pbt ISO 639
پښتو (Pax̌tō) Autonyms
Pashto, Southern
Visualizations
A language of Afghanistan
- ISO 639
- pbt
- Alternate Names
- Kandahari Pashto, Qandahari Pashto, Southwestern Pashto
- Autonym
- پښتو (Pax̌tō)
- Population
- 13,320,000 in Afghanistan, all users. L1 users: 9,840,000 in Afghanistan (2017). L2 users: 3,480,000 (2021). Total users in all countries: 19,733,930 (as L1: 16,253,930; as L2: 3,480,000).
- Location
- Badghis, Farah, Helmand, Herat, Kandahar, Nimroz, Uruzgan, and Zabul provinces.
- Language Maps
- Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Southern Pakistan
- Language Status
- 1 (National). Statutory national language (2004, Constitution, Article 16(1)).
- Classification
- Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Eastern, Southeastern, Pashto
- Dialects
- Durani. Lexical similarity: 80% between northern and southern varieties of Pashto. 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
- Afghan government has worked since 1930s to standardize and publicize it. All domains. Used by all. Positive attitudes. Some also use Dari [prs], especially those who are educated or have business in Dari-speaking provinces. A few also use Urdu [urd].
- Language Development
- Pashto is one of two national languages taught in schools. Low literacy rate, especially in non-urban locations and among women. Taught in all primary and secondary schools in predominantly Pashto-speaking areas; taught as subject in primary schools in some other regions. Literature. Newspapers. Periodicals. Radio. TV. Videos. Dictionary. Grammar. Texts. Bible portions: 2011–2019.
- Writing
- Arabic script, Naskh variant [Arab], used in print. Arabic script, Nastaliq variant [Aran], used in handwriting and for book titles.
- Other Comments
- Muslim.
- Language Resources
- OLAC resources in and about Pashto, Southern
Also Spoken in
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. Came from Afghanistan. Muslim. View other languages of United Arab Emirates
Language Name
Pashto, Southern
User Population
154,000 in United Arab Emirates (2020).
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Belgium
Language Name
Pashto, Southern
User Population
10,300 in Belgium (2020 census), based on nationality.
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Germany
Language Name
Pashto, Southern
User Population
81,500 in Germany (2020 census), based on nationality.
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Finland
Language Name
Pashto, Southern
User Population
1,530 in Finland (2021 census).
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of United Kingdom
Language Name
Pashto, Southern
User Population
40,300 in United Kingdom (2011 census).
- Location
- Razavi Khorasan and South Khorasan provinces: Afghanistan border east of Qa’en.
- Language Status
- 5 (Dispersed)
- Language Use
- Also use Iranian Persian [pes].
- Other Comments
- Different from Northern Pashto [pbu] of Pakistan and India. Muslim. View other languages of Iran
Language Name
Pashto, Southern
User Population
113,000 in Iran (1993). Population does not include refugees.
- Location
- Balochistan province: Loralai, Mastung, Quetta, Pishin, Sibi, and Ziarat districts, and adjacent areas; Khyber Pakhtunkwa province: Dera Ismail Khan district; Punjab province: Dera Ghazi Khan district.
- Dialects
- Southeastern Pashto, Quetta Pashto.
- Language Status
- 5 (Dispersed)
- Language Use
- Some Pashto educated in Urdu [urd] medium schools mix the languages. Used as L2 by Waneci [wne].
- Other Comments
- Muslim. View other languages of Pakistan
Language Name
Pashto, Southern
User Population
5,960,000 in Pakistan (2017 census).
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Sweden
Language Name
Pashto, Southern
User Population
19,400 in Sweden (2020 census), based on nationality.
- Location
- Khatlon region.
- Language Status
- 5 (Dispersed) View other languages of Tajikistan
Language Name
Pashto, Southern
User Population
32,400 in Tajikistan (2017).
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Turkmenistan
Language Name
Pashto, Southern
User Population
1,500 in Turkmenistan (Leclerc 2019b), based on ethnicity.
