Northern Pashto (Pashto: شمالي پښتو) is a standard variety of the Pashto language spoken in the northern and central parts of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and central-eastern Afghanistan, comprising the Northwestern and Northeastern dialects of Pashto.[3]
| Northern Pashto | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Pakistan, Afghanistan |
| Ethnicity | Pashtun |
| Speakers | L1: 23 million (2017)[1] L2: 1.4 million (2022)[1] |
| Pashto alphabet | |
| Official status | |
| Regulated by | Pashto Academy of Pakistan[2] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | pbu |
| Glottolog | nort2646 |
North Eastern
editNortheastern Pashto,[4] is spoken primarily in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
Yusapzai
editYusufzai/Yusapzai Pashto is the most-spoken subdialect[5] in the Northeastern Dialect.
Comparison:
| Dialects[6] | ښ | ږ | څ | ځ | ژ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Eastern (e.g. Yusapzai) | [x] | [ɡ] | [s] | [z] | [d͡ʒ] |
| North Western (e.g Jalalabad) | [x] | [ɡ] | [s] | [z] | [ʒ] |
| North Western (e.g. Wardak) | [ç] | [ʝ] | [t͡s] | [d͡z] | [ʒ, z] |
Lexical Variation
editEven within the Yusapzai dialect; regional lexical variation is noted; as pointed out by Dr. Muhammad Ali Kaleem:[7]
| Meaning | Mardan | Swat |
|---|---|---|
| Ring | ګتمه
gʊ́tma |
ګوتۍ
gwə́təi or Guta |
| Spinach | ساګ
sāg |
سابه
sābə́ |
| Cup | پيالۍ
pyālə́i |
پياله
pyālá |
| Puppy | کوتری
kutré or Spey |
کوکری
kukré |
Sub-regional lexical variation
editEven with regions there can be minor differences in pronunciation. Example:
| Malakand District
[some localities] |
Malakand District
[general] |
Standard Pashto | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| فپه
fpa |
ښپه
xpa |
پښه
px̌a, pxa, pša, pṣ̌a |
foot |
North Western
edit
The North Western is spoken in the east and northeast Afghanistan.[8]
Phonological Variation
editThere is regional difference in North Western Pashto in pronunciation of words:[9]
| Meaning | Wardak | Jalalabad | Bati Kot | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| دوی | they | deɪ | ˈduwi | ˈduwi |
| راکړه | give [imperative of راکول] | ˈrɑka | ˈrɑka | ˈrɑkɽa |
| پوهېدل | to know [infinitive] | pijeˈdəl | pojeˈdəl | pojidəl |
| شپږ | six | ʃpaʝ | ʃpag | ʃpiʒ |
| وريځ | cloud | wərˈjed͡z | wrez | wəˈred͡z |
| ښځه | woman | ˈçəd͡za | ˈxəza | |
| اوبه | water | oˈbə | uˈbə | oˈbə |
References
edit- ^ a b Northern Pashto at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
- ^ Sebeok, Thomas Albert (1976). Current Trends in Linguistics: Index. Walter de Gruyter. p. 705.
- ^ "Glottolog 4.3 - Northern Pashto". glottolog.org. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
- ^ Prods Oktor Skjærvø, P.O. 1989. Pashto. In "Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum", R. Schmitt (ed.), 384-410.
- ^ "Redirected". 19 November 2019.
- ^ Hallberg, Daniel G. 1992. Pashto, Waneci, Ormuri. Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan, 4.
- ^ Kaleem, Muhammad (2015). "Lexical Variation in Pashto: A Comparative Study Conducted in Mardan and Swat , in Pashto" (PDF). Pashto. 44 (650): 21–52. Archived from the original on February 7, 2021.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Anna B. David (2014). A Descriptive Grammar of Pashto and its Dialects. De Gruyter Mouton. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-61451-303-2.
- ^ Coyle, Dennis Walter (2014). Placing Wardak Among Pashto Varieties (Master's thesis). University of North Dakota.
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