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* This piece of writing contains the standard Pashto transcription as used by normal Pashtuns in place of IPA for ease of understanding.
The dialect of Wardag is very similar to the language of the Mangal, Zazi and Zadran. However, the way most Wardag speak is almost indistinguishable from the Zazi dialect. This dialect is spoken in Khost, Paktia and Kurram, where my grandmother's roots are.
I have lived in Parachinar for 3 years from 2003-2006 and during this time I was exposed to the Zazi, Mangal and Turi dialects which are all very similar to each other and to that of the Wardag, Afridi, Orokzai, Bangash and Zadran - all Karlani tribes, excluding the Wazir, Bannuchi, Khattak and Khostwal which are significantly more divergent than other Karlani dialects due to a more obvious vowel change, unique lexis and certain grammatical differences. One thing that sets the Wardag dialect apart from the rest of those mentioned, however, is the tendency of many (educated, upper-class) Wardags to incorporate Dari words into their speech.
The Karlani dialects all have some common features = the "aa" of other dialects becomes "o" or even "u". I do not know the reason for this, perhaps the mountain Karlani tribes have preserved the original Persian pronunciation of this phoneme as is evident in early Pashto borrowings from Persian, eg. The "Standard Pashto" change from the Persian "aa" to "o" in words like "khob" for "khwaab" and "khor" for "khwaahar".
Often similar changes occur in the pronunciation of words beginnning with "w" or a vowel so that they start with a "y" as in "wayam" [I say] = "yayam". Also, the final "m" in first person verb conjugations such as in the example above is not pronunced in many Karlani dialects and is replaced by a nasal "an" sound as in French.
Also worth noting is that no Karlani dialect has "zama" and "sta" for "mine" and "yours"; instead "de mo / e mo" and "de to / e to" are used. This is a sign of the Karlani dialects being archaic as "e mo" and "e to" or " de mo" and "de to" make more sense than "zma" or "sta", which appear to be contractions.
Because the "de" meaning "of" is often contracted to "e" in the Karlani dialetcs, it mirrors the Persian "ezafe" system, eg. "Khana-e-tu"= your house, literally house of you. Similarly in Pashto we say "e to kor", also meaning "house of you". Though obviously, Pashto and Perisan grammar differs greatly.
Many Zazi pronunce "ts" as "s" and "dz" as "z", especially those of Kurram and Khost. As far as I know, Wardags say "ts" and "dz". Another variation that can occur in the Zazi dialect is the use of the hard "kh" or "x" (as in "khamakha") in place of the softer "kh" (as in "khaar"/city). Sorry, its hard to explain this becuase both sounds are commonly transcribed using "kh".
Another potential difference is the fact that many Wardag say "mugh" instead of "mung", which is standard in Zazi of all three settlements; Maidan [Khost], Aryob [Paktia] and Kurma. Quite interstingly, this same merge of "gh" and "g/zh" also occurs in Northern Paktika/Southern Ghazni (mainly Sharan, Katawaz, Qarabagh, Andar and Muqur) which is Ghaljai territory.
As far as neighbouring Karlani dialects like Mangal and Zadran are concerned, in relation to Wardag and Zazi, they sound much more harsh although you will still understand them. Many words are specific to Karlani dialects or are used differently from other dialects, such as "tikala/atkala/tkala" for "dodaii" and "workai" for "halak". Also, "ghagedal/zhaghedal" is used in place of "khabare kawal" as this would sound strange to many rural Karlani (and Ghalji) Pashtuns. This is also true for Paktikawalan like me.
The area of Bermal is mainly inhabited by the Wazir and the Kharoti and I have never heard of any Wardags currently settled down there (Bermal is basically the one of the closest places to Wana from Afghanistan without crossing any borders), but if Marwats can migrate from Katawaz to Lakki, then surely Wardags can come from Bermal.
Now, that wretched table on Wikipedia has been tortured many a time. I was the one who edited it originally, but later other self-proclaimed "linguists" proceeded to f**** it all up with their own faulty data.
In that table, where it says "Zadran", the phonemes shown next to it are wrong. The Zadran dialect does not change "o" for "e" and "u" for "i" like the Waziri, Khostwal and Bannuchi do. I know this becuase the Zadran are our neighbours in Urgun.
Using the terms "Western" and "Eastern" Afghan dialects of Pashto is more suitable than using the misinformed, yet traditional "Southern"/"Northern"differentiation as Nangarhar is in the East and Kandahar is in the West. In Paktika, all dialects are mixed up and spoken at the same time. I have explained this before, I believe.
The phonemes [ç] and [ʝ] shown for many dialects on said table should be changed to [X] and [γ]/[g] as these paint a more accurate picture of the Pashto language.
