Dialect comparison

Northern Pashto vs Southern Pashto

Compare two dialects of Pashto side by side — where they're spoken, what they're called, and how they relate.

Northern Pashto

Yusufzai Pashto · Peshawari Pashto

The Pashto of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan and parts of eastern Afghanistan. The literary basis of Pakistani Pashto, with the characteristic /ʃ/-realisation of the historical retroflex sibilant.

Spoken in
Approximate centre
34.01°, 71.58°
Southern Pashto

Kandahari Pashto

The Pashto of southern Afghanistan around Kandahar. Considered the most conservative Pashto variety, retaining retroflex consonants lost in the northern dialects.

Spoken in
Approximate centre
31.62°, 65.71°

Keep exploring

Read the full picture of Pashto and the dialects within it.