Pushtu

Pushtu, also known as Pushtun, Pushto, Pashtoe, Pukhto, Pathan, and Afgani (this last term is used mainly in older literature), is the language spoken by Pashtun people who inhabit Afghanistan and North-West Frontier Province[?] in Pakistan. Its ISO 639 codes are ps and pus.

It is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan, spoken largely in the south, east and a few provinces in the north. It is spoken by more than 70% of the Afghan population who are of the Pashtoon tribe, as well as Pashtoons/Pathaans who live on the other side of Durand Line in Pakistan. Pushtu is believed to have originated in the Kandahar(Qandahar)/Helmand areas of Afghanistan. It has some Arabic words incorporated in it. Dari used to be predominant over Pashto, the other official language, in everyday government use but since the capital was moved to Kabul from Kandahar in the 18th century, the Kabul inhabitants used Dari more readily.

External links

• A page from UCLA (http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/profiles/profp03.htm) (www.lmp.ucla.edu/profiles/profp03.htm)