COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PHONETIC CHANGES IN THE PRONUNCIATION OF KANDAHAR AND NANGARHAR DIALECTS

Abstract

This article provides a comparative analysis of phonetic changes observed in the major regional dialects of the Pashto language—Kandahar and Nangarhar. The study examines changes in the pronunciation of consonants and vowels, phonetic alternations, sound deletion and insertion, as well as stress and intonation features, illustrated with examples. Conservative phonetic features characteristic of the Kandahar dialect and innovative pronunciation phenomena observed in the Nangarhar dialect are analyzed, and their relationship to standard literary Pashto is determined. The study also explains the connection between phonetic differences and social, geographical, and historical factors. The results of the research are of significant scientific importance for the fields of Pashto dialectology, phonetics, and comparative linguistics, and contribute to the systematic study of dialectal variation.

Keywords

Pashto language, Kandahar dialect, Nangarhar dialect, phonetic changes, pronunciation features, vowels and consonants, dialectal variation, comparative linguistics, Pashto dialectology.