Northern Pashto

Northern Pashto
Native toPakistan, Afghanistan
EthnicityPashtun
SpeakersL1: 23 million (2017)
L2: 1.4 million (2022)
Pashto alphabet
Official status
Regulated byPashto Academy of Pakistan
Language codes
ISO 639-3pbu
Glottolognort2646

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.

Northern Comparison

موږ

"we"
Northern [Wardak]
/muʝ/
Northern [Eastern and Western dialects]
/munɡ/
Northern [Eastern and Western dialects]
/muɡ/
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North Eastern

Northeastern Pashto is spoken primarily in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

Yusapzai

Yusapzai ژ Shift
The change from /ʒ/ to /d͡ʒ/
Literary: هيبوه لا ژوندۍ ده

Pashto pronunciation: [/hi.ˈba.wa lɑ d͡ʒwan.ˈd̪əi d̪a/]

Meaning: The ibis is still alive
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Yusufzai/Yusapzai Pashto is the most-spoken subdialect in the Northeastern Dialect.

Comparison:

Dialects 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

Even within the Yusapzai dialect; regional lexical variation is noted; as pointed out by Dr. Muhammad Ali Kaleem:

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

Even 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

ښه يمه - in Northern Dialects
North Western [Wardak]
/çə ˈjə.ma/
North Eastern and North Western [Jalalabad]
/xə ˈjə.ma/
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The North Western is spoken in the east and northeast Afghanistan.

Phonological Variation

Recording of a native Wardag Dialect Speaker
موږ به دا

/muʝ bə d̪ɑ/

We will this...
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There is regional difference in North Western Pashto in pronunciation of words:

Meaning Wardak Jalalabad Bati Kot Maidani
دوی they deɪ ˈduwi ˈduwi ˈduwi
راکړه give [imperative of راکول] ˈrɑka ˈrɑka ˈrɑkɽa 'rawka
پوهېدل to know [infinitive] pijeˈdəl pojeˈdəl pojidəl pigeˈdəl
شپږ six ʃpaʝ ʃpag ʃpiʒ ʃpag
وريځ cloud wərˈjed͡z wrez wəˈred͡z wrez
ښځه woman ˈçəd͡za ˈxəza ˈxəza ˈxəza
اوبه water oˈbə uˈbə oˈbə oˈbə

References

  1. 1 2 Northern Pashto at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed access icon
  2. ↑ Sebeok, Thomas Albert (1976). Current Trends in Linguistics: Index. Walter de Gruyter. p. 705.
  3. ↑ "Glottolog 4.3 - Northern Pashto". glottolog.org. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
  4. ↑ Prods Oktor Skjærvø, P.O. 1989. Pashto. In "Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum", R. Schmitt (ed.), 384-410.
  5. ↑ "Redirected". 19 November 2019.
  6. ↑ Hallberg, Daniel G. 1992. Pashto, Waneci, Ormuri. Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan, 4.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ Anna B. David (2014). A Descriptive Grammar of Pashto and its Dialects. De Gruyter Mouton. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-61451-303-2.
  9. ↑ Coyle, Dennis Walter (2014). Placing Wardak Among Pashto Varieties (Master's thesis). University of North Dakota.