Pashto[b] (/ˈpʌʃtoʊ/ PUH-shtoh,[6][4][5]/ˈpæʃtoʊ/ PASH-toh;[c] ‫پښتو‬, Pəx̌ tó, [pəʂ

ˈto, pʊxˈto, pəʃˈto, pəçˈto]) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European

language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern
Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (
‫افغانی‬, Afghāni).[8]

Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two

official languages of Afghanistan alongside Dari,[9][10][11] and it is the second-
largest provincial language of Pakistan, spoken mainly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and
the northern districts of Balochistan.[12] Likewise, it is the primary language of
the Pashtun diaspora around the world. The total number of Pashto-speakers is at
least 40 million,[13] although some estimates place it as high as 60 million.[14]
Pashto is "one of the primary markers of ethnic identity" amongst Pashtuns.[15]

Geographic distribution
Further information: Languages of Afghanistan and Languages of Pakistan
A national language of Afghanistan,[16] Pashto is primarily spoken in the east,
south, and southwest, but also in some northern and western parts of the country.
The exact number of speakers is unavailable, but different estimates show that
Pashto is the mother tongue of 45–60%[17][18][19][20] of the total population of
Afghanistan.

In Pakistan, Pashto is spoken by 15% of its population,[21][22] mainly in the

northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern districts of Balochistan
province. It is also spoken in parts of Mianwali and Attock districts of the Punjab
province, areas of Gilgit-Baltistan and in Islamabad. Pashto speakers are found in
other major cities of Pakistan, most notably Karachi, Sindh,[23][24][25][26] which
may have the largest Pashtun population of any city in the world.[27]

Other communities of Pashto speakers are found in India, Tajikistan,[28] and

northeastern Iran (primarily in South Khorasan Province to the east of Qaen, near
the Afghan border).[29] In India most ethnic Pashtun (Pathan) peoples speak the
geographically native Hindi-Urdu language rather than Pashto, but there are small
numbers of Pashto speakers, such as the Sheen Khalai in Rajasthan,[30] and the
Pathan community in the city of Kolkata, often nicknamed the Kabuliwala ("people of
Kabul").[31][32] Pashtun diaspora communities in other countries around the world
speak Pashto, especially the sizable communities in the United Arab Emirates[33]
and Saudi Arabia.

Afghanistan
Pashto is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan, along with Dari
Persian.[34] Since the early 18th century, the monarchs of Afghanistan have been
ethnic Pashtuns (except for Habibullāh Kalakāni in 1929).[35] Persian, the literary
language of the royal court,[36] was more widely used in government institutions,
while the Pashtun tribes spoke Pashto as their native tongue. King Amanullah Khan
began promoting Pashto during his reign (1926–1929) as a marker of ethnic identity
and as a symbol of "official nationalism"[35] leading Afghanistan to independence
after the defeat of the British Empire in the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919. In
the 1930s, a movement began to take hold to promote Pashto as a language of
government, administration, and art with the establishment of a Pashto Society
Pashto Anjuman in 1931[37] and the inauguration of the Kabul University in 1932 as
well as the formation of the Pashto Academy (Pashto Tolana) in 1937.[38] Muhammad
Na'im Khan, the minister of education between 1938 and 1946, inaugurated the formal
policy of promoting Pashto as Afghanistan's national language, leading to the
commission and publication of Pashto textbooks.[39] The Pashto Tolana was later
incorporated into the Academy of Sciences Afghanistan in line with Soviet model
following the Saur Revolution in 1978.[40]
Although officially supporting the use of Pashto, the Afghan elite regarded Persian
as a "sophisticated language and a symbol of cultured upbringing".[35] King Zahir
Shah (reigning 1933–1973) thus followed suit after his father Nadir Khan had
decreed in 1933 that officials were to study and utilize both Persian and Pashto.
[41] In 1936 a royal decree of Zahir Shah formally granted Pashto the status of an
official language,[42] with full rights to use in all aspects of government and
education – despite the fact that the ethnically Pashtun royal family and
bureaucrats mostly spoke Persian.[38] Thus Pashto became a national language, a
symbol for Pashtun nationalism.

