Language in Afghanistan

Before we traveled through Afghanistan, I felt it was important to find out what language they speak. Although we do not understand this language, I think it is interesting to tell you something more about this.

Dari, Afghan version of Persian language, is the most spoken language in Afghanistan. Official languages of Afghanistan are Dari 50%, Pashtu 35%, Turkic languages 11%, and 30 minor languages, more popular among who are Turkish languages like Turkmen and Uzbek. Most people in Afghanistan are bilingual.

The Dari Language

Dari is technically considered a dialect of the Farsi or Persian language. More specifically, Dari is the dialect of Farsi spoken in Afghanistan. In the past there has been some debate among linguists, especially those in the Middle East, as to the exact status of Dari. While it is generally agreed that Dari is a distinct dialect of Farsi, some argue that Dari and Farsi are essentially the same thing and refer to Afghan Persian simply as Farsi.

Dari is also used as the medium of instruction in Afghan schools. About 5 million people speak Dari in Afghanistan. There are also about 2.5 million Dari speakers in Iran and Pakistan.

The Pashto Language

Pashto is a member of the southeastern Iranian branch of Indo-Iranian languages spoken in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. There are three main varieties of Pashto: Northern Pashto, spoken mainly in Pakistan; Southern Pashto, spoken mainly in Afghanistan; and Central Pashto, spoken mainly in Pakistan.

Pashto first appeared in writing during the 16th century in the form of an account of Shekh Mali's conquest of Swat. It is written with a version of the Arabic script. There are two standard written forms: one based on the dialect of Kandahar, the other on the dialect of Peshawar.

Pashto was made the national language of Afghanistan by royal decree in 1936. Since then, the Pashto spelling system has been revised to some extent. Today both Dari and Pashto are official languages there.

Sources:

http://www.omniglot.com/

http://www.afghan-web.com/language/

http://www.afghan-network.net/Culture/languages.html

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/afghanistan.html