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Pashto dialect

Northern Pashto

Also known as: 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.

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Frequently asked questions

What language is Northern Pashto?

Northern Pashto is a dialect of the Pashto language.

Where is Northern Pashto spoken?

Northern Pashto is primarily spoken in Pakistan, Afghanistan.

Which region is Northern Pashto associated with?

Northern Pashto is part of the South Asia region on DialectAtlas.

Is Northern Pashto known by other names?

Yes — Northern Pashto is also referred to as Yusufzai Pashto, Peshawari Pashto.

What are the other dialects of Pashto?

Pashto also includes Southern Pashto. Each variety has its own vocabulary, pronunciation, and cultural context.

Other Pashto dialects

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Nearby dialects

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Pashayi

220 km away

A cluster of Indo-Aryan languages spoken in eastern Afghanistan, especially Kapisa, Laghman, and Nangarhar. Linguistically a Dardic language, sister to Kashmiri rather than to Hindi.

Kabuli

229 km away

The Dari variety of Kabul and the prestige basis of standard Afghan Persian as used in broadcast, government, and education. Sociolinguistically dominant across most of eastern and central Afghanistan, with several million speakers.

Kashmiri

297 km away

A Dardic Indo-Aryan language of the Kashmir valley, traditionally written in a Perso-Arabic script (Naskh) but also in Devanagari and the Sharada heritage script.

Dari

357 km away

The Persian variety spoken in Afghanistan, sharing deep roots with Farsi while carrying its own vocabulary and pronunciation.

Wakhi

360 km away

A Pamir Iranian language spoken across the Wakhan Corridor where Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, and China meet. One of the most archaic Iranian languages, retaining features of Old Iranian lost everywhere else.

Burushaski

379 km away

A language isolate spoken in the Hunza, Yasin, and Nagar valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan, northern Pakistan. Around 100,000 speakers; the most-spoken language isolate of Asia.

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