Language Information
Pashto belongs to the Iranian group of the Indo-European family of languages, and the East Iranian subgroup of languages, along with several languages of the Pamir-Badakhshan region of Northeast Afghanistan and Eastern Tajikistan. These languages are quite separate from the West Iranian (or Persian) subgroup consisting of Farsi, Dari, and Tajiki.
Approximately 40 million people speak Pashto as a native language. The majority of Pashto speakers live in Afghanistan (estimated 12 million) and Pakistan (about 27 million). Pashto is also spoken as a first language in some Baluchi communities living in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Pashto is one of two official languages of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The vocabulary of Pashto, especially spoken in Afghanistan, has been considerably influenced by Dari, which serves as a lingua franca in the country.
At Indiana University, the Department of Central Eurasian Studies occasionally offers Pashto, although it is not routinely offered each semester. During the summer, intensive online Pashto is offered through the Language Workshop.
The IU Center for Languages of the Central Asian Region has a number of Pashto resources available.