Pashto dialects

As a consequence of life in areas of rugged terrain, along with other historic and linguistic reasons, there are many accents of the Pashto language. The two main dialects are soft or southern accent and hard or northern dialect. The dividing line passes through southern Paktika, with the harder "Pax̌to" spoken north of the line, and the softer "Paṣ̌to" south of it.

Dialects

The differences between the southern dialects and the northern dialects are primarily phonological and there are simple conversion rules. The morphological differences between them are very few and unimportant. However, the east-central dialects are lexicologically different and very varied. Certain dialects show many archaic features, some of which are discarded by the literary language. The southern dialect of Kandahar is the most conservative with regards to phonology, retaining the retroflex fricatives and the alveolar affricates, which have not merged with other phonemes. One of the primary features of the dialects is the difference in the pronunciation of these seven phonemes (all sounds in IPA):

Southern Abdali (Kandahar, Zabul):	[ʂ]	[ʐ]	[t͡s]	[d͡z]	[ʒ]	[ɑ]	[u]
Southeastern (in Quetta):	[ʃ]	[ʒ]	[t͡s]	[d͡z]	[ʒ]	[ɑ]	[u]
Central Waneci (Harnai, Sinjawi):	[ʂ]	[ʐ]	[t͡ʃ]/[t͡s]	[d͡ʒ]/[d͡z]	[z]/[ʒ]	[ɑ]	[u]
Central Marwat (in Laki):	[ʃ]	[ʒ]	[t͡ʃ]	[d͡ʒ]	[ʒ]	[ɑ]	[u]
Central Khattak (in Karak):	[ʃ]	[ʒ]	[t͡s]	[z]/[t͡s]	[ʒ]	[o]	[u]
Central Banucei (in Banu):	[ʃ]	[ʒ]	[s]	[z]/[s]	[ʒ]	[o]	[i]
Central Wazirwola (in Waziristan):	[ɕ]/[ʃ]	[ʑ]/[ʒ]	[t͡s]	[d͡z]/[t͡s]	[ʑ]/[ʒ]	[o]/[u]	[i]
Central Khostwola (in Khost):	[ç]	[ɡ]	[t͡s]	[d͡z]/[t͡s]	[ʒ]	[o]	[i]
Central Dzadran (in Dzadran, Paktia):	[ç]	[ʝ]	[t͡s]	[d͡z]/[t͡s]	[ʒ]	[o]	[i]
Central Afridi (in Tirah, Jamrud):	[x]	[ɡ]	[t͡s]	[z]/[t͡s]	[d͡ʒ]	[o]	[u]
Central Tori (in Kurram):	[x]	[ɡ]	[t͡s]	[z]/[t͡s]	[d͡ʒ]	[ɒ]	[u]
Northwestern (in Ghazni, Logar):	[ç]	[ɡ]	[t͡s]	[d͡z]	[ʒ]	[ɑ]	[u]
Northwestern Wardak (Wardak):	[ç]	[ʝ]	[t͡s]	[d͡z]	[ʒ]	[ɒ]	[u]
Northwestern (Central Ghilzai):	[ç]	[ʝ]	[s]	[z]	[ʒ]	[ɑ]	[u]
Northern (in Nangarhar, Kabul):	[x]	[ɡ]	[t͡s]	[z]	[ʒ]	[ɑ]	[u]
Northeastern (Yusufzai, Peshawar):	[x]	[ɡ]	[s]	[z]	[d͡ʒ]	[ɑ]	[u]

Notable phonological and lexicological differences

Kandahar	Quetta	Harnai	Bannu	Wana	Khost	Tirah	Ghazni	Kabul	Peshawar	Translation
Paṣ̌to	Pašto	Paṣ̌to	Pāšte	Pāšte	Pāx̌te	Pāxto	Pax̌to	Pəxto	Puxto	Pashto
war	war	war	tāmbə	tāmbə, wār	dāṛā, wār	wār, tāmbə	war	war	war	door
pṣ̌a	pša	ṣ̌pa, γədəi	pšā	pšā	px̌ā	pxā	px̌a	pxa	xpa	foot
lmar	lmar	mer	myerə stərgā	γormə, myerə stərgā	myerə stərgā	myer, myerə stərga	nmar	nmar	nwar	sun
halək	halək	čora	weṛkā	weṛkai	weṛkai	woṛkai	halək	halək	halək	boy
nǰiləi	nǰiləi	čuwara	weṛkye	ǰəlkiye	ǰəlkiye	woṛkye, ǰəlkiye	ǰiləi	ǰilkəi	ǰine	girl
yaw	yaw	yo	ye	yo	ye	yo	yaw	yaw	yaw	one
calor	calor	čalor	sāler	cālwer	cāler	cālwor	calor	calor	salor	four
pinjə	pinjə	pinǰə/pinjə	pinzə	pinzə	pinjə	pinzə	pinjə	pinzə	pinzə	five
špaẓ̌	špaž	špoẓ̌	špež	špež	špeg	špeg	[špaγ̌] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 4) (help)	špag	špag	six
cok	cok	čok	sek	cek	cek	cok	cok	cok	sok	who
muẓ̌	muž	muṣ̌	miž	miž	mig	mu	[muγ̌] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 3) (help)	mung	mung	we
zmā	zmā	zmā	emo	emo	emo	emo	zmâ	zəmā	zəmā	my
stā	stā	stā	eto	eto	eto	eto	stâ	stā	stā	your
ḍer, zyāt	ḍer, zyāt	caṭ	pirā, zyot	pirā, zyot	ḍer, zyot	ḍer, zyot	ḍer, zyât	ḍer, zyāt	ḍer, zyāt	very, many
ləẓ̌	ləž	ləẓ̌	ləški	ləški	ləg	ləg	[ləγ̌] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 3) (help)	ləg	ləg	little, less
čṣ̌əl	čšəl	γwətəl	čšəl	čšəl	cəx̌əl	cəxəl	cəx̌əl	ckəl/čixəl	skəl	to drink
ho	ho	ho	ey	ey	ey	ey	ho	ho	ao	yes
yəm	yəm	yəm	yə	yə	yə	yəm	yəm	yəm	yəm	I am
jəm	jəm	ǰəm, druməm	drimə, sə	drimə, cə	drimə, cə	cəm, druməm	jəm	zəm	zəm	I go
žəba	žəba	zbə	žəbā	žəbā	žəbā	ǰəba	žəba	žəba	ǰəba	tongue, language
kor	kor	kor	ker	ker	ker	kolə	kor	kor	kor	home
bega	bega	bega	vega	vega	vega	vega	bega	bega	bega	evening
sta	sta	sta	štā	štā	štā	štā	sta	šta	šta	it exists
yiẓ̌	yiž	yirz	yiž	yiž	yig	yig	yi[γ̌] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 1) (help)	yig	yig	bear
plār	plār	pyār	plor	plor	plor	plor	plâr	plār	plār	father
Kandahar	Quetta	Harnai	Bannu	Wana	Khost	Tirah	Ghazni	Kabul	Peshawar	Translation

See also

Eastern Iranian languages
Indo-European languages