Pashto International Day 29. May

Pashto language

Pashto پښتو
Pax̌tō The word Pax̌to written in Pashto (Nastaliq style)

Pronunciation [ˈpəʂt̪oː], [ˈpəçt̪oː], [ˈpʊxt̪oː] Native to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Pashtun diaspora Ethnicity Pashtun Native speakers

60-80 million  (2007–2009)[1][2][3] Language family

Indo-European Indo-Iranian

Iranian

Eastern Iranian

Pashto

Standard forms

Central Ghilji (Northwestern)

Northern Pakhto (Eastern)

Yusufzai (Northeastern)

Kandahari (Southern)

Dialects 21 dialects Writing system

Arabic (Pashto alphabet)

Official status Official language in

 Afghanistan[4] Recognised minority
language in

 Pakistan
Provincial in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and Northern Balochistan

Regulated by Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan

pst – Central Pashto(Paxto)
pbu – Northern Pashto
pbt – Southern Pashto
wne – Wanetsi Glottolog pash1269[6] Linguasphere 58-ABD-a This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. This article contains Pashto text. Without proper rendering support, you may see unjoined letters or other symbols instead of Pashto script. Pashto (پښتو Pax̌tō IPA: [ˈpəʂt̪oː, ˈpəçt̪oː, ˈpʊxt̪oː]; alternatively spelled Paxto, Pukhto, Pakhto, or Pushto), also known in older literature as Afghānī (افغاني)[7] or Paṭhānī,[8] is an Eastern Iranian language, belonging to the Indo-European family.[9][10][11] Pashto is the native language of the Pashtun people of South-Central Asia. It is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan[4][12][13] and is also the second-largest regional language of Pakistan which is mainly spoken in the west and northwest of the country.[14]Pashto is the main language among the Pashtun diaspora around the world. The total number of Pashto-speakers is estimated to be 45–60 million people worldwide.[1][15][16][16][17]

Pashto belongs to the Northeastern Iranian group of the Indo-Iranian branch;[18][19] however, Ethnologue lists it as Southeastern Iranian.[20] Pashto's closest relatives are Khotanese, Bactrian, and Pamir languages.