Phonological Variations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: A Study of Yousafzai and Afridi Dialects of Pashto
Keywords:
Pashto, Afridi, Yousafzai, Dialect, Phonological Variations, Vowel soundsAbstract
The paper probes into the phonological variations between Yousafzai and Afridi dialects of Pashto of District Mardan and Khyber Agency respectively. The major focus was the study of vowel differences in both the dialects of Pashto language. For the current study, data was collected through audio recordings from100 native speakers of Yousafzai and Afridi dialects through a stimuli list by using convenience sampling, in a completely natural setting. After the analysis of the data, it was found that long vowels are used only by speakers of Yousafzai dialect while Afridis do not use long vowels. However, short vowels are used by speakers of both the dialects. Moreover, both of the Pashto dialects speakers pronounce initial vowels apparently alike. An obvious difference is in /a/ and /o/ sounds. Afridis pronounce /o/ instead of /a/ at middle and final positions.
References
David, A. (2013). Descriptive grammar of Pashto and its dialects (Vol. 1). Walter de Gruyter.
Ellis, R., & Ellis, R. R. (1994). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford University
Fishman, J. A. (1965). Varieties of ethnicity and varieties of language consciousness. Monograph Series on Languages and Linguistics, Charles W. Kreidler, ed, (18), 69-79.
Habibi, A. H. (1968). Afghans and Afghanistan. Afghanistan (KabulV Vol. XXII, No. 2, Summer 1969, pl. 969, pl.
Harris, J. (1985). Phonological variation and change: studies in Hiberno-English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
http://www.pbs.gov.pk/content/population-census
https://populationstat.com/pakistan/khyberpakhtunkhwa/2011/
https://populationstat.com/pakistan/mardan/2014/
https://populationstat.com/pakistan/khyberagency/1998/
http://www.pbs.gov.pk/content/population-mother-tongue
Noor Ullah (2011). Pashto Grammar. AuthorHouse
Olson, R. (2007). Speaking Afghan Pashto: The Eastern Afghan Dialect (English and Pashto Edition), Interlit Foundation, Peshawar. Pakistan
Penzl, H. (1962). A Reader of Pashto.
Shayeq, S.A. (2014). ‘Sarganda Khazana’ Adnan press, Peshawar
Shohamy, E. (2006). Language policy: Hidden agendas and new approaches. Routledge.
Stern, H. H., Tarone, E. E., Stern, H., & Yule, G. (1983). Fundamental concepts of language teaching: Historical and interdisciplinary perspectives on applied linguistic research. Oxford University Press.
Tegey, H., & Robson, B. (1996). A Reference Grammar of Pashto.
Wardhaugh, R. (1998). Sociolinguistics. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers Inc
Wardhaugh, R. (2011). An introduction to sociolinguistics (Vol. 28). John Wiley & Sons.