The constitutional assembly reaffirmed the status of Pashto as an official language

in 1964 when Afghan Persian was officially renamed to Dari.[43][44] The lyrics of
the national anthem of Afghanistan are in Pashto.

Further information: List of Pashto-speaking universities

Pakistan
In British India, prior to the creation of Pakistan by the British government, the
1920s saw the blossoming of Pashto language in the then NWFP: Abdul Ghafar Khan in
1921 established the Anjuman-e- Islah al-Afaghina (Society for the Reformation of
Afghans) to promote Pashto as an extension of Pashtun culture; around 80,000 people
attended the Society's annual meeting in 1927.[45] In 1955, Pashtun intellectuals
including Abdul Qadir formed the Pashto Academy Peshawar on the model of Pashto
Tolana formed in Afghanistan.[46] In 1974, the Department of Pashto was established
in the University of Balochistan for the promotion of Pashto.[47]

In Pakistan, Pashto is the first language around of 15% of its population (per the
1998 census).[48] However, Urdu and English are the two official languages of
Pakistan. Pashto has no official status at the federal level. On a provincial
level, Pashto is the regional language of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and north Balochistan.
[49] Yet, the primary medium of education in government schools in Pakistan is
Urdu.[50][51]

The lack of importance given to Pashto and its neglect has caused growing
resentment amongst Pashtuns.[52][53][54][55] It is noted that Pashto is taught
poorly in schools in Pakistan.[56] Moreover, in government schools material is not
provided for in the Pashto dialect of that locality, Pashto being a dialectically
rich language.[57] Further, researchers have observed that Pashtun students are
unable to fully comprehend educational material in Urdu.[58]

Professor Tariq Rahman states:[59]

"The government of Pakistan, faced with irredentist claims from Afghanistan on its
territory, also discouraged the Pashto Movement and eventually allowed its use in
peripheral domains only after the Pakhtun elite had been co-opted by the ruling
elite...Thus, even though there is still an active desire among some Pakhtun
activists to use Pashto in the domains of power, it is more of a symbol of Pakhtun
identity than one of nationalism."

— Tariq Rahman, The Pashto language and identity-formation in Pakistan

Robert Nicols states:[60]

"In the end, national language policy, especially in the field of education in the
NWFP, had constructed a type of three tiered language hierarchy. Pashto lagged far
behind Urdu and English in prestige or development in almost every domain of
political or economic power..."

— Language Policy and Language Conflict in Afghanistan and Its Neighbors, Pashto
Language Policy and Practice in the North West Frontier Province
Although Pashto used as a medium of instruction in schools for Pashtun students
results in better understanding and comprehension for students when compared to
using Urdu, still the government of Pakistan has only introduced Pashto at the
primary levels in state-run schools.[61] Taimur Khan remarks: "the dominant Urdu
language squeezes and denies any space for Pashto language in the official and
formal capacity. In this contact zone, Pashto language exists but in a subordinate
and unofficial capacity".[62]

History
Some linguists have argued that Pashto is descended from Avestan or a variety very
similar to it, while others have attempted to place it closer to Bactrian.[63][64]
[65] However, neither position is universally agreed upon. What scholars do agree
on is the fact that Pashto is an Eastern Iranian language sharing characteristics
with Eastern Middle Iranian languages such as Bactrian, Khwarezmian and Sogdian.
[66][67]

Compare with other Eastern Iranian Languages and Old Avestan:

"I am seeing you"

Pashto ‫زۀ تا وينم‬
Zə tā winə́m
Old Avestan[68][69] Azə̄m θβā vaēnamī
Ossetian ӕз дӕ уынын
/ɐz dɐ wənən/
Ormuri[70] ‫از بو تو ِنم‬
Az bū tū dzunim
Yidgha[71] Zo vtō vīnəm əstə (tə)
Munji[72] Zə ftō wīnəm
Shughni[73] Uz tu winum
Wakhi[73] Wuz tau winəm
Strabo, who lived between 64 BC and 24 CE, explains that the tribes inhabiting the
lands west of the Indus River were part of Ariana. This was around the time when
the area inhabited by the Pashtuns was governed by the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. From
the 3rd century CE onward, they are mostly referred to by the name Afghan (Abgan).
[74][75][76][8]

