ScriptLookup

Pashto

Q: What alphabet or script does Pashto use?

Pashto is written using the Arabic script (Arab).

Q: What direction is Pashto written?

Pashto is written Right-to-left, meaning text flows from right to left.

پښتو

ps 50M speakers

Pashto (پښتو) is a Indo-European language with approximately 50M speakers speakers. It is written using the Arabic script. Its BCP 47 language code is ps.

Pashto (پښتو) is an Iranian language and one of the two official languages of Afghanistan (alongside Dari). It is also spoken by a large population in northwestern Pakistan. Pashto is the native language of the Pashtun people and has approximately 50 million native speakers.

Pashto is written right-to-left in the Pashto alphabet, a modified Arabic script with additional letters for Pashto sounds. The Pashto people have a strong oral poetry tradition, and Khushal Khan Khattak (17th century) is considered one of Pashto's greatest poets.

Writing Systems Used for Pashto

Frequently Asked Questions

What alphabet or script does Pashto use?

Pashto is written using the Arabic script (ISO 15924 code: Arab). Arabic is a right-to-left script.

What direction is Pashto written?

Pashto is written Right-to-left. Text begins on the right side of the page and reads toward the left.

How many people speak Pashto?

Pashto has approximately 50M speakers speakers worldwide. It is a member of the Indo-European language family.

What language family does Pashto belong to?

Pashto belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is written with the Arabic script.

What is the language code for Pashto?

The BCP 47 language code for Pashto is "ps". This code is used in software, web standards (the HTML lang attribute), and internationalization contexts.

Language Facts

BCP 47 Code: ps
ISO 639-3: pus
Status: living
Scope: macrolanguage
Speakers: 50M speakers
Language Family: Indo-European
Scripts: 1
Primary Script: Arabic

Other Arabic Languages

Algerian Arabic Arabic Bakhtiari Baluchi Beja Brahui Central Kurdish Comorian Egyptian Arabic Gilaki Hausa Kashmiri Kazakh Khowar Kyrgyz Malay Mazanderani Moroccan Arabic Najdi Arabic Northern Luri

Data sourced from Unicode CLDR and ISO 639-3. Last updated April 20, 2026.