'... {{cite book}}: More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  53. ^ "Pata Khazana" (pdf). Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  54. ^ Emeneau, M. B. (1962) "Bilingualism and Structural Borrowing" Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 106(5): pp. 430-442, p. 441
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  56. ^ Michael M.T. Henderson, Four Varieties of Pashto
  57. ^ Vladimir Kushev (1997). "Areal Lexical Contacts of the Afghan (Pashto) Language (Based on the Texts of the XVI-XVIII Centuries)". Iran and the Caucasus. 1. Brill: 159–166. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  58. ^ "Census of India, 1931, Volume 17, Part 2". Times of India. 1937. Retrieved 7 June 2009. At the same time Pashto has borrowed largely from Persian, and through those languages from Arabic. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  59. ^ Afghanan.net. Pashto alifba (pdf)
  60. ^ D. N. MacKenzie, "A Standard Pashto", Khyber.org
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