Abstract
Swat has it peculiar historical, geographical, and cultural position. It is a place where
various cultures and civilizations developed. Many ethnic and linguistic groups are living
in Swat. Presently, nine different indigenous languages are spoken in Swat. Besides these
indigenous languages Urdu as national langufranca and English as international
languafranca is also spoken to some extent. These nine indigenous languages include
Pukhto (Pashto), Gujro (Gujri), Torwali, Gawri, Ushojo, Qashqari, Badeshi, Shina
Kohistani, and Westren dialect of Kohistani. Among these languages the Ushojo and
Badeshi are endangered languages. All of the languages spoken Swat have a common
cultural background. This shared cultural background is the main cause of linguistic
commonalities. Religion, national language, media, education system and many other
factors created these linguistic commonalities. Pashto being language of the majority and
market play a role of linguafranca among various linguistic groups of Swat. That is why
Pashto language and Pashtun culture has also influenced these indigenous languages
and cultures.This article attempts to introduce languages spoken in Swat along with
shared cultural background of these languages.
Muhammad Ali Dinakhel. (2020) Cultural Background of the Languages Spoken in Swat, Putaj Humanities And Social Science, Volume-27, Issue-2.
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