Abdul Hai Habibi believed that the earliest modern Pashto work dates back to Amir
Kror Suri of the early Ghurid period in the 8th century, and they use the writings
found in Pata Khazana. Pə́ṭa Xazāná ( ‫ ) په خزانه‬is a Pashto manuscript[77] claimed to
be written by Mohammad Hotak under the patronage of the Pashtun emperor Hussain
Hotak in Kandahar; containing an anthology of Pashto poets. However, its
authenticity is disputed by scholars such as David Neil MacKenzie and Lucia Serena
Loi.[78][79] Nile Green comments in this regard:[80]

"In 1944, Habibi claimed to have discovered an eighteenth-century manuscript

anthology containing much older biographies and verses of Pashto poets that
stretched back as far as the eighth century. It was an extraordinary claim,
implying as it did that the history of Pashto literature reached back further in
time than Persian, thus supplanting the hold of Persian over the medieval Afghan
past. Although it was later convincingly discredited through formal linguistic
analysis, Habibi's publication of the text under the title Pata Khazana ('Hidden
Treasure') would (in Afghanistan at least) establish his reputation as a promoter
of the wealth and antiquity of Afghanistan's Pashto culture."

— Afghan History Through Afghan Eyes

From the 16th century, Pashto poetry become very popular among the Pashtuns. Some
of those who wrote in Pashto are Bayazid Pir Roshan (a major inventor of the Pashto
alphabet), Khushal Khan Khattak, Rahman Baba, Nazo Tokhi, and Ahmad Shah Durrani,
founder of the modern state of Afghanistan or the Durrani Empire. The Pashtun
literary tradition grew in the backdrop to weakening Pashtun power following Mughal
rule: Khushal Khan Khattak used Pashto poetry to rally for Pashtun unity and Pir
Bayazid as an expedient means to spread his message to the Pashtun masses.[81]

For instance Khushal Khattak laments in :[82]

"The Afghans (Pashtuns) are far superior to the Mughals at the sword,

Were but the Afghans, in intellect, a little discreet. If the different tribes
would but support each other,

Kings would have to bow down in prostration before them"

— Khushal Khan Khattak, Selections from the Poetry of the Afghans

Grammar
Main article: Pashto grammar
Pashto is a subject–object–verb (SOV) language with split ergativity. In Pashto,
this means that the verb agrees with the subject in transitive and intransitive
sentences in non-past, non-completed clauses, but when a completed action is
reported in any of the past tenses, the verb agrees with the subject if it is
intransitive, but with the object if it is transitive.[16] Verbs are inflected for
present, simple past, past progressive, present perfect, and past perfect tenses.
There is also an inflection for the subjunctive mood.

Nouns and adjectives are inflected for two genders (masculine and feminine),[83]
two numbers (singular and plural), and four cases (direct, oblique, ablative, and
vocative). The possessor precedes the possessed in the genitive construction, and
adjectives come before the nouns they modify.

Unlike most other Indo-Iranian languages, Pashto uses all three types of
adpositions—prepositions, postpositions, and circumpositions.

Phonology
Main article: Pashto phonology
Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e ə o
Open a ɑ
Consonants
Consonant phonemes of Pashto[84]
Labial Dental/
alveolar Post-
alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n ɳ ŋ

Plosive p b t d ʈ ɖ k ɡ
(q)
Affricate t͡ s d͡ z t͡ ʃ d͡ ʒ

Fricative (f) s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ x ɣ
h
Approximant l ɽ* j w

