Phonological Variations in Waziri and Marwat Dialects

Abstract

The aim of the study is to examine and analyze the phonological variations in Waziri and Marwat dialects. The process of data collection is done through structured interviews with 28 sample sizes. For the present study, a mixed research design is selected. After the collection process of the data, the data is processed under the analytical and descriptive theoretical framework of Pashto dialectology. The study found that the variations in the mentioned two dialects more often occurred in vowel sounds and less in consonant sounds. The study found that the long vowel sound /o:/ changed into the long vowel sound /a:/ in the Marwat dialect and the same vowel sound /o:/ changed into the vowel sound /a:/ along with consonant sound /w/ in Marwat dialect, because of the consonant sound /ɣ/ when it is followed by vowel sound /o:/ in Waziri dialect. Moreover, the vowel sounds /i/ and /ɛ/ in the Waziri dialect changed into vowel sounds /ʊ/ and /ə/ respectively in the Marwat dialect. Besides, the two vowel sounds /ɛ/ and /i/ changed into one vowel sound /ɔ/ in the Marwat dialect when occurred at the beginning of words in the Waziri dialect. While the consonant sound /s/ changed into another consonant sound /ʧ/ and the same consonant sound /s/ in the Waziri dialect was unchanged in the Marwat dialect or the change took place due to some other consonant sounds instead of /ʧ/ sound, but the later change is rare. Also, the study found some irregular patterns regarding some phonological variations in the two dialects. Thus, the variations of Waziri and Marwat dialects in the form of vowels highlight a regular shifting pattern in the mentioned dialect and due to the irregular patterns and changing nature of some sounds with combinations of other sounds, a comprehensive study is recommended on these sounds to investigate their pattern systematically. There is a dire need for a comprehensive study of the syntactical and morphological variations among Marwat, Waziri dialects, Banochi, and Khattak dialects on the various levels of Pashto dialectology.