Place of Dawarwala, Orakzai and Bangash Dialects in the Classification of Pashto’s Dialects Groups

Abstract

Linguists have divided the Pashto language into five groups of dialects. These include classifications into two groups, three groups, four groups, and five groups. The division into two groups is based on phonetic features, particularly the sounds /ž/ (ʒ), /ẓ̌/ (ɀ), /ṣ̌/ (ȿ), and /š/ (ʃ). On this basis, the dialects are categorized as Kandahari or Khattak and Yusufzai or Peshawari. The three-group classification is made geographically within Afghanistan, consisting of the Western (Kandahari), Central (Kabuli), and Eastern (Nangarhari) dialects. The four-group classification is also based on geography, dividing the dialects into Southwestern, Southeastern, Northwestern, and Northeastern regions. The five-group classification includes is called the Central or Middle dialect, which, in addition to Afghanistan, is spoken in the tribal areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan, including North Waziristan, South Waziristan (Wana), Bannu, and Karak.

The Dawar, Orakzai, and Bangash dialects can also be classified on both phonetic and regional bases. The Dawari dialect shares phonetic features of the Kandahari or Khattak dialect, such as the sounds /ž/ (ʒ) and /š/ (ʃ). Meanwhile, the Orakzai and Bangash dialects share phonetic characteristics with both the Kandahari or Khattak and Yusufzai or Peshawari dialects, including /ž/ (ʒ), /š/ (ʃ), /ẓ̌/ (ɀ), and /ṣ̌/ (ȿ). For this reason, Orakzai and Bangash dialects can specifically be referred to as a “transitional group,” as they are relatively Karlani in tribal classification, and linguistically they represent a semi-Kandahari or Khattak and semi-Yusufzai or Peshawari dialect. Therefore, they cannot be fully placed either in the Kandahari or Khattak dialect group or in the Yusufzai or Peshawari dialect group.