Pashayi languages
| Pashayi | |
|---|---|
| Pashai | |
| زبان پشهای Zabân Pašhây | |
Pashayi in Nastaliq | |
| Native to | Afghanistan |
| Ethnicity | Pashayi |
Native speakers | (400,000 cited 2000–2011) |
| Pashayi alphabet | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously:aee – Northeasternglh – Northwesternpsi – Southeasternpsh – Southwestern |
| Glottolog | pash1270 |
| Linguasphere | 59-AAA-a |
Linguistic map of Afghanistan; Pashayi is spoken in the purple area in the east. | |
Pashayi is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Pashayi or Pashai (Persian: زبان پشه ای; Pashto: پشه اې ژبه) is a group of Indo-Aryan languages spoken by the Pashai people in parts of Kapisa, Laghman, Nangarhar, Nuristan, Kunar and Kabul (Surobi District) provinces in Northeastern Afghanistan.
The Pashayi languages had no known written form prior to 2003. There are four mutually unintelligible varieties, with only about a 30% lexical similarity:
- Northeastern: Aret, Chalas (Chilas), Kandak, Korangal, Kurdar dialects
- Northwestern: Alasai, Bolaghain, Gulbahar, Kohnadeh, Laurowan, Najil, Nangarach, Pachagan, Pandau, Parazhghan, Pashagar, Sanjan, Shamakot, Shutul, Uzbin, Wadau dialects
- Southeastern: Damench, Laghmani, Sum, Upper and Lower Darai Nur, Wegali dialects
- Southwestern: Ishpi, Isken, Tagau dialects
A grammar of the language was written as a doctoral dissertation in 2014.