Pashto

Pashto: پښتو‎ Pax̌tō [ˈpəʂt̪oː]), known in Persian literature as Afghānistani (افغانستانی )[13] and in Urdu and Hindi literature as Paṭhānī,[14] is the South-Central Asian language of the Pashtuns. Its speakers are called Pashtuns or Pukhtuns and sometimes Afghans or Pathans.[1] It is an Eastern Iranian language, belonging to the Indo-European family.[15][16][17] Pashto is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan,[5][18][19] and it is the second-largest regional language of Pakistan, mainly spoken in the west and northwest of the country.[20]

What is Pashto?

Pashto is an Indo-European language spoken in parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. It is a relatively easy language to learn for speakers of other Indo-European languages, but has some unique features that make it interesting and challenging.

Pashto is a feminist language, meaning that nouns are assigned genders and there are different verb conjugations for masculine and feminine subjects.

There are also three grammatical numbers in Pashto – singular, dual, and plural – which can make verb conjugation and agreement tricky.

Pashto has three main dialects: Northern Pashto, Central Pashto, and Southern Pashto. All three are mutually intelligible. Pashto is a subject–object–verb language, and has a rich literary tradition. It is written using the Arabic script.

Learning Pashto can be challenging for English speakers, as it is a category III language on the Foreign Service Institute's language difficulty scale. However, it is possible to learn Pashto with the right resources and motivation.

Pashto Resources

Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone

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