Rhotic r
*The retroflex rhotic or lateral, tends to be a lateral flap [𝼈] at the beginning
of a syllable or other prosodic unit, and a regular flap [ɽ] or approximant [ɻ]
elsewhere.[85][86]
Vocabulary
See also: Pashto_dialects § Lexemes
In Pashto, most of the native elements of the lexicon are related to other Eastern
Iranian languages.[67] As noted by Josef Elfenbein, "Loanwords have been traced in
Pashto as far back as the third century B.C., and include words from Greek and
probably Old Persian".[87] For instance, Georg Morgenstierne notes the Pashto word
‫ مېچن‬mečə́n i.e. a hand-mill as being derived from the Ancient Greek word μηχανή
(mēkhanḗ, i.e. a device).[88] Post-7th century borrowings came primarily from
Persian and Hindi-Urdu, with Arabic words being borrowed through Persian,[89] but
sometimes directly.[90][91] Modern speech borrows words from English, French, and
German.[92]

However, a remarkably large number of words are unique to Pashto.[93][94]

Here is an exemplary list of Pure Pashto and borrowings:[95][96]

Pashto Persian Loan Arabic Loan Meaning

‫چوپړ‬
čopáṛ ‫خدمت‬
khidmat ‫خدمة‬
khidmah service
‫هڅه‬
hátsa ‫کوشش‬
kušeš effort/try
‫ ملګرې‬,‫ملګری‬
malgə́ray, malgə́re ‫دوست‬
dost friend
‫نړۍ‬
naṛә́i ‫جهان‬
jahān ‫دنيا‬
dunyā world
‫توده‬/‫تود‬
tod/táwda ‫گرم‬
garm hot
‫اړتيا‬
aṛtyā́ ‫ضرورة‬
ḍarurah need
‫هيله‬
híla ‫اميد‬
umid hope
‫ په اړه‬... ‫د‬
də...pə aṛá ‫باره‬
bāra about
‫بوللـه‬
bolә́la ‫قصيدة‬
qasidah an ode
Due to the incursion of Persian and Persianized-Arabic in modern speech, linguistic
purism of Pashto is advocated to prevent its own vocabulary from dying out.[94]
[self-published source][97][98]

Classical vocabulary
There is a lot of old vocabulary that has been replaced by borrowings e.g. ‫پالز‬
plâz[99] 'throne' with ‫ تخت‬takht, from Persian.[100][101] Or the word ‫يګانګي‬
yagānagí[102] meaning 'uniqueness' used by Pir Roshan Bayazid.[103] Such classical
vocabulary is being reintroduced to modern Pashto.[104] Some words also survive in
dialects like ‫' ناوې پالز‬the bride-room'.[105]

Example from Khayr al-Bayān:[103]

... ‫بې يګانګئ بې قرارئ وي او په بدخوئ کښې وي په ګناهان‬
Transliteration: ... be-yagānagə́i, be-kararə́i wi aw pə badxwə́i kx̌ e wi pə gunāhā́n
Translation: "... without singularity/uniqueness, without calmness and by bad-
attitude are on sin ."
Writing system
Main article: Pashto alphabet
Pashto employs the Pashto alphabet, a modified form of the Perso-Arabic alphabet or
Arabic script.[106] In the 16th century, Bayazid Pir Roshan introduced 13 new
letters to the Pashto alphabet. The alphabet was further modified over the years.

The Pashto alphabet consists of 45 to 46 letters[107] and 4 diacritic marks. Latin

Pashto is also used.[108][109][110] In Latin transliteration, stress is represented
by the following markers over vowels: ә́, á, ā́, ú, ó, í and é. The following table
(read from left to right) gives the letters' isolated forms, along with possible
Latin equivalents and typical IPA values:

