Afghanistan: Languages

Filed Under Afghanistan Country Profile |

Afghanistan has two official languages: Dari and Pashto.

Dari

Dari is a variety of Persian and the native language of the Tajik people in Afghanistan. It is spoken in Northern and Western Afghanistan. The capital city of Kabul as well as the cities of Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat are all Dari-speaking.

Although there are more Pashtuns than Tajiks in Afghanistan, Dari is by the far the most widely spoken language in the country. At least half of the Afghan population speaks it natively and many more speak it as a second language. Dari serves as a lingua franca for the different ethnic groups of the country.

Pashto

Pashto is spoken by the Pashtuns in Southern and Eastern Afghanistan. The cities of Kandahar, Khost, Ghazni, and Jalalabad are all Pashto-speaking.

Linguists classify Pashto as an East Iranian language. There are actually several dialects of Pashto, but they are all mutually intelligible. Pashto is distantly related to Dari, which itself is classified as a West Iranian language. The two languages share a decent amount of vocabulary but are generally not mutually intelligible. One could say they are as different as English and German.

Other Languages

In addition to Dari and Pashto, there are various minority languages spoken in Afghanistan. The speakers of these languages are often bilingual. Some of the more widely spoken minority languages include Hazaragi, Uzbek, and Turkmen.

Hazaragi

Hazaragi is the native language of the Hazara people. By all accounts, it’s closely related to Dari. Some would even go so far as to call it a dialect of Dari. However, Tajik Dari speakers have a difficult time understanding Hazaragi. The language has significant Mongol influences. Most Hazara are bilingual in Dari and Hazaragi.

Uzbek

Uzbek is the native language of the Uzbek people. It’s a Turkic language of Central Asia, distantly related to Turkish. Most Uzbeks are bilingual in Uzbek and in Dari.

Turkmen
Turkmen is the native language of the Turkmen people. It’s a Turkic language of Central Asia distantly related to Turkish. Most Turkmen speakers are bilingual in Turkmen and in Dari.

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