Page Type: languageUzbek, Southern | Ethnologue

UZS ISO 639-3

Uzbek, Southern

ﯣزبېک‎ (o’zbek) Autonym

A language of Afghanistan

uzs
O’zbek, Usbeki, Uzbak, Uzbeki
ﯣزبېک‎ (o’zbek)
5,120,000 in Afghanistan, all users. L1 users: 3,120,000 in Afghanistan (2017 J. Leclerc), increasing. L2 users: 2,000,000 (2019). 1,000,000 monolinguals (2010). Total users in all countries: 6,756,100 (as L1: 4,756,100; as L2: 2,000,000).
Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh, Faryab, Ghor, Jawzjan, Kunduz, Samangan, and Takhar provinces; Aqcha, Maimana, Saripul, and Sheberghan towns.
2 (Provincial). Statutory language of provincial identity in Fariab, Jawzjan, Saripul, other northern provinces (2004, Constitution, Article 16(2)).
Turkic, Eastern
None known. Somewhat intelligible of, but differences in grammar from, Northern Uzbek [uzn]. Many loan words from Dari [prs]. A member of macrolanguage Uzbek [uzb].
SOV; postpositions; noun head final; content q-word final; one prefix in words borrowed from Dari [prs], many suffixes (agglutinative); verbal affixation marks of person and number for subject and object; verb tense and aspect marked by suffixes; nontonal; no vowel harmony (unlike some other, closely-related Turkic languages).
Vigorous. All domains. Used by all. Positive attitudes. Many also use Dari [prs], especially in urban areas. Also use Southern Pashto [pbt]. Used as L2 by Turkmen [tuk].
Literacy rate in L1: 1%. Literacy rate in L2: 20% in Dari [prs]. L1 literacy in larger towns increasing among younger population. The Afghanistan Ministry of Education has produced Southern Uzbek textbooks for grades 1–3; planned through twelfth grade. Taught in secondary schools. Literature. Newspapers. Periodicals. TV. Videos. Dictionary. Grammar. Texts. Bible portions: 2004–2006.
OLAC resources in and about Uzbek, Southern
Arabic script, Naskh variant [Arab], used in print. Arabic script, Nastaliq variant [Aran], used in handwriting and for book titles.
Muslim.
Uzbek, Southern
1,900 in Azerbaijan (Leclerc 2017b).
Unestablished
Non-indigenous.
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Uzbek, Southern
1,630,000 in Pakistan (2018).
Unestablished
Non-indigenous. Refugees from Afghanistan. Muslim.
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Uzbek, Southern
4,200 in Turkey (2019).
Hatay, Gaziantep, and Sanliurfa provinces.
5 (Dispersed)
Non-indigenous. Refugees from Afghanistan; now Turkish citizens. Distinct from Northern Uzbek [uzn] of Uzbekistan and China. Muslim.
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Location: Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh, Faryab, Ghor, Jawzjan, Kunduz, Samangan, and Takhar provinces; Aqcha, Maimana, Saripul, and Sheberghan towns.