‫ا‬
ā
/ɑ, a/ ‫ب‬
b
/b/ ‫پ‬
p
/p/ ‫ت‬
t
/t/ ‫ټ‬
ṭ
/ʈ/ ‫ث‬
(s)
/s/ ‫ج‬
ǧ
/d͡ ʒ/ ‫ځ‬
g, dz
/d͡ z/ ‫چ‬
č
/t͡ ʃ/ ‫څ‬
c, ts
/t͡ s/ ‫ح‬
(h)
/h/ ‫خ‬
x
/x/
‫د‬
d
/d/ ‫ډ‬
ḍ
/ɖ/ ‫ﺫ‬
(z)
/z/ ‫ﺭ‬
r
/r/ ‫ړ‬
ṛ
/ɺ, ɻ, ɽ/ ‫ﺯ‬
z
/z/ ‫ژ‬
ž
/ʒ/ ‫ږ‬
ǵ (or ẓ̌)
/ʐ, ʝ, ɡ, ʒ/ ‫س‬
s
/s/ ‫ش‬
š
/ʃ/ ‫ښ‬
x̌ (or ṣ̌)
/ʂ, ç, x, ʃ/
‫ص‬
(s)
/s/ ‫ض‬
(z)
/z/ ‫ط‬
(t)
/t/ ‫ظ‬
(z)
/z/ ‫ع‬
(ā)
/ɑ/ ‫غ‬
ğ
/ɣ/ ‫ف‬
f
/f/ ‫ق‬
q
/q/ ‫ک‬
k
/k/ ‫ګ‬
ģ
/ɡ/ ‫ل‬
l
/l/
‫م‬
m
/m/ ‫ن‬
n
/n/ ‫ڼ‬
ṇ
/ɳ/ ‫ں‬
̃ , ń
/◌̃/ ‫و‬
w, u, o
/w, u, o/ ‫ه‬
h, a
/h, a/ ‫ۀ‬
ə
/ə/ ‫ي‬
y, i
/j, i/ ‫ې‬
e
/e/ ‫ی‬
ay, y
/ai, j/ ‫ۍ‬
əi
/əi/ ‫ئ‬
əi, y
/əi, j/
Dialects
Main article: Pashto dialects
Pashto dialects are divided into two categories, the "soft" southern grouping of
Paṣ̌tō, and the "hard" northern grouping of Pax̌ tō (Pakhtu).[111] Each group is
further divided into a number of dialects. The Southern dialect of Tareeno is the
most distinctive Pashto dialect.
‫' اوږد‬long' - in different dialects
South Western (Kandahar)
Duration: 3 seconds.0:03
IPA: /uʐd/
North Western (Jalalabad)
Duration: 4 seconds.0:04
IPA: /uɡd/
Northern (Khost)
Duration: 4 seconds.0:04
IPA: /wuɡd/
Southern (Kunduz)
Duration: 1 second.0:01
IPA: /wuʐd/
North Eastern (Yusapzai)
Duration: 1 second.0:01
IPA: /u.ɡəˈd/
Problems playing these files? See media help.
1. Southern variety

Abdaili or Kandahar dialect (or South Western dialect)

Kakar dialect (or South Eastern dialect)
Shirani dialect
Mandokhel dialect
Marwat-Bettani dialect
Southern Karlani group
Khattak dialect
Wazirwola dialect
Dawarwola dialect
Masidwola dialect
Banisi (Banu) dialect
2. Northern variety

Central Ghilji dialect (or North Western dialect)

Yusapzai and Momand dialect (or North Eastern dialect)
Northern Karlani group
Wardak dialect
Taniwola dialect
Mangal tribe dialect
Khosti dialect
Zadran dialect
Bangash-Orakzai-Turi-Zazi dialect
Afridi dialect
Khogyani dialect
3. Tareeno Dialect

Literary Pashto
Literary Pashto is the artificial variety of Pashto that is used at times as
literary register of Pashto. It is said to be based on the North Western dialect,
spoken in the central Ghilji region. Literary Pashto's vocabulary, also derives
from other dialects.[112]

Criticism
There is no actual Pashto that can be identified as "Standard" Pashto, as Colye
remarks:[112]

"Standard Pashto is actually fairly complex with multiple varieties or forms.

Native speakers or researchers often refer to Standard Pashto without specifying
which variety of Standard Pashto they mean...people sometimes refer to Standard
Pashto when they mean the most respected or favorite Pashto variety among a
majority of Pashtun speakers."

