Pashto

views updated May 21 2018

Pashto (Pushto) One of the two major languages of Afghanistan, the other being Persian. Pashto is spoken by about 12 million people in e Afghanistan and n Pakistan. It is historically the language of the Pathan tribes, and is written in an adapted Arabic alphabet. One of the Iranian languages, it forms part of the Indo-European family of languages.

Pashto

views updated May 29 2018

Pash·to / ˈpəsh/ • n. the Iranian language of the Pathans, also spoken in northern areas of Pakistan, that is an official language of Afghanistan.• adj. of or relating to this language.