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Northern Pashto
Northern Pashto
Native to	Afghanistan
Region	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Ethnicity	Pashtun
Speakers	L1: 23 million (2017); L2: 1.4 million (2022)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Eastern Pashto Northern Pashto; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Pashto alphabet
Official status
Regulated by	Pashto Academy of Pakistan
Language codes
ISO 639-3	pbu
Glottolog	nort2646

Northern Pashto (Pashto: شمالي پښتو) is a standard variety of the Pashto language spoken in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, comprising the Northwestern and Northeastern dialects of Pashto.^[3]

Northern Comparison

موږ

"we"

Northern [Wardak]

/muʝ/

Northern [Eastern and Western dialects]

/munɡ/

Northern [Eastern and Western dialects]

/muɡ/

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North Eastern

Northeastern Pashto,^[4] is spoken primarily in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

Yusapzai

Yusapzai ژ Shift

The change from /ʒ/ to /d͡ʒ/

Literary: هيبوه لا ژوندۍ ده

Pashto pronunciation: [/hi.ˈba.wa lɑ d͡ʒwan.ˈd̪əi d̪a/]

Meaning: The ibis is still alive

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Yusufzai/Yusapzai Pashto is the most-spoken subdialect^[5] in the Northeastern Dialect.

Comparison:

Dialects^[6]	ښ	ږ	څ	ځ	ژ
North Eastern (e.g. Yusapzai)	[x]	[ɡ]	[s]	[z]	[d͡ʒ]
North Western (e.g Jalalabad)	[x]	[ɡ]	[s]	[z]	[ʒ]
North Western (e.g. Wardak)	[ç]	[ʝ]	[t͡s]	[d͡z]	[ʒ, z]

Lexical Variation

Even within the Yusapzai dialect; regional lexical variation is noted; as pointed out by Dr. Muhammad Ali Kaleem:^[7]

Meaning	Mardan	Swat
Ring	ګتمه gʊ́tma	ګوتۍ gwə́təi or Guta
Spinach	ساګ sāg	سابه sābə́
Cup	پيالۍ pyālə́i	پياله pyālá
Puppy	کوتری kutré or Spey	کوکری kukré

Sub-regional lexical variation

Even with regions there can be minor differences in pronunciation. Example:

Malakand District [some localities]	Malakand District [general]	Standard Pashto	Meaning
فپه fpa	ښپه xpa	پښه px̌a, pxa, pša, pṣ̌a	foot

North Western

ښه يمه - in Northern Dialects

North Western [Wardak]

/çə ˈjə.ma/

North Eastern and North Western [Jalalabad]

/xə ˈjə.ma/

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The North Western is spoken in the east and northeast Afghanistan.^[8]

Phonological Variation

Recording of a native Wardag Dialect Speaker

موږ به دا

/muʝ bə d̪ɑ/

We will this...

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There is regional difference in North Western Pashto in pronunciation of words:^[9]

	Meaning	Wardak	Jalalabad	Bati Kot
دوی	they	deɪ	ˈduwi	ˈduwi
راکړه	give [imperative of راکول]	ˈrɑka	ˈrɑka	ˈrɑkɽa
پوهېدل	to know [infinitive]	pijeˈdəl	pojeˈdəl	pojidəl
شپږ	six	ʃpaʝ	ʃpag	ʃpiʒ
وريځ	cloud	wərˈjed͡z	wrez	wəˈred͡z
ښځه	woman	ˈçəd͡za	ˈxəza
اوبه	water	oˈbə	uˈbə	oˈbə

References

^ ^a ^b Northern Pashto at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
^ Sebeok, Thomas Albert (1976). Current Trends in Linguistics: Index. Walter de Gruyter. p. 705.
^ "Glottolog 4.3 - Northern Pashto". glottolog.org. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
^ Prods Oktor Skjærvø, P.O. 1989. Pashto. In "Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum", R. Schmitt (ed.), 384-410.
^ "Redirected". 19 November 2019.
^ Hallberg, Daniel G. 1992. Pashto, Waneci, Ormuri. Sociolinguistic Survey of Northern Pakistan, 4.
^ Kaleem, Muhammad (2015). "Lexical Variation in Pashto: A Comparative Study Conducted in Mardan and Swat , in Pashto" (PDF). Pashto. 44 (650): 21–52. Archived from the original on February 7, 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^ Anna B. David (2014). A Descriptive Grammar of Pashto and its Dialects. De Gruyter Mouton. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-61451-303-2.
^ Coyle, Dennis Walter (2014). Placing Wardak Among Pashto Varieties (Master's thesis). University of North Dakota.