— Placing Wardak among Pashto Varieties, page 4

According to David MacKenzie, there is no real need to develop a "Standard" Pashto:
[113][failed verification]

"The morphological differences between the most extreme north-eastern and south-
western dialects are comparatively few and unimportant. The criteria of dialect
differentiation in Pashto are primarily phonological. With the use of an alphabet
which disguises these phonological differences the language has, therefore, been a
literary vehicle, widely understood, for at least four centuries. This literary
language has long been referred to in the West as 'common' or 'standard' Pashto
without, seemingly, any real attempt to define it."

— A Standard Pashto, page 231

Literature
Main article: Pashto literature and poetry
Pashto-speakers have long had a tradition of oral literature, including proverbs,
stories, and poems. Written Pashto literature saw a rise in development in the 17th
century mostly due to poets like Khushal Khan Khattak (1613–1689), who, along with
Rahman Baba (1650–1715), is widely regarded as among the greatest Pashto poets.
From the time of Ahmad Shah Durrani (1722–1772), Pashto has been the language of
the court. The first Pashto teaching text was written during the period of Ahmad
Shah Durrani by Pir Mohammad Kakar with the title of Maʿrifat al-Afghānī ("The
Knowledge of Afghani [Pashto]"). After that, the first grammar book of Pashto verbs
was written in 1805 under the title of Riyāż al-Maḥabbah ("Training in Affection")
through the patronage of Nawab Mahabat Khan, son of Hafiz Rahmat Khan, chief of the
Barech. Nawabullah Yar Khan, another son of Hafiz Rahmat Khan, in 1808 wrote a book
of Pashto words entitled ʿAjāyib al-Lughāt ("Wonders of Languages").

Poetry example
An excerpt from the Kalām of Rahman Baba:

‫رحٰمن پۀ خپله ګرم يم چې مين يم‬ ‫ۀٰم ز‬

‫ز‬
‫چې دا نور ټوپن مې بولي ګرم په څۀ‬

Pronunciation: [zə raˈmɑn pə ˈxpəl.a ɡram jəm t͡ ʃe maˈjan jəm

t͡ ʃe dɑ nor ʈoˈpən me boˈli ɡram pə t͡ sə]

Transliteration: Zə Rahmā́n pə xpə́la gram yəm če mayán yəm

Če dā nor ṭopə́n me bolí gram pə tsə

Translation: "I Rahman, myself am guilty that I am a lover,

On what does this other universe call me guilty."

Proverbs
See also: Pashto literature and poetry § Proverbs
Pashto also has a rich heritage of proverbs (Pashto matalúna, sg. matál).[114][115]
An example of a proverb:

‫اوبه په ډانګ نه بېلېږي‬

Transliteration: Obә́ pə ḍāng nə beléẓ̌i

Translation: "One cannot divide water by [hitting it with] a pole."

Phrases
Greeting phrases
Greeting Pashto Transliteration Literal meaning
Hello ‫ستړی مه شې‬
‫ ستړې مه شې‬stә́ṛay mә́ še
stә́ṛe mә́ še May you not be tired
‫ ستړي مه شئ‬stә́ṛi mә́ šəi May you not be tired [said to people]
‫ په خير راغلې‬pə xair rā́ğle With goodness (you) came
Thank you ‫ مننه‬manә́na Acceptance [from the verb ‫]منل‬
Goodbye ‫ په مخه دې ښه‬pə mә́kha de x̌ á On your front be good
‫خدای پامان‬ xwdā́i pāmā́n From: ‫[ خدای په امان‬With/On God's security]
Colors
List of colors

‫ سره‬/‫ سور‬sur/sra [red]

šin / šna [green]

‫ کینخي‬kinaxí [purple]

‫ توره‬/‫ تور‬tor/tóra [black]

šin / šna [blue]

‫ سپین‬spin/spína [white]

‫ نسواري‬naswārí [brown]

‫ ژېړه‬/‫ ژېړ‬žeṛ/žéṛa [yellow]

‫ چوڼيا‬čuṇyā́ [violet]

‫ خړه‬/ ‫ خړ‬xәṛ/xə́ṛa [grey]

