Languages of Afghanistan
Encyclopedia
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
is home to more than 40 languages, with around 200 different dialects. The two official language
Official language
An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a...
s of Afghanistan are Persian Dari (lingua franca) and Pashto, also known as Pakhto or Afghani. Both are Indo-European languages
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
from the Iranian languages
Iranian languages
The Iranian languages form a subfamily of the Indo-Iranian languages which in turn is a subgroup of Indo-European language family. They have been and are spoken by Iranian peoples....
sub-family. Other important regional languages, such as Ōzbēkī (Uzbek)
Uzbek language
Uzbek is a Turkic language and the official language of Uzbekistan. It has about 25.5 million native speakers, and it is spoken by the Uzbeks in Uzbekistan and elsewhere in Central Asia...
, Torkmanī (Turkmen)
Turkmen language
Turkmen is the national language of Turkmenistan...
, Balūčī (Baluchi)
Balochi language
Balochi is a Northwestern Iranian language. It is the principal language of the Baloch of Balochistan, Pakistan, eastern Iran and southern Afghanistan. It is also spoken as a second language by some Brahui. It is designated as one of nine official languages of Pakistan.-Vowels:The Balochi vowel...
, Pašaī (Pashayi)
Pashayi language
Pashayi - also known as Pashai - is a language spoken by the Pashai people in parts of Kapisa, Laghman, Nuristan, Kunar, and Nangarhar Provinces in Northeastern Afghanistan....
and Nūrestānī (Nuristani)
Nuristani languages
The Nuristani languages are one of the three groups within the Indo-Iranian language family, alongside the much larger Indo-Aryan and Iranian groups. They are spoken primarily in eastern Afghanistan...
(Kati) are spoken by minority groups across the country. In 1980, these languages have been granted official status in the regions where they are the language of the majority. Other minor languages may include Ashkunu
Askunu language
Askunu is a language of Afghanistan spoken by the Askunu, Sanu, and Gramsana people in the region of Pech Valley around Wama, northwest of Asadabad in Kunar province...
, Kamkata-viri
Kamkata-viri language
Kamkata-viri, the largest Nuristani language, contains the main dialects Kata-vari, Kamviri and Mumviri. Kata-vari and Kamviri are often defined as two separate languages, but according to linguist they form one language....
, Vasi-vari
Vasi-vari language
Vasi-vari is a language spoken by the Vasi in a few villages in the Prasun Valley in Afghanistan. The most used alternative names are Prasuni or Prasun, which derive from Pashto....
, Tregami
Tregami language
Tregami, Trigami or Gambiri is a language spoken by the Tregami people in the villages of Gambir and Katar in the Watapur District of Kunar Province in Afghanistan....
and Kalasha-ala
Kalasha-ala language
Waigali or Waigeli is a language spoken by the Kalasha of the Nuristan Province in a few villages in the central part of the Kunar Province of Afghanistan. The native name is Kalasa-Alâ or simply Kalasa...
, Pamiri
Pamir languages
The Pamir languages are a group of the Eastern Iranian languages, spoken by numerous people in the Pamir Mountains, primarily along the Panj River and its tributaries. This includes the Badakhshan Province of northeastern Afghanistan and the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province of eastern Tajikistan...
(Shughni
Shughni language
Shughni is one of the Pamir languages of the Southeastern Iranian language group. Its distribution is in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in Tajikistan and Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan....
, Munji, Ishkashimi
Ishkashimi language
The Ishkashimi language is one of the Pamir languages of the Southeastern Iranian language group. Its distribution is in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in Tajikistan, Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan and Chitral region of Pakistan....
and Wakhi
Wakhi language
Wakhi is an Indo-European language in the branch of Eastern Iranian language family and is intimately related to other Southeastern Iranian languages in the Pamir languages group.-Classification and Distribution:...
), Brahui, Hindko
Hindko language
Hindko , also Hindku, or Hinko, is the sixth main regional language of Pakistan. It forms a subgroup of Indo-Aryan languages spoken by Hindkowans in Pakistan and northern India, some Pashtun tribes in Pakistan, as well as by the Hindki people of Afghanistan...
, Kyrgyz
Kyrgyz language
Kyrgyz or Kirgiz, also Kirghiz, Kyrghiz, Qyrghiz is a Turkic language and, together with Russian, an official language of Kyrgyzstan...
, etc.
Overview
Due to Afghanistan's multi-ethnic characterDemography of Afghanistan
The population of Afghanistan is around 29,835,392 as of the year 2011, which is unclear if the refugees living outside the country are included or not. The nation is composed of a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society, reflecting its location astride historic trade and invasion routes between...
, language variety as well as bilingualism and multilingualism
Multilingualism
Multilingualism is the act of using, or promoting the use of, multiple languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. Multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of...
are a common phenomenon.
Persian is the native tongue of various Afghan ethnic groups including the Tajiks, Afghanistan's second largest ethnic group, the Hazara, and Aimak
Aimak
Aymāq , also transliterated as Aimak or Aimaq, are a collection of Persian-speaking nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes. They are found throughout the north and northwest highlands of Afghanistan, immediately to the north of Herat, and in the Khorasan Province of Iran...
. Pashto is the native tongue of the Pashtuns, the single largest ethno-linguistic group and founders of modern-day Afghanistan.
Exact figures about the size and composition of the various ethnolinguistic groups are unavailable since no systematic census has been held in Afghanistan in decades. Estimates, which are often disputed, suggest the following primary languages, there is much bilingualism:
| Language | CIA World Factbook (2010)/Library of Congress (2008) |
|---|---|
| Dari Persian | 50 % |
| Pashto Pashto language Pashto , known as Afghani in Persian and Pathani in Punjabi , is the native language of the indigenous Pashtun people or Afghan people who are found primarily between an area south of the Amu Darya in Afghanistan and... |
35 % |
| Uzbek Uzbek language Uzbek is a Turkic language and the official language of Uzbekistan. It has about 25.5 million native speakers, and it is spoken by the Uzbeks in Uzbekistan and elsewhere in Central Asia... and Turkmen Turkmen language Turkmen is the national language of Turkmenistan... |
11 % |
| 30 minority languages | 4 % |
According to a 2006 opinion poll
Opinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
survey
Survey
-Quantitative research:* Statistical survey, a method for collecting quantitative information about items in a population* Paid survey, a method that companies use to collect consumer opinions about a product by paying consumers for participating in the survey...
involving 6,226 randomly-selected Afghan citizens by the Asia Foundation, Dari was the first language of 49% of the polled people, while an additional 37% spoke it as a second language. 42% were able to read Dari. Pashto was the first language of 40%, with an additional 28% stating the ability to speak Pashto as a second language. 33% were able to read Pashto. Uzbek was the first language of 9% and a second language for 6%. Turkmen was the first language of 2% and a second language for 3%. English could also be spoken by 8% and Urdu by 7%. The number of Pashto speakers is probably higher because the Survey excluded certain Pashto-speaking regions for security reasons.
In another survey called Afghanistan: Where Things Stand (2004 to 2009), 39-51% of the polled people were able to read Persian, while 29-43% were able to read Pashto. With 66-71% the majority of the polled people preferred to be polled in Dari, while 29-32% preferred Pashto. The polling took place once per year within that period resulting in a range of responses.
