Afghanistan is an ancient country in Central Asia, which for many millennia has served as a crossroads for many cultures whose carriers have been actively moving across the Eurasian continent. The language spoken in Afghanistan depends on the region of the country. The official languages ββin the state are Pashto and Dari.
Linguistic History of Afghanistan
A very rich and diverse history of the country begins to be revealed already in the name itself, the etymology of which seems complex and interesting. According to one version, the Persian word "afghan" is found in the name, which means silence and silence. At the same time, the word "augan", found in the Turkic languages, is translated as departed, retired, hidden. Both versions of such an etymology are external, that is, they are not self-names, and in both not only the history of the peoples of Afghanistan is encrypted, but even the geography of the area.
The word "afghan" for the peoples who lived in Central Asia or conquered it, is similar to the Russian word "German", that is, a person who does not speak the native language of someone who came across a native Pashto or Dari.
At the same time, the word "augan" could characterize the tribes hiding in the mountains from numerous conquerors. Fortunately, the relief and a large number of inaccessible areas were located for this kind of shoots. It was geography that was a frequent reason why the invaders could not completely conquer the country. There were always inaccessible mountain regions in which local residents could find refuge from the tools of the interventionists.
State history and its impact on the linguistic composition of the population
Actually, the word "Afghans" - as the definition of local residents - appears in written monuments in 982, but then it was understood by all the tribes living along the Indus River. For the first time, the Islamic conquerors who did not want to delve into the subtleties of local ethnic balance began to actively use this word.
The language spoken in Afghanistan is due to the very ancient history of this region. The founders of the first states on the territory of modern Afghanistan were representatives of Indian civilization, after the Persian royal dynasty of the Achaemenids came there, then Alexander the Great came to Central Asia, whose empire was partially inherited by the Seleucids, which were replaced by the Greco-Bactrian kingdom. All these states existed on the Afghan lands before our era. Therefore, it is not surprising that many languages ββare spoken in modern Afghanistan.
Two official languages
The languages ββof interethnic communication in Afghanistan are two state languages ββ- Pashto and Dari. Pashto language is spoken in most parts of the country, in neighboring Pakistan, as well as in the vast Pashtun diaspora. Despite the fact that Pashto belongs to the group of East Iranian languages, the influence of neighboring Indian languages ββis revealed in its phonetics. Also, the influence of foreign nations is found in vocabulary. In addition to the Pashtun, Persian, Arabic and Indian words are found in the language.
The Dari language is the Afghan-Persian language spoken by Afghan Tajiks, Charaimaks, Hazaras and some other small ethnic groups. It is worth noting that Dari speakers do not experience difficulties in communicating with Persian and Tajik speakers, since the languages ββare related.
Answering the question of what language they write in Afghanistan, it is worth saying that, unlike Pashto, which uses Arabic script, Dari uses its own system, which is significantly different from Persian-Arabic.
Non-state common languages
Any national language that is spoken in Afghanistan is quite often distributed beyond its borders. This is due to the fact that Afghanistan is not a mono-ethnic state.
In addition to the two official languages, Uzbek, Pasha, Baloch, Nuristan, and Pamir are also common, which, in addition to Afghanistan, are also spoken in Pakistan, China and Tajikistan. Thus, the language spoken in Afghanistan is determined by the historical setting.