prs ISO 639
فارسی (Farsi) Autonyms
Dari
Visualizations
A language of Afghanistan
- ISO 639
- prs
- Alternate Names
- Afghan Persian, Eastern Farsi, Parsi, Persian
- Autonym
- فارسی (Farsi)
- Population
- 28,660,000 in Afghanistan, all users. L1 users: 8,660,000 in Afghanistan (2017 J. Leclerc), increasing. L2 users: 20,000,000 (2020). Total users in all countries: 30,089,210 (as L1: 10,089,210; as L2: 20,000,000).
- Location
- Widespread.
- Language Maps
- Afghanistan, Northern Pakistan
- Language Status
- 1 (National). Statutory national language (2004, Constitution, Article 16(1)).
- Classification
- Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Western, Southwestern, Persian
- Dialects
- Tangshew (Tangshuri), Darwazi. Mutually intelligible with Iranian Persian [pes] and Tajiki [tgk]. Radio Afghanistan broadcasts promote a standardized pronunciation of the literary language based on the old dictional tradition of the country, with archaic phonetic characteristics. Phonological and lexical differences between Iran and Afghanistan cause little difficulty in comprehension. Most Afghan dialects are reportedly more similar to literary Persian than Iranian dialects are. Lexical similarity: 86%–90% among Dari dialects. A member of macrolanguage Persian [fas].
- Typology
- SOV; no articles; verb affixes mark person, number; tense and aspect; causatives; 23 consonants, 7 vowels, 2 diphthongs.
- Language Use
- All domains. Used by all. Positive attitudes.
- Language Development
- Literacy rate in L1: 28%. Taught in all primary and secondary schools in predominantly Dari-speaking regions; taught as subject in primary schools in some other regions. Literature. Newspapers. Periodicals. Radio. TV. Videos. Dictionary. Grammar. Texts. Bible: 2008.
- 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 Dari
Also Spoken in
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Australia
Language Name
Dari
User Population
30,400 in Australia (2016 census).
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Belgium
Language Name
Dari
User Population
6,510 in Belgium (2020 census), based on nationality.
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Germany
Language Name
Dari
User Population
68,000 in Germany (2020 census), based on nationality.
- Location
- South Khorasan province.
- Language Status
- 5 (Dispersed)
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Iran
Language Name
Dari
User Population
391,000 in Iran (2019).
- Location
- Khyber Pakhtunkwa province: southeast Chitral, Shishi Koh valley, Madaglasht village; Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, and other large cities.
- Language Status
- 5 (Dispersed)
- Language Use
- Most also use Khowar [khw]. Most also use Urdu [urd]. Some also use Gujari [gju]. Some also use Northern Pashto [pbu]. Used as L2 by Hazaragi [haz].
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. Madaglasht community in Chitral came from Badakhshan, Afghanistan 200 years ago. Other communities in Pakistan are primarily refugees or settlers from Afghanistan. Muslim. View other languages of Pakistan
Language Name
Dari
User Population
921,000 in Pakistan (2022 Joshua Project), based on ethnicity, included 909,000 ethnic Tajiks who speak Dari.
- Language Status
- Unestablished
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. View other languages of Sweden
Language Name
Dari
User Population
12,300 in Sweden (2020 census), based on nationality.
