Central Pashto

Central Pashto
Native toPakistan, Afghanistan
EthnicityPashtuns
Native speakers
6.4 million (2017 census)
Arabic (Pashto alphabet)
Official status
Regulated byPashto Academy of Pakistan
Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan
Language codes
ISO 639-3pst
Glottologcent1973

Central Pashto (Pashto: منځنۍ پښتو, romanized: Manźanəi Pax̌to) is a standard variety of the Pashto language, spoken in parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. They are the middle dialects of Mangal, Zadran, Mahsudi and Waziri. These dialects are affected by what Ibrahim Khan terms as "the Great Karlāṇ Vowel Shift".

Here is a comparison of Middle Dialects with South Eastern:

Central Dialects ښ ږ څ ځ ژ
Waziri ʃ ʒ t͡s d͡z ʒ
Dzadrāṇi ç ʝ t͡s d͡z ʒ
Mahsudi ʃ ʒ t͡s, s d͡z, z ʒ