PASHTO, SOUTHERN: a language of Afghanistan

The following is the entry for this language as it appeared in the 14th edition (2000).
It was superseded by the corresponding entry in the 15th edition (2005). See also the corresponding entry in the current edition of Ethnologue.

SIL code: PBT

ISO 639-1: ps

ISO 639-2: pus

Population	8,000,000 all Pashto in Afghanistan (1989), 35% to 50% of the population (1996). Population total all countries 9,204,000 or more. All Pashto in all countries: 19,000,000 (1999 WA).
Region	Kandahar area. Also spoken in Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, UAE, United Kingdom.
Dialects	SOUTHWESTERN PASHTO, KANDAHAR PASHTO, QANDAHAR PASHTO.
Classification	Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Iranian, Eastern, Southeastern, Pashto.
Comments	There is generally an 80% lexical similarity between the northern and southern varieties of Pashto. Grammar. Perso-Arabic script used. Muslim.

Also spoken in:

Iran

Language name	PASHTO, SOUTHERN
Population	113,000 in Iran (1993).
Alternate names	PASHTU, PAKTU
Comments	Different from Northern Pashto of Pakistan and India. Sunni Muslim. See main entry under Afghanistan.

Pakistan

Language name	PASHTO, SOUTHERN
Population	1,000,000 to 1,500,000 in Pakistan (1992).
Alternate names	PUSHTO, PUSHTU
Dialects	SOUTHEASTERN PASHTO, QUETTA PASHTO.
Comments	80% lexical similarity with Northern Pashto, 76% with Central Pashto. Some Pashto speakers educated in Urdu medium schools mix Urdu into their Pashto speech. Perso-Arabic script used. Muslim. See main entry under Afghanistan.

United Arab Emirates

Language name	PASHTO, SOUTHERN
Population	Thousands in UAE.
Alternate names	PAKTU, PAKHTU, PAKHTOO, AFGHAN
Comments	Speakers have come from Afghanistan. Unskilled laborers, drivers, shopkeepers. Mainly Sunni Muslim. See main entry under Afghanistan.