List of colors borrowed from neighbouring languages

‫ نارنجي‬nārәnjí - orange [from Persian]
‫ ګالبي‬gulābí - pink [from Hindustani, originally Persian]
‫ نيلي‬nilí - indigo [from Persian, ultimately Sanskrit]]
Times of the day

Parts of the day in Pashto

Time Pashto Transliteration IPA
Morning ‫ګهيځ‬ gahíź /ɡaˈhid͡ z/
Noon ‫ غرمه‬ğarmá /ɣarˈma/
Afternoon ‫ماسپښين‬ māspasx̌ ín Kandahar: /mɑs.paˈʂin/
Yusapzai: /mɑs.paˈxin/
Bannuchi: /məʃ.poˈʃin/
Marwat: /mɑʃˈpin/
Later afternoon ‫مازديګر‬
‫مازيګر‬ māzdigár
māzigár /mɑz.di.ˈɡar/
/mɑ.zi.ˈɡar/
Evening ‫ ماښام‬māx̌ ā́m Kandahari: /mɑˈʂɑm/
Wardak: /mɑˈçɑm/
Yusapzai: /mɑˈxɑm/
Wazirwola: /lmɑˈʃɔm/
Marwat: /mɑˈʃɑm/
Late evening ‫ماسختن‬ māsxután /mɑs.xwəˈtan/
/mɑs.xʊˈtan/
Months
Pashtuns use the Vikrami calendar:[116]

# Vikrami month[117] Pashto Pashto

[Karlāṇí dialects] Gregorian
months
1 Chaitra ‫چېتر‬
četә́r ‫چېتر‬
četә́r March–April
2 Vaisākha ‫ساک‬
sāk ‫وسيوک‬
wasyók April–May
3 Jyeshta ‫جېټ‬
jeṭ ‫ژېټ‬
žeṭ May–June
4 Āshāda ‫هاړ‬
hāṛ ‫اووړ‬
awóṛ June–July
5 Shraavana ‫ساوڼ یا پشکال‬
sāwә́ṇ ‫واسه‬
wā́sa July–August
6 Bhādra ‫بدرو‬
badrú ‫بادري‬
bā́dri August–September
7 Ashwina ‫آسو‬
āsú ‫اسي‬
ássi September–October
8 Kartika ‫ کاتک‬/ ‫کات‬
kātә́i / kāták ‫کاتيې‬
kā́tye October–November
9 Mārgasirsa
(Agrahayana) ‫منګر‬
mangә́r ‫مانګر‬
mā́ngər November–December
10 Pausha ‫چيله‬
čilá ‫پو‬
po December–January
11 Māgha ‫بله چيله‬
bә́la čilá ‫کونزله‬
kunzә́la January–February
12 Phālguna ‫پاګڼ‬
pāgáṇ ‫اربشه‬
arbә́ša February–March
Notes
Official provincial status[2]
Sometimes spelled "Pushtu" or "Pushto"[4][5]
The only American pronunciation listed by Oxford Online Dictionaries is /ˈpæʃtoʊ/.
[7]
References
Pashto at Ethnologue (28th ed., 2025) Closed access icon
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923891-72-5. Estimates of the number of Pashto speakers range from 40 million to 60
million...
Hakala, Walter (9 December 2011). Language Policy and Language Conflict in
Afghanistan and Its Neighbors: The Changing Politics of Language Choice. Brill. p.
55. ISBN 978-90-04-21765-2. As is well known, the Pashtun people place a great deal
of pride upon their language as an identifier of their distinct ethnic and
historical identity. While it is clear that not all those who self-identify as
ethnically Pashtun themselves use Pashto as their primary language, language does
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upon the sphere of influence of other, smaller languages, which alienates the
respective nationalities and fuels aversion towards the central leadership...If we
look to our state policies regarding the promotion of Pashto and the interests of
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dark. And when the future of a language is dark, the future of the people is dark.
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Urdu to operate totally in that language. He also expressed the thought that
Pashto-speaking students in the area really do not learn Urdu very well in public
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