Hakim Khan.
The dialect of Wardag is very similar to the language of the Mangal, Zazi and Zadran. However, the way most Wardag speak is almost indistinguishable from the Zazi dialect. This dialect is spoken in Khost, Paktia and Kurram, where my grandmother's roots are.
I have lived in Parachinar for 3 years from 2003-2006 and during this time I was exposed to the Zazi, Mangal and Turi dialects which are all very similar to each other and to that of the Wardag, Afridi, Orokzai, Bangash and Zadran - all Karlani tribes, excluding the Wazir, Bannuchi, Khattak and Khostwal which are significantly more divergent than other Karlani dialects due to a more obvious vowel change, unique lexis and certain grammatical differences. One thing that sets the Wardag dialect apart from the rest of those mentioned, however, is the tendency of many (educated, upper-class) Wardags to incorporate Dari words into their speech.
The Karlani dialects all have some common features = the "aa" of other dialects becomes "o" or even "u". I do not know the reason for this, perhaps the mountain Karlani tribes have preserved the original Persian pronunciation of this phoneme as is evident in early Pashto borrowings from Persian, eg. The "Standard Pashto" change from the Persian "aa" to "o" in words like "khob" for "khwaab" and "khor" for "khwaahar".
Often similar changes occur in the pronunciation of words beginnning with "w" or a vowel so that they start with a "y" as in "wayam" [I say] = "yayam". Also, the final "m" in first person verb conjugations such as in the example above is not pronunced in many Karlani dialects and is replaced by a nasal "an" sound as in French.
Also worth noting is that no Karlani dialect has "zama" and "sta" for "mine" and "yours"; instead "de mo / e mo" and "de to / e to" are used. This is a sign of the Karlani dialects being archaic as "e mo" and "e to" or " de mo" and "de to" make more sense than "zma" or "sta", which appear to be contractions.
Because the "de" meaning "of" is often contracted to "e" in the Karlani dialetcs, it mirrors the Persian "ezafe" system, eg. "Khana-e-tu"= your house, literally house of you. Similarly in Pashto we say "e to kor", also meaning "house of you". Though obviously, Pashto and Perisan grammar differs greatly.
Many Zazi pronunce "ts" as "s" and "dz" as "z", especially those of Kurram and Khost. As far as I know, Wardags say "ts" and "dz". Another variation that can occur in the Zazi dialect is the use of the hard "kh" or "x" (as in "khamakha") in place of the softer "kh" (as in "khaar"/city). Sorry, its hard to explain this becuase both sounds are commonly transcribed using "kh".
Another potential difference is the fact that many Wardag say "mugh" instead of "mung", which is standard in Zazi of all three settlements; Maidan [Khost], Aryob [Paktia] and Kurma. Quite interstingly, this same merge of "gh" and "g/zh" also occurs in Northern Paktika/Southern Ghazni (mainly Sharan, Katawaz, Qarabagh, Andar and Muqur) which is Ghaljai territory.
As far as neighbouring Karlani dialects like Mangal and Zadran are concerned, in relation to Wardag and Zazi, they sound much more harsh although you will still understand them. Many words are specific to Karlani dialects or are used differently from other dialects, such as "tikala/atkala/tkala" for "dodaii" and "workai" for "halak". Also, "ghagedal/zhaghedal" is used in place of "khabare kawal" as this would sound strange to many rural Karlani (and Ghalji) Pashtuns. This is also true for Paktikawalan like me.
The area of Bermal is mainly inhabited by the Wazir and the Kharoti and I have never heard of any Wardags currently settled down there (Bermal is basically the one of the closest places to Wana from Afghanistan without crossing any borders), but if Marwats can migrate from Katawaz to Lakki, then surely Wardags can come from Bermal.
Now, that wretched table on Wikipedia has been tortured many a time. I was the one who edited it originally, but later other self-proclaimed "linguists" proceeded to f**** it all up with their own faulty data.
In that table, where it says "Zadran", the phonemes shown next to it are wrong. The Zadran dialect does not change "o" for "e" and "u" for "i" like the Waziri, Khostwal and Bannuchi do. I know this becuase the Zadran are our neighbours in Urgun.
Using the terms "Western" and "Eastern" Afghan dialects of Pashto is more suitable than using the misinformed, yet traditional "Southern"/"Northern"differentiation as Nangarhar is in the East and Kandahar is in the West. In Paktika, all dialects are mixed up and spoken at the same time. I have explained this before, I believe.
The phonemes [ç] and [ʝ] shown for many dialects on said table should be changed to [X] and [γ]/[g] as these paint a more accurate picture of the Pashto language.
Hakim Khan.
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