Pashto Language
Pashto (پښتو, Pax̌to, ; alternatively spelled Pakhto or Pushto), also known as Afghani or Pathani, is the native language of the Pashtun people of South-Central Asia. Pashto is a member of the Eastern Iranian languages group, and is descended from Avestan, the oldest preserved Iranian language. Pashto is spoken in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as among the Pashtun diaspora around the world.
Pashto belongs to the Northeastern Iranic branch of the Indo-Iranian language family, although Ethnologue lists it as Southeastern Iranian. The number of Pashtuns or Pashto-speakers is estimated 50-60 million people worldwide. Pashto is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan (the other being Dari Persian), and a regional language in western and northwestern Pakistan.
Read more about Pashto Language: Geographic Distribution, History, Grammar, Vocabulary, Writing System, Dialects, Literature
Famous quotes containing the word language:
““What may this mean? Language of Man pronounced
By tongue of brute, and human sense expressed!
The first at least of these I thought denied
To beasts, whom God on their creation-day
Created mute to all articulate sound;
The latter I demur, for in their looks
Much reason, and in their actions, oft appears.”
—John Milton (1608–1674)