Pashto, Central

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A language of Pakistan

ISO 639-3
pst
Alternate Names
Mahsudi
Autonym
پښتو‎ (Pashto)
User Population

8,490,000 (2017 census).

Location

Balochistan province: north; Khyber Pakhtunkwa province: Bannu and Karak districts; Wazirstan agencies and Lakki Marwat and Tank regions; Punjab province: some border areas in Bhakkar district.

Language Maps
Language Status

6a* (Vigorous).

Classification
Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Eastern, Southeastern, Pashto
Dialects

Waciri (Waziri), Bannuchi (Bannochi, Bannu). Lexical comparison and interviews indicate this is distinct from Northern Pashto [pbu] and Southern Pashto [pbt]. A member of macrolanguage Pushto [pus].

Typology

SOV; noun head final; gender (masculine/feminine); no articles; case-marking (3 cases); verb affixes mark person, number, gender of subject; passives; tense and aspect; causatives.

Language Use

Also use Saraiki [skr]. Used as L2 by Ormuri [oru], Savi [sdg].

Language Development

Dictionary. Grammar.

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Pashto, Central
Writing

Arabic script, Naskh variant [Arab].

Other Comments